Template - hoping for layout and structure feedback

[shopkanji]

I’m making a template for a dictionary site I’m working on.

My page I have up and running now is no where near complete, and not all the functions work.

However, I would like advice on content layout and structure.

Don’t complain that its not fully CSS or this or that, it’s just a working file that I’m trying to get look nice before working on making the code immaculate.

http://www.fivecents.biz/phoebe/

Thanks

[toicontien]

o_O The whole content of the page is written using JavaScript!!!??? Big no-no. Get the text written there in HTML first and we'll talk. If anything, just create some mockup text. I'm assuming you're using JS temporarily until you get the databases working and such.

Strictly design-speaking, I have no real complaints. It's plain looking. But functional.

[shopkanji]

I've made several significant changes. The new structure can be found at http://www.fivecents.biz/phoebe/define.php?w=bird

Note: The old link redircts to different page now.

I'm really interested in what everyone thinks about the "More Resources" section. I'm exploring different layout options, groupings, and bringing color into the text. Also, I'm thinking about using the favicon files from the sites next to the links so users will be able to quickly find links if they repeatedly use the service, and it will make the links more "personal" and add some much needed color and style to the page.

What are your thoughts?

[NogDog]

I think I'd like to see the "more resources" put into 2 or 3 columns. Currently I think it makes the page to be too tall, forcing the user to do a lot of scrolling to see it all.

[rapid]

i think the 'more resources' section has more potential and is more useful than the dictionary section. i would think about giving each sub-section equal importance so the site becomes somewhere people go for anything to do with birds/bats/whatevers rather than being a dictionary site that also has 'more resources'.

most web users start with search engines to get to the site they want, even if they already know the address, they still would rather type keywords and then click on the link than type the address. the aim of stepping stone sites like this is to reduce the users dependance on search engines and offer a more focussed service. whereas as a yahoo search for bird might produce 8,000,000 results a search for bird on your site produces info and links that are actually useful. that is what users want, and that is brilliant.

as you said, the site needs some color and style, but id suggest keeping it subtle and not too much of it as the more you add to your site the slower it will download (http://evolt.org/article/10_new_ways_to_speed_up_download_time/20/60294/index.html), which your users wont want because they want results now.

perhaps color-coding for sections, so translation sub-section title has a green background, image sub-section title has an orange background, etc. but keep the main text black on a white background (or atleast very pale) and links blue and underlined as this is an easily recogisable indication of a link.

the index page definitely needs some explanation as first-time users wont know where they are or what to do.

very important, make the define button active so users can just hit 'enter/return' when theyve typed in the word they what info on. atm the enter button takes users in the index page. using enter this way is standard on all forms so users will expect it and get very annoyed if anything unexpected happens.

if you do decide to make it more than a dictionary site you might want to change the name of the buttons to 'go' and 'clear'. if people wanted google search they would have gone to google in the first place, and you give them a link to google search results in the links. stand up for yourself! tell/show them that using your site is a better alternative to google but that you also believe in the internets cooperative spirit and want to provide the best possible service for your users.

the site has loads of potential for advertising as it could be really successful and get loads of hits everyday, but again, beware of download time. perhaps keeping all the adds on the right so they main content can download and be read regardless of whether the adds download before the user clicks on the link they want.

when/if the site grows with more links you could think about having page navigation links at the top of the page to take users directly to the 'search' section or the 'specialty' section. just another addition that makes the site more useful and speeds up the users interaction.

i think you've got a really great site with loads of potential. whereas so many are sites are design lead, yours is usability and usefulness lead, which makes a real differance. keep working on it and i have no doubt it will be brilliantly successful.

[shopkanji]

Thank you everyone for your input so far, and a special thank you to rapid.

I’ve taken to heart your advice and have changed my web site for the better.

I’ve made more specific categories that users can jump down to form the top, that have content divided into columns. (However, I still have some I need to put into columns still – just waiting to add more resources first).

I have developed a better form with the help of these online forums so allow the ENTER key to be used after typing in a value.

I’m wondering what people think now, after all of the updates. Any suggestions on improvements or ideas.

