how important is good style sheet design to you?

Content comes first but the design isn't unimportant. When talking about design I don't mean that pretty omg colors, but the way features of the page are spread across it. It must be easy to use. Oh And I like darker stuff. Staring at white pagges doesn't make me fell all that good...
 
AbyBeats said:
There you go again showing off your maths prowness.:1eye:
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"If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you." -Oscar Wilde

He was wrong you know .They are just at likely to kill you but at least some of the onlookers might be smiling as you die.


​
 
The design must be eye-friendly. Simple or designer's masterpiece - it is second, the 1st and foremost is that stylesheet shouldn't hurt make my eyes.
 
I'd think design for ease of use would be almost critical to success or failure. But still less important than a good upload team, fair staff, and an economic model that are not too ridiculous. If you start adding random superficial 'bonus' shit into the mix, you'll build hype, but with all the wrong sorts of 'users'. aka people like amiriji who join trackers to appreciate their artistic merit.

A stylesheet like 'proton' on whatcd is incredibly well designed because it has function to satisfy most hardcore users, all the while having little to no filler for casual users.
 
Most of all I care that the site is readable and if the content is easy to find (and plentiful). I do have numerous pet peeves when it comes to tracker design, but that's mostly me being picky.

th0r said:
is good style sheet design a contributor to a successful tracker (i.e. if a better style sheet design was used, do you think a tracker would gain more traffic)?
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Slightly, I would suppose. Many people tend to join trackers based on images they view. Content is what keeps people at trackers... er most people I would hope.

th0r said:
do you use one tracker, over another, simply because of its style sheet design?
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No. If a site looks horrific enough to me I'll just block elements using Adblock or greasemonkey. On gazelle sites I tend to create my own styles to use.


For some reason a lot of tracker users seem to have an affinity for gaudy, obtrusive design. I don't get it. I do understand that aesthetic preferences are, of course, highly subjective. That's why it's always a good idea to have different styles and allow users to define custom ones.
 
as long as a torrent site doesnt look like a forum and make you hunt for its contents I dont care. I Fuc#!ng hate when sites make you hunt for stuff
 
indeed, but i've found that not 1 tracker out there, at least those i've been a member of, solves both of those challenges successfully

ringhunter said:
Design isn't a way to use the tracker, but it is a way to know how to expect the community to behave. I can provide a few offensive examples, if needed.
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i'm sure you can and i probably could, too, but i believe good design in general, whether it be determining design elements or creating features to better help members navigate through the tracker, does play a crucial role in how to use a tracker, or any kind of website: it creates that warm and fuzzy feeling as well as an open environment where its members can get what they need but faster, etc. similar to what the_martinator said:

The_Martinator said:
When talking about design I don't mean that pretty omg colors, but the way features of the page are spread across it.
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since most private trackers use practically the same style sheet templates, the location of its features and their hierarchy (or importance) remains a huge challenge regarding how to give its members the most streamlined user experience possible

ringhunter said:
Hosting a tracker opens you up to a world of problems that can't be addressed with simple design paint jobs.
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i think that part of my post is unclear: i wanted to start a tracker years ago and recently the idea popped back into my head again, but instead of discussing the usual pitfalls of new trackers first (how to recruit members, getting donations, choosing the right staff members, etc.), i wanted to use this thread to address something that is rarely spoken of here in regards to trackers old-and-new: good tracker style sheet design

ringhunter said:
Good examples of how it should be done are SCC/BCG, for example. "Less is more".
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imo, this manifesto is such a great pillar of design thinking when creating anything that is content-based where one of your objectives is to help members better understand where to go to get such-and-such. i agree w/ you that a lot of added features on some trackers are superfluous and actually lessen the quality of a good user experience

ringhunter said:
I don't think people would necessarily favor one tracker over another simply based on designs, as that is not the sole determining factor of the quality of a tracker; however, a hideous design would surely have some effect on the usability/activity/priority.
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i also agree w/ you that design isn't a sole determining factor of whether or not to use a tracker for most members, but it is for me; it's an extremely important hurdle that, a lot of times, i have trouble getting over
 
I like simple User Interfaces like those of Bitme and TT,stylesheets which dosent hurt my eye (I like KG's design and color combination) with whacked weird designs and colors,and organized content (collages,packs etc).Also a good logo :P.
 
I think you (OP) are not picky, for me the design is very-very important and has an impact on the frequency of my visits. The best design Ive seen so far is FTN's. Its simple, minimal, still the best for me.
 
nthpeter said:
I think you (OP) are not picky, for me the design is very-very important and has an impact on the frequency of my visits. The best design Ive seen so far is FTN's. Its simple, minimal, still the best for me.
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FTN might have a cool design but I don't find much interest in scene content along with the ever growing number of spammers polluting their board. The latter is the major reason for the low frequency of usage there.
 
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