It’s Blusterin’ Time!
If you’re new to this feature or need a refresher, click the label at the bottom of this post and see the previous posts. Otherwise, here are the basics:
What I do is list a site; you critique it. But here’s the catch: to induce the most honest reactions, don’t leave the comment using your normal alias/login – instead, go anonymous, and be as brutally honest (or complimentary) as you wish to be. Also, be specific, and naturally, don’t be rude. If I deem anything inappropriate, I’ll have no problem deleting the comment.
Since taking over as LAMB Shepherd I thought of putting the LAMB through some Blustering and I thought it was a good time doing it now thanks to some good design discussion at the LAMBforums. Give me what you got!
Site: The LAMB
LAMB#: –
URL: http://largeassmovieblogs.blogspot.com
And remember: Blustering should be a two-way street; if you’ve asked to be blustered, you better be a blusterer.
If you would like to have your blog blustered by fellow LAMBs, please send me an email containing your site’s info and “Bluster Me!” in the subject line.
There’s too much stuff in the sidebars.
I agree with the sidebar critique; not only is there too much stuff in general, but there’s no design consistency to it. It’s fine to have a lot of stuff in the sidebars, but widths and styles of banners should be more standardized. Choose one poll service, instead of having two different-looking ones in the sidebar. That kind of thing.
I can see the sidebar critique however, I kind of like the cluttered look as well since it easily builds toward clicking around/discovering new stuff.
Joel, How long will the post remain open for comments? I’d like to add some, but can’t do it right away.
I recommend adding a horizontal menu bar at the top to make things easier to find. The forum link in particular should not be shuffled down below.
Sidebars should be condensed some, there’s just too many links and banners and some of those things should be moved to a static page, linked to from a navigation menu.
Any remaining widget titles should be bigger/bolder/darker. Right now they kind of just blended together in a mess.
Upcoming events should be more prominent and kept up to date. Not everyone has the time to watch every post that comes through, and it’s easy to miss an announcement once it gets bumped off the front page.
Anon 4: We never close comments on here so get back to us when you have the time.
This blog design really needs a complete overhaul. There is a lot of great content, but everything looks cluttered and very amateur. Why not ditch Blogspot entirely and get a real web host? There are 1000+ LAMB members, I’m sure enough people would cough up a $1 or more per month to cover hosting costs. This is an amazing online community, but it could be so much better.
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anon 1: I’d like for you to be more specific. Its hard to not be cluttered when having such a broad array of features. I’m quite sure we’ll never have a minimalistic design because I doubt it would be able to show off what we are all about.
Anon 2: You have some valid points we’ll definitively look into this. The reason for dual types of polls are entirely thanks to me. I wanted to highlight the MOTM poll by having it directly on the site. However, I don’t agree with you on it. Two kind of polls actually makes them more visible than if they had been from the same type of widget.
Anon 5: Thanks, a lot of what you are saying is very valid and I’ll try to implement it in the new design or eventual changes on the existing one.
Anon 6: If you feel like hosting a LAMB charity go ahead we could certainly need the funds.
I do think you are a bit harsh on the site being amateurish there is a lot of activity on here and I don’t get that many mails about features/info people can’t locate.
I’d appreciate it more if you could be concrete in what changes we can do to make it better rather than just saying it looks cluttered and amateurish.
As said in an earlier comment I don’t think we’ll ever use a design thats minimalistic so maybe you’ll just have to adjust to the fact that a lot of the features will be showcased on the front page.
Sam: I saw your comment before you deleted it and would also have preferred more concrete suggestions rather than just saying that the community in general won’t move forward unless we do design changes. I think there are other things that limits our community than the blog design on here.
a lot of dead links when I try to click on banners and go check out peoples blogs. Can we put blogs in a graveyard of something like that if they have not posted any new material in years?
Also the layout is a bit confusing its hard to find out what going on.
It’s hard for a newcomer to get started interacting with others on this site. The layout is confusing to a newbie. How about a remedial section and some training wheels for new members?
Anon @ 9:12 – There is a graveyard, so to speak. If you go to the Sortable Table of LAMBs (big link in the main nav), you’ll see a list of “active” LAMBs; dead ones are excluded. In addition, there’s a link (in all caps) that will show you all of the dead ones.
