3 ms·

Ask HN: Please review my startup

27 points by steveneo 17y ago

My site is here http://www.geniuswiki.com A wiki software. Thanks.

inconvenient 17y ago
Overall, it seems to work pretty well. Under "prettyURL", the "Tiny URL" is often longer than the "Meaning URL". Use a shorter hash key. Also, you might want to have some basic content that loads instantly along with the "loading" graphic (e.g. Logo, basic description). What user base are you going for, and how to you plan to monetize it?
- steveneo 17y ago
  I guess the page you view is created long time ago. Now, the new page has shorter key, so normally, it would be really shorter... My targeting is some team, organisation. As you can see, it has download version. 5 users is free.
diN0bot 17y ago
cool. i signed up and made a private space. it feels like you're giving a lot of value to users, though i don't have anything concrete to say about that....i'm always vaguely looking for private wiki space for small collaborators. biggest question: will you still be around in 6 months? i've had not so good experiences in the past with finding "a really cool private collaborative wiki" (free) that suddenly stopped working...
- steveneo 17y ago
  I already working on it for 2 years, so it is definitely no problem to another 6 months:) The reasons is, it is my part time job, I have no worries about my living budget. Anyway, you also can download and hosting yourself.
mynameishere 17y ago
Seems nice. I guess my question is: How is it distinguished from other make-your-own wiki solutions?
cellis 17y ago
What am i supposed to do? Imagine i am a very ADD person and I don't know what to click. You need a big DOWNLOAD or SIGN UP button, otherwise you are squandering your 5 seconds that i've allowed you.
- steveneo 17y ago
  good point, I changed it. Now it looks a little ugly, will do improvement later. But anyway, people won't miss that 2 buttons:) Thanks.
  - rksprst 17y ago
    You need to make the sign up button have a link cursor. I almost didnt click on it because I thought it was only an image.
- ckinnan 17y ago
  Same issue for me-- I couldn't readily determine whether this was an open source project, like MediaWiki, or a hosted service that I'm going to pay to use. A lot of the corporate and pricing info I look for was under a different URL, EdGenius, which adds to the confusion. The signup button should lead to a page explaining exactly what I'm signing up for, rather than the existing lightbox, which has an unattractive little form offering no details. I like the overall presentation feel on the homepage; you just need to provide more direction for the new user.
- henryl 17y ago
  Same here. Stared at the big wall of text. Not quite sure what I was supposed to do--both options (sign-up / download) turned me off.
TheAmazingIdiot 17y ago
I've got a habit on middle-clicking when I want to open X content in a different tab when I know there's more content on the main page (like HN). Now, when I see those "GeniusWiki Documentation Center" and those other boxes with content, the links aren't links. They're javascripts that force me to go away from that main page. I usually just go away when I see things like that.
- steveneo 17y ago
  OK, I guess this site can not fit your requirement:( Actually, only one page for entire site which the normal users can see(another page is system admin).... For all links, they are some kind of Ajax stuff, mean your page does not refresh entirely, only necessary content is loaded. This makes the site running very fast(initial loading is slow and the hosting maybe a problem as it is just 128M VPS)
  - webignition 17y ago
    I agree that JS-only links are a not a good approach. This forces the user to relinquish control over how they explore the information space. It is perfectly feasible to have a hyperlink to an actual page (i.e. a 'normal' hyperlink) and then run some JS on the click event to achieve the current behaviour. This will ensure your links work when there is no JS and when people just want to right- or middle-click a link. A normal left-click on the link will activate the JS as is currently the case. Best of both worlds.
uninverted 17y ago
Loading screens are usually irritating; in general do what you can to minimize them.
josefresco 17y ago
From a web design perspective you need more space below your site logo (above the content). That is all.
jlm382 17y ago
it'd be nice if screenshots were on the front of the page -- otherwise, it looks like another weekend project that never got finished. increase the size of your TRY NOW button 5X, and you'll notice a higher conversion rate.
sutro 17y ago
The first link I clicked revealed an animated gif depicting a woman breaking a water balloon over her very well-endowed chest in slow motion. At the risk of being redundant, I would say that your startup shows a great deal of promise.
hwijaya 17y ago
Few things on my mind as i look at it. You need: 1. Tagline - Make people understand what you're doing within 1 - 2 seconds. Most people don't read at all. 2. Better call to action - I generally prefer to have one priority over another. Making it blue and red communicate the same priority, and remember Barry's paradox of choices? It made me not clicking both. I learned call to action a lot from here: http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/good-call-to-action-buttons/ http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/good-call-to-action-buttons/ Good luck!

