Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Hey mates, just joined SuN not too long ago and I`m really liking the community here.  I`d would really appreciate it if I could get some feed back on my latest project:  Take This Thought 

Take This Thought is based heavily on the model of Digg and it is a community for sharing one`s thoughts and ideas, no matter how eccentric or mundane.  It uses a Digg-style voting system to keep the front page from being cluttered with every thought.  Thoughts are bumped to the front page as soon as another user votes on it.

It`s still a young community as can be seen, but I plan on reading the forums here a lot for ideas on how to advertise and just get the word out there.

There are a few site features I have in the works and I had them up for a little bit but things weren`t working completely correctly so I took them out of the production site.  Things such as image upload and flashy lightbox effects for images.

The graphics in the design are made by myself, I decided to go with a simple and fresh look with a calm undertone.

Thanks for your time and I`m looking forward to your Thoughts :D


Take This Thought


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Take This Thought

I checked it out but I didn`t think it was clear what I was supposed to do once I got there. 

The colors are too light for my tastes, and I can`t figure out what makes some of the entries indented.

And that`s all I can think of, for now.

It looks like a tribute to UNC-Chapel Hill. What`s with all the Carolina Blue?
(Go Tarheels, btw. I`m opening my third office in Chapel Hill; beautiful part of the world).

Other than that, iIfound the design entirely non-appealing. I was on the site for maybe 12 seconds. Not good.

You need to look around for something called
    `Take This Website Design Course`.

Besides, if Digg works, who needs something else? Sounds pretty `me, too` to me.

Thanks for the feedback guys.  I was doing some latenight editting last night and thus didn`t fully check through my site.  What was working fine in Firefox, well... in IE7 90% of the page was commented out.  :(  This happened from me taking out some of the unneeded code.  So if you checked it with IE7, pretty please give it another chance?  :D  It`s working now I swear.

Also, yes, the system is based on Digg, but it is in no way a competitor with Digg as a lot of other `local` Digg-clones.  Digg is for sharing entertaining links and sometimes actual news.  This is people sharing their thoughts.  It`s not the links that`s the main content, it`s the users themselves.

So any advice on what I should do with the design?  What was non-appealing about it?  Is it the blue-ness of it?  The minimalism?

Looking forward to hearing more.  Thanks for pointing out the oddities nhgnikole.


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Take This Thought

You do have a color problem.  It is much too monochromatic and too many light values.  Digg uses color theory very well for a text-based, minimalistic site (blue for headlines, black for body text, red for time stamp, yellow for ratings, etc.)  You should think along those lines but don`t make it look like Digg.

It took me a while to figure out the TTT image.  It doesn`t read as three T`s and you don`t use it anywhere for a logo.  I personally am not a fan of that image.

The gradated diagonal line pattern at the top is hard on the eyes.  I personally don`t like it and think it makes the site look dated (that`s so 2006).  And while we are in the header, it is much to spacious, especially vertically meaning there is too much empty space between the name of the site and the content below.  People with smaller browser windows will be scrolling just to see anything.

That reminds me that I think you categories are way too far down on the page.  They should be featured more near the top so people can start browsing.

Otherwise I think the concept of the site is interesting.  It`s not my cup of tea but I can see this thing hitting an audience.  It`s a decent start but you should polish up the presentation more.

And I too don`t get why some entries are indented and others are not.

[quote]And I too don`t get why some entries are indented and others are not.[/quote]

Hmm, that`s odd.  Is this showing up in IE6?  I only have IE7 so I haven`t checked the site in IE6 recently.
If you`re talking about the comments under the Thoughts though, that`s because it`s a threaded comment system, so you can reply directly under a first level comment so even if there are others who have replied before you, you can hop up above them and reply to the relevant comment.


If it`s the stories themselves that are indented, do you mean on the front pages?  If it`s the summaries then I really need to pour through the code to find the cause.

Also, thanks for the feedback about the design and the layout  :D  I`ll see what I can come up with to improve the points you made.


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Take This Thought

I`m on FireFox 1.x, and also think the colors are too hard to read. At least for me they are, as with there being little contrast, I had no idea what half the text was saying.

Because this is a critique, I took some time and tried to focus in a bit more. I`d like to see a tagline at the top, just to the right or below the "Take This Thought" heading, that quickly summarizes what`s the point or purpose of the site.

I`d then like to see a tab for "About us," that offers some content explaining the basis for the site, how it came to be, and offers some personal interaction with you, the owner. In other words, move the "What is T3?" to a tab that doesn`t use "code" (the acronym). I missed it totally because I have no reason to shorten the "Take This Thought" into "T3" in the first place. Y`know?

Startup Nation (SuN) begins with a lot of content, clearly focused on the process of being an enterpreneur. AFTER people get the concept, read some of the articles, and peruse the site, THEN they go to the forums and see the dynamic interaction.

"Take this Thought" has no "grabber," so to speak. There`s nothing that intrigues me, gets me thinking, and gets me wondering, `How can I get involved in what`s going on here?` See?

Just so you know, I`m using FireFox 2 on a Mac.  The indented entries that I see are not a discussion of the same thought.  On the homepage, I currently see the "Universal Keyboard" entry indented below "Doorway + Plexiglass".

Anyways, Craig makes some good points about not understanding what the site is about.  A tagline is a great idea under the title as well as a more prominent "What is Take This Thought?" link or tab or whatever.  (I say lose the "T3" acronym as well.)  In fact, I would just explain what it is without a link.  Put the short paragraph you already have about it on the homepage.  Then you could have another link for the FAQs and terms & conditions, etc.

One more thing, why do you have a "home" button on your homepage?