The Lovinity Community+

[xanaftp]

Site URL: https://lovinity.org
Date Opened: March 11, 2016
Review Type: Newbie Review
Extra Notes: Constructive and specific criticism only. If you dislike something about the website, please be specific and suggest an alternative that you think would be better if you can. For example, I prefer if you didn't just say "Your rules are extremely strict." Instead, I'd prefer a response such as "Your rules are strict, specifically X Y and Z rule. I think it would be better if (describe)." Those responses are 10x more helpful for me.

Two aspects I'd like covered for the Newbie review: First impressions (specifically in terms of attracting new members to the website) & Professionalism (specifically... how well have I constructed the rules / disciplinary system [https://lovinity.org/rules.htm], Terms of Service [https://lovinity.org/tos.htm], and Privacy Policy [https://lovinity.org/privacy.htm]?)

Thank you 🙂

 

[Kaynil]

Your Review is In Progress!​

---

Thank you for requesting feedback. I have tagged your thread and will finish an official Newbie Review within at most 48 hours. In the meantime, you will receive informal feedback from other reviewers and members at Forum Promotion. Once your official basic review is completed, you will be free to ask questions and receive feedback so long as your website remains open. You will also be able to request a re-review 7 days after this Basic Review is completed.

 

[Kaynil]

I apologise for the delay.

---

Basic Review of The Lovinity Community+
https://lovinity.org/
Review by Kaynil​

---

First Impressions:
You wanted me to focus on how to gain members, so as tangential as it might seem, I think it is important I tell you my thoughts regarding the first things I saw when I clicked your link. You also asked for specific feedback to my observations, so I might expand in my observations to include what I'd probably do.

As a first timer, in general, I felt it was thrown a lot of information before I even got to see the forum itself. I feel there is a lot of scrolling and the features that could help reduce space are being used for other things instead. For instance "our main features" in the scrolling division instead of "testimonials". "Our solutions" could easily be merged with "why choose us?"

Now let's return to the top of your site and talk about what I found there. This is my first impression:

Personally, I find cool to have those adapting header banners, but in this case, my screen resolution is bigger than the banner background. So I just have white covering the right side. The text while centred in my screen seems to be out of the centre in relation to the background. It becomes very easy to miss the "our Mission" header and the explanation beneath it. Definitely not a good impression. Posible solutions would be restricting the height of that segment of the site after a certain resolution size is reached so that header doesn't take most of the page and replacing the hearts and sparks background with a tiled one that can be repeated horizontally and vertically as needed.

With that said, I find odd the welcoming text is set in a rotating news panel. It is awkward when we can see the arrows and even click them and there is not information. If it's just that item, I think you'd be better without it.

You have your heart-loop logo to the top left. It links exactly to the page I am seeing. The same thing occurs with the first link of your top menu. I recommend getting rid of both them. Add links to the gallery, polls etc. if you want more items on the menu.

Moving to your community. You have two areas that seem to serve the same purpose: off-topic and General chat. Consider ditching off-topic and just moving the general chat to its spot.

In broad terms, I believe the reason you are having trouble to attract new members is because in general the new visitors that are not used to TLC+ can easily get disoriented and decide to leave. I think simplifying the landing page, having the menu in the traditional order (Home - Forum - members - ... - Help) and continuing to add interesting topics in zones they can read will help that first impression and entice visitors to create their own account.

Average

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Spelling, Grammar & Professionalism:
You asked me to focus on your terms and conditions so this section will be dedicated to them.

Straight off the bat, I can see you mean business. I am greeted by a table of content and no doubt you guys wanted to be ready for any situation. It is probably one of the most complete sets I've seen so far in a community, especially one that seems to be relatively new.

I really like the way you easily show different rules with icons to illustrate them. I think that since your other documents explain better many items from your rules, you could get away simplifying the rules page a little.

I'd use anchors in the ToS and privacy clauses that are related to the imaged-rules and have a link directly to them through a (learn more) or something similar in the text. For example, the COPPA rule could have a link that loads the privacy page right on this section. This would tie your documents together and mitigate the feeling that we're reading repeated information.

The only errors I could notice were:

• In your TOS 2.1.d I think there is an unnecessary period between the word "via" and "a web"
• 8.27c talks about the clause 8.17b, I believe this si a typo meant to say 8.27b.