Anon @ 9:23 – There is a remedial section. There’s another big link in the main navigation that says “Guide/FAQ.”
To all: there are a lot of good points being made (Joel has addressed many of them), but there’s also a lot of stuff that makes me scratch my head. Yes, there’s a lot of stuff in the sidebars, but there’s not THAT much, and I think a lot of it is pretty clearly marked. If someone asks where The LAMB can be found on Twitter or Facebook or something, I’m gonna go nuts…
I don’t know if this is possible from a technical point of view, but on the right hand column when we list the “Contributing Author Sites”. I’m wondering whether there is a way to say which feature(s) each contributor does?
I also wonder if there is a better title for these good folks. Lots of people “contribute” links and articles, but these folks are doing a great deal of extra work to keep the features running, and are more like mini-shepherds. If we want to extend the analogy, maybe we have one Shepherd and many sheep-dogs? Not that we have to get cute with the titles necessarily.
Do an entire post highlighting how awesome that guy Nick Jobe is, as well as his badass blog, Random Ramblings of a Demented Doorknob. He does such a fine job on the LAMBcast, too, and should probably be on the “sheep-dog” list due to his contributions to that. Add a few more things to the sidebars that link specifically to stuff he’s done, though make sure that stuff is prominent. All of that, and any other Nick Jobe-related plugging would make the site even better.
P.S. This is totally not Nick Jobe.
Unlike some of the other commenters, I like that there are a lot of things going on at the LAMB.
One minor thing that I would like to see is to put the link to the forums closer to the top. Maybe in the box that says “The Lambs/Guide FAQ/Contact/Join/Sortable Table”. My thought is that by placing it higher on the page more Lambs might participate.
I’m also noticing that the “Recurring Features” box on the right side column is missing several of the features, including Lambs Devour The Oscars, Lions For Lambs, the LAMMIES. and even the Blog Blustering that we’re doing right now! Personally, I think of the New Lambs posts as a feature as well and would include a link to those along with the others. Maybe even the “Plug” feature too. I understand each of these happen on varying schedules, AND that those of us in the know can use searches and the tags at the end of the posts to get the same results, but it seems like it would be good to have links up front for new folks and for any non-blogging readers who happen to stumble upon the site. The link would be simple enough to set up (it could just go to the label tag such as http://largeassmovieblogs.blogspot.com/search/label/new%20LAMB) but having it front and center might encourage people to check out those features even when they aren’t running on the front page. All of which will contribute to more clicks!
(In seriousness, the only primary formatting thing I’d suggest would be to move the forums link towards the top of the page, possibly as a part of one of the link tab thingies on the top left. A horizontal menu might not be too bad of an idea, either.
For anything else, I’ve suggested this in the past, but maybe make some posts into “Read More” posts so we can fit more onto the front page without it looking further overwhelming. Also, I know this is impossible on blogger, but if we were ever to move this to a big site, have different sections for things on separate pages (like new LAMBs announced one place, chops on another, etc.) The sheer amount of content being produced on a daily basis causes other feature and announcements and whatnot to be pushed down, making it difficult to keep up with things–especially to those of us who don’t check the main LAMB page every single day. Again, I know it’s not something we can do right now, but just something to keep in mind if we ever make that move in the future.)
(P.P.S. I’m not sure why I went Anonymous again, since I’m pretty sure you know who this is now.)
(P.P.P.S. I’m still totally not Nick Jobe… though you should vote for whatever movies he champions for the LAMBcast MOTM and stuff, just because he’s awesome and has amazing taste.)
I realize that the whole professional versus amateur thing is a quagmire that I shouldn’t be jumping into, but since I’m anonymous here goes…
I think there is a real benefit to keeping the Lamb on one of the free services. If nothing else, it encourages new bloggers to imagine different possibilities without having to fork out a lot of money. If the internet is supposed to encourage free speech, why are we so quick to shun the services like blogger and wordpress that make publication cheaper and available to more people?
