(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.htmlThere 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.