Other than that I couldn't spot any mistake that could undermine the professionalism in your documents. I think everything is very well explained and your grammar, spelling and vocabulary are excellent as far as I could see.

Excellent

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The thing you liked best about the forum: The radio.
The thing you liked least about the forum: That red background breaking the style.

---

Overall Mark:

Although simple looking, this web has a lot of effort and thought poured into it. It is difficult to nail everything when we're starting ambitious projects and even when we do, we have to keep adapting to remain fresh. There are definitely areas you can improve to make the community look more appealing and I hope my review can help spark some ideas or bring issues that might not have been brought up before.​

 

[xanaftp]

Thank you for the very thorough review. Prior to the review, I was actually in the process of brainstorming a new landing page. This landing page is unfortunately fairly new, but it's giving me much more problems than I really wanted it to. So I may choose to use a different landing page construction tool instead. The one I'm using now is Grav (flat file CMS). Do you have any recommendations of good tools I can use to build efficient landing pages?

...or do you even think I should make a landing page separate from the main site? Do you think it should instead be similar to how, say, https://journal.lovinity.org looks, which is basically a landing page inside the same CMS?

Hmm I had somehow forgotten about that off topic forum. I agree and I'll merge them.

I'm not very familiar with traditional menu orders honestly. Mind I ask for more information about that? Also, is having two menus (top being for each section / subdomain of the website, bottom being specific to the section you're currently in) any problem at all? I just want to be sure because I'm still trying to think of a better way to handle that if there is one.

I have to be very cautious though about what I allow guests to be able to see, given the nature of this website. Anything a guest sees a search engine can index. And I take user privacy very seriously on the community. What forums would you recommend being visible to guests?

Noted about simplifying the rules page. You have a point, especially since the rules page is what users see upon joining. It probably should be the shortest / quickest document in terms of the regulations of the website. Would you recommend me separating the rules and the disciplinary system into two different pages?

I do like the idea of anchoring. I'll make a note of that. But what do you mean exactly by "loads the privacy page right on this section"? Are you talking like when you click the COPPA rule, the privacy page will load on an overlay / shadowbox screen on the page? If so, I can do that.

Ah, dumb typos. Thanks for catching that. I've had these documents read by many people and no one's mentioned those XD.

What exactly do you mean by "red background breaking the style"? Are you talking about the landing page?

---

Thanks again! This review was much more thorough than I was anticipating, which I greatly commend you for. When I have a new landing page, I may request another review.

 

[Page]

what an good review.

 

[marko92]

I apologise for the delay.

---

Basic Review of The Lovinity Community+
https://lovinity.org/
Review by Kaynil​

---

First Impressions:
You wanted me to focus on how to gain members, so as tangential as it might seem, I think it is important I tell you my thoughts regarding the first things I saw when I clicked your link. You also asked for specific feedback to my observations, so I might expand in my observations to include what I'd probably do.

As a first timer, in general, I felt it was thrown a lot of information before I even got to see the forum itself. I feel there is a lot of scrolling and the features that could help reduce space are being used for other things instead. For instance "our main features" in the scrolling division instead of "testimonials". "Our solutions" could easily be merged with "why choose us?"

Now let's return to the top of your site and talk about what I found there. This is my first impression:

Personally, I find cool to have those adapting header banners, but in this case, my screen resolution is bigger than the banner background. So I just have white covering the right side. The text while centred in my screen seems to be out of the centre in relation to the background. It becomes very easy to miss the "our Mission" header and the explanation beneath it. Definitely not a good impression. Posible solutions would be restricting the height of that segment of the site after a certain resolution size is reached so that header doesn't take most of the page and replacing the hearts and sparks background with a tiled one that can be repeated horizontally and vertically as needed.

With that said, I find odd the welcoming text is set in a rotating news panel. It is awkward when we can see the arrows and even click them and there is not information. If it's just that item, I think you'd be better without it.

You have your heart-loop logo to the top left. It links exactly to the page I am seeing. The same thing occurs with the first link of your top menu. I recommend getting rid of both them. Add links to the gallery, polls etc. if you want more items on the menu.