This is called BRUTALLY BLUNT BLOG BLUSTERING, so fasten your seat belts kids….and try to remember that I do this in hopes of improving the LAMB, not to put anyone down.
When I open your page, the center column has a video presentation (slideshow) for “Featured Content”, which sounds like a great place to start if I want to explore your site. So I begin reading:
“VOTE in the 5th Annual LIONS for LAMBS Poll”.
Sounds Exciting! I click it and it takes me to a post from January 19th (a month ago), where I find out that the poll closed on February 11 (a week ago). Maybe I feel disenfranchised or tricked that you’re still advertising an election that is over, but if it’s my first time logging into your page I probably just start looking for the results. The text says that you would start posting those awards a few days ago, but there are no instructions in that post to help me find them. Was it canceled? Is it forthcoming? I have no way of knowing from the page that I’m now on. I decide to go back to the video montage and try again.
“LAMB Acting School 101: Joan Crawford–January 30”
A date that has already past. I click on it anyway, and am taken to a page where they are talking about the next acting school for George Clooney. Great if I am a LAMB wanting to participate in a blogathon. Not so great if I am a reader who adores Joan Crawford but thinks Clooney is a putz. If I scroll down, I do eventually get to the Crawford information, but should a reader have to do that much searching for something that is advertised as your “feature content”?
“Tune in After January 24 for LAMBS Devour The Oscars”
Twice already I’ve gotten strange results, and I wonder whether fact that it says “tune in after January 24” instead of “Click here for…” means that I’ll find anything. I click and am taken to a series of posts that actually fit the description, and there’s even an explanation in italics telling me what the series is and how to find other installments by using the tags. I’m relieved that the link is taking me to something that I thought it might, and that I’m not losing my mind. I still wonder why they are showing the old date three weeks after the fact, but at least I have found the content that they are intending me to find.
…. continued from previous comment….
“MOTM: The Evil Dead”
I’m a casual reader who has no idea what MOTM stands for. I recognize The Evil Dead as a horror film, and assume that one of the M’s must stand for Murder, or Massacre, or Mutilation. I click on the link and discover that MOTM stands for Movie Of The Month, which turns out not to be The Evil Dead, but The Shining. Is this like an episode of LOST where I solve the mystery of MOTM, but am now left wondering why it’s a different movie? Maybe I’m a huge horror fan who feels like I fit right in with either one. Maybe I don’t like horror and wonder whether this community has the breadth of interest in enough genres of movies to meet my needs. I decide to give it a try and read the post. There’s some great stuff on The Shining, but I find myself wondering why the video (slideshow) didn’t highlight the poll for the next MOTM so that people could participate. Or maybe I really was looking for information about The Evil Dead, and decide to scroll down to see if I can find it. I have to scroll through 1..2…3…4… FIVE posts until I get to that content.
“The Lambcast Hits A Big Milestone”
I click it and am taken to a relevant page: The 100th Episode of the LAMBcast. The $100 bill that was used as the image makes sense. This is a big milestone and deserves respect. I read the text and it says that they’ve gathered together the founding members, which seems like a great way to celebrate. I’m so impressed that I click the play button in the big black square and begin to listen in….. to the one hundred AND THIRD episode of the LAMBcast that isn’t the anniversary special that I was promised but instead a discussion about The Shining. I like the idea of leaving a link to the 100th post up for a while to honor the achievement, but if I can’t actually listen to it then it sort of defeats the purpose.
In fairness, I don’t have one of these video slideshow collages on my own blog, so I don’t know if they are hard to update. But if you put a big flashy thing in the center of your page, you have to assume that some people are going to start there, and it does seem to be a problem if only one of the five images took me to something that was relevant and up to date. So my recommendation is this: If it’s easy to update we should do so more often. If it’s not easy to do then we should get rid of the video/slideshow system because it makes it appear that we’re out of date, and actually draws people away from more relevant content that is in the regular timeline itself.
Anon @ 10:21: Totally agreed and I love the idea of sheepdogs or mini shepherds. Thanks!!!
Anon @ 11:02: I guess Nick has to get on my LAMB radar for LOTM (Lamb of the Month) then he more or less will get the kind of attention you seek for him.
