Surface Ripple v3

**Andy_Wilson** · 05-07-2007, 08:47 PM

Hello

Been working past few days on the new Surface Ripple. Surface Ripple is aimed at a teen audience and promotes discussion on teen related issues as well as other topics.
This is version 2 http://www.surfaceripple.com which is the previous website I made for surface ripple using phpbb2 however it proved slow and unreliable and eventually lost interest by all my members so I have been working on this new version in vbulletin to hopefully attract some old/new members.
http://armasource.com/surfaceripple/ (testing domain*)

I have imported all posts and users from v2 to v3.

This is also a commercial style (which I do not take credit for) but I have modified it quite a bit (eg the header is totally custom).

Tell me what you think about this version compare to the old one.

REMEMBER* you are reviewing this http://armasource.com/surfaceripple

Andy Wilson

**drewtown** · 05-07-2007, 10:09 PM

I don't really like the color scheme it seems to clash and is hard on the eyes. Also the various forums are very tall making the site super long which can annoy some users with smaller or wide screens. Also you may want to consider adding a front page or portal page to give the site more depth and some extra value.

**Bulevardi** · 05:22 AM

I like orange

it's a fresh design.

**jv16** · 05-08-2007, 06:21 AM

The color theme is a bit on the edge, some might not like it. For me it's not too bright but you should think about changing it a bit.

The header image doesn't look good, it looks like selfmade and quite cheap. It also doesn't blend with the layout very well (notice the bottom edge of the image).

I like the background, very neutral and calm. Please consider removing the animation from "Register". The link is at the very center of the best area of the site, people will see it even without the animation. The animation is just distracting and annoying.

You should tell more on the site what the website is actually about. The " Welcome to the Ripple Teen Community." tells something, but you could add one more sentece.

You should move the random quote to another place. Random quotes can be fun, but I don't think it should be at the very beginning of your site. That kind of hints to me that your website really doesn't have any content and that's not the impression you want to give.

The image with "Private message members" and tons of other texts is very confusing and distracting. It too looks selfmade. The image with the man on the other hand is very good. It gives a sense of personality to the site. If you want to build a good community you should be personal.

The copy needs a heading and you should make the heading look different from the normal text, now the heading (" Welcome to the teen communinty by teens for teens.") doesn't look like a heading at all.

On your copy you should perhaps more highlight what you have to offer, for example, "We already have zz members, come and join us!" or something similar. Not so much as of the features, but the benefits. You should also try to use language that match your target audience. Now I'm not a teen, but as far as I know, teens don't talk like "Meet new friends and find peer support among our forums".

Why does the Recent Topics box have so much date information? Why doesn't it just show the topics of the most recent discussion?

I would also perhaps try to change the layout so the front page wouldn't be so long.

**itscooper** · 11:35 AM

Hi Andy,

When I first read jv16's post I was a bit surprised and confused at the same time because what he was writing seemed to be the opposite of what I was thinking. Then I realised that he was actually describing the old site! Better luck next time JV.

Anyway...

Wow. The header is amazing - I actually cannot fault it. Looks really good. I especially like the animations in the top right hand corner. I think it suits your audience perfectly (bearing in mind I'm at college so I'm not exactly out of your audience myself).

I've run out of time to find anything wrong... and I haven't really found anything. I'll look harder later.

Cheers.

P.S. Please don't add a splash page unless you have a really good reason.

**jv16** · 05-08-2007, 02:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by itscooper

When I first read jv16's post I was a bit surprised and confused at the same time because what he was writing seemed to be the opposite of what I was thinking. Then I realised that he was actually describing the old site! Better luck next time JV.

Oops

Well, here are my thoughts on the correct version this time.

I think the flash animation is bad, it distracts and annoys the user. Even as your site is basically a forum, perhaps you would still need a real front page. Something that tells the new visitors what the site is all about.

I must say the old version had many things I liked better than the new version, a real front page, the photo that made the site look more personal etc.

And the color theme is... still on the edge

**ablaye** · 05-08-2007, 03:07 PM

I don't like the orange. Too girly. Too brite.
The layout also could be improved. You also need more content to attract visitors.
Also, you may want to proof-read the text on your site like "Welcome to the teen communinty by teens "
You mispelled "community"

**Andy_Wilson** · 05-08-2007, 06:03 PM

wow thanks for the response! Ok Im sorry I need to say but its
http://armasource.com/surfaceripple I need reviews and suggestions for not surfaceripple.com
But thanks for those who commented on the old site! I'll try to apply some of the concepts mentioned to my new design.

@Jv16- I was considering setting the animation to run once and perhaps morph into some text; perhaps the traditional 'by teens for teens' slogan.
- I am planning on creating a front page for this new site but I am not sure what to include on it. I am very tempted to create an animation perhaps only 10-20 seconds long, similar to the animations displayed on the forum home page (right corner)but more dramatic including a collage of fast paced scenes of sport and teen life and finally morphing into the logo image. This would give the animations on the forum home page some purpose. Dunno whether this is too far though or just to keep it clean and simple.

