Heart, Mind, & Soul

[ren_pii]

I'm just gonna say this plain and simple: I need a new host for my "personal" art site. I want a new host for my art site... *sigh*

Atspace isn't working for me. I find it really tedious to update my site. I've considered applying to xepher.net in the past, but... I really wasn't sure if I could hosted. (I mean for me... it's hard to believe that unlimited webspace hosting actually exists!) But here I am... trying. So... bear with me please.

Here is a sample of my art site now: http://heartmindsoul.atspace.com/ (I haven't updated it with my recent art so... *ahem*)

Yes, you'll probably all groan and say "it's another anime art site." Well, yes... 80% of it is... for now. Believe it or not... I'm in the phase of "exploring new art styles". I have a few realism pieces, although I'm still kinda trying it out. I'd post traditional artwork/sketches if I still had a camera. Ah yes, and my site... well... it won't really have comics, although I do have a webmanga if you'd like to see that: http://digital-dust.net/educen/

I'm also planning to maybe put some short stories, photography (when I get a new camera), and poetry... if that's allowed.
If I get hosted... I might just throw away my older junk artwork and start fresh. (I'll probably make a new layout too since I'm not satisfied with the one I have now)


Ok... so for my username I want it to be: heartmindsoul and my email is shansterz@gmail.com.

Although I don't update my art site now, you probably won't have to worry about me "dying" since I don't think I'll ever stop drawing... unless someone assassinates me or I die of an uncurable illness. Heh...

Hmm... and... well if you're still wondering why I should get hosted, well, I'm a nice person! I don't bite! See? -> ^_^;;; *sweatdrop*


[EDIT]
Although I've never really been good at tests... I'm really to take this so-called "Challenge". I'd like to hear your opinions on whatever.

[pigeon-wing]

I think the current layout is fine as it's simple and easily navigable. Your DeviantArt gallery is huge, so I'm not really worried about you dropping off the face of the earth and never posting again x3 I like your art (can't wait to see more of the Mental Illness series), but the multiple watermarks are distracting. I know everyone dislikes art theft, but maybe you could try just one? ^^;

Oh, and photography, short stories, and poetry are allowed =3 It's all art.

[ren_pii]

Yeah... I know... the watermarks are pretty distracting... I know I should've done invisible watermarks, but I'm so lazy... >_>

Well... that's  not much of an excuse... but in the future... I'll try to put it in the corner and in small font lol. ^^;;

[ren_pii]

Sorry for posting again... but I just wanted to show you guys the new CG painting I did...
I'm quite proud of it, despite the flaws...

http://www.deviantart.com/deviation/46828111/

[griever]

Yes, you'll probably all groan and say "it's another anime art site." Well, yes... 80% of it is... for now. Believe it or not... I'm in the phase of "exploring new art styles". I have a few realism pieces, although I'm still kinda trying it out. I'd post traditional artwork/sketches if I still had a camera.

http://xepher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=323

See #5 for my general response.

[Xepher]

The art is somewhat interesting, so I'm considering it. However, I would appreciate it if you would edit your main post to conform to the instructions as posted here. http://xepher.net/forum/viewtopic.php?id=1

Also, why is your whole site shoved into a 4" box? I have a 19" monitor at 1280x960... I don't like browsing a site when I can hide the entire thing behind my coffee cup.

[fesworks]

I wish that so many "new windows" didn;t pop up when trying to just go to that comic.... also, it looks like you have the comic on three different comic hosts (Dish, Smack Jeeves, and Drunk Duck).... what's the point?

[ren_pii]

Xepher: Ahahaha... don't worry... I'll make the new layout bigger... I like making small layouts... ^^;;

Fesworks: Hmm.. if you find that annoying... I'll consider changing it. And... I put them on different hosts so that I could try them out to see which one I liked better. I started with SJ, but I didn't really like it, so I tried DD and CD. They're all pretty good... but I mean... it kinda gives the visitor a choice on which host they want to go to. People on DD can use the DD mirror and SJ users can go to the SJ one. Plus, if one of the hosts stop working at least there'll be 2 other mirrors to go to.