Also, I’m interested in knowing what databases you might think would be of interest to future potential users of my site. I’m trying to make it rich in information links, but not bloated at the same time.

[rapid]

the icons are a great improvement, make finding what you are looking for much easier, however they could do with some alt tags (http://ppewww.ph.gla.ac.uk/~flavell/alt/alt-text.html).

how about your own icons for each of your sections displayed along the top with the text menu and next to the section heading, making the page navigation more visual, easier and quicker.

id also suggest having the jump menu below each section heading along with a 'return to top' link to make navigation even easier (scrolling? what scrolling?!?).

and a site title and logo to give the site some identity (really interested to see what you call the site).

the columns will be/are much better, compressing the layout and resulting in less scrolling for the user.

what are your plans for providing the definition? will you write your own or copy definitions from somewhere else? id think about dropping the definition and just going with links to existing dictionary sites. the advantages are: less work for you, shorter pages for users.

form works much better. so well that you dont notice it, which is as it should be.

if the page navigation is effective and the layout well designed it will take a lot of links before the page gets bloated, just look at Yahoo (http://uk.yahoo.com/), so i wouldnt worry about that too much. could add a thesaurus to the dictionary section, could add links to libraries (http://www.westminster.gov.uk/libraries/gateway/libraries.cfm), history (http://www.realhistories.org.uk/) sites, and museums. could have a calculator, how about some links to weights and measures conversion sites, world market reports, weather reports, maps and routefinders (realise this is getting away from the 'word' focus of the site but it provides more for your visitors), take a look at infoplease (http://www.infoplease.com/) and nlb A-sites (http://www.nlb-online.info/) for inspiration.

good luck with it.

[shopkanji]

I’ve worked a great deal more on the web site, and it’s getting there! EXCITING! Thank you everyone!

I loved the idea of a jumpmenu, and added it to my site, but soon, it was taking up too much space, and so I took advice and used icons to jump down. (And a TOP button to go back up, but not directly to another division from a division, I thought that would be too cluttered).

The language icons are great, but the division icons I’ve implemented are ugly. I’m thinking about commissioning some graphic artist to create some small gif graphics for my site to replace them. If anybody has any ideas where I can recruit somebody to commission, let me know.

I added my name and logo. Phoebe. The reason I went with Phoebe is because of a Greek Titan theme I’m going with. I made an add-on for IE and Firefox Coeus (http://www.fivecents.biz/coeus) (The Titan of Intelligence of Information) a context extension that allows for easy searching of certain databases for any highlighted word. I have a “Search Dictionary” function that used Dictionary.com, but I hate how ugly Dictionary.com is, so I wanted to create my own. Phoebe is Coeus’ “wife”. Coeus works with my new dictionary site, and I will use my dictionary site to try new databases for Coeus and to promote the software. Since they integrate into each other so well, I wanted to name my new Dictionary site Phoebe, even though she is the Titan of the Moon (hence the arc in the logo) and the moon doesn’t have much to do with the dictionary.

Columns have been fully implemented now.

The definition part is now working (which was key, I didn’t want to remove it). I used a special protocol to automatically get my definition from a special public domain dictionary. Websters 1913 is public domain. So I’m not typing them in all by hand, which I agree would be too much trouble.

Thanks everyone for your help with the Forms, I agree, they work very well.

So from here, I think I’m going to pursue finding someone to commission for the icons, and I also need to work on getting all my code valid, and possibly working on a style CSS file. I also need to browse some more to find what other cool and useful databases I can link into. Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

Any other aspects of my site I should look working with?

The site has been moved to http://www.phoebe2.com/

[.netter]

To me, it seems there is too much information on the results page.

If it isn't directly related to the definition asked for them perhaps tab off the other sections such as museum & libraries, multimedia, etc. or create a left nave devoted to the item categories. A white background and left justified text dont sit well. Make the result stand out more... after all, that's what the user asked for.

I noticed that you have hyperlinks to each section, which is good, but the pictures arent descriptive enough as to exactly what the hyperlink does. Instead of graphics, consider using a pleasing font instead.

On the flip side, there is a great deal of potential. Its useful and could be an attractive addon just about any type of website where words are used.

Good Luck!