Moving to your community. You have two areas that seem to serve the same purpose: off-topic and General chat. Consider ditching off-topic and just moving the general chat to its spot.

In broad terms, I believe the reason you are having trouble to attract new members is because in general the new visitors that are not used to TLC+ can easily get disoriented and decide to leave. I think simplifying the landing page, having the menu in the traditional order (Home - Forum - members - ... - Help) and continuing to add interesting topics in zones they can read will help that first impression and entice visitors to create their own account.

Average

---

Spelling, Grammar & Professionalism:
You asked me to focus on your terms and conditions so this section will be dedicated to them.

Straight off the bat, I can see you mean business. I am greeted by a table of content and no doubt you guys wanted to be ready for any situation. It is probably one of the most complete sets I've seen so far in a community, especially one that seems to be relatively new.

I really like the way you easily show different rules with icons to illustrate them. I think that since your other documents explain better many items from your rules, you could get away simplifying the rules page a little.

I'd use anchors in the ToS and privacy clauses that are related to the imaged-rules and have a link directly to them through a (learn more) or something similar in the text. For example, the COPPA rule could have a link that loads the privacy page right on this section. This would tie your documents together and mitigate the feeling that we're reading repeated information.

The only errors I could notice were:

• In your TOS 2.1.d I think there is an unnecessary period between the word "via" and "a web"
• 8.27c talks about the clause 8.17b, I believe this si a typo meant to say 8.27b.

Other than that I couldn't spot any mistake that could undermine the professionalism in your documents. I think everything is very well explained and your grammar, spelling and vocabulary are excellent as far as I could see.

Excellent

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The thing you liked best about the forum: The radio.
The thing you liked least about the forum: That red background breaking the style.

---

Overall Mark:

Although simple looking, this web has a lot of effort and thought poured into it. It is difficult to nail everything when we're starting ambitious projects and even when we do, we have to keep adapting to remain fresh. There are definitely areas you can improve to make the community look more appealing and I hope my review can help spark some ideas or bring issues that might not have been brought up before.​

Wow, basic review but also clearly.

 

[Gio]

Newbie Basic Review has been Completed!​

---

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Request a package today!​

 

[xanaftp]

Was wondering if I should expect a response because I asked several questions and suggestions but didn't get a reply. 😛

 

[Kaynil]

Was wondering if I should expect a response because I asked several questions and suggestions but didn't get a reply. 😛

Sorry about that. the truth is that I had pretty much elaborated on them but I have to start from scratch since I lost the original reply I drafted with the forum option. I'll have it for you soon as I pretty much have an idea of what I wanted to say that night, but I am seriously sleep deprived right now so I apologise for the rushed reply and possible typos.

Do you have any recommendations of good tools I can use to build efficient landing pages?

...or do you even think I should make a landing page separate from the main site? Do you think it should instead be similar to how, say, https://journal.lovinity.org looks, which is basically a landing page inside the same CMS?

I like the idea of using the same system as your journal. It would make your project look unified.

I'm not very familiar with traditional menu orders honestly. Mind I ask for more information about that? Also, is having two menus (top being for each section / subdomain of the website, bottom being specific to the section you're currently in) any problem at all? I just want to be sure because I'm still trying to think of a better way to handle that if there is one.

For the typical order, each forum software has their own style, so it is not like every button must be in a certain place or else. Really, the only consistency I was going for was to keep the website and forum Links to the left, as first and second and ditch help to the very end.

I am sure there is more that is escaping my mind regarding the menu since that was the hardest question out of your asked ones, especially regarding the double menu since there must be a reason you put it like that in the first place. I'll try to explain my ideas on this one in another post, later on, possibly tomorrow.

I have to be very cautious though about what I allow guests to be able to see, given the nature of this website. Anything a guest sees a search engine can index. And I take user privacy very seriously in the community. What forums would you recommend being visible to guests?

That is completely your call. I didn't have trouble with the sections myself, it was just the fact that I was shown links that would take me to an "error: you lack permissions" kind of page. So I'd just recommend you to make sure that if it is something you are linking with the intention of sharing it with guests, then make sure it is posted in a zone that guests can read. For everything else, if you are uncomfortable with the ideaof being open, then don't.

