Looking for opinions on this new novel website. What are your thoughts? (Work in progress)

[Douglas]

Hi there, I'm working with a web developer to produce a special website for my novel. I would love your opinions as we work to make it better. Any criticism/thoughts are very much welcome.

The link to the site is: http://demo.transcone.com/thestory/

Let us know what you like or don't like. Colors, photos, effects, loading time, anything. This is still a work in progress so your thoughts will be taken into account.

Thank You!

[Lenita]

It's very intriguing and makes me want to read the novel. The loading time for the color picture could have been better. The beige background works okay once the color picture is loaded. I'm from Alaska so it was nice to see the trees (forest) in the background. Someone told me once they were surprised Alaska had woods. I grew up in the Alaskan woods.

[Douglas]

Lenita wrote: "It's very intriguing and makes me want to read the novel. The loading time for the color picture could have been better. The beige background works okay once the color picture is loaded..."

Thanks for your input. The pictures are meant to fade in as you scroll down the page. Was that what you are referring to, or did the whole page take quite some time to load?

[Sarah]

Hi Douglas

Your site loads fast but I was left staring at a faint white picture until I started to scroll down, and then I got the full colour and that is great.

I agree white on beige is hard to read. I only squinted because you asked for an opinion so I really wanted to check for you.

Black on beige? If that is too "dark" for the subject matter, consider white on a different colour?

I agree with Tammy that it's different, and that is important.

[Douglas]

Sarah wrote: "Hi Douglas ... I agree white on beige is hard to..."

Tammy wrote: "Hi Douglas...."

Thanks for your opinions. We will try out more colors. My friend pointed out the same thing.
I also asked my developer to slow down the fading in process for the pictures. At first it was too quick and almost went unnoticed. At least now that it doesn't happen until you scroll to a certain level, it is more noticeable. On the other hand the fading effect can happen too quickly on some mobile phones but we'll work to make it all right.

Thanks again! I appreciate it.

[Ed]

On my 30" Ultra HD monitor nothing happens. I have to scroll down half the screen before any image appears and then I see only the bottom half, so I then have to scroll back up to see the top half.

Waaaay too much trouble!

[Lenita]

Douglas wrote: "Lenita wrote: "It's very intriguing and makes me want to read the novel. The loading time for the color picture could have been better. The beige background works okay once the color picture is loa..."

The picture took quite awhile to load in the first place. At first I was looking for quite awhile at a completely beige screen and nothing else.

[Douglas]

Lenita wrote: "Douglas wrote: "Lenita wrote: "It's very intriguing and makes me want to read the novel. The loading time for the color picture could have been better. The beige background works okay once the colo..."

Thanks for the clarification. We will keep testing and updating the site.

Ed wrote: "On my 30" Ultra HD monitor nothing happens. I have to scroll down half the screen before any image appears and then I see only the bottom half, so I then have to scroll back up to see the top half...."

Thanks for your input. I checked the site on a widescreen desktop (not sure how many inches) and it seems to have the same problem. I'lll definitely look into it.