[fesworks]

Well, I can see your reasoning, but having so many mirrors seems, well, redundant. It's also hard to "track" your audience if they are split between 3 different sites. Unless you get tens of thousands of visitors, there should not be a need for a mirror site. Now I can understand if one of the sites tends to go down a lot... but then I wouldn't stay hosted on that site I can also understand the use for using multiple comic sites as a way of advertising the comic, but I dunno. Just my thoughts of all of it.... and its not even about your content or HTML ability.

[ren_pii]

Fesworks: I don't really mind updating all 3. It's easy to just add a new page when I update. Redundant, yeah... but hey, if I don't mind updating them all, might as well. If someday I happen to get tens of thousands of visitors then I'll probably just stick to the comic dish one, haha. But... other than that... what do you think of the content?

[Xepher]

I went to look again at your site(s) and... well, my attention span wasn't in it. I had to click like 5 things and I still hadn't found a comic. I know that's not a huge amount, but it is rather annoying, as none of the links are obvious. I have to read the entire text of most of those pages to even find out what I should click, and even then, it's only because my cursor changes when I mouse over some of the words that I even know it's a link. It felt like "ilikebees" all over again.

[ren_pii]

Oh wow... haven't been here in a while... (forgot my password...)

Anyway... I'm sorry that you find it annoying ._.;;;
So... if you were me, what would you do to fix this?

Well... I did actually make a new layout for the month... I'll probably end up changing it again next month... but now that I look at it... it's a kinda blinding at some point... >_> *sigh*

[pigeon-wing]

A new layout? I checked Heart, Mind, and Soul, but it's the same blue layout as before. o.o

[fesworks]

(In advance, Xepher, here is the manga itself: http://educen.comicdish.com/ )


How would I fix it?

ok, this might sound harsh.... really harsh, but don't take this the wronf way but it was very frustrating trying to find where to go.















To make it better, I'd make the very first page the page you have your news and stuff on (at least with an obvious link directly to the work, and not a pop-up window). Having to click through so much is poor site design. People don't want to click through 3 or so "intro" pages. For webcomics, you want the meat and potatoes right up front. If the main course looks good, then they will go for the side of green beans and the glass of milk (i.e. click on the "About" section and such).




just checked... yea, having to search through 6 clicks and 2 pop-up windows makes me feel like I fell into an ad portal of clikery. I had to really search for where I should be clicking on. (i'm talking about that http://heartmindsoul.atspace.com/ )... that splash page is the first that should go. I don't know who really uses them these days anymore.

http://heartmindsoul.atspace.com/main.html

There is not enough information on this page. I can see that you just don;t want to scroll on this page, but it does not really give a sense that the place has any content. I mean, This page is not THAT bad for a personal site set-up (though the entire info box SHOULD be taller to avoid up/down scrolling within itself... page scrolling is MUCH better than scrolling within a box on the page).

hmmm check that a bit more.

yes, definetly needs to be much taller. I shouldn't have to zoom in and scroll when I click on the images. So I do suggest you make that whole box taller, or redesign it into a normal webpage. I've seen this style of site done before... I don;t particularly care for it (sorry pigeon-wing) so part of thise is a boased statement, but still the amount of scrolling and zooming is a annoying.

Also, important, I would make you links to open in the same window (or the parent window if that whole thing is in an iframe). Opening in a new window is very annoying. A rule of thumb is to only open in a new window if it take you away from the site.. there are other acceptable reasons for opening in a new window, but for your purposes, It think you would benefit from having everything open in the parent window. Art and your link to your webmanga. too many pop-ups will drive people away. The only reason I can back is because you asked what you should to to improve it.



So in sumamary of the Heart, Mind, & Soul:
I'd personally dodge the splash page.
Make the main site's box taller to avoid inner scrolling (page scrolling is better)
Avoid opening anything in new windows (asside from the LINKs page)

but for all purposes of a "personal art site" it's not that bad, really.


