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  1. #1

    the usual, look, point and laugh

    Please have a look at my site. It's the longest running one I have and I'm pretty please with the layout I came up with a year ago.

    Be warned, if you click around too much you will find adult content. But, you do have to leave the main page. Pretty much. Kinda. Just be thoughtful if you’re at work.

    Anyway, from what I've seen on this board, you guys and girls will provide honest and intelligent feedback. I have a few other sites in the mix, but I thought I'd throw this one at ya first.

    Thanks in advance.

    http://www.drunkcyclist.com/

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    164
    Make up my mind! Either have a porn site or a damn bike site!

    The truth hurts so here it is. BORING!
    The yellow, though reminisent of the yellow jersey for a stage winner on the Tour De France. Good idea for a site it doesnt make.

    The page is EXTREMELY LLLLOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG! There is to much text. Who is going to spend the time reading all of it.

    There is no order to the content and no reason for anyone to really stay around. Pick a category and build for that.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Aug 2001
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    1,598
    What is your site about, exactly? - Nude cyclists?


    Is the splash page necessary? The scrolling message in the status bar is incredibly annoying, and the picture shown in the flash intro isn't that pleasing to the eye, either.

    You definately need a new color scheme... the two colors do not match.

    Minimize the content on the main page, archive more of your news entries.

    Overall, content needs to be better organized and there needs to be a more constant theme throughout the site. Try to spice it up a bit more as well... I do agree that the layout seems rather plain and boring.

  4. #4
    I think it's best if you outwardly display what your website is about. I think you should also have a caution to advise by legal precautions for any minors who don't know what's behind those links.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    SLC, UT
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    * BEST SITE EVER

    juangrande, these guys OBVIOUSLY dont like women, or bikes...

    I love it, and always will... Too long my ass... splash page unnecessary and unappealing? what do you prefer men's behinds?

    id10t's everywhere

  6. #6
    I think anyone who isn't into biking and beer will have trouble understanding just how AWESOME your site is, Big J... for the rest of you, it is totally addictive reading after a couple of visits.

    How many hits do you get? I seem to remember 3000 per day or something? I guess most of the people on this board would love to have even a tenth of that traffic. When you linked to my site roughly 90% of the traffic came from drunkcyclist.com for a few days and we still get at least 10 a day from the small link on the left.

    The only comment I'll agree with is about the scrolling text on the status bar, it makes it hard to see if I'm about to click on a pr0n link at work :-)

    keep up the good work


    jon@justridingalong.com

    http://www.justridingalong.com

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    584

    Re: BEST SITE EVER

    Originally posted by Xan
    what do you prefer men's behinds?
    Actually, YES!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Chris
    Who just luvs beefcake
    (A gal has to do what a gal has to do!)

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    164

    Re: BEST SITE EVER

    Originally posted by Xan
    juangrande, these guys OBVIOUSLY dont like women, or bikes...

    I love it, and always will... Too long my ass... splash page unnecessary and unappealing? what do you prefer men's behinds?

    id10t's everywhere
    I beg to differ. Also, he was asking for a review and got several. The site has NO merrit! PERIOD!

    Do I like bikes, duh look at my post in refrence to the Tour. Do I like women, yes as I have owned several adult sites myself. I am not the only one that said the site needs to make up its mind about the market it is going after.

    Hits, hits..I have had sites that drew 60,000 hits per day and I know of a friends site right now that gets 500,000 hits per month. So dont go there about traffic.

    Take the time to post here, build some credibility and write intelligently about what your talking about first.

    Most of us here will look at sites from a business prospective. This site as far as I can see has a very small one. Selling ad space and suppling links to your partners affilliate programs doesnt make for huge prrofits, well not anymore. It takes more then that.

    You must like reading a novel when going to a site great for you, most dont. The site is poorly layout and has dribble for content.

  9. #9
    Well JuanGrande, if that's the type of fool that counts as a respected commentator on this site then I think you've come to the wrong place for constructive criticism. He obviously doesn't understand the first thing about your site. I bet he's never even heard of a singlespeed. I guess at the end of the day you're the one who has people all over the world riding wearing your jerseys and sending you dollars for stickers, pretty good for a site with dribble for content. Damn good dribble.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    164
    Jon,

    Dont make this bigger than it already is.
    I dont plan on battling with you about it.

  11. #11
    ?

