Website feedback?

[rgieseking]

Hi all,

I’ve had my origami website for a bit over a year now, and I’ve been thinking about how to make it more interesting/useful for other origamists. Positive feedback is of course welcome, but I would especially appreciate constructive criticism and suggestions!

Here's the link: http://rebecca.gieseking.us/

A couple specific questions:
1. Is there anything I could do to make my site easier to use? (Anything confusing to navigate, any writing style issues that make things difficult to understand, etc.)

2. Is there any other content you would like to see (or see more of)? (more crease patterns [either simple models or complex models], more tutorials, descriptions/photos of certain parts of the folding/design process, etc.)

3. Any other comments/suggestions/thoughts?

Thanks in advance!

[Earlobes]

I think your work is awesome. When I first saw your shift vases, my mind exploded. It's very generous of you to include personal sketches, providing some insight into the design process. Your work is an inspiration for a fellow GA origamist.

[rgieseking]

I think your work is awesome. When I first saw your shift vases, my mind exploded. It's very generous of you to include personal sketches, providing some insight into the design process. Your work is an inspiration for a fellow GA origamist.

Earlobes, thanks for the kind comments! It helps to know that you appreciate the sketches - that's something I haven't posted often, but I'm willing to think about sharing more of the process more often.

[Gerardo]

rgieseking, first of all. I've known your blog and models for quite a while. I've really liked them for their uniqueness.

Also, I love origami blogs! Nowadays, people basically post their images in Flickr, but I consider that blogs are way better because it allows you to share a lot more about origami and your own process and thoughts. Know what I mean? Your blog is an excellent example about what I'm talking about .

And this are my suggestions:

1. Home button: If I understand correctly, Home consists in the most recent blog entries, right? If so, maybe you could do the same thing Leyla did with Origami Spirit. She named the button Home & blog.

2. Tutorials button: You mention here in the forum that there are tutorials and Crease Patterns but I only see a Crease patterns button. Maybe a Tutorials button would be just as useful.

3. Close up of the photos: When I press on a picture I'm taken to the URL of the picture, leaving the entry behind. I know that I can go back by pressing the correct button in my browser but maybe it would be better if we could just see a bigger version of the image on top of the entry, which we can simply hide by pressing the X button. Know what I mean?

4. Leave a reply: I understand that that's a comments form. Maybe it would easier to understand if it only said "Comments" or something like that. Also, I can't think of a good reason to include a comments form in the contact page.

5. List of links: It isn't an obligation but I think that a list of links is always a good idea on a website. They connect the different sites of a topic turning them into a network instead of independent dots. Know what I mean?

Hope this helps a bit. You can take whichever advise you agree with and discard the rest

[rgieseking]

Gerardo, thanks so much for your thoughtful comments! Some of those are certainly things I'll try to change. It's always helpful to hear what's a challenge for other people to navigate, since it's not always what I would have expected. Hopefully this weekend I'll get a chance to make some tweaks!