Blog Review: From The Dungeon by LordCM

Site Title: From The Dungeon (http://fromthedungeon.com/)
Owner: LordCM
Genre: Personal/General Information
Platform: Wordpress
Description: n/a
Language: Filipino, English

Cross Browser Check

✓ Firefox 11
✓ Chrome 17
✓ Safari 5
✓ Internet Explorer 8
✓ Internet Explorer 7

Things Worth Mentioning

• Blog provides mobile template
• Headings (h1, h2 etc.) are well used, there is no repetition of H1
• Majority of images have alt (though my tool have detected 5 images that doesn't have alt attribute)
• Found no iframes and flash on your site, this elements are obsolete and should not be used on sites anymore

Things that Need Attention

• Too many content on the front page
• Dual Menu that tends to be confusing
• All contents are concentrated above the page
• Too much wasted space on the bottom
• Description is blank on homepage

Tips from BTT

1) Fix the banner, awkward discoloration

I found an awkward pixel on the banner part (see the image below). If you really want to add that image for your banner, you may want to edit it so that it mixes well with the background. It actually creates a dirty looking banner because of the sudden pixel change

2) Consistency on branding

CM for favicon and a dark angel for the banner and badge -- I think both of these images has nothing to do with the dungeon. Sometimes, users tend to judge the site with just the logo or the favicon.

3) Clean the front page

Too many information on the front page that tends to become messy. I advise that you remove some information there, example: the slider doesn't really work, and it is redundant with the featured post. This also affects the loading time and so cleaning it will make the page loading faster.

Another thing to point out is the balance between the upper half and the lower half of the page. Majority of the information are located above and the bottom part has lots of space. You may want to re-arrange your layout to fix this.

4) I found a server warning. If you have access on this, I advice you check on this issue immediately

Warning! Your server allows visitors to browse your directory by accessing it directly even when there is no index.html file. Disabling directory browsing is recommended to ensure the security of your website.

Though I wasn't able to detect what the exact folder/directory is, you may want to try checking on some of your important directories such as config folder. Try accessing them using the browser, if you were able to open it and see a directory tree, then that's it. Creating rewrite rules or adding an index file (either index.html, index.php or both) might solve this. This is a security issue so you better check on it.

5) Too many css files

I don't think that you can fix this one easily but you may want to try. I actually found 13 external css files. Remember that even though external CSS files are advisable, creating multiple files means multiple request from the server, as a result, you just add another reason for slowing down your loading speed.

The best solution is this -- Minify and Unify!

6) Inline styling

I saw a lot of inline styling. I do NOT recommended using inline styling since it affects the loading speed. The best way to solve this is to place all styling code on CSS files.

7) DoFollow Links

Majority of your links are dofollow, though it is not yet proven, you may want to add rel="nofollow noindex" on some of them to preserve ranking value. Some people say that it actually affects Page Rank, though it wasn't proven especially now that Google is playing with their algorithm.

BTT's Opinion for From the Dungeon

Design 3/5 ★★★★★

Homepage - As I have said above, I find the homepage a little bit messy. It's like you are providing a buffet of food to your visitors with thousand of choices. Other than it affects the loading time, it also affects the first impression of the user.

Article Page - The article itself is too compressed that you actually can't notice it at first glance.

On the positive side, for me the placement of ads (the Yengo) is clever. A guest with no idea might get attracted to click on this. BUT -- as we have said before on one of the reviews (The review of Undertaker for Semidoppel), the side-effect of those ads is you're pushing away your visitors from your site. As a result, it will give you a hit on your bounce rate.

Also, I actually love the idea of your featured posts on the homepage (the one below the slider).

Content 3/5 ★★★★★

The content was too short to read and to plain in formatting. The elements around each posts actually catches more attention than the post itself. Try playing with fonts and style with this one, else you are actually trying to give a boring atmosphere to your readers.

I don't want to comment on how you deliver your posts since it is a personal blog, but, personal blog doesn't need to be always about yourself and your rants. Try playing with it and catch the interests of your visitors.

Branding 3/5 ★★★★★

I actually didn't get the idea of the dark angel, but it's your opinion that really counts in here. My only reason on picking this issue is, I think I've seen that image before somewhere else.

