Except for the standard header, the only thing a user sees without scrolling is a blog entry from back in May, and a couple of ads. It would be nice to have a concise introduction to the site, and a few essential links (self-help, HJT download, forum home and Malware forum) right up front.
That all depends on how big your monitor is… I can see the first few support forum links
I do see your point maybe a little more visible at the top would be nice, however someone looking around for help will scroll down.
I logged out to see what you meant. It all depends on what link you choose out of,
Home
Forums
Contact
Terms of Use
Live chat
Bug Tracker
Hijackthis
Members
Search
Help
I just chose one, and got a pretty part Asian Lady standing behind an acceptable Laptop. Clicked on a few others, but can't see a thing wrong with any of the links for WTT. Personally, I think Management/Administration do a sterling job with the presentation of this forum.
When this page opens, my eye is drawn to two things: the Asian woman and the green RUN A FREE SYSTEM SCAN button. My guess is that most newcomers to the site will click that green button, which will send them off to Uniblue. They may or may not come back.
Someone who is unfamiliar with the site is not likely to know that they should click the Forums button. They may or may not notice the yellow bar at the top. I didn't see that until after I had started this thread.
My point is that people who come here for help may not be computer savvy. They may be unfamiliar with online forums. They may be upset, and not thinking clearly. The thing that they see first should make them feel welcome, and give them some very brief and very clear guidance, including a link to the self-help thread.
I also think that if we're going to have a blog on the home page, it should be updated more frequently, but that's a separate issue.
I hope everyone understands that I'm not trying to be critical of the site, or the people who operate it. I'm just suggesting an improvement that I think could be done without too much effort.
I hope everyone understands that I'm not trying to be critical of the site, or the people who operate it. I'm just suggesting an improvement that I think could be done without too much effort.
no worries Ganelon…. thats what Comments and Suggestions is for. One of the higher ups wil come a long and take a look at this, and do what they think is best.
Thanks for your comments. I have a good idea of direction we want the front page blog to go, I've just been lacking the time to do it justice. Maybe this is the motivation I need to get some updates done.
However, >90% of the traffic here comes from search engines and arrive in the forums. The homepage is not very highly trafficked. I do agree there should be a site intro, and some basic links to help people get started.
P.S. Uniblue is a sponsor, and their paying for that spot helps make this site possible. Last I checked the click-through rate was about 1%. We're always reevaluating our advertising placements to be effective, yet non-intrusive. I'll see of we can maybe do something different on the homepage.
Well done Ganelon, your points were interesting to read and got me thinking (for a complete change), namely, how much does it cost to run a site similar to this for a year?
I do see your point maybe a little more visible at the top would be nice, however someone looking around for help will scroll down. 
It all depends on what link you choose out of, 
However, >90% of the traffic here comes from search engines and arrive in the forums. The homepage is not very highly trafficked. I do agree there should be a site intro, and some basic links to help people get started.
P.S. Uniblue is a sponsor, and their paying for that spot helps make this site possible. Last I checked the click-through rate was about 1%. We're always reevaluating our advertising placements to be effective, yet non-intrusive. I'll see of we can maybe do something different on the homepage.