Made a front page for my site, look ok?

[sunfunbill]

Sorry to keep bothering you all about my site. But I just made a real front page for the home page.

It is a WP page, just made to be home. Then I made an empty page called crossdresser blog and used that for the blog page.

Since my top nav is full I temporary stuck a button below it until I have more time for the blog page button.

Could you let me know if it looks ok??
Thank you much.

crossdresser playground

[balls_deep]

I don't like the menu with 2 rows, looks sloppy

[sunfunbill]

Yes, that was what I was referring too when I said I stuck a button on it. I will try to make it look better tonight, got too much crap to do right now.

Thanks for looking at it!

[Trixie]

It looks nice and it's awesome that you have a real presence on the site; it should earn you a lot of bookmarks.

I don't know if you know about my girlfriend's site, http://deliacd.com -- it started out as a crossdressing site but she decided to transition last year and is going to start on hormones as soon as I get pregnant. We have free hosted galleries, etc. if you want to promote her or maybe exchange links with her blog:

http://deliacd.com/weblog/journal.html

[sunfunbill]

Well hi there Trixie! Yes indeed I have the signup page bookmarked and am going to signup very soon. I made a mistake of signing up to too many sponsors and now I'm weeding out the ones that don't really fit my site.

I have had several people tell me to get Deila as one of my sites to push. Once I sign up I would like a day or two pass so I can make and add it to my site review page. My site should be a very big site long term.

[Trixie]

Cool, thanks! (and good luck)

[Hammer]

You can't imagine how much restraint it's taking for me to avoid responding to the idea of the situation Trixie just described, especially as a parent.

[Trixie]

Are you talking about the raging hormones?

It might just be like a course in lesbo drama 101.

I probably shouldn't ask for clarification, though, if you're aware it's something you should self-censor. Unless it's something hot and sexy.

[Hammer]

I prefer not to clarify.

[Trixie]

Ahhh. So you just want me to know that even if people don't openly express hostility & judgement towards the idea of us being parents, that it's there, just below the surface, and you're just doing me a really big favor not to express it?

Just guessing, but if I'm correct, why post anything at all? If you're trying to be nice, why not go all the way? Or are you actually hoping I'll *invite* you to pass judgement?

I hope I'm wrong. I have a hard time remembering all the board personalities so I feel as though I've crossed paths with you before, but have no recollection whether that was a positive or negative thing. I like to give people the benefit of the doubt, but you're making it hard for me to do that.

[balls_deep]

looking better now, maybe put the disclaimer in a table with some background color. I had trouble finding it.

[sunfunbill]

Thanks balls, I'll try to do that tomorrow.

BTW, just for another opinion about what Hammer is suggesting, my two lesbian friends I live with intend to have a kid someday. Ashley will be the one to carry it.

I keep telling them I'd make a great donor if I could help them the natural way, but no dice. They said something about a turkey baster.


They will make much better parents than a lot of "normal" mom and dads I know. Just like you can't judge a person who pushes porn, you can't say who would be a good parent. Well, unless it's a homeless crackhead.

[balls_deep]

bill, id insist on natural basting

[Hammer]

Trixie, I don't want to hijack Bill's thread anymore than I already did but I assure you I wasn't trying to be nice. Most of the time I try to take the 'to each his own' approach when it involves consenting adults but when it affects another life that has no choice in the matter I throw that philosophy out the window.

This will be my last reply on the matter in this thread, sorry Bill.

[gonzo]

Damn no debate. And I came here just for it.

Originally posted by Hammer
Trixie, I don't want to hijack Bill's thread anymore than I already did but I assure you I wasn't trying to be nice. Most of the time I try to take the 'to each his own' approach when it involves consenting adults but when it affects another life that has no choice in the matter I throw that philosophy out the window.

This will be my last reply on the matter in this thread, sorry Bill.

[Ledrak]

It's starting to look better. I still find it a pain in the ass to navigate though. Just keep working on it....

[sunfunbill]

It's starting to look better. I still find it a pain in the ass to navigate though. Just keep working on it....

Thanks for checking it out Ledrak, but damn I don't understand how I can make it any easier to navigate.

All the pages are clearly spelled out in the top bar. Once you get to that page, any sub pages are at the top of that page, both with a graphic and text.

So how much clearer can I be? Or are you saying you find the number of pages confusing? This is a full site, not just a blog. So if your expecting to get around like you would a 1 or 2 page blog then yes of course it's more confusing.

But any big site takes time to learn. The biggest crossdresser site out there is
http://urnotalone.com/main.php

Go there and see how confusing that place is! I am a member there and STILL can't find my way around or how to get to some areas.

So let me know what your still having problems with and I will see what I can do. Thanks again.

[Hammer]

Bill, I hope you know I say this with no intention of disrespecting you but you have a really excellent chance to create something here that you could very well make a nice living from if it's done properly. I think you need to get some professional help though. That page is nothing close to what it should be. For one thing, you need to get away from the WP template look for the pages that aren't a blog. I know you're on a tight budget and want to do everything yourself but you don't want to blow your shot by launching something that is this far from being polished.

There is no logical reason why the main page needs to be done in WP. It's not a blog, it's a large community site with many sections, one of which happens to be a blog. The page is also way too cluttered and has too much text to read before you even have a clue what the site is about. It needs to be simplified with a concise statement of purpose and ways to navigate to the other areas of the site as the primary focus.

Frankly, I think you're trying to rush this. I've worked on large sites before and I have a friend that posts here occasionally that is launching some large community sites and these kinds of sites take months to flesh out to the point they are ready to launch. Sure, a little tweaking after a site opens is to be expected but you want it to be as close to perfect as possible before you open the doors.

[sunfunbill]

Thanks for letting me know Hammer. No, by all means let me know if it's bad, I want to know.

The trouble is I get several different types of advice from just about everyone. Some say "build the damn thing, get it out there then tweak it later". You just seemed to say I should have waited longer.

But, I can't know if it needs work until I get it out there and let people like you tell me what is wrong with it. Please, go to that site I have a link in a few post up.

That's the biggest transgender site out there. The front page is a big mess, blog style. Now, just because that site looks like crap does not mean mine should, I know.

So, your saying I need to get the front page more simple, have the words in different small places so they are easy to read? If I leave off both sidebars it will be a regular page, so I can still use a WP page.

I think the header should be the same on the front as the rest. So, I should make the front page without sidebars, make tables and stuff so everything is in it's place.

Notice I took your advice and made a "latest updates and stuff table". Is that good?

If you know of an example page I can see, please let me know. I am broke, I cannot afford one damn thing, so I HAVE to do everything myself.

Keep your comments coming, I really want to know!!!!!

[Hammer]

The main page is your directory. I would have very little if any advertising on it. It's the jumping off point of your community not a destination of it's own. You need to take time and first determine what you want the first time visitor to see. Then you need to decide what regulars would like to see on return visits once they are familiar with the site.

The first thing you should do is make a list of what should go on the page. Then you need to sit down and start sketching out possible layouts indicating where things should go and playing around with the sketches until you have something you can start working with. Right now I don't think you really have a plan you just have an idea.