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[umiman]

link: http://iampaddy.com/lifebelow600/

I think that's a pretty interesting site. If you're too lazy to click ...  ... it's about how people know how to use the scroll wheel when browsing the internet so there's no need to cram all the content into a small window any more.

I'm not too sure if I subscribe to that theory as I don't like scrolling THAT much (I think if you need to run the wheel 3 times, it's too long)... but it has some elements of truth. So long as he doesn't advocate SIDEWAYS scrolling. Argh!!!!

What do you think?

[xdarkcodex]

That ice berg thing is cool.

[Shades]

In my experience it's generally advertisers that want their content 'above the fold', which can be a pain to design into a site, but for understandable reasons as you do have view drop off as you place things further and further down the site.

The classic example of the above the fold design is of course the 37 signals site which links all their products in the top half of the page above the fold so you know about them before the page content goes on to describe them.

Of course they list their products again during the content for people that are interested and read the information and again at the end so you have a higher likely hood of following the links.

Above the fold is not about placing content above the fold but about placing the eye catching lure to attract readers to the item in question. If fact his quote describes exactly that and then is ignored by his article.

Above the fold - a graphic design concept that refers to the location of an important news story or a visually appealing photograph on the upper half of the front page of a newspaper.

There is a reason newspapers have a 'continued on page 3' concept to the major news story, turning pages is like scrolling.

[Armok]

Haven't read it all yet, but it seems likely that I will agree. What DOES anoy me is webcomics that you have to scroll down to see if they have updated, because I open a bazillion of them in tabs at once, which makes scrolling lag.

[Shades]

Haven't read it all yet, but it seems likely that I will agree. What DOES anoy me is webcomics that you have to scroll down to see if they have updated, because I open a bazillion of them in tabs at once, which makes scrolling lag.

This is why I stopped keeping up with webcomics that don't supply RSS feeds for updates

Content should come to me not me to it...

[Muz]

Heh, brilliant. I hate it how some people insist that things be done a certain way. That site is like one of those brilliant moments in movies where someone just stands up and proves a point.

Actually, there's a tool that comes with the Google ad thing that's really good at pointing out where people look at the most. I think it's like top left being the strongest, as well as the middle, with the very bottom being the weakest.

But that's only when you're showing ads, not when people are reading text. After the interesting content, people wander off, so putting ads at the bottom most of the page is bad for the advertisers involved.

[Shades]

He might have been making a point if he didn't use a pretty much perfect above the fold site for his 'way to do it' example.

Or for that matter if his own article wasn't also a perfect example of the same.

[JoshuaFH]

Sorry Umiman, you weren't able to catch my attention in 3 seconds. You gotta make topics which catch attention within the first 5 words, or risk losing potential readers.

[Blacken]

Haven't read it all yet, but it seems likely that I will agree. What DOES anoy me is webcomics that you have to scroll down to see if they have updated, because I open a bazillion of them in tabs at once, which makes scrolling lag.

This is why I stopped keeping up with webcomics that don't supply RSS feeds for updates

Content should come to me not me to it...

Depends what you mean by "content should come to me." I know a number of webcomic creators who tried putting their strips into their RSS feed. People loved it! And their ad revenues dropped into the toilet. Content ain't free.

(That said, anybody whose webcomic doesn't have an RSS feed that at least links to the strips is an idiot.)



As for above the fold--it's a rule of thumb, but for me, anything important goes in the top 500 pixels of the site. From entirely anecdotal experience, the number of readers halves every 250px below that.

[umiman]

Sorry Umiman, you weren't able to catch my attention in 3 seconds. You gotta make topics which catch attention within the first 5 words, or risk losing potential readers.

I LIKE GOAT SEXual studies as you can learn a lot of genetic breeding for good quality goats.

[Apostolic Nihilist]

I can't remember the last time I've scrolled the mouse wheel specifically. Usually I click it in -- faster and easier on the eyes, in my opinion.

As for the topic: I haven't actually seen many of the websites he's describing. Most have more then ample content below the 600 px line and I don't see many with things completely cluttered at the top.

[Dragooble]

Sorry Umiman, you weren't able to catch my attention in 3 seconds. You gotta make topics which catch attention within the first 5 words, or risk losing potential readers.

I LIKE GOAT SEXual studies as you can learn a lot of genetic breeding for good quality goats.

Now THAT's more like it!

[Shades]

Depends what you mean by "content should come to me." I know a number of webcomic creators who tried putting their strips into their RSS feed. People loved it! And their ad revenues dropped into the toilet. Content ain't free.

(That said, anybody whose webcomic doesn't have an RSS feed that at least links to the strips is an idiot.)

I prefer if the strip itself is in the feed, although I understand that ad-supported stuff exists and I'll except a direct link to the page as well. I've seen some strips that include the ads in their feed as well though and that seems to be a good compromise.

[Blacken]

Depends what you mean by "content should come to me." I know a number of webcomic creators who tried putting their strips into their RSS feed. People loved it! And their ad revenues dropped into the toilet. Content ain't free.

(That said, anybody whose webcomic doesn't have an RSS feed that at least links to the strips is an idiot.)

I prefer if the strip itself is in the feed, although I understand that ad-supported stuff exists and I'll except a direct link to the page as well. I've seen some strips that include the ads in their feed as well though and that seems to be a good compromise.

I actually am A-OK with ads in the feed, but the bitch of it is, most people complain like crazy that you're FORCE FEEDING THEM ADS (which tells you which of your readers are running ad blockers, huh...?).

I'm not a webcomic guy (can't draw worth a fart), but I've developed sites for friends, and their readers are, collectively, the whiniest whiners who ever did whine. It's kind of funny.

[bjlong]

Personally, I'd imagine that a lot of this "above the fold" crud comes from semi-aimed browsing.

For example: I'm looking for a site that tells me what a certain chip does. I type the number of the chip into Google, and start clicking through links. I can usually tell within the first 5-10 seconds if it might have what I'm looking for. Then I take another minute, scrolling, to find out if it actually tells me what I want to know.

So, yeah, the "above the fold" stuff is useful, but only as a set of identifiers. The more important stuff can go closer to the bottom.