onebillionviews — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 13:09:04 +0000

Lol some people just think they own the world don't they

What ever happend to free speach and all that crap?

That Aussie Bloke

Busy — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 02:09:02 +0000

Thats what I was trying to say

Megan to the rescue again, aren't you guys and gals glad she is in charge and not me

Megan — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 02:04:46 +0000

Oh, one more thing - there's nothing wrong with repeating what others have said in a critique. In fact, hearing the same comments from more than one person might make the poster more likely to believe it and do something about it!

(And there's no reason why you need to really read all the other comments either - especially if there are a lot of them)

Oops - one more thing - we always do a great job welcoming new members in the Introductions area. Lets keep that up!

Megan — Sat, 12 Nov 2005 01:39:08 +0000

Hello everyone,

I've been away from the forums recently but I felt the need to stop by to address this thread.

First of all, new members are the lifeblood of this community. The only way we can expand and get better is to integrate new members into the group - whether they are new to web design or more experienced designers. It is true that most of these members come through the website critique area. It is true that these members are often never seen again but some do become regular posters - and IMO, even more could become regular members if the environment was right.

So I hope everyone will remember to be welcoming to new members and help them feel more at home here. Tim made a good point about finding something positive to say and not beating up on them too much. I do agree that it can be challenging to review a badly designed site - I actually find it easier to review the good sites! Whether or not you want to review sites is up to you. This section is vitally important to the forums, though, and I think it's important that it stay open to newcomers and regular members alike. Nobody should be denied help just because they're not as "good" as you think they should be. In fact, these are the people who need help the most.

robfenn wrote: Perhaps if 'we' are advertising then we are just getting any old webmaster in rather than a hardcore (geek) mintory who spent time trying to this find this forum and is more passionate about his/her work, therefore were better because of it.

Everyone needs to learn somewhere and one of our goals for this site is to be that "somewhere" for new(er) webmasters. There are tons and tons of great sites for the more experienced designer but very few quality ones for the beginner*/intermediate webmaster. We want to fill that niche. We want to be there for less experienced webmasters and those who are just starting out and wanting to really improve. We also want to recognize that we are all beginners at something. There is always more to learn.

I think that's all I wanted to say

Note by "beginner" I don't mean the don't know HTML types, but more along the lines of people who know HTML well enough but don't know anything about standards, usability, good quality graphic design, how to do programming etc. People who have a site already and want to make it better.

bja888 — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 18:00:22 +0000

wait! we advertise?

robfenn — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 16:26:41 +0000

As Abhishek said i do think the quality of sites has gone down, which has meant i rarely have anything positive to say!

Perhaps if 'we' are advertising then we are just getting any old webmaster in rather than a hardcore (geek) mintory who spent time trying to this find this forum and is more passionate about his/her work, therefore were better because of it.

-Rob

JeevesBond — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 12:42:04 +0000

Ahhh, but I think Busy's pointing out that it's ok to be negative... Mind you I've never really understood Busy.

[edit]
And if every point's already been made bja then you're right, however I usually think that every points been made then I think of one thing and start typing, it's usually pretty hard to stop noticing stuff to point out when you get going.

Abhishek Reddy wrote: I'm lagging in those areas somewhat...

Yes, but so are most of our members! These are nOObs we're talking about, how I wish I could see a few sites for critique that use Ajax *sigh*

Abhishek Reddy — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 10:08:34 +0000

I think Rob means that the quality of sites submitted has lowered.

Busy — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 09:31:42 +0000

dont think of it as being negative, think of it as being helpful.
If everyone said "oh nice site" when it was bad then they wouldn't learn from other views.
At the end of the day it's really your opinions (apart from display issues)

robfenn — Fri, 11 Nov 2005 09:12:03 +0000

I used to be quite active in the Site Critique area but i don't really like going in there now. When i first joined there was a lot to be positive about but now it's hard not to be negative about a lot of the designs, which i seriously don't enjoy doing so i'd rather not comment at all.

-Rob