I've been away for a month or so and came back to find a lot of the functionality in the site has been greatly improved. Great job on that. I see the subscriptions feature was rolled out and I quickly added all kinds of new ones to my pull lists. The new discussions are a nice touch, but there's still some basic functionality I'd like to see added / improved:

Discussion Boards / Groups

Signatures - As one person posted already, signatures with the ability to link to a blog or website or just post an image would be nice. Please limit the sizes though. Something like ad banner sizes, I think 756x98 or whatever the standard is. We dont need sigs longer than the actual posts.

BB Code - I'm not sure if there is any, but I don't see any ability to apply code to bold, italics or link to anything. The review section has the abilities I'm speaking of and would be nice for posts. I'd have my titles and bullet points bolded for easier reading if it were the case.

Bolded new posts - Any chance of new posts being listed in bold and things you've read regular font? I haven't paid attention, but do new comments move posts to the top of the post listing? that would be nice too with the bolding feature to know when new posts are made.

Why not regular forums? - I'm not opposed to these groups, but the required invites and acceptances can create cliques and feelings of resentment and isolation if you arent invited or accepted or no one joins a group.

Groups appear to be similar to basic forums, but lacks many of the standard features, such as those listed above. Is there a particular reason you didn't simply go with a phpBB or similar free message board with tweaks to fit your needs? I just assumed it would be easier and free up resources to focus on other site features.


Basic Functionality (unrelated to groups)

Navbar Overload - The navbar (This Week, Next Week, Featured, etc) is far too cluttered. It gives too many options and I'm overwhelmed when trying to find something.

For example, This Week, Next Week, Pull List, Subscriptions, Previews and Most Pulled are almost all identical in function with small variations, yet take up six separate slots on the navbar.

This & Next Week

This Week and Next Week dont really tell me anything when I come here. This Week what? Releases? My pull list? Next Week what? They are too ambiguous and if you click one of them, it takes you to a list of releases for this week or next week, as they are intended. HOwever, each page has a link to each other in that menu to the right with the various weeks for that month on display, making at least one link in your navbar redundant.

Pull List & Subscriptions

For Pull List and Subscriptions, it's hard to see a difference besides the odd single issue you might click pull for but dont have a subscription of. Subscriptions could go in the profile tab and let you manage them there. Pull List seems the most useful of all the items on the bar, yet is stuck over on the right middle area. When clicking Pull List, it brings up comics pull so far for the week, as it should. However, for me, I have a huge list and it scrolls into oblivion. Is it possible to have options for List, Details, Thumbnails, etc, similar to options on a folder in Windows or other operating systems? That would fit my entire list in single line/no thumbnail form similar to this:

[SmallDCLogo] Action Comics #874 - On Sale: February 11, 2009 282 views | Comments [0] | User Reviews [0] | View Series - [BluePulledBox]253 Pulls[/endBox] [REMOVE] [OrangeSubscribeBox]Edit[/endBox]

That's a little awkward with my brackets and could be fixed, but something similar to that would be excellent for my needs. I like the thumbnails when SEARCHING for items to pull, but when I'm managing 10+ items per week, its difficult to do anything when I have to scroll into oblivion looking for that one item to remove or just checking for missing comics.

Previews

Why do they have a separate link? Combine them with This Week and Next Week. Add a PREVIEW button to the lists where people pull comics. They click it and get images or descriptions for the comic. It shouldnt need its own spot on the bar. It could take the place of Next Week if you wanted to keep it, though, as it would provide previews for the upcoming week(s) and allow for pulling that way.

Most Pulled

I'm unsure of the need for this as a separate tab, but if numbers show it is used a lot, I could see keeping it. I would imagine simply including it as a sorting function in the This Week or other tabs would be more than enough. For example, click This Week and it is sorted, I believe, alphabetically by publisher, then book. Have sorting options here for Most Pulled that would rank books by the Most Pulled, providing searchability and eliminating clutter int he navbar. There's no need for basic sorting options to have its own tab as Most Pulled does.

