Beat Up WebWord!
Here is your chance, folks! Provide me with a list of things you can’t stand about WebWord, PostNuke, the fonts, the layout, and so forth. I’ve been generating my own list of things to fix, but I want you r advice. I’ll do what I can to make this a better site for all. Wink, wink, nudge, nudge. Post your comments!
March 13th, 2004 at 7:28 am
Restore the font size to WebWord’s original state. I could care less about tweaking anything else. I just want the site easily readable, both when my eyes are 16 inches from my monitor, and when I’m lying back in my chair. Start with a decent font size, and let IE resize it.
March 13th, 2004 at 9:50 am
I agree with the previous post. By the way, I like the design. Just please make the text size relative so at least I can turn the font size larger.
After all some of us HFErs are getting up in years now. This small font size kinda sucks!
March 13th, 2004 at 9:54 am
I am pleased that you can now create an account and login. More feedback to come with further use :)
March 13th, 2004 at 9:55 am
Oh … would be cool if you could subscribe to be notified of when new articles get posted to webword.
March 13th, 2004 at 12:25 pm
Put all of the navigation and critical info in the left column. I’m logged in now, so I can’t check, but I vaguely recall the login prompt being on the right side. Why?
In fact, remove all of the right column content. It’s useless to anyone who has looked at the front page.
I know Jacob says the search box should be at upper right, but it belongs with your primary navigation. Stick it in the left column as well.
On the front page, in the table displaying an article link, there are three rows. Use only one row. Better yet, remove the table border completely.
Remove the “print this article” and “e-mail this article” icons. Put them on the article detail page. And don’t use icons, spell them out in English. Those icons don’t mean squat — you have to click them to figure out what they do. They are a distraction. In day-to-day use I only want to know how to read the article, and read/post comments. Everything else is hooey.
Make the article names link to the articles like WebWord used to. Then remove the “Read more” links. They’re redundant for sighted users and annoying as hell to visually impaired users.
I didn’t have to think when reading WebWord. Now I do. I hate that.
March 13th, 2004 at 12:44 pm
Hiding the comments from people who aren’t logged in seems self-defeating… one reason I register with sites is because I like the conversation and I want to join in. I registered with Webword simply because I trust you and the readers of the old site, but a stranger who can’t read the comments (or even see the names of the posters) might not be attracted.
Further, I’d prefer to be able to use my full name as a login ID. After the common surnames are taken, we’re going to look like teenagers taking user names like “UzaBillyT23″ or whatever.
I’d like to repeat what others have said about the font. The new design is much busier; the old design was more open, and, in my opinion, more inviting. FYI.
March 13th, 2004 at 4:06 pm
I read webword for the commentary. We’ve had great discussions in the past and I hope there will be many more to come. How about making it easier to find the discussions (links to most recent comments, etc).
And what’s up with the tiny, non-resizeable fonts? Trying to keep seniors away? ;)
March 13th, 2004 at 5:34 pm
Don’t thread messages. Every extra click to see comments kills the conversation. WebWord was great because everything (for a given posting) was readable on one page.
Likewise, right now, people are only replying to the parent on this topic, so there are no threads. Get rid of the numerous “Reply to this” links. They are redundant, and there’s a ton of extra white space around them.
March 14th, 2004 at 10:13 am
In a nut shell: make this software look like the old WebWord. It was simple and easy to use. The new version has needless distraction.
March 15th, 2004 at 11:38 am
The most important thing is to get the discussions going again…
March 16th, 2004 at 8:15 am
I keep clicking on the post’s header link thinking I will go to the story, and clicking on the Read More… link thinking it will take me to the full post/comments view.
Probably just me, but I just don’t seem to be learning it very quickly.
And one more vote for a font size change change.
Also, in response to Ron’s request to start the discussions again: No it’s not, neener-neener.
Just insighting conversation.;)
March 16th, 2004 at 10:10 am
Yes it is! Dare I hit you with the dread triple-neener? ;)
Seriously though - I’ve said it before, posting news is of little value or no value without discussion about it. Just posting the “news” helps authors to get to a larger audience and gives them more credibility, which is sometimes their sole intent. Second, it helps readers to bias their viewpoints, knowledge, etc by giving a large amount of unqualified information which readers will attend to with confirmation bias, reinforcing their current viewpoints and blinding them to others. Anyone can create a website that just links to others’ articles.
March 17th, 2004 at 4:23 am
Hi John, upon submitting a web link received the following message “Bad arguments for API function” Can add to the list of bugs ;)
rgds, Daniel (webwordee)
March 18th, 2004 at 11:43 am
I’ll save the beating up for later. For now, I’m just glad you’re back! The old site was becoming a piece of Internet junk, frozen at Sept. 30 - spooky!
I was amused by the registration. Congratulations for being one of the few forms that don’t destroy data entered when there is a problem. I tried to be a wise guy and not check the box saying that I would abide by the terms, since I knew that would be required, and I was pleasantly surprised that my data survived.
Webword was the best usability discussion resource that I had found on the Internet, and I really missed it. Thanks for bringing it back to life.
March 23rd, 2004 at 10:03 am
Thanks for publishing all the old articles.
Will the old discussions re-appear?
If not, then would you mind if I re-published them on my webword stats site so that all my links work.
Can I think about producing a new webword stats site?
Please lose the threaded discussions. They drive me round the bend!
December 29th, 2006 at 9:26 am
It was good to meet you at Word on the Street on Sunday, Jim. I’m really getting into the book now, especially now the defilement has dried properly.