Anon @ 11:03: Agreed in the forum link. As a newbie LAMB I had issues finding it and I really want the forum to be even more active since its a good place to hear about stuff in advance and also can make your voice heard.
I actually agree on your point about all active features be shown on the front page. It is a big help for those who like to click around and explore and thats something we need to encourage.
Anon @ 11:13: I do try to encourage read more formatting. However, I might have to make sure that all contributers and guest writers also encourage it.
Formatting the ste into different pages is a neat idea but I’m not sure I like it as much as you do. I think that our feed is quite impressive as it is and also showcases the strengths of the LAMB. However, I can always be convinced differently.
Anon @ 11:34: Very well said! I do agree totally with that point. However, I’ll probably be adding some adds to the site in the future.
Anon @ 1:37: Wow such a lengthy comment!!!! Thanks for spotting this. The guy to blame is me this time. I really haven’t had the time figure out the top slider and how important it is that it make sense which it doesn’t right now as you point out!
Thanks to almost all blusters I’m really stoked about the participation level and the amount of feedback you have given in such short time.
As said earlier we might even go for a total design shift but demands some time and effort and there fore can’t really be implemented before the Lammy’s are done. So until then you are stuck with this layout but I’ll certainly will try to a bunch of the good suggestions that has been laid out here.
Thanks again and if you come up with any additional thoughts let me know.
I agree about the jump-links.
Please use them more!
The bottom line is that this blog needs a new design. There are just too many features/polls/links/etc crammed into the sidebars, and it makes it hard to navigate. Obviously I am not the only person who thinks so. There are so many people involved with LAMB, why not have someone take a look at different templates? There HAS to be a way to make this layout look better. As others have stated, it can be intimidating for those who are not familiar with the blog.
If we decide to go with a new design at some point, why not make it into a contest? Announce it well in advance, give people 2-3 months to submit design ideas, and then put it up for a vote by the membership? There could even be a prize or some special mention (permanent mention?) on the site itself.
Some members are super welcoming and open Castor,Fogs,Dan the Man etc and some others seem real stand offish like this is a private club.
Despite visiting and commenting with some regularity on several blogs, I seem to be geting the cold shoulder. Sort of feels like a lunch table in jr. high and your the new guy at school.
Seems like some discussion about blogging etiquette and welcoming new members might be in order.
Anon @ 4:27: I don’t know what you are referring to, sorry.
Anon @ 9:31: We got it and will definitively look it over. However, I do agree with Dylan that most things are featured quite accessible through the front page.
Anon @ 11:31: Thanks for pointing it out hence sealing the idea for me. I thought of it yesterday that it probably would be a good idea. Lets think about it over the academy awards and formulate something about it afterwards.
Anon @ 11:57: A bit OT I’d say but I started up a thread on the matter in the LAMB forums: [url]http://thelambforums.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=gotopost&board=blog&thread=870&post=9721[/url]
— Just to comment back to the person above, so they know who’s talking to them —
The three folks you mentioned above are all kind and generous readers who are constantly generous in commenting on others work. Which is great.
As for the lunch table in Jr. High School – Private club remark, I’m not quite sure I see that.
Whoever this is speaking – and I assume it’s a newer member – perhaps attempt to become more active in the LAMB community — via signing up for the podcast, sending in articles for classic movies, actors, actresses, commenting on the forums, spur discussion, etc, etc.
Who ever is giving you the “cold shoulder” is probably not doing so intentionally (as I genuinely feel we have no LAMB members that are outwardly mean or hostile).
Though, throughout being in any community one is going to do or say things that are perhaps not rational or ethical. We all make mistakes.
I just hope – whoever is commenting above me – that you continue to be apart of our community, as we need anyone who can and is wiling to participate and be a quality member to our community.
Well said, Sam.
As the founder of this community, I can’t help but feel bad whenever I read something like that. If such things are happening, they are either unknown to me or are being done unknowingly by me.
If there’s a feeling that some members know each other better and have a rapport or something like that and that it’s hard to break into that, I can see that. What must be kept in mind is that some of us have known each other for years now – having gone from strangers to friends (and sometimes more). These things don’t happen overnight.