Would you recommend me separating the rules and the disciplinary system into two different pages?

I am not sure. Considering that you already have a bunch of pages as it is. I guess it depends on what you find easier when it comes to directing people there. For example, if you use it on people that misbehave, it might be easier to send them that one link than sending them to read two. How important is for you that members read and know about your system? Because if you are okay with just having the rules, rather than creating a new page for the disciplinary system you could assimilate it to your ToS page.

what do you mean exactly by "loads the privacy page right on this section"? Are you talking like when you click the COPPA rule, the privacy page will load on an overlay / shadowbox screen on the page? If so, I can do that.

For the privacy page, I just meant a plain old link directing to the other documents, like the coppa anchor, but an overlay like what you say you can do, sounds better, haha, so if you want to try that go for it.

What exactly do you mean by "red background breaking the style"? Are you talking about the landing page?

For the red background I did mean the landing page. Sorry about my confusing choice of wording.

Alright. I hope this can be of help. 🙂
I'll be happy to follow the conversation later on if something I said made no sense and to try to tackle the menu issue.

.

 

[xanaftp]

@Kaynil Thank you for your reply. I can understand the frustration of losing replies. Happens to me from time to time on other websites too (Thank heaven Composr CMS has an autosave feature lol).

I revised the rules page actually and decided not to separate disciplinary from it... now that the page has been simplified. Still has the items with representing icons, but now you can hover over the icons to get a tool tip of more information. You can also click the icons to be taken to a page with more information about that rule, and to rate / comment on the rule. More info includes things like its references in the Terms of Service and Privacy policy, as well as the discipline given for its violation.

Thoughts?

 

[Kaynil]

I revised the rules page actually and decided not to separate disciplinary from it... now that the page has been simplified. Still has the items with representing icons, but now you can hover over the icons to get a tool tip of more information. You can also click the icons to be taken to a page with more information about that rule, and to rate / comment on the rule. More info includes things like its references in the Terms of Service and Privacy policy, as well as the discipline given for its violation.

Before even opening any links this already sounds pretty good.
I have checked it now and it looks really good. I think it is excellent the way you also made the disciplinary rules in the same style.

Just a little detail, only 'safe content' has the brown colour on the left column of the tool tip, the rest have the same tone in both sides. I imagine this is the way they were all supposed to look since the white font is hard to read against the creamy tone of website and the division makes little sense without it.

.

 

[xanaftp]

Hmm yeah I'm not sure why it does that. There's a styling error going on. I'll look into it... probably something in the CSS.

 

[Kaynil]

Your Review is In Progress!​

---

Thank you for requesting feedback. I have tagged your thread, and will finish an official basic review within at most 48 hours. In the meantime, you will receive informal feedback from other reviewers and members at Forum Promotion. Once your official basic review is completed, you will be free to ask questions and receive feedback so long as your website remains open. You will also be able to request a re-review 7 days after this Basic Review is completed.

 

[xanaftp]

As a side note for the review, the navigation I plan to change after you make your review. Reason I'm having you review it before I change it is so I can get some ideas on how to approach a new navigation structure.

 

[Kaynil]

Alright. I sincerely apologize for the delay. I tried my best to follow your notes. Thank you for being so understanding.

---

Basic Review of The Lovinity Community+
https://lovinity.org
Review by Kaynil​

---

First Impressions:
I don't really want to compare much to the last review, but I want to make sure to express that it is a definitive improvement from the other version. The message has been simplified and easier to absorb. If there is a point you want to know more all you have to do is hover.

For the first part, I like that in the hover you actually explain how lovinity+ addresses the problems. Unfortunately, some entries, like "censorship", go too long explaining the problem that I have no screen left to read the full explanation on how you address it. Scrolling down by instinct makes the overlay disappear so I have no way to read the full entry. "Little to no support System" hits the sweet spot in length for me. I also noticed each overlay repeats the same text from the description. I think it'd flow better without it. I also noticed that the features all have a link to it, except the forum entry. It would be good to add one that goes straight to the forum index.