    Not sure what's "big" (other than JuanGrande). Anyway at least I know what site not to come to now for sensible and useful criticism of my sites. Bye.


    jon

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    584
    Originally posted by jon2
    ?

    Not sure what's "big" (other than JuanGrande). Anyway at least I know what site not to come to now for sensible and useful criticism of my sites. Bye.


    jon
    It helps to read the post count, Jon2. Some of us have been around and don't tear down sites for fun.

    Some web designers offered their opinions, and this is a critique forum. If you would read their posts you'd find there's some helpful hints in their critiques. It's that site's loss to not take the opinions of others in consideration.

    Yes, artists can be brutal among each other, yet that's how the quality of the work goes up (and how we all learn from the mistakes - and learn elements and concepts of design from the school of hard knocks :/). It's as much as a show to you as for us (you learn about art and design all through your life!).

    So chill and learn something in the process, okay?

    Chris

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jan 2002
    Location
    Orlando, FL
    Posts
    164
    Chris,

    I hope you understand that I didnt intend to tear at the site for fun. Maybe I was to harsh in my delivery method.

  14. #14

    yeah baby

    I figured I should actually say something in responses to points made in earlier posts. It seems to be getting a bit hot in here.

    The two colors I use don’t jive. No kidding. And neither does my content. Bike racing and porn seemingly do not compliment each other. But in this case they work. Get it?

    The point is conflict.

    I’m doing this on purpose.

    The splash page may not be necessary, but I like it. It’s not over done and it downloads in seconds as the .swf file is only 16k. Also, it is pretty easy for return visitors to skip it, or just bookmark the main page.

    You say to archive more of my new entries. Have you even seen my archives? They are absolutely full.

    What drives my site is it’s content.

    The layout is simple, yes. The point is simplicity. No one reads my site because of some whiz-bang layout. They read it for my stories, the letters I post, and, of course, the naked girls.

    The layout should quietly compliment the content. It is not the focus. I mean, who buys a book because of the picture on the cover?

    There never was, and probably never will be, a business model for my site. It was never intended to be profitable. Simply stated, I’m not selling anything. How can I make money if I’m not selling anything? Breaking even would be nice, but I’m certainly not trying to make a living off this thing.

    Hits mean nothing. Every .gif, .jpg, .wav, .mpeg, and .html file counts as a hit. Just opening up my home page once must count as at least 15 hits. Even unique visitors can be misleading. The same isp can log on more than once in a 12 hour period and get counted twice. Total data transfer can be skewed by posting one large video for download. I know I’m not the most visited site on the web, I’m not trying to be.

    But, since it came up, here is what I averaged for October, according to a webalizer program that only recorded 17 days of the month:

    Daily hits: 200,597
    Daily unique: 3229
    Daily transfer: >8 megs

    Whatever it is I’m doing, baby, it’s working. People visit my site, in fact, way to many people visit my site. I can’t keep up with the bandwidth demands. Here I am, some ****ing bozo, with a site ya’ll consider unfocused, and I’m the toast of the cycling community.

    Does that sound arrogant?

    It shouldn’t. I’m a joker at heart. And, I’ve got pretty thick skin. I’m a big boy and realize not everyone likes my site. People like different things. They should like different things. Know what I mean?

    Now, I’m just going to get nit picky on ya. I came here for feedback, and I got it. I was hoping for more than I got, but we all can’t have what we want, can we?

    By the way, you do not get the yellow jersey for winning a stage in the Tour de France. You get it by leading in the overall classification.

    And my site isn’t yellow, it’s gold. The gold jersey is awarded to the overall leader in the Vuelta a Espańa, the Tour of Spain.

    But, whatever.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    584
    Originally posted by Tranz
    Chris,

    I hope you understand that I didnt intend to tear at the site for fun. Maybe I was to harsh in my delivery method.
    Wasn't implying that you were, Tranz.

    We can get a little hot under the collar, but hey, when debating art and design when does 2 artists agree 100% of the time?

    To be a fly on the wall, at the turn of the century, on the backstreets of Paris. All that talent must've clashed daily.

    Chris

  16. #16
    Tranz, I don't think your delivery method was to harsh. Bust balls man, it's fun. I’m not offended in the slightest. I’m pretty entertained by the whole thing.

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    USA
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    584

    Re: yeah baby

    Originally posted by juangrande
    I figured I should actually say something in responses to points made in earlier posts. It seems to be getting a bit hot in here.
    Juan, I have a question: do you want an objective critique, or do you want to defend your design with web designers?