I would echo Joel and Sam about the LAMBcast – of course, it’s not some end-all-be-all “Welcome to THE club!”-type thing, but actually speaking to people again and again goes a long way towards getting to know others. Almost all of the people I would say that I “know” the best are ones that I’ve gotten to know via the LAMBcast.
That’s just my experience, though.
Of course, if the Anon in question wants to email Joel (or myself) about any of these things, we’d be happy to help in any way we could.
yeah I’m OK with 99% of blogs having boring templates. But Dylan you have a crazy large community here with tons of features and participants. You don’t need anyone contributing a fund for the LAMB to get their own URL. Having .blogspot is just so amateurish. Template is also out of date. Update it. Your wife is a graphic designer right? How she doesn’t yell at you everyday is beyond me. K thats my bluster…for every negative thing i have to say, i have 50 good things to say. Later.
Sam: Very well spoken indeed!
Ouch I assume we won’t be seeing that LAMB fundraiser courtesy of Japan Cinema anytime soon then??
http://youtu.be/E3szcxhe5OA
Thanks again. Its amazing how important this is to you all and we’ll make sure to implement some changes the next couple of days but also to kick off a design contest.
You guys that are interested might want to start up your macbooks because its rumored in the forums that a LAMB has already started working on her submission….
Thats all folks!
I sent this to Rachel and Joel, but I figured I might as well share it with everyone as well, just so you know where I stand:
“I’ll tell ewe – I’ve looked at the LAMB site (like, really looked at it) more in the last few days since the Blustering than in the past month, probably.
And the more I look at, the more I DON’T think it looks all that bad or cluttered or anything. Am I crazy?!? Here are some things I could get rid of or change:
* I’ve never been a fan of the nav buttons (sorry, Rachel, but if it makes ewe feel better, they’re still better than whatever I had there before). I would like not only better looking ones but probably to do the two menus at the top so we can be sure to get things like the Forums higher prominence.
* I’m not a big fan of having both polls in the sidebar – I agree with you, Joel, that it helps them stick out, but overall it just rubs me wrong. In fact, since that poll is closed, I just removed it.
* I’m not a big fan of the “Directories” section. I wonder how much help any of those things do anymore (if ever), and I think I’d like to ditch them, too.
* I agree that the “dead” banners should be taken down or de-linked.
* I’m not sure what/if any good the Podcast Roundup is doing anymore, if ever.
* I don’t like the two sections of LAMBscores – it feels like the LAMBscores deserve their own page, but even if not, one widget is probably enough. I do assume, however, that having two is a temporary/special case to coincide with the end of the year.
* The widget sections could stand out from one another a bit more. This could be remedied pretty easily, I’d imagine.
That’s about it – aside from those things, I maintain that it’s a good-looking site.”
I’ll add that consistency amongst our “brand” is key, and yes, JC, my wife is helping us with things like that. Also, the items in the Featured Content box have been updated.
Slowly but surely, folks.
My response to Dylan:
“* I’ve never been a fan of the nav buttons (sorry, Rachel, but if it makes ewe feel better, they’re still better than whatever I had there before). I would like not only better looking ones but probably to do the two menus at the top so we can be sure to get things like the Forums higher prominence.”
Agreed I think the top bar buttons is preferred and have all access to the different pages/features on them.
“* I’m not a big fan of having both polls in the sidebar – I agree with you, Joel, that it helps them stick out, but overall it just rubs me wrong. In fact, since that poll is closed, I just removed it.”
Well this is my fault if its a fault. I do think its good to highlight the MOTM poll when its around and its only for one week. Maybe it can be relocated?
“* I’m not a big fan of the “Directories” section. I wonder how much help any of those things do anymore (if ever), and I think I’d like to ditch them, too.”
Is this the feature sections? I think they should be on that top menu thing.
“* I agree that the “dead” banners should be taken down or de-linked.”
Yes
“* I’m not sure what/if any good the Podcast Roundup is doing anymore, if ever.”
I got to say that I use this one quite a bit. I both discover new podcasts and find new episodes of the shows I follow but not have my own subscription to.