Also, while on the topic of sorting, while unfair, I believe Marvel and DC should supercede other publishers in the default listings simply because of the huge market share they have over them. I do buy the odd indy book, but when the bulk of comics are 70-80% from two publishers, maybe more, they should probably rank first for simple ease of use.

Profiles & Home

What is the purpose of this? When I'm logged in, my profile is available under the navbar. You curerntly have four (Profiles, Home, UserName [when signed in, next to Welcome UserName] and My Profile [similar location to UserName]) links to the same thing in the top part of the site. While Home and Profiles dont link to the exact same thing, it's almost identical and could be combined into one link. Both are made redundant by the UserName part, which is also made redundant by the My Profile link right next to it. Four links, all to the same section, all in the main nav area.

News, Previews, Reviews, Downloads

These seem like important items. I know I said lose the Previews and combine them earlier, but on just about every other comic site, these typically make up the front line of the navbar. Here, they are shoved off in a corner, as if they are after thoughts and unimportant. I'm not sure how to fix that, but I rarely click here for news and after checking it, it's very un-news like in presentation. There's no top story or standard BIG NEWS article at the top (look at IGN Comics, Newsarama, CBR and their big news bubble for top story). Individual news are not broken up and it feels like they blend into each other due to the huge amounts of white space.

Finally, why isnt the News the main page? Your main page defaults, currently, to two stories, 10 Most Viewed Comics and a REBELS #1 feature. There's previews down below it. I think either a blog about the site, where we have updates (such as you telling us theres new groups and comiccon coverage) or a news section with previews down below / to the side.

As it is, I dont think Ive ever clicked a link on the current default entry page to the site. You have traffic to check with, so maybe you can confirm or deny if this is true for other users, but I think the main entry page should be more straightforward about what the site is and literally tell people what to do.

If the site is mostly for pull lists, the opening default section could be a cycling list (when logged in) of your pulled comics coming out this week. You could have links to the side that say "Review this book you pulled last week" or something to make me want to / remind me to talk about my comics from that week.


Publishers This Week

On the front page, theres a LOT of space devoted to the publishers this week section. Why? I can honestly say I dont care or even know about half those publishers. I'm sure someone does, but why isnt it BOOKS THIS WEEK, as is what the site is about. I care about books.

Similarly, the shop locator gets prime real estate and I dont think casual people are at a site like this. We know where our shop is. It's a nice side feature that could be useful for going on a trip and finding a shop, but to be given top billing like it currently has seems out of place.


Ads

i know you are trying to monetize the site and have no problem with ads, but theres a lot of open space in the banner up top. Cut the banner down to a small square like the end of Comixology and the tagline. Drop the search bar down to the date line. Turn that huge chunk of banner space into an ad and lose the giant square next to the main article. Put side stories there like CBR has. This brings them above the fold where I might actually take time to read them.

iPhone Ap

it's good to promote it, but how popular is it? Are there that many people with an iPhone reading comics that come to this site that it deserves such a huge chunk of space above the fold? I dont know these numbers, but I dont think it deserves that much. Maybe a Free Comic Book Day sized link and give it top billing on the Downloads section, but not the front page.


Conclusion

I know its almost all negative, but its easy to be negative. I dont have many solutions for you and I'm not privy to exactly what you want the site to be at this point. Is it a social media site where we link up with friends, share our pull lists, talk comics? Promote that ont he entry page more. Is it for news, previews, promotions, columns with the social aspects as enticing benefits? Promote that on the entry page more.

Currently, you seemt o be moving in all directiosn at once, trying to grow too big, too fast and losing site of what you want to accomplish. I love, LOVE, how you guys are big on feedback and listening to what people want, but maybe you are listening too much or unable to filter out what everyone else wants to combine with what YOU want from the site.