- Ive had a small number of comments about the colour theme but so far the theme amongst some of the members I have shown the site to has been plus.

Also @ Drewtown - The super long forum list is an issue I need to sort out, I know what you mean

Thanks for the + itscooper and thanks for the advice so far

Andy

**itscooper** · 05-09-2007, 07:58 AM

Hi again.

OK... I usually try to avoid animations myself as they can a bit of a dangerous area.

For me personally, any I animations I make follow these guidleines:

Consistancy: Not putting different random animations on each page with different styles or positions. If an animation (or a series of animations) is on more than one page, then put it in the same place each time. When things always behave the same, users don't have to worry about what will happen.
Don't advertise with it! Internet users develop 'Animation Avoidance' of moving things that are trying to sell them something.
Don't use flash when an image will do. GIFs do (of course) suppoort animations; so for simple clips requiring no interaction, these are much more user friendly as they load quicker and don't require any browser plugins.

For these reasons I don't really have a problem with your animations as they are consistant to each page and are not being used to advertise. Although, I do think that a GIF animation could be more suitable.

Other than that I think they add a nice touch to the site.

I agree that a kind of homepage, as opposed to the forum index, would be a good idea. However, I think having another animation running at the same time as the other one could be annoying (and not all that nesessary).

Personally, I like the colour scheme.

Cheers.

**wll6568** · 05-09-2007, 11:03 AM

Nice site~

**Johnboat** · 05-09-2007, 11:30 AM

Hey my first post here! Woot! Anyway the new design is 100% better than the old design. I would recommend making the text color for the main top menu darker, maybe not black but dark gray. The white shows up fine but it is on the light side. Same with the logo to. Other than that it looks pretty decent.

**Andy_Wilson** · 05-10-2007, 10:36 AM

cheers thanks,
@itscooper - yeah totally agree with those points. However I was just considering making a totally separate page for the homepage without the header (and animation in the top right corner), so therefore there'd only be one animation. The vbulletin portal system is too much for me atm need to save so I need to make my own custom portal

**higgylm** · 05-10-2007, 12:26 PM

well i have to say there must be something wrong because apparently i am banned yet i have never visited the site until now???

**loganeast** · 05-10-2007, 01:08 PM

I really liked the site. I thought the layout definitely works. The long forum list is a little tedious and the empty forums seem to be up top. You'd be better off having the forums people are actually posting to up top. The color scheme is a little feminine, but that's fine for your target audience I think. Teenagers are a little more accepting of stuff like that. I wouldn't suggest those colors on a football web site though.

But I thought everything worked just fine and looked good.

Excellent work.

**Andy_Wilson** · 05-10-2007, 01:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by higgylm

well i have to say there must be something wrong because apparently i am banned yet i have never visited the site until now???

lol yeah saw u coming mate thought i must ban u quickly

ur probably behind a proxy or something.

Quote:

Originally Posted by loganeast

I really liked the site. I thought the layout definitely works. The long forum list is a little tedious and the empty forums seem to be up top. You'd be better off having the forums people are actually posting to up top. The color scheme is a little feminine, but that's fine for your target audience I think. Teenagers are a little more accepting of stuff like that. I wouldn't suggest those colors on a football web site though.

But I thought everything worked just fine and looked good.

Excellent work.

Yeah the forum is not official and so cant populate forum boards yet as there is no members to do so.
Personally I see the style as multisex from a teen point of view (yellows - la feminine, blues - masculine

). Also we need to stand out from the competition as almost every single teen website you will find is in a blue (or some shade of blue) colour.

Andy

**mackaltman** · 05-10-2007, 02:25 PM

IMO you need more for teens to be interested in. Here's a hint we love shopping, listening to music, talking about newest fashions, and talking nonstop. Basically, it needs to be more teen targeted. Right now it looks like its trying to be the best designed forum, which I could careless about.

**Andy_Wilson** · 05-10-2007, 03:19 PM

well unfortunately u would care less if it was a white page with a few links and a banner. If the forum has life so do its members so its all about the design and content

So how can I make it more targeted?

**rayofshadow** · 05-10-2007, 03:46 PM

1. The foter text is broken in ie 7 (not check in another browser yet)
2. Where is the rigt border (black color)?
3. left bottom area empty?? why not put someting there?
4. orange.. to girly like @ablaye

**Cheshire_cat** · 05-10-2007, 05:09 PM

The new one is much better than the old one I think. You know it’s a forum right away.

**itscooper** · 05-10-2007, 07:36 PM

Hi again,

I guess the colour scheme is a personal thing. Probably depends where you come from what colours are stereotypically liked by teenagers.

I think it looks fairly modern and unisex myself - but maybe that's just me. To be honest, I