“* I don’t like the two sections of LAMBscores – it feels like the LAMBscores deserve their own page, but even if not, one widget is probably enough. I do assume, however, that having two is a temporary/special case to coincide with the end of the year.”
I told Rachel I wanted an extra one that will be the top 5 of 2012. Hence in the end it will be the top 5 films of the year according to the LAMB scores. I like having ’em both.
“* The widget sections could stand out from one another a bit more. This could be remedied pretty easily, I’d imagine.”
I think this is more of design tampering etc.
Sorry I was logged onto my private account this time but I normally comment on LAMB matters under the LAMB admin account Shep. Burman
Joel – no, the “Directories” widget is near the bottom of the right sidebar. It’s links to external directories like BlogCatalog and the like.
Dylan: Ah thanks…
I also forgot to say that these changes we are talking about here are ones that we aim to do on a short term basis.
We’ll still do a design contest where hopefully some one comes up with something real good. If not we’ll develop this one further.
And for you URL/domain ranters yes we are considering switching to a our own url instead of the blogspot domain.
Guess what? “.blogspot” is gone! You can find the LAMB at http://www.largeassmovieblogs.com. The old URL will redirect, but please update your links going forward – thanks!
The only victim of this is the “Recently Baah-ed LAMBs” page, which was tied to the old URL. Hope that’s not a big deal.
glad you took my advice on the url (or i just echoed what you were already planning to do). Either way its the most inexpensive and quickest way to improve the blog imo. Keep up the great work.
Late to the party here, but here goes:
I agree that the site is cluttered, but it doesn’t really bother me too much. Once I got to know where to click to find the forums and a few other spots, it was cool. I do see one of the writer’s points of old series still being out there. That might be worth removing.
I was going to comment on removing the Leaderboard, which doesn’t really make sense, but now it appears to be gone. If the choice was made to remove it, I think that was wise. It seems like it’s just a count of which blogger clicks through their site to the LAMB site the most.
Responding to one person who talked about getting the cold shoulder, my experience has been completely different. The best part of the Lamb has been participating in the Lambcast, which has been a lot of fun and offered a much better way for interacting and getting to know Dylan, Joel, and others than over comments or e-mails. I think the key is that the blogger takes the time to participate in the forums and get involved. Once I got rolling and started actively participating, it was really easy. I haven’t experienced any unfriendly or snobbish behavior from anyone here over the past year. It’s been a great community and one of the highlights since I started my blog.
I would love to see the comments switched to the inline threaded system instead of a popup window.
This is a really tiny thing, but why is there a link to Samsung Blue Ray Players in the right column? Are they a sponsor or something?
Anon @ 3:23 – I’m be more inclined to switch to the inline system if if truly was threaded and you could respond to individual comments a la WordPress or Disqus or any other platform in the word save Blogger. Since it’s not, I find responding to comments (and parts of posts) much easier with the pop-up system.
Anon @ 8:23 – Yes, the Samsung link is from an advertiser.
One more complaint. I wanted to check back on this post and see if there were any new comments, but I had a hard time finding it. Why isn’t there a link to Blog Blustering anywhere on the homepage?
And now comment moderation has been enabled? Why is that?
Anon @ 11:37 – We’re working on that. Soon to be remedied.
Anon @ 11:38 – No idea – I didn’t touch that. Joel?
What do you mean? Has the comment settings changes? I haven’t tampered with it deliberately at least. But I’m a blogspot newbie sp I can’t guarantee I haven’t pulled any levers I shouldn’t etc.
I just checked – word verification is turned off.
Though now I just went and re-read the comment. Oops…I wasn’t reading clearly enough:
YES, Comment Moderation on posts older than a few days has been turned on for years. It cuts down on spam making its way to the site tremendously. And I’m pretty much online at all times of the day, so I approve said comments almost always within a few hours.
But Blogger does have threaded individual replies now…
http://buzz.blogger.com/2012/01/engage-with-your-readers-through.html
I figured you might say that – awesome!
What’s weird is that I’ve not heard of this yet, or seen it in action yet. Either I’m failing or the Blogger sites I’ve been to are failing or both. Or I’m just blind.
Anyway – sweet!