Everyone loves a nice pretty website. The design pops on the screen and it invites you to settle in and enjoy the experience.  Often designers and/or their clients take two approaches to catch the viewers eye:  some choose sleek minimal ideas and others go hog wild with bright colors, animations and a deluge of information.  Many times the result ends up being too extreme in either direction and the poor web surfer is given a case of eye poisoning, but that is not the only issue to contend with.  There are articles that address similar things strewn about the net, but apparently their are not enough.  So, here are a few reasons why some people think your site is evil.

1.    Videos that autoplay

Contrary to popular belief, the entirety of the internet community is not on a connection bulky enough to accommodate the downloading of high definition video.   That aside, folks hate when you have some advertisement laden video that wants to skip and buffer kick up when they go to your website.  I NEVER return to sites that do this. I had to once to pay a bill and went to the mobile version instead.  I will hold onto those grudges forever.

2. Advertisement overkill

Let’s say someone really, really wants to read your article, but they can’t find the damn thing.  You get upset because after that first surge in advertisement revenue it dwindles down to nothing because your audience became fed up with playing hide and seek with your content.  Guess what, there are plenty of other places to find similar content that aren’t covered in crap.  Some ads are understandable, but don’t make your place into an advertisement minefield.

3. Your code sucks

Yes, your website is very, very pretty . . . 3 days later when it finally loads because your code is jacked up.  This problem may have been one of the reasons that RSS is where it is today.  I read tons of webcomics, many only by feed reader because it takes 5-10 minutes for the comic to even load on the website.  This is mostly separate from the problem with connection speeds because crap code slows your load time no matter what.  There are some websites I will never see the full page for because I just gave up while it was thinking. There are tons of free validators out and plenty of people willing to help you clean the mess up (myself included). With all that gunk, how would you even notice if there was malware thrown in there?

4. It has an ugly, non-matching, gross, pastel/neon/tacky color scheme

People can’t buy what you are selling if they cannot see.

5. You pester the reader to do something

It is cool and all that you want the reader to come back. Nagging is not cool. You cannot make someone subscribe to your content by bullying.  I am not going to join anything if you tell me to eight times on the main page.  Things like little unobnoxious  share buttons on posts are fine.  Don’t beat the reader over the head with the fact that you have an e-book every paragraph.

6. Something on the page is blinking

Just last week I saw a site that had some blinking marquee. I wanted the webmaster (because I know that is what that person calls themselves. I am sure they still wear Izod and have a big collection of cassette tapes lying next to their original Walkman. )

7. Navigation to nowhere

Honestly if you are still working on your site that is fine. But if you are trying to provide someone a service and they have to click through enough links to fill a novel, someone else will be much happier to help them out. No one should need a GPS to find your contact information

8. Extreme minimalism

There needs to be more than just your domain, a jpg, and a copyright. At least one link or sentence should be there to give the readers something to go buy.

9. You try and trick the visitor with a bait and switch

If I can’t just read your article, why am I here? Why do I have to sign up to pay for something to get one little tidbit of information that you could provide free without damaging your drive for revenue? At least throw out an excerpt or summary.  3 links ago there was no obligation to pay, there could at least be a disclaimer somewhere else on your site.

10. Useless back button

I cannot directly vouch for anyone else’s level of annoyance at a website that just reloads when you try to navigate back to the one you were on before it, but it irritates me immensely.  It insults me when a page decides I am not allowed to go back the way I came in.  Subconsciously you have associated your site with a little kid holding a glass door closed from the other side. Good job.

11. Resizing windows

Hire somebody who knows how to design a website that is standard size.  It is not that hard.

12. Music that autoplays

Resource-wise, it is not as bad as the videos.  We still hate it. The mute/stop buttons are usually not very responsive and frankly nobody asked you to be their DJ for the evening.

13. Tons of flash/flood of ajax

Netbooks are quite popular. Netbooks do not play nice with a pile of flash. Not unlike many people that will stop by your site, my old notebook wheezes in pain anytime I get to a site with this.  Even with browsers that are better equipped to handle the onslaught some computers just freeze at the thought of loading these pages.

14. You still have the same webpage from 1990

People will not be sure your company/product is still relevant if it looks like it predates their teenage children.

…

There is a way to avoid all of these pitfalls and give your user base a great experience. It shocks me that there are enough of these sites still around that have all of these problems when there are loads of talented designers and programmers out there who would not stand for this nonsense. Be considerate to your customers and realize that your site is supposed to help them, not drive them away.

Listen to Episode 92 – Time Management

Be sure to check out our TalkShoe page for Aftershow Recordings!  Also, please visit Our Forum for additional discussion!

On SATURDAY, October 3rd, starting at 10am Eastern USA, we’ll be broadcasting our 24 Hour Comics Day, 24 Hour Broadcast! (see schedule)

Listen to Episode 91 – “Webseries-es!”

Be sure to check out our TalkShoe page for Aftershow Recordings! Also, please visit Our Forum for additional discussion!