Favicon Connection - Since I actually know the author of the blog, I have an idea what the CM on his favicon stands for. But how about the guests? How was it connected with the dungeon? View your site as a visitor -- that way you will understand my point.

Audience Impact 4/5 ★★★★★

Though I'm a regular visitor (so I'll be again bias with this criteria -- I admit), my first impression before in this site is that it doesn't look like a blog -- it's more like a directory listing. Reason is how you presented your posts, there are LOTS of links in there. The above the fold part doesn't tell anything about the site. My attention was first caught by the huge banner followed by the advertisement below. Then when I scroll down, I can see a lot of archived posts and a few badges on the sidebar -- Technically, you are giving your guests and visitors too many option to leave the page immediately.

Guest Judge's Opinion for From the Dungeon

Ms. Minchin is back in town to give her points. This time she shows her other side -- the strict and direct to the point critic. Other than being an Internet security warrior she is also a blog hopper even before BTT was born. Here is her comments about LordCM's "From the Dungeon"

DISCLAIMER

The views expressed in comments by the guest judge published on this blog site are those of the comment writers alone. They do not represent the views or opinions of Beneath the Tree, nor do they represent the views or opinions of www.ajibanda.com, or any entity of, or affiliated with www.ajibanda.com

Design 0/5 ★★★★★

I don't like it. Its NOT appealing to the eye. Its incongruent and has no singularity from the start. I can't see what the purpose of this blog is. I'm not a follower so I am not familiar with this page. There is no invitation for a new visitor as what to expect inside. As a visitor, I don't know where to go to first. There is no intro as to who did this or what his intent is or is there a reason why should I go on reading or come back to this page.

The net is filled with bullcrap already, don't add to it, be straightforward

Exhibit A: http://www.pinaytraveljunkie.com/
I can see who this Pinay Travel Junkie is -- Instant relate! you need to identify yourself, grab your visitor by the hand, and take him into your mind... ano to, dragon ba to? daga? ipis? at bakit me shobiz? me shobiz sa dungeon nya? at may TRAFFIC FEED?

Content 1/5 ★★★★★

It's INCONGRUENT!
Check this out: Life Hacker
Where the f**k do you see Brad Pitt there? or Barack Obama? or the latest traffic, weather, or currency rate? because this is about TIPS! and neither should he be showing links for "Is Aiza Seguerra and Krizza Neri dating?

RECENT POSTS, I don't have time to read them all to find out if even 50% of his ramblings would interest me. Title, date, 2 sentence synopsis. tapos. If he's expecting visitors to return regularly, I suggest regularly spaced and scheduled content -- BREVITY is the word

Branding 1/5 ★★★★★

This is nice The Pinay Solo Backpacker tamo ang linis, lahat ng crap nasa kanan.
Purposefully, you can size the window so you don't have to see crap you don't need or intend to need. You give the reader the courtesy of choice the moment you deprave them of that, you give them one more reason to forget you. Which brings to BRANDING - a lasting impression.
WHAT IS BRANDING?
branding is like...

• toothpaste = Colgate
• touchscreen = ipad
• fever = biogesic

see, to have a brand you have to have identity - THEN you can start to leave an impression

Audience Impact 0/5 ★★★★★

He should watch A WHOLE NEW MIND. You will be remembered for branding based on the experience you impart on your audience - no IMPACT, no branding
You will be forgotten 15 minutes later when they go to another page, not even bookmarking will save you, I actually have tons of bookmarks.

You want branding, You give them a reason to remember you.

IDENTITY: Check this Sole Sisters. It doesn't take a genius to know they're related and what they enjoy doing,

SUMMER IS A VERB... wow makes me wanna click that -- that is impact!

Guest Judge added this

design and content goes hand in hand... like two wings of a bird you can have great design, nonsense content = fail
you can have the answers to life, crappy packaging = fail
The first page should be GOLDEN
I think I said enough

Disclaimer: I'm no authority, what I'm saying is just my impression

Summary

The point here is sometimes we tend to forget to differentiate ads with our content. Yes it is clever to mix them but try mixing them without affecting your design (which is the best way to catch attention) and your posts (the main reason why you readers visit your site).

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So that's it, again this is just a friendly review from BTT. We aim for a better site and not to insult the owners and administrators. Whether you follow our tips and suggestions depend on your decision. Ciao!

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