Review: snatcomic.com

[I like pie]

Well, almost a year after I stopped updating my webcomic, I finally finished a new site for it.

I started on this roughly two weeks ago with some simple goals: a decent searchable archive, and a decent cast/characters page. I'm happy with it. Please play with the archive and cast page to check out how it all works. It feels very natural/intuitive to me, but I built it so there's obviously some bias there.

Tested in 1920x1200, firefox/safari

Anyway, enough of my rambling. Could you guys please give me your opinions/advice about the new site? Particularly, do you see anything I might have missed as far as keeping readers there as long as possible?

Mucho thanks in advance.

link: www.snatcomic.com

[Costin Trifan]

The overall image: interesting...

navigation:
- I just clicked one link, gone to page...ummm...what page??
- there's nothing there telling me where am I
- btw, I clicked on the archive link;

Archive page:
- the search box has a text in it but when when I click inside there's nothing happen; I mean the default text should dissapear, don't you think? I hate when I have to delete the default text and then start typing my own...

Forum Page:
- when i clicked the forum link I went to forum page, of course. But then what? If I want to go back? I have to click the browser back button? This is not practical...

The front page:
- that google ads from the page footer...align to left and copyright notice aligned to right?...
- try to find something else...

*
Maybe this review is not what you asked for, but I'm not the one who's says good when actually is bad.
Take as it is or leave it as it is

[noob78]

You should make a RSS feed on that comic~ Just an idea.

[I like pie]

Originally Posted by costin_trifan

Maybe this review is not what you asked for, but I'm not the one who's says good when actually is bad.
Take as it is or leave it as it is

I'll take it, gladly. =) What use is asking for a review if I don't want to hear any helpful suggestions?

And on that note:

Originally Posted by costin_trifan

navigation:
- I just clicked one link, gone to page...ummm...what page??
- there's nothing there telling me where am I
- btw, I clicked on the archive link;

I assume you mean the title tag. I've since adjusted this as necessary, each page has its own title now. Thanks for pointing that out, I would have never remembered to fix that.

Originally Posted by costin_trifan

Archive page:
- the search box has a text in it but when when I click inside there's nothing happen; I mean the default text should dissapear, don't you think? I hate when I have to delete the default text and then start typing my own...

For now, I simply removed the example text. Your suggestion is right on, but I don't know any javascript to make it work. I'll put this in soon though, but for now blank should be fine. There's example searches right below anyway.

Originally Posted by costin_trifan

Forum Page:
- when i clicked the forum link I went to forum page, of course. But then what? If I want to go back? I have to click the browser back button? This is not practical...

This is an interesting problem. The comic is one of multiple projects that will tie together via a common forum (and site eventually). I'm not quite sure how to do this most effectively. I'm thinking of passing a reference parameter or something, and having the link back change accordingly. If you have any ideas for this, I'd be happy to hear them.

Originally Posted by costin_trifan

The front page:
- that google ads from the page footer...align to left and copyright notice aligned to right?...

I don't really see the problem there. I can't really see a better arrangement for the footer contents. The ad banner is mirroring the site banner on the top of the page, and is counter-weighted by the copyright on its right side. If the copyright was in the middle, the page would feel too heavy on the left.

Thanks for the tips! If you've got anything else, please say so. No sugar coating necessary, there should be nothing annoying or awkward about the way this site works.

Originally Posted by noob78

You should make a RSS feed on that comic~ Just an idea.

I've thought about this. For now though, it's not the right thing to do as I'm no longer updating the comic. I do have plans to resurrect it though, and if I do an RSS feed will definitely be part of the package.

[Costin Trifan]

For the search box:

<input type="text" id="searchBarTextBox" class="searchTextBox" value="Search in database" onclick="if (this.value == this.title) this.value = ''" onblur="if (this.value == null || this.value == '') this.value = this.title;" title="Search in database" />

This is what will happen:
- When page loads, your search box will display a text in it (the value which was initially set in the tag); Now, if a user will click in the search box, the initial text will disappear. If he doesn't type anything in it and then clicks away of the search box, the initial value will be displayed.

Originally Posted by costin_trifan
navigation:
- I just clicked one link, gone to page...ummm...what page??
- there's nothing there telling me where am I
- btw, I clicked on the archive link;

I assume you mean the title tag. I've since adjusted this as necessary, each page has its own title now. Thanks for pointing that out, I would have never remembered to fix that.

No, I didn't meant that. I meant there is nothing on the page to indicate my current position. Like a caption on top of the page or, at least, do something for the menu to indicate the visited page (an underline deco for the menuItem or something like that, nothing too fancy). Just do something to let me know where I am when navigating through your site.

[Karen_Harwood]

Love the graphics! But I didn't understand what the link were on the righthand side. And please don't bother to explain them, people don't want links explained they just want to know instantly what they are for.

[I like pie]

Much thanks for that bit of JS. Works like a charm!

Originally Posted by costin_trifan

No, I didn't meant that. I meant there is nothing on the page to indicate my current position. Like a caption on top of the page or, at least, do something for the menu to indicate the visited page (an underline deco for the menuItem or something like that, nothing too fancy). Just do something to let me know where I am when navigating through your site.

Ah, I see what you mean now. I've since blackened and bolded the list item for whatever page you're on. It does look much better now.

Originally Posted by Karen_Harwood

Love the graphics! But I didn't understand what the link were on the righthand side. And please don't bother to explain them, people don't want links explained they just want to know instantly what they are for.

Thanks for the advice. I guess it makes sense to me, and some others in the webcomic community may be able to infer the meaning. But you're right, I should never leave something like that without any obvious label.

I'll see how I can fix that. It's gonna be tricky, I can't add "friends" to the alive/mia/rip cause it will make them too wide. But another tier of nav above that will clutter things up. I'm sure I'll think of something.

Any other suggestions? You guys are helping me out tons. =)

[Costin Trifan]

Now, your site rocks!