There is a segment for affiliates and after it, I can see a segment with no name, which seems to be for certificates and attributions. Under it, there's the 'Convinced? then join' kind prompt which is a bit disconcerting for me. I think the prompt would work better above affiliations, just after the testimonials. Then under the button you could add the horizontal rule, so we know the explanations are done with and next are extra information such as affiliations and certificates. I also think the affiliation image is a tad too big as it competes with the icons you're using to explain your site, just resize it a bit so it becomes more evident that the image is not part of the main speech as those personalised icons from above. You already have a tooltip description, so the affiliations could probably do without the explanation text under it.

To be honest, I think that the affiliations and certificates could be incorporated into the general footer, after reducing the size of the bigger images. Comodo secure could go where you have the DMCA image. "powered by composr" could be another text link in the second line. Perhaps the safe space one at the side of the of the DMCA and the other banners. This is something minor. Just an idea I had while reviewing since I think that the landing page is the salesman's speech to convince people to join, and I feel the testimonials is the end of it.

All in all, by reading the landing page I felt I understood what the web was about without spending much time or having to chase links around. It gets you pumped to join. I think it is very well done, other than the last segment of it, which is not a big deal.

Good

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Site Structure:
At first sight, I find the navigation menu very convoluted. However, given the nature of the community and the pages to its disposition organising the information in a way that is intuitive and leaves the important links as first level menu items can be a challenge.

The first thing I noticed is that you are repeating icons. The forum and the Roleplay both are using the exact same icon. Out of the two, I'd say leave the dialogue bubbles for the forum and change the RP icon. For example, you have two dices for the roleplay explanation, why not use them in the menu?

You've gone through the effort to provide images to make your point come across in the start page, I think that using a smaller variation of the same icons can help you make the menu more intuitive. For example, you could get rid of the circle and just use the little black radio icon for the radio link.

Overall, I think that the effort should be put in simplifying the second row in the menu. maybe renaming and combining some things could help. We have "Home" and "TLC+". Both take you to the same page. Since the bottom menu is the crowded one and the home item doesn't have any sub-menus, I'd recommend axing "Home" and just keeping the TLC+ button instead.

There seems to be lean towards the writing side with lit and blogs. From what I can see that blog and journal are two different things. I imagine there is an explanation somewhere but I still think that for the average visitor it just won't be intuitive enough.

I wish I had more ideas, but at least I trust you this will provide some pointers and a place to start. Maybe it could be a good idea to ask your own members how they feel about the menu and what they think could be done to improve it. They deal with it often so they might have some valuable insight to offer you.

Average

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Thing you liked best about forum: Their customizations and unique approach for their disciplinary system.
Thing you liked least about forum: The navigation menu takes a while to get used to.

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Overall Mark:

The Lovinity Community+ is full of interesting tweaks that challenge some forum paradigms. The community has many interesting features for their members, it is just about finding a way to convince others to give it an opportunity. This review uncovered a few weak spots that I hope cand be of use. I am definitely looking forward to seeing how TLC+ continues improving.​

 

[Page]

Very Very good review

 

[xanaftp]

Thank you for the review! I'm going to begin out of order because this is the most important question I have:

Overall, I think that the effort should be put in simplifying the second row in the menu.

Actually, I plan to eliminate the second row completely. I'm finding it to be confusing for other users, especially on mobile. So what I might do is only have one menu that contains items for each subdomain + forums + about. Then, when you go to that section, there will be a section menu on the side of the page (or the bottom if you're a mobile user) for the specific section you're in. I also plan to eliminate use of any drop down menus because according to research they are not SEO intuitive.

What are your thoughts?

------

Scrolling down by instinct makes the overlay disappear so I have no way to read the full entry.

Actually, you can click the icon itself and it takes you to a page with that information. So this leads me to understand there is a UX issue. How can I make it more clear you click the icons to get more information? ...or do you think I should reprogram the catalogues template so that the heading is what is hyperlinked?

I was actually thinking about eliminating tool tips. Because of the catalogue system and the way it's designed, there's not really any way I can prevent those tool tips from being too big for a user's screen. So I was thinking eliminating tool tips, and when you click, instead of a new page, it opens up a scrollable overlay message with the additional information. Thoughts?

I think the prompt would work better above affiliations, just after the testimonials. Then under the button you could add the horizontal rule, so we know the explanations are done with and next are extra information such as affiliations and certificates.

