Review My Social Network

[TheEClub99]

My site is called The E Club+ and it's a social network I created with x10Hosting about two weeks ago. I have been working to promote it so that's why it seems a bit empty at the moment.

I really believe that The E Club+ can be an important part of social networking, so I would like to know what you think of it overall. How intuitive and user-friendly is the interface? What do you think of the overall design of the site? Do you think a large number of users can benefit from it?

Don't be afraid to freely critique it; I appreciate any feedback I can get. Also, if you know of any ways to spread the word, I would be more than happy to hear them.

Thank you very much for your help!

 

[andylpsx]

The site looks pretty good, the green is pretty vibrant and may look a little better with some gradients added to it so it isn't just one color. I would see if you could do a little work on the logo since the logo is one of the first feature that people see when connecting to your website. More meta data would be nice, I am completely unable to locate your page by means of a search engine by just the name. I also believe that if the site got hundreds if not thousand of users it would be hard to use. The blog and pictures and everything would be full of peoples pictures and blog posts and assuming that people use it often, you would be updating it so fast that post would hardly ever be seen and the lists would be extremely long. I understand the basic concept but not the whole thing, is it itself a social network or just a utility for using social networks?

 

[TheEClub99]

Thank you for your feedback! I agree with you on the logo and color scheme, so I will get to work on those as soon as possible. In the case of metadata, I Googled "The E Club+" and it brought up search results for "The E Club", with a "Did you mean" link for searching "The E Club+". When I clicked on that link, The E Club+ was the first result. But I'll add more metadata anyway for improved SEO.

I am aware of the "media overload" that can occur when many people use the site often. Unfortunately, this has to do with how The E Club+'s software, Oxwall, works. Each member has his or her own set of content - photos, blogs, links, etc., which are not mixed with other members' content. For example, I could have some photos and you can have some photos, and when I click on the +Photos link on the main menu, I see every member's photos, but there are sections that have only my photos in them (it works the same way for every service). However, if I go to the Feed on the homepage or iClub (basically the dashboard), I see updates from every member on the site, which can lead to that overload.

Right now, The E Club+ is under maintenance; that's why there's an almost-empty screen that appears and nobody can log in. I am currently working to resolve the "media overload".

Once again, thank you so much for your advice. It is invaluable while I am developing The E Club+.

 

[chatngox]

Your logo needs to be worked on a bit. Your link provided is telling me you're working on it which is good. So when I visit the main URL i instantly hearing Mario Music is laying in the background, which most people will not want. If you really love the song, set autoplay false.

"Media Overload" may be the issues that happening on Wordpress. Maybe Wordpress installations may not have "Media Overload", but recently it has been playing up too. Overall the site looks just about right!

 

[TheEClub99]

Thanks for your reply, but I think you're talking about my main site (theeclub.info) that's not hosted with x10Hosting. My site with x10Hosting is http://plus.theeclub.info, and right now it's an almost-blank page with a message saying that it's being refreshed. The "media overload" I'm talking about pertains to Oxwall, the platform I use on my x10Hosting site, not WordPress. But thanks for your suggestions anyway!

 

[TheEClub99]

The E Club+ is being redesigned. It was temporarily not viewable to the public, but now it's open and redesigns are still going on. What do you think of the site now?

 

[talklyx1]

I love the concept but your logo is killing the whole vibe.

 

[TheEClub99]

The logo has been modernized

 

[talklyx1]

I would recommend that the background of the logo be a transparent PNG layer because it looks more professional than a black box around it that doesn't even match the overall color scheme. If you pick a font from here http://www.awwwards.com/100-greatest-free-fonts-collection.html or any other site really and tell me which one you like.. I can make you a logo that's similar to the font. Also, I'd consider renaming all the +'s because that's kinda Google's idea and I know you wanted to brand your likes.. But the way you went about doing so is extremely confusing. It says "User clubit!s this" as opposed to just like. I'd try something simple (like, love, heart, star, favorite, appreciate). Instead of Oxwall I'd also consider trying out Buddypress/Wordpress which is open source and offers a lot more customization to truly make the site yours. There's no forced banners and there's thousands of plugins.

 

[talklyx1]

And what is your niche? You need to establish a specific topic for your social network or people won't go there. Why would they when there's facebook and twitter? You need to establish a specific niche like sports, gaming, tech, etc. Doesn't really matter.

 

[TheEClub99]

Thank you for your suggestions! I agree with them and the problems will be fixed.

The font I'm using for the logo is called Cicle Fina and can be found here: http://www.dafont.com/cicle.font. Unfortunately, my image editing tools aren't the most advanced.
I have thought about renaming the site because of the whole "+" idea, and I will consider it further. I am also in the process of changing the "ClubIt!s" and such to more simpler names.

I looked into BuddyPress, but honestly it seems too much like WordPress. Oxwall is also open-source and very customizable (with plugins and no ads), and I think there's true potential in it; that's why I use it.

As for the niche, I am thinking of technology, which will be built around the current site.

Once again, thank you very much for your advice! I find it very useful.

http://www.dafont.com/cicle.font

 

[talklyx1]

Email me dalton@talkly.co and I'll send you a logo mock-up later?

 

[TheEClub99]

Done!