ALSO!

24 Hour Comics Day News:
? 24 Hour Comics Day is on the 3rd of October. Will you be participating? The Webcomic Beacon will be! We’ll be doing a 24 hour LIVE broacast! (See here for more details!)
? Tell us your favorite episodes of The Webcomic Beacon AND The Gigcast in our forum! We plan to rebroadcast some classics!

For more information on the Webcomic Reader or to find out how you can use the reader for your own webcomic, contact the creator (work for hire) at:  blankitreader@gmail.com

Listen to The Webcomic Beacon -  Episode #90

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!:
On Sunday, September 20th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing:
The Online Internet Webcomic Show!

Convention Links: Penguicon, Fallcon, Thing!, Nekocon, Otakon, Dragoncon, PAX, Midwest Furfest, Anime Conventions

Listen to Webcomic Beacon Episode #89 -
Conventions! (Again!)

Don’t forget we broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe! Come back on Sunday, September 13th @3pm Eastern for out next episode!

Listen to Webcomic Beacon Episode #88 – Impressions & Call-ins!

Don’t forget we broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe! Come back on Sunday, September 6th @3pm Eastern for out next episode!

Listen to The Webcomic Beacon Episode 87:
“Femme Fatales”.

This week’s episode is sponsored by Divis Morte.

Don’t forget we broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe! On Sunday, August 23rd, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be GONE!  … but come back on the FOLLOWING Sunday, August 30th!

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, August 16th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “Femme Fatals” with Sean of Spying with Lana.

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, August 9th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “SIMS Comics and Homelessness” with Robin of Alice and Kev.

Philip Brown (Yosh!) joins Fes, Tanya, and Mark to discuss his comic, catgirls, magic, parallel realities in comics, and tangents. Philip also drew the cover for this week. See the full sized version, as well as other arts, in our covers and fanarts section!

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, August 2nd, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “Editorial Comics” with Elissa of Girl vs Robot (previously postponed, this is the reschedule).

Listen to Webcomic Beacon #82 – Multilingualizing Your Webcomic

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, July 12th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing: “Editorial Comics” with Elissa of Girl vs Robot.

Font resources discussed, include: Your Fonts custom font creator tool, Ninja Lettering, High-Logic FontCreator, ComicCraft, Blambot, 1001 Free Fonts, Darwinatrix, and identifont.

We broadcast our episodes LIVE on TalkShoe!: On Sunday, July 5th, @ 3pm Eastern, We’ll be discussing “Multi-lingual Webcomics and Webcomicking”.

I also am showing the trailer from a Robotech fan film that I am doing voices for. (Not the live action one, this is a CG one made by some hard core fans.)

Here is the link to my bio on their site.  My voice actor friends Kyle Hebert and Julie Rei Goldstein will be there also.

If you are a Geek Media fan, come say hi to me at the convention – I plan to be wearing my movie Speed Racer costume for at least one of the days.

Does this mean Steve Racer is finally making it in Hollywood? Time will only tell…

That one guy,

Zack

Title: Lego Batman: The Videogame

Price: $29.99

System(s): DS (PSP, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360, PC, Wii)

Release Date: September 23, 2008

Publisher (Developer): Warner Home Video Games

ESRB Rating: “Everyone 10+” for mild cartoon violence.

Pros: More fun the longer you play, plenty of collectibles, multiplayer mode, well-executed 3D environments and cute story.

Cons: Does not follow the plot of any Batman movie, a bit slow in the beginning, repetitive puzzles and a fatal revival glitch in Free Play Mode.

Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 81/100; B-; * * * out of five.

Taking a huge hint from the success of the Lego Star Wars and Lego Indiana Jones games, Warner Bros. has converted yet another an iconic character book hero into colored pegs to star in a video game.

Like its predecessors, Lego Batman has plenty of puzzles and pegs to collect but it takes a while before the action kicks in. Otherwise, it’s the familiar peg-collecting, object destroying extravaganza we’ve come to enjoy from a Lego action game.

Piece by Piece

Unlike the Lego-based predecessors, this doesn’t have any relation to a film. Instead, it’s a new story with cut scenes that play out as comic book panels drawn in the Lego art style.

The game is a mix of 3D platforming, puzzle solving and action where you break various objects into their core pegs to then re-construct to move all of your characters through the level. Although the story mode of the game focuses on Batman and Robin, you also get to play the entire game as a pair of nefarious characters.

Each character has unique attributes, primary and secondary weapons and boost including: grappling hooks, double jump, shaft shimmying, single- and double-barreled guns, freeze ray (guess who has that), bombs, super strength, Batrangs, headbutting attack and more. Some characters can swap outfits to perform different actions. In the Story Mode, you’ll need to frequently trade between characters to solve puzzles to progress through levels.

After being completed in Story Mode, each level is then playable as a Free Play mode with a group of characters – including a custom built character from unlocked characters’ parts – so you’ll be able to use a wider array of skills to find more items hidden throughout each level.