27 points by steveneo 17y ago

My site is here http://www.geniuswiki.com A wiki software. Thanks.

Overall, it seems to work pretty well. Under "prettyURL", the "Tiny URL" is often longer than the "Meaning URL". Use a shorter hash key. Also, you might want to have some basic content that loads instantly along with the "loading" graphic (e.g. Logo, basic description). What user base are you going for, and how to you plan to monetize it?

steveneo 17y ago
I guess the page you view is created long time ago. Now, the new page has shorter key, so normally, it would be really shorter... My targeting is some team, organisation. As you can see, it has download version. 5 users is free.

diN0bot 17y ago

cool. i signed up and made a private space. it feels like you're giving a lot of value to users, though i don't have anything concrete to say about that....i'm always vaguely looking for private wiki space for small collaborators. biggest question: will you still be around in 6 months? i've had not so good experiences in the past with finding "a really cool private collaborative wiki" (free) that suddenly stopped working...

steveneo 17y ago
I already working on it for 2 years, so it is definitely no problem to another 6 months:) The reasons is, it is my part time job, I have no worries about my living budget. Anyway, you also can download and hosting yourself.

mynameishere 17y ago

Seems nice. I guess my question is: How is it distinguished from other make-your-own wiki solutions?

cellis 17y ago

What am i supposed to do? Imagine i am a very ADD person and I don't know what to click. You need a big DOWNLOAD or SIGN UP button, otherwise you are squandering your 5 seconds that i've allowed you.

steveneo 17y ago
good point, I changed it. Now it looks a little ugly, will do improvement later. But anyway, people won't miss that 2 buttons:) Thanks.
- rksprst 17y ago
  You need to make the sign up button have a link cursor. I almost didnt click on it because I thought it was only an image.
ckinnan 17y ago
Same issue for me-- I couldn't readily determine whether this was an open source project, like MediaWiki, or a hosted service that I'm going to pay to use. A lot of the corporate and pricing info I look for was under a different URL, EdGenius, which adds to the confusion. The signup button should lead to a page explaining exactly what I'm signing up for, rather than the existing lightbox, which has an unattractive little form offering no details. I like the overall presentation feel on the homepage; you just need to provide more direction for the new user.
henryl 17y ago
Same here. Stared at the big wall of text. Not quite sure what I was supposed to do--both options (sign-up / download) turned me off.

TheAmazingIdiot 17y ago

I've got a habit on middle-clicking when I want to open X content in a different tab when I know there's more content on the main page (like HN). Now, when I see those "GeniusWiki Documentation Center" and those other boxes with content, the links aren't links. They're javascripts that force me to go away from that main page. I usually just go away when I see things like that.

steveneo 17y ago
OK, I guess this site can not fit your requirement:( Actually, only one page for entire site which the normal users can see(another page is system admin).... For all links, they are some kind of Ajax stuff, mean your page does not refresh entirely, only necessary content is loaded. This makes the site running very fast(initial loading is slow and the hosting maybe a problem as it is just 128M VPS)
- webignition 17y ago
  I agree that JS-only links are a not a good approach. This forces the user to relinquish control over how they explore the information space. It is perfectly feasible to have a hyperlink to an actual page (i.e. a 'normal' hyperlink) and then run some JS on the click event to achieve the current behaviour. This will ensure your links work when there is no JS and when people just want to right- or middle-click a link. A normal left-click on the link will activate the JS as is currently the case. Best of both worlds.

uninverted 17y ago

Loading screens are usually irritating; in general do what you can to minimize them.

josefresco 17y ago

From a web design perspective you need more space below your site logo (above the content). That is all.

jlm382 17y ago

it'd be nice if screenshots were on the front of the page -- otherwise, it looks like another weekend project that never got finished. increase the size of your TRY NOW button 5X, and you'll notice a higher conversion rate.

sutro 17y ago

The first link I clicked revealed an animated gif depicting a woman breaking a water balloon over her very well-endowed chest in slow motion. At the risk of being redundant, I would say that your startup shows a great deal of promise.

hwijaya 17y ago

Few things on my mind as i look at it. You need: 1. Tagline - Make people understand what you're doing within 1 - 2 seconds. Most people don't read at all. 2. Better call to action - I generally prefer to have one priority over another. Making it blue and red communicate the same priority, and remember Barry's paradox of choices? It made me not clicking both. I learned call to action a lot from here: http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/good-call-to-action-buttons/ http://www.uxbooth.com/blog/good-call-to-action-buttons/ Good luck!