I'd hang my head in shame, except, like, these are good.

t checks for pod people under Micole's bed

Question:

I'll be getting my own Web site fairly soon (i.e., within the next five years). I plan to post my own fics there, along with the fics of a couple of others, and maybe some other stuff (blog, recipes, knitting patterns, wine reviews...)

What do people like to see in a personal fic site in terms of design, organization, etc?

What things are especially common and especially annoying in terms of color, layout, etc.?

Considering that you recommended one of them to me, I don't see that *you* have any room to mock, missy.

What things are especially common and especially annoying in terms of color, layout, etc.?

Multiple clicks to get to content. Low-contrast text/background color combinations. In fact, most non-black/white text/background color combinations, which are hard to read or distracting or both.

Annoying? Splashpages for no good reason. Broken links. Color choices which are physically painful. Green text on black. Purple text on black. Too much flash. (Actually, any flash.)

Anything requiring a lot of clicks to get to content is bad. Even big stories should be in one file unless they're really huge. Make the big stuff available as straight .txt files.

I liked the old Bright Shiny Objects design, don't like the new one quite so much. But that's more a personal preference having little to do with the design issues -- I just don't like the colors.

Jintian and Melymbrosia both have nicely-designed websites. Clean, fast, user-friendly.

Considering that you recommended one of them to me, I don't see that *you* have any room to mock, missy.

I've never read any of the stories you just recommended! Unless you mean MPREG stories, in which case I freely admit to pimping Shrift's story endlessly. Cause doood, it's funny!

What things are especially common and especially annoying in terms of color, layout, etc.?

Anything animated, flashy, blinky, or otherwise visually distracting. Low contrast. Teeny-tiny fonts. Script, gothic, or other low-readability fonts. Splash pages. I-Frames (and anything else that doesn't work in non-IE browsers). Any background graphic that's visible enough to mess with text visibility. SOUND OF ANY KIND. Lack of persistent navigation (which means, umm -- you notice how the links for message center, home, and the like are there on every page, so you don't have to use the back button to get home before going anywhere else? That's good. Not having a way to find your way around, get home, or grasp where you are in the site, wherever you are, is bad).

I did indeed mean Shrift's story.

checks for pod people under Micole's bed

t ditto

What things are especially common and especially annoying in terms of color, layout, etc.?

Black bg with green or red text/links is evil. Plain beats the hell out of gaudy. Fast-load beats the hell out of complex, and sound files or animation are the tools of the Devil. Simplicity and ease of use are my twin beacons.

Actually what irritates me no end is story files in many many parts, rather than one file. When you're on a dialup and your roommate is expecting a call, it's a lot easier to snag one big file than to go through loading 40 smaller files one at a time. If it's a really long story, sure, 4-5 parts. But 40??

Fic site pet peeves: Make it clear how to get from one page to another. I don't care how pretty it is, if it takes me more than two minutes to find the link that will get me to what I'm looking for I'm bailing.

Then I read shalott's The World Turned Upside Down, a crack-addled Master & Commander AU. I have not read the books or seen the movie. I love this story. Jane Austen with genderfuck! It is the most delicious thing ever.

Oh, god, wasn't it wonderful? Though I'm not sure I'd really define it as mpreg. Actually, one could probably have a very interesting discussion about whether or not it's slash.