Wasn't sure honestly where to place it, so this suggestion helps. Thank you ^^

I also think the affiliation image is a tad too big as it competes with the icons you're using to explain your site, just resize it a bit so it becomes more evident that the image is not part of the main speech as those personalised icons from above.

Unfortunately this is another flaw in the catalogues system. All images are automatically resized (maintaining aspect ratio). However, you suggested making this a footer item, which if it's in there, I can bypass catalogues and just use standard icons, which I can size.

given the nature of the community and the pages to its disposition organising the information in a way that is intuitive and leaves the important links as first level menu items can be a challenge.

You are telling me, lol!

For example, you have two dices for the roleplay explanation, why not use them in the menu?

It's actually not that easy. Menus use their own icon system, so I'd have to upload it to a specific place, flush cache, and ensure the system picks up on the icon. However, if you think it'll be of benefit, I'll give it a try.

I think that using a smaller variation of the same icons can help you make the menu more intuitive.

That's actually a really good idea that I haven't really thought about.

From what I can see that blog and journal are two different things. I imagine there is an explanation somewhere but I still think that for the average visitor it just won't be intuitive enough.

It's not actually directly clear the difference unless you go to the journals section and read its landing page (but it doesn't actually compare it to blogs). Perhaps I could add an FAQ entry. Thoughts?

Maybe it could be a good idea to ask your own members how they feel about the menu and what they think could be done to improve it. They deal with it often so they might have some valuable insight to offer you.

TBH I've been asking around for the past several months without any conclusive feedback, with the exception that yes, users think the navigation is iffy. But as you stated about this being a challenge, it is also a challenge for my users to be able to suggest something more efficient. And so far, no one has been able to. So the menu has always been a tedious process for me.

---

Thank you again for your thorough review. I look forward to your reply, and I might begin implementing changes later tonight before I send out my website's weekly newsletter.

 

[Kaynil]

Actually, I plan to eliminate the second row completely. I'm finding it to be confusing for other users, especially on mobile. So what I might do is only have one menu that contains items for each subdomain + forums + about. Then, when you go to that section, there will be a section menu on the side of the page (or the bottom if you're a mobile user) for the specific section you're in. I also plan to eliminate the use of any drop down menus because according to research they are not SEO intuitive.

What are your thoughts?

Sounds like a plan. My concern would be on just how cramped would that first row be, in especial for visitors that get the login prompt displayed there and that takes a good chunk of space. Since you're axing the drop menu you could also explore the idea of using the second menu row strictly for links relevant to the current section unless that hinders the mobile experience.

Actually, you can click the icon itself and it takes you to a page with that information. So this leads me to understand there is a UX issue. How can I make it more clear you click the icons to get more information? ...or do you think I should reprogram the catalogues template so that the heading is what is hyperlinked?

Adding links to the titles is a good idea to convey the "click me" however, I think the problem is not that the user doesn't know the items are clickable as the hover and cursor change makes it clear. The problem is that since hovering also enables the tooltip, my attention gets diverted into reading that and then frustration kicks in when it is not displaying properly or fills my screen out of nowhere. By that point either I have forgotten that I can click the item or I am not invested and I will just try to move to the next element.

I was actually thinking about eliminating tool tips. Because of the catalogue system and the way it's designed, there's not really any way I can prevent those tool-tips from being too big for a user's screen. So I was thinking eliminating tool tips, and when you click, instead of a new page, it opens up a scrollable overlay message with the additional information. Thoughts?

Go for it. This will fix the issues that tooltips are raising and will allow the visitor remain on the page and in control to dive into your detailed explanations at their own convenience.

You are telling me, lol!

It's actually not that easy. Menus use their own icon system, so I'd have to upload it to a specific place, flush cache, and ensure the system picks up on the icon. However, if you think it'll be of benefit, I'll give it a try.

Then I think that probably you should leave this change for the very last, if you still feel it is needed by then.

Spoiler: Maybe.. maaaybe this could be a workaround

If the system can accept you entries with no images (or if you add a 1*1px transparent image as the icon), you could try to sneak in HTML code as part of the title and use this to insert a direct image URL instead.

It is a very long shot as most likely the program wouldn't want people injecting malicious code or otherwise abusing the system through here, so it would depend on the character count and character limitations in place for the name field.

