Job Discussion Forums

matador · Joined: 07 Mar 2003 Posts: 281

http://www.eslcafe.com

My first reaction was wtf!? If you could improve the site, what would you do?

G Cthulhu

AndyH · Joined: 30 Sep 2004 Posts: 417

Personally, when it comes to computer stuff, I'm not good with change. I like what I'm familiar with.
If it's not broken......

markle · Joined: 17 Jan 2003 Posts: 1316 Location: Out of Japan

I think the problems with it lay in the fact that the home page needed an update not a complete redesign (and a mediocre one at that). I guess the aim is to catch the attention of new users which is problematic as the new generation will see straight through it. Don't know if I like the picture also.

Shonai Ben · Joined: 15 Feb 2003 Posts: 617

Eva Pilot · Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 3:48 pm Post subject:

I got a bit of a shock seeing it, I wasn't expecting to.

I rarely use the front page these days, so it doesn't bother me too much.

gaijinalways · Joined: 29 Nov 2005 Posts: 2279

Same, that is not my usual landing page, so until I was told it had been redesigned, I didn't know.

alexcase · Joined: 26 Jul 2007 Posts: 215 Location: Seoul

You have to admit, Mr Spelling does look better without the beard though...

Eva Pilot · Posted: Tue Aug 28, 2007 3:53 am Post subject:

He looks less hobo-like now.

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

It's rather amateurish and similar to thousands of ordinary commercial sites. And who's responsible for the silly, inconsistent capitalization? This is bad-marketing-style run amok.

I hope Dave didn't pay lots of money for this "redesign".... Rolling Eyes

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

cornishmuppet · Joined: 27 Mar 2004 Posts: 642 Location: Nagano, Japan

The drop down menu under 'international job forums' has gone, along with that awful beard, but otherwise I don't care one way or another. I think the pictures are nice but I agree it looks less professional than it did before.

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

JimDunlop2 · Joined: 31 Jan 2003 Posts: 2286 Location: Japan

Hmm.. Okay... What's a "tombstone design"? Confused

As for the others.....

- The purple looks almost blue on my display so it really didn't strike me as being so clashing... Maybe I need to look at it on someone else's display to make a proper assessment.

- Agreed 100% re. the missing Dave's ESL Cafe logo

- Photo gallery.... Dave never said anywhere that his photos were supposed to be teaching photos -- my understanding is that they are from his own personal collection and have nothing to do with the ESL Cafe (notice the link is external and leads to pbase.com).

- Dave's mug shot has always been on his front page... Nothing new there. Personally, I wouldn't do it on my own page, but if he's happy having it there, it's DAVE'S ESL Cafe.... Not Jim's or Henry's or even "Everybody's" so I say "meh"... I am glad he got rid of the beard, though. Smile

- White text on dark backgrounds don't bother me if they are only used for menus/sidebar text. As long as it's not the whole page I'm OK with it.

- Sponsored links: Ugh! I do agree with you there. I don't know about anyone else, but as soon as I see a page where I can't read the whole thing without scrolling another page to get to the very bottom, I quit reading rather quickly... And get annoyed when everything is a sponsored link.

-Also, just to add something to that, I don't like being duped by fake "announcements" that are, in fact, disguised sponsored links... But that I wouldn't really classify as "amateurish" as much as I would "just plain annoying."

But overall, given how much time I spend on the main page (next to none) it's not a big deal for me.

Henry_Cowell · Joined: 27 May 2005 Posts: 3352 Location: Berkeley

Just set your bookmark/favorite not to www.eslcafe.com but to the following "home" page:

http://forums.eslcafe.com/job/