Wow, what a year huh? 2008 was big for the world of Batman. We saw the end of "The Batman" and the begining of "Batman: The Brave & The Bold." Countless toys and figures, and of course the biggest and best Batman film yet, "The Dark Knight." I'd like to say that this year was Batmania 4, however I don't really know if 2005 would be counted as Batmania 3 or not, either way, it was a huge year.
2008 was huge for the site as well. We saw yet another host bite the dust, and was able to move to our own dedicated server with the help of sponsors, donations, and friends. We've also see the highest traffic ever with July and Agust reaching peaks I never dreamed of.
Then the last sad news, we lost our main sponsor doe the cut backs.
However we're still hear and we're going strong!
So this is the time, that like those before, I want to ask you, the members, what would you like to see happen to the site in 2009?
I was talking with another friend, who runs a Batsite and he suggested that we partner up, however the deal fell through. He things (sorry if I step on any toes here!) that teh site is outdated and that to reach the next gen of Bat-fans we need to be more like Myspace or Facebook.
However I think we're doing good and I'd like to know what you want from BatmanYTB in 2009?
The only thing I ask, please know we are working on sections and will get to any updates ASAP.
So, lets have it!
RE: Your Opinion - Changes for 2009! -
Posted on 01-01-2009 19:34
I think the site should have a new theme for every famous Batman graphic novel coming out every once in a while and I think the site needs to brighten up. Maybe you could put in a dark blue for borders and just some colors of TDK. I really loved that theme a lot!
"Things are always going to get worst before they get better."
[Alfred Pennyworth]
RE: Your Opinion - Changes for 2009! -
Posted on 01-01-2009 23:17
TMMWrites wrote:
I think the site should have a new theme for every famous Batman graphic novel coming out every once in a while and I think the site needs to brighten up. Maybe you could put in a dark blue for borders and just some colors of TDK. I really loved that theme a lot!
While that is a neat idea, I can't promise anything. Themes actually take alot out of me.. if that makes sense.
Anyway, if you like TDK theme go to your profile and choose it to be your theme.
RE: Your Opinion - Changes for 2009! -
Posted on 02-01-2009 13:23
I think this site is perfect so no change is needed.
Only thing I don't like is a lot of people don't come here to be social which is nothing no one can fix.
I agree that the site looks pretty outdated, and sometimes just downright ugly. That's actually why I looked for a few more Bat-sites before signing up to this one.
I think the home page needs to be re-organised, as there are too many useless and uninteresting links/boxes that come before the news section, which isn't laid out very well either. A complete re-think would go down well.
As for all the graphic novels and Batman storylines that don't have descriptions in the comics section, I think you should do a temporary C&P from their Wikipedia page until a more detailed one is added.
The whole navigation system could be neater too. As there's so much that's going on with the screen, some links and bits of text can be overlooked, and discarded as ads or footers. Plus, looking at the Modern Age Era profile for Batman, the profiles could be tidied up too. Maybe a table could be put around the profile information, and the bio should be split into sections, each with their own heading (again, like a Wiki article) according to which storyline era was happening at the point in his career.
New designs for the graphics would probably have a positive reception too, as they do at times look a little pixelated, amateurish, and even dated. Don't get me wrong, I do like them, but as with the site itself, a lot of it doesn't fit, and it makes the whole place seem untidy. Basically, BYTB looks like a mess, and it needs cleaning up. It can take a while to get used to, and that is probably why a lot of peeps don't stick around for too long - it requires a lot of patience.
If you're looking for something innovative though, you could try having an alternative homepage made with flash that is a landscape of Gotham City, with various characters n ish, and clickin everything leads to a specific page (comic book stand leads to comics section, Batman leads to Batman page, Iceberg Lounge leads to chatroom, etc.) Or maybe to make things simpler, it could just have links to whatever is in the navigation menu. Either way, despite how dirty it is, Gotham can be a beautiful city visually, and would be rather eye catching to someone being directed to it via Google.
Obviously what I'm suggesting requires a lot of work and effort, but you don't have to take them all on board, only the ones that you feel would benefit most from changing. Plus, I hope you take this as constructive criticism as opposed to be just outright bashing the site, because I do like it, but at the same time I do see room for a lot of improvement, and I thought I'd share my opinion with you from my first and current impressions of the site.
THE KING IN YELLOWOL 4 ADMIN!!!
RE: Your Opinion - Changes for 2009! -
Posted on 03-01-2009 07:54
Mittens2317 wrote: Plus, I hope you take this as constructive criticism as opposed to be just outright bashing the site, because I do like it, but at the same time I do see room for a lot of improvement, and I thought I'd share my opinion with you from my first and current impressions of the site.[/color]
Of course, that is why I post these up, to find out what is working, or not working.
Mittens2317 wrote: I agree that the site looks pretty outdated, and sometimes just downright ugly. That's actually why I looked for a few more Bat-sites before signing up to this one.
I think the home page needs to be re-organised, as there are too many useless and uninteresting links/boxes that come before the news section, which isn't laid out very well either. A complete re-think would go down well.