It's not actually directly clear the difference unless you go to the journals section and read its landing page (but it doesn't actually compare it to blogs). Perhaps I could add an FAQ entry. Thoughts?

Yeah. A FAQ entry should be added in your first opportunity.

The blog definitely needs to offer some explanation that leaves us an idea of what kind of entries we're encouraged and discouraged to post. This way the users can use that info to contrast it with the journal info and figure out the differences between both.

TBH I've been asking around for the past several months without any conclusive feedback, with the exception that yes, users think the navigation is iffy. But as you stated about this being a challenge, it is also a challenge for my users to be able to suggest something more efficient. And so far, no one has been able to. So the menu has always been a tedious process for me.

I can imagine. I believe that as you apply changes and deal with some of the issues, members will find easier to pinpoint more accurately what they find out of place. If tehre is something they miss or don't like, theywill most likely let you know,

 

[xanaftp]

Alright so I made several changes. The tool tips were removed... replaced with an overlay message when an item is clicked. Title / headline of items are now hyperlinked in addition to the images. FAQ entry for explaining the difference between a blog and a journal was added.

Still to do: Re-work navigation menu, alter menu icons, move affiliations etc. off of landing page into the footer (this might not be possible honestly... it might cram the footer. So I may need to explore an alternative).

Let me know what you think of the changes so far.

My concern would be on just how cramped would that first row be, in especial for visitors that get the login prompt displayed there and that takes a good chunk of space.

I decided to get rid of the inline login form. Many website don't utilise an inline login form anymore anyway and instead use a login page, dropdown, or overlay. So I replaced it with a single login/register button that, when clicked, pops up a login / register overlay form. This frees up a lot of room on that menu.

Since you're axing the drop menu you could also explore the idea of using the second menu row strictly for links relevant to the current section unless that hinders the mobile experience.

Actually, that's how the second menu is being used now. If you observe by going to, say, journal.lovinity.org, or radio.lovinity.org, the second menu is different.

I'm having a ton of trouble deciding how to go about the menu and navigation. For sure, I want to get rid of the second menu... and the first menu will have the following items: Home, Forum, Content (might later be renamed), Radio, Journal, Role Play Activism, About. But I need to shrink this further (thoughts?) as 8 items is too many. I originally explored the possibility of using side menus. But side menus always end up on the bottom of mobile pages, which is out of site of users. I'm debating whether or not I should eliminate drop downs... and if not, just convert the single menu into a drop down of items (the items in the drop downs will not have any child items). Thoughts?

 

[Kaynil]

Alright so I made several changes. The tool tips were removed... replaced with an overlay message when an item is clicked. Title / headline of items are now hyperlinked in addition to the images. FAQ entry for explaining the difference between a blog and a journal was added.

Still to do: Re-work navigation menu, alter menu icons, move affiliations etc. off of landing page into the footer (this might not be possible honestly... it might cram the footer. So I may need to explore an alternative).

Let me know what you think of the changes so far.

What's done seems to be working fine.
For the affiliation, the main issue was that it seemed to be part of the newcomer thing. So just finding a way to separate them from what was above, maybe with some CSS, like wrapping them in a box, could suffice.

I decided to get rid of the inline login form. Many website don't utilise an inline login form anymore anyway and instead use a login page, dropdown, or overlay. So I replaced it with a single login/register button that, when clicked, pops up a login / register overlay form. This frees up a lot of room on that menu.

Nice. I didn't even notice the change until now, hahaha.

Actually, that's how the second menu is being used now. If you observe by going to, say, journal.lovinity.org, or radio.lovinity.org, the second menu is different.

Yeah, it works well when the main section link is in the first row. Forum is on the second row, I think that is part of the confusion.

I'm having a ton of trouble deciding how to go about the menu and navigation. For sure, I want to get rid of the second menu... and the first menu will have the following items: Home, Forum, Content (might later be renamed), Radio, Journal, Role Play Activism, About. But I need to shrink this further (thoughts?) as 8 items is too many.

Eliminate home. The top banner takes users there with a click.
If you are allowed to add links to the arrowchat footer, consider using it for some of the sub-items.
Those are the things I could come up with. Good luck.