But to find the webmangq you were talking about, that was the hardest part, and not the best put together.

I just realized that this is the one with 3 different webcomic sites.... so basically http://digital-dust.net/educen/ is an intro website without the webmanga itself.

now the site itself isn;t that bad, but if you intend for http://digital-dust.net/educen/ to be your webmanga site, you should have the latest page ON the MAIN page, if not immediatly on the page that is listed as " MANGA & NOVEL"... which you should split to "MANGA" and "NOVEL".... two seperate links.

I mean, if you do end up getting approved here, you'll have the space to do that instead of linking out to 3 different webcomic sites (which I already think is an incredible odd choice and would almost consider it spamming). But the Manga pages, themselves, should be directly on that MANGA section on your site.

For under your "MANGA & NOVEL" section (which should be split into two sections) you have:
# Read in Novel Site
# Read in FictionPress.com

but when you click on the "Novel Site" it brings you to a pages that also asks if you want to
Read in Novel Site or Read in FictionPress.com
... its redudant.



BTW the Comic Dish seems to the best, and least annoying site to open up, as compared to the other two... If you don;t get approved here.. I'd highly recommend you move your Manga to Comic Genesis (if they allow user HTML pages) and make it look like http://digital-dust.net/educen/ with a comic on the first pages (I think that's a CG rule)



Like I said, I don't mean to sound mean, but you did ask how to fix this, so I'm pulling no punches. (don't go down, punch back!)

but to get to your manga is WAY too much work. Also, if anyone decides to read your manga, they would most likely JUST bookmark the comic site and then never read your main site... because of how you have it set up, makes it less inviting to check multiple pages.




Summary of the Manga site
Split the the Manga and Novel Section

Novel Section
- make the page open up as the HTML version right away, with an option at the top to read it in that other site

Manga Section
- make the current page viewable right away on that page, as well as the archive, on that site.
- or link out your Manga to go to Comic Dish right away. Sorry, but you need to pick one and stay with it for your main site.

Comic dish
- make the site to look like it belongs to the site you are linking it from. You go from a cool red site to an ugly grey site with a ton of "Support ME!!!" buttons at the top.... (these though be nonexistant, or at the bottom)

Head banner
- It looks like an ad. I finally saw the "Educen Bacilius" tiny tiny text on it.... but I thought it was an ad. A Header image for a comic should have a legible and sizable text. It does not need to cover the art on it. I just recommend that you find a cool font and make it at least 5-10 times bigger... and possibly throw in a tagline as well (this is a personal suggestion).


So hopefully I don't sound like a complete asshole right now, but this is what I, myself, would personally do if it were my site. I'm not telling you want to do, and I am not an autority on the subject either. Take from this post what you will, and leave what you won't.

[pigeon-wing]

I don't see anything wrong with splash pages if they have a point. If you want to keep yours, I suggest adding more links to make it more purposeful. You could list webrings, affiliates, fanlistings, etc, as well as a link to Educen Bacillus, since it's a big project of yours and apparently not easily found when navigating your art site. http://ashen-ray.com does this, and I think it works well.

As for your gallery, I would suggest replacing the "

• " links with thumbnails. A preview is nice particularly for those with slow internet connections (like me! x_x) who would rather not waste ages loading a picture they're not sure if they're going to like. I'm also not a big fan of viewing pictures in a small frame. I suggest linking to a full page for the image, like http://auroreblackcat.free.fr/ or having pop-ups, like http://www.tatoomcity.net/  

(I'm not offended, Fes XD I know my layout is bite-sized. I'm currently working on one that's a tad bigger :3)

You're just applying for Heart, Mind, and Soul, right? I won't touch Educen Bacillus if you're not planning on hosting it here. Besides, Fesworks is more knowledgeable than I am about webcomics, and I think he covered everything nicely =3