Please review planets.net

[fab]

In Firefox (at least) the white text especially is a little weak, and unclear, I would either strengthen the font, or enlarge or both. The title - orange is a litlle better, but would consider doing the same.

The design in generall is excellent.

[NickRac]

I feel as if it's a hard to read the text in the main body of the page.

The colors and the size/font are the same as the descriptions for the yahoo ads and there is no boarder or boundary...

I think some sort of line between the body text and the navigation (left with the planets) and the ads (right) is needed...or at least a change of text size/color.

edit: especially after the first ad on the left side where the text flows under the ad.

[Gerry]

Adam,

I am on a much better monitor and I now see what many others were speaking of in terms of type, etc.

What I saw at work on the crappy monitor was a dark blue-gray background that was much easier on the eyes and very easy to read as well as easier to read. On this monitor I am currently on, the type appears blurry because it is so bright on this monitor.

So is it a question of monitor clarity, size of monitor, LCD etc?

What I see now is black background and very bright characters. So I guess the question would be how to reach a happy medium for viewing enjoyment on any monitor.

I am not a tech head and can only avoid "geek speak" in explaining in terms that I am familiar with.

Studies have shown the yellow on black is easier to read. So perhaps a very toned down pale-yellow (acceptable, imo, as many stars we see have a yellowish glow) will make it easier on the eyes and easier to read. I think you are trying to achieve a night sky look and feel which is pretty cool.

Also, you can consider a larger point type size. Or, studies have also shown that a type font with a serif (ie, times roman) reads better in small print than one that is sans-serif (ie, arial). The reason being is the serif causes a natural break and spacing between letters in smaller sizes making them easier to read. I am not a fan of Times Roman in this case but there are many others that are more appealing to me than Times Romain.

As for the scrolling graphics on the right, I would rather see this not so much as a Scrolling type presentation but rather a fade in or fade out or even a zoom in as if a satellite was taking images as it past by each planet.

And who ever did the logo did one hell of a job.

I love the concept and the look you are trying to achieve and hats off to you as it is and can be a very visually pleasing presentation as well as educational...for the readers and for the creator or the site (you). I would imagine your confidence level in designing web sites just went up to the Nth degree after spending all that time and effort on this and seeing it all pull together.

[Jernet]

with a domain like that, i think you could a picture of an ass up, and have it be a success. (no, i wasnt talking about uranus either)

this design is beautiful, btw.

[whitebark]

Who is doing the directory submissions? it's been submitted to at least two of my directories so far but in completely incorrect categories. First one was in 'middle east' and the second was in 'spain'.

[MOCKBA]

look nice.work fast ... great A+

[kkworld]

I am sure, no body tried to read the content.

Using Mac Powerbook with Firefox browser. It is extremely difficult to read with this background and text color, though looks good if you just want to see the colors and layout.

To be honest. It is not friendly for readers. I do appreciated that site provide great content but it should be readable.


best wishes,
Khan

[hugegrowth]

I like the overall design, here are a few things I would change.

- maybe put a small picture of each planet in the header too, under the planet name. might encourage people to keep clicking to other planets. would be cool if the planets were rotating slightly. I see they are on the left but would be easier to see across the top.

- turn off the popups, or limit it to one time only per browser, it interferes with browsing the site and may make people leave the site

- I would keep watch on upcoming space events, like planned meteor showers, eclipses, comets, etc. and add pages before they are due to happen, because people will be searching for info on them.

- the color scheme isn't my favorite, I always like dark text on light background - though the dark background does jive with the space theme. Orange also isn't my favorite for the headers, but with a dark background there isn't much choice - maybe try a dark yellow to simulate stars, or change to a light background.

- Font size could be bigger to make it easier to read.

- to the right of the Planets.net logo I would add a picture of a person, someone like an astronaut, astronomer, hot woman, etc. - I find pictures of people on pages make people look and stay a bit longer. Maybe different pictures on each page.

- maybe a section on space equipment, like the space station, Canada Arm, shuttles, probes sent to other planets - niche type space stuff.

- Start a monthly planets/space newsletter and start collecting names, emails, contact info of people interested in this subject.

Good luck with it!

[Banned: domain newbie]

too many g-ads, popups and popunders even dnjournal came out- my vista almost crashed and plus what for that porn ads on planets site? design is nice- what program is used for videos?

thanks

OMG- got the old thread up - was searching for "metatags"-, thought its new ! pardon

[Banned: SonnyBurnett]

Real nice!!
Congrats Adam!!

[Keyword Factory]

The vieo display causes the page not to scroll properlly and "blink" in and out. I would kill that as it is extremely annoying.

You should not have a continuos moving gif in the header. Extremely annoying.

You have 2 large ad blocks right in the middle where I would expect the meat of the content.

The site has Pop-up with more garbage video. They hang and lock up my system. An absolute No-no.

Content is crappy. it looks like you paid $2 for an article from one of those article mills. Get an astonomy student/hobbyist who is actually interested in the subject to write something reasonable that users would would find interesting or need.

I am in the process of developing my domains and I am finding out it is much more difficult than it seems. I am working on my help site and I am in the process of hiring Human Factors researchers to develop my interface. It will cost $xx,xxx just for the design and user testing.

I suggest reading "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug. It is a quick read and will save you big $$$ when planning a web site.

[fab]

I suggest reading "Don't Make Me Think" by Steve Krug.

Interesting. I wonder how much is well proven, and much time it iwll take to read through it entirely.

[buymynames]

- turn off the popups, or limit it to one time only per browser, it interferes with browsing the site and may make people leave the site

Hello Adam.

Nice design, but I have to agree with HG.

Popups might kill potential users.

Goodluck with it as well. Cheers!

[OSHQdotCOM]

You really need to get rid of the centralized AdWords ad. It will detract probably 60-70% of your visitors (causing them to immediately leave the site).

In the long run, you will make much more revenue from less obtrusive ads.



Good Luck,

Max