In each game you collect individual Lego pegs which can then be cashed in for game hints, playable characters and minigames. You also collect special red pegs, cards, coins and canisters that unlock addition items.

Click! Bam! Clack!

Lego Batman starts out a little slower than the other Lego action games and doesn’t have the extra layer of humor that being based on a known story can offer.

Whereas the Lego Star Wars games were filled with action, Lego Batman contains more puzzles, most of which follow the same basic pattern: You get to a point where only one character can progress and then you must a) break or move something that spills pegs that you b) reconstruct to create either a lever or a switch that you c) activate to spill more pegs and repeat previous steps until all characters are able to move on. Breaking objects and performing the same puzzles is fun for only so long (although there is a certain clever irony in smashing plants wile playing as Poison Ivy).

The main story mode is the game’s weakest feature and does grow in tedium until you about half way through the story. Then a driving level and few extra platformer tasks (eg. avoiding deadly lasers) are tossed in to break things up (pun partially intended). Granted, the Batmobile levels are too dark and narrow on the DS, making them more about repetition than skill although they are still a welcome change of pace.

The game’s real fun is in the Free Play levels where you flip between a group of eight multi-talented heroes and villains (yes, together) and can better enjoy the wide array of abilities and unlock all the weird areas in each level.

Although it doesn’t have a movie behind it, Lego Batman does have the advantage of having the custom character option from the start (playable in Free Roam mode), more extras, more villains and more character diversity than those other Lego games. I would like to have seen more variation in the levels but, for a small-screen handhold system the 3D environments are impressive.

The one glitch I did find in the Free Play mode was that if you you switch to a character that cannot walk on a toxic area while on a toxic area, they will eternally regenerate and re-die on the toxic area, forcing a system reset. On the other hand, the AI will sometimes swap to the best character to progress, so you skip some of the annoying puzzle and will often have twin characters on screen.

Holy Colored BatBlocks!

Aside from the few claustrophobic driving levels, the Story Mode is the weakest part of the game not because of the actual story – which is kinda cute – but due to the repetitive puzzles and relative lack of action as compared to the other Lego-themed games. Thankfully, Lego Batman gets better the longer you play and, the more you unlock, the more there is to enjoy. Keep that in mind if you do give this a try since it can take a while to get into the game’s Lego-shaped groove.

Site [Lego Batman] Read [Gamertell]

Full Story » | Written by PJ Hruschak for Gamertell. | Comment on this Article »

The Great Space Race is the story of a rally competition in space! Captain Kaz Collins and his crew, consisting of a hot android navigator and a mole-like engineer, must win the race or face certain doom! Well, not exactly, but then Kaz won’t get his inheritance! What a bummer! They face aliens, hackers, alien-hackers, hot android alien-hackers, and an over amorous Step-mother! Don’t miss it!

The preliminary deck, Deck Zero, includes characters from Chooken, Prepare to Die, Roomies, Sarah Zero, Stridsparters, and War of Winds; had been out for several weeks. The games official launch decks, Alpha and Beta, are currently available for presale and will ship in October. Webcomics in these decks include NSTA, Ardra, P.S.I., The Best of What’s Left, Unamused Comics, and the 2nd and 3rd place Jenny Everywhere contest winners.

People who pre-order BOTH the Alpha and Beta decks, will get a bonus card, The Kitten of Chaos!

In addition to this news, the newly added Geek Media Affiliate, The Jenny Everywhere Shifter Archive, will be having a drawing to give away FIVE (5) of the promotional, Ultra Rare Jenny Everywhere card. The card, drawn by Benj Christensen, will never be available in any deck, nor any booster pack. To enter the drawing, Just send an e-mail to TheShifterArchive@gmail.com with “WAGON DRAWING” in the subject. Include only your first name and mailing city within the e-mail. (Used only for this drawing, no hidden mailing list signup.) Winners, chosen at complete random, will be mailed the rare card when the Alpha and Beta decks are mailed.

With NINE entrees, there is quite a variety to pick from! Nut only THREE may win! Good odds actually. The top three voted will earn a place in the WAGON Webcomic Battle Trading Card Game, as the “official” Jenny Everywhere Character Cards for the game. First place earns an promotional/rare card status.

CLICK to VOTE!

Click to see results!

Voting ends Sunday Morning on the 27th at 12:01 am -6 GMT DST. Winners will be announced on The Webcomic Beacon podcast and website.

This contest was a join effort between both WAGON Webcomic Battle and The Shifter Archive; and has been presented by The Webcomic Beacon, an affiliate of The Geek Media.

Amazon.com is currently accepting pre-orders for Iron Man and lists the title as being offered in three different versions – a Two-Disc Special Collector’s Edition, a Special Collector’s Edition Blu-ray Disc and a Single-Disc Edition.

Marvel Studios will pass out a flash drive containing a sneak peek of the DVD at its Comic-Con booth this week.

Source: Video Business