Can you be more specific? And allow me to be also. When I said outdated I meant the whole layout. The fact that we use forums as a corner stone. It's been suggested that we be more like Wiki, Myspace or Facebook. For more check out The Web 2.0
While this idea might not be the worse, it's also not the best from a time stand point. It would take ALOT of work to Re-Work the site. However, we will be working to make the site more interactive and more in guidlines of Web 2.0.
As for the useless and uninteresting links/boxes that come before the news, I'm not sure which ones. The introduction is there, then the advertisments, which I'm sorry to say, HAVE to be there, and the partners, which will be changing. I've been reworking some stuff.
Now the news. You said it's not laid out very well, do you not like the side by side? There are three ways it can be done, and we've done all three. News by title only (had complaints) News in a sibgle file (had complaints) and the way it currently looks (again, complaints) You just can't make everyone happy.
Mittens2317 wrote:
As for all the graphic novels and Batman storylines that don't have descriptions in the comics section, I think you should do a temporary C&P from their Wikipedia page until a more detailed one is added.
Again, as I stated, sections are being worked on. If Christian wants to link to other sites until he is able to work on ours, that is up to him. However, the amount of time it would take to go through and link everything, he couold proboaly have the pages built.
Mittens2317 wrote:
The whole navigation system could be neater too. As there's so much that's going on with the screen, some links and bits of text can be overlooked, and discarded as ads or footers. Plus, looking at the Modern Age Era profile for Batman, the profiles could be tidied up too. Maybe a table could be put around the profile information, and the bio should be split into sections, each with their own heading (again, like a Wiki article) according to which storyline era was happening at the point in his career.
[/color]
You kinda jump around there. "The whole navigation system could be neater too." You're talking about the side menu with Animated, Comics ect.? If so, The only way that can change is to take of the graphics, which I put up to bring attention to it. But how can those links be discarded for ads?
As for the profiles, I'll say again, we are working on revamping the entire Profiles section. It just takes time for two people to rework over 800 bios. Everything will change, so please be patient, and yes, I'd like to hear more ideas on how this section could look.
Mittens2317 wrote:New designs for the graphics would probably have a positive reception too, as they do at times look a little pixelated, amateurish, and even dated. Don't get me wrong, I do like them, but as with the site itself, a lot of it doesn't fit, and it makes the whole place seem untidy. Basically, BYTB looks like a mess, and it needs cleaning up. It can take a while to get used to, and that is probably why a lot of peeps don't stick around for too long - it requires a lot of patience.
[/color]
Again, can you be more specific? The banner? Graphics in general? I admit, I have my own style that doesn't match alot of others. I'm not a graphic artist which can be a very bad thing hen trying to make new and exciting graphics to draw people in.
If you mean the buttons in the sections, yes, I know, some of them lack a need for desire, and some are downright cool if I do say so myself. If that is what you are talking about, then we can work on those and try to make them more appealing.
Mittens2317 wrote:
If you're looking for something innovative though, you could try having an alternative homepage made with flash that is a landscape of Gotham City, with various characters n ish, and clickin everything leads to a specific page (comic book stand leads to comics section, Batman leads to Batman page, Iceberg Lounge leads to chatroom, etc.) Or maybe to make things simpler, it could just have links to whatever is in the navigation menu. Either way, despite how dirty it is, Gotham can be a beautiful city visually, and would be rather eye catching to someone being directed to it via Google.
[/color]
Nice idea. If I knew flash or how to make that happen. LOL. A flash site can be neat. Like the Movies section can look like a movie theater and have each of the movies posters be the menus for those section. Or Television, have a TV with a remote.
I've thought about these, and while I originally stayed away from flash mainly because at the time, we still had alot of dial up users (and still do actually) I just don't have the time to try and do this.
Now, if anyone wants to help, we can talk about it more. I want to make the site more appealing. I want to bring in more people. But there is also the fact that, no matter what, you can't make everyone happy.
Mittens, please expand on a few of your points so I can better understand them, and that way it'll make it easier to try and fix stuff..
Thanks for responding!
RE: Your Opinion - Changes for 2009! -
Posted on 03-01-2009 16:12
I kind of like the idea of partnering up with another site. Chris pours his heart into the website, and I don't see how I could expect him to do much more than he does now. Now I know there are others helping, so I don't won't to disregard them. But it seems to me the site could use a lot of help from people (unlike myself) who know a lot about making sites work. Plus, isn't that guaranteed member growth?
PS. I'm not saying this site looks or is in a terrible condition. I'm just saying it doesn't sound like a bad idea to partner up. Also, I'm not sure if it's even an option now?
RE: Your Opinion - Changes for 2009! -
Posted on 03-01-2009 16:19
There is alot of factors when partnering up. In this last case it was a matter of both of us wanting the same thing only looking to do it in different styles.
I'm all for merging, or partnering up, but we are far to big to move, and if we merge, the other site would need to come to us.
Now anyone that wants to help can. I can even teach PHP and HTML to those who are willing to learn.
But, we'll keep going and make it the best we can...
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