    So far it's a defense, and you bet other web designers can get into a knock-out-drag-out debate on the ills of your design concept, but don't you think it's counter-productive?

    [Believe me, artists are NOT short of opinions on their love of their life, and could argue over the finer points until the cows come home -- i.e., for life. Some of the rows between artists and art historians last a lifetime and quite bitter. ].

    Folks are willing to offer their opinions based on their experience, if you can take it fine. But please how about not arguing with them for doing what you asked for?

    How about starting with a clean slate and asking for what you're actually seeking? Want an opinion on graphics? About load time? About the layout? Color combinations? If your site needs animation accents? Can the coding pass? That sort of thing.

    [I'd be glad to review the site if there's some pics of some sexy men there].

    Chris
    Okay, I have a weakness for sexy men

  18. #18
    I got a bit annoyed because of the first posting from Mr Tranz who waded in with a load of unhelpful comments:

    "The truth hurts so here it is. BORING!"

    not so...

    "The page is EXTREMELY LLLLOOOOOONNNNNGGGGGG! There is to much text. Who is going to spend the time reading all of it. "

    me, and several thousand others... actually it's not normally that long, I guess BigJ just had lots to write this week.

    "no reason for anyone to really stay around"

    There is no other site on the web I visit more regularly. Well actually there is but that's only to check my mail. I'm not sure what criteria Tranz uses to judge sites on but they're different from mine (fair enough I guess).

    Anyway like the man said, he's a big guy with thick skin:

    http://justridingalong.com/stuff/biggie_sswct.jpg


    jw

  19. #19
    Chris, I'm picking up what you're putting down. I was defending what I've done with the site, pretty much was feeling like I needed to. Perhaps I was over reacting.

    You want to give it a look over? I'm up for whatever.

    Not so many naked guys, but they are around. Probably even some pics of me riding aroud nude. I think you can find that here: http://www.drunkcyclist.com/ass.htm

    I don't even remember what it was I was looking for when this whole thing started. Maybe I got what I needed?

    Say whatever you please, it's all good with me.
    Last edited by juangrande; 10-28-2002 at 03:07 PM.

  20. #20
    ok, I thought that would stick a small picture in there. Never mind. Anyway the truth is that loads of people like the site and maybe you should be more open-minded before saying "it sucks". It may not conform to the standard web-developer's idea of what makes a good website, but hey.


    jw

  21. #21
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    584
    Jon and Juan try taking the banter from web designers not to much to heart. We're picky by nature, and an artist is often harder on themselves than anyone else. They seek perfection, and when it's not there sometimes they can get hot -- it's the design, the challenge that's frustrating (especially if they were up all night trying to meet a deadline).

    Basically the web designers at WHT are kewl, they give as much as they take. We're here to get business, ideas and learn.

    I'm just kidding with you guys about the sexy men. I like to joke around, but I do like eye candy!

    Chris

  22. #22
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    584

    The critique

    First, you'll have to have an adult warning on your intro page. Get the legal stuff out of the way. Nothing worse than getting it canned because your provider has a strict "public door" policy.

    Have to agree with the gold color -- it'll clash like high hell. It's a strong mustard yellow, and the strength is going to clash with anything but white, dark green or jet black. Too strong and a different hue to support blue correctly.

    Scroll bar blends into the background, and I couldn't find it except for the arrows if the window isn't expanded, it'll be confusing to some to navigate. Choose a lighter or darker track color and use the 3D color option so folks will even know it exists!

    Text content isn't a problem with me. The color combination *is* the problem -- it doesn't match. The aqua blue is too light and the wrong color to go with mustard yellow.

    Change the color combinations (like lighten the yellow color so it's not so saturated, and use a strong contrasting color. If you must keep the yellow color, think "construction site" and use black accents. There is a reason construction sites choose those colors -- like visibility and contrast).

    Experiment and find the right color balance.

    Chris

  23. #23
    Not bad. I little to much porn
    LNXPS - C# XPS Library

    The Sun Bingo -

  24. #24

    que?

    Que, to mas porn es possible?

  25. #25
    Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Location
    Tempe, AZ
    Posts
    0
    i guess you have to know bigj to understand his site... it just goes hand in hand. i know i can't get enough of the journal entries. have me rolling on the floor everytime. as for colors clashing, sometimes it has to be done. go to my site: http://www.brickfungus.com and go to the guestbook... now there are some bad colors.

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