Personally, I enjoy the site, but find it extremely hard to move about. I click links that take me to features that are similar, but not exactly what I want when it should be combined with that other link I had to go back and click. I go in my profile and I have trouble finding friends or groups I'm in or my pull list or subscriptoins and have to click other links to find them. I see a list of comics for the week and cant get the preview without going to yet another link to find it when it should be int he same spot.

Theres a lot of run around to do simple things and I think its a lack of focus in design where you just add features people want too quickly due to your enthusiasm to make a good site and it prevents you from noticing simpler or more elegant solutions.

Sorry for the length, but I like the site and want to share as much of my input as possible. I dont expect you to tear everything down and change it to my likings, but I think some of my problems are shared by others and can be looked into making more elegant combinations of navbar items and site features. Again, dont let the negative vibe of the post dissuade you or get you down as I do like what youa re doing here and I could probably write a similar length post on what you are doing right.

I agree with most of this too. In my experience with the site, I was gone for a long time and came back to still find it sort of clunky and difficult to use. The only reason I really want this to succeed is that my LCS is using this to manage their pull lists.

Overall, I think I can sum up the previous poster and my suggestions below with pointing out that 90% of web design is organizing the information well, and right now, I just don't feel like I understand the flow here. There should be no more than 3 or 4 buttons in the navigation bar that send you to distinct sections of the site. Like say you have a 'Profile' button. Since you need a profile to manage a pull list, and is the primary reason to make a profile, put your lists there in your profile. That includes pull lists and subscriptions and all that stuff. This can all be shown in secondary menus of some sort when you're in the profile section. I really don't see a need for profiles right now.

Maybe make a summery of your profile a top banner area at the top of what is now the homepage. See all the new books, see all your info. Make the home page the page that aggregates all the general info of the entire site. Now you have a launch pad to make the site work together. Integrate the information. Make some sense of the multitude of features you're all making available.

Anyway, it's all theoretical. Here are some suggestions that I think could make an immediate practical difference around the site:


- When subscribing to a title, immediately change the button to 'Edit Sub' instead of 'Done', since I constantly have to reload the page to edit the subscription for each of my titles.

- Be able to sort searches by category: ie, Put all Batman comics at the top of the list of Batman stuff (or whatever other topic/merchandise the user choses). Maybe make an expandable list of merchandise types.

- Be able to view your pull list in it's entirety -- maybe from this date forward or whatever.

- View entire pull list history -- even if only by name if there is a time limit thumbnail images will be kept on the server.

- Make a way to browse profiles.

- Make a way to cancel an account (if there is one, I didn't notice it).

- Make finding and selecting to join a retailer more obvious, and show the connection somewhere in the profile, even if it's private. Also make removing a connection to a retailer possible. Maybe, also when you add your zip code in your profile, it automatically shows a list of retailers in the area.

- Update the FAQ and Help pages. There doesn't seem to be any information about how to use the site and what the various options to take advantage of, are.

Good luck. It seems like there are a bunch of us fully supporting the advances and changes that may be made around here. It's going to become quite a site soon.

Personally I like the Pull List and Subscriptions just how they are...

Pull list is to see what ISSUES are coming this week / month (and could include one off purchases), Subscriptions to show what TITLES are being subscribed to.

Let me start off by saying that we encourage and appreciate feedback. That said, we are very much aware that the current navigation is a nightmare, and that will be changing in the near future.

There's a lot being said here, and we will review it all, I just wanted to touch on our reasoning as to why we choose groups instead of traditional forums.

We decided to go with groups over traditional forums because we felt that groups had more of a progressive feel to them. Not to diminish the value of traditional forums, but we felt that by allowing our users to create groups, same as Facebook, we were empowering them to have more control over the discussions they participate in. We didn't want to dictate the topics, or discussions our users participated in, instead we wanted to open it up to anything and everything.

We were hoping to avoid the usual pitfalls of the traditional forums, we reasoned that by using groups we could do our best to reduce trolls, flamers, and baiters, as a Group is made up by a community of users who police their own members.

But nothing is set in stone, this is just the beginning of changes to be seen on the site.