5 Things A Site Should Have

Welcome to my little list of "5 Things A Site Should Have (But Won’t Necessarily Make Your Site More Popular)". Don't take it too seriously, as it's just some opinions I've picked up from mooching around sites and seeing what seems to be good for sites or makes them better for visitors.

Tagboard/Comment box: Tagboards and comment boxes are so handy to have. It can be really annoying when you wish to comment on a sites update or you just want to check up on an affiliate and say “hi” and instead of a quick task, you’re forced to email or use a guestbook. Tagboards and comment boxes are the easiest way to praise a new piece of art or chat with a webowner. Guestbooks are great for letting webowners know how their vistors found their site, and why they like it but for regular “hello-ers” it can be a real pain. Emailing to “wow” over a piece or art is offputting and the lazy people out there (me included) would rather not have to resort to emails saying “I like your avatars”. Saybox and Cbox are easy to use tagboards and Haloscan is a really quick and easy comment box.

Credit pages: Not only is it right that you should credit the people whose resources you use, but it is also nice to give a heads-up to fellow resource users, who have yet to stumble upon your find. It is also too awesome for words when credits pages are categorized, as you could spend all day looking through one long list for a site with patterns (only to fine three), whereas if there had been a category for patterns, you’d have found them in no time at all.

About pages: I’ve visited many nice sites, where it’s obvious time, effort and care has been put into it all, and I’ve thought I would like to know more about the owner and why they chose to create their site. Only to be disappointed in finding they like pasta and apparently had no reason to make a site, as there is no page telling you about it. I think most people out there no not to give out their address, telephone numbers and national security details, but it is interesting to read about the people behind the talent, graphics, resources etc so they’re not just an “unknown” person who makes good graphics and updates with a name. It’s a good way to get to know people a little bit better.

New Windows: Once you get used to flitting around the web, and most times when you click on a link or a small image, a new link or bigger image loads in a new window, it can be frustrating when you visit a site that has links opening in the same page as the one you were viewing. And if in a lapse of concentration you close the “new” window, and then remember it was the original, you have to start all over again, finding the site, finding the link etc.

100x35 Buttons: - I know, you’re probably wondering what can I possibly say about buttons? The most common sized button seems to be 100x35 and for a neat freak like me (and I hope others as well), it’s nice to try and keep everything neat and tidy and in order. My worst nightmare is having to use a link back button and find there are none of the size I want (my worst nightmare, laughable I know XD). It can be quite frustrating when a site has many different button types for all sizes but none for the wonderful 100x35.