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Post by twilightheart on Apr 6, 2005 17:07:22 GMT 2
Hi folks! I please need your opinion about www.sheol-magazine.com (would be great if you very honestly post critisism, suggestions for improvements etc.)... because I´m running the magazine alone and I´m thinking about which categories to change/ delete/ open. Most of all I´m interested in the following points: - Should I stop the reviews section? (As I didn`t find anyone helping me with reviews, so I anyway could add only 2 reviews each weeks, not much more...) Do you anyway read reviews? Or rather not? - What are the categories you need mostly in a webzine? Especially > should I add a “news” section? - Should the Metal Quiz be more difficult to solve? - Which categories are unnecessary to your opinion (= what are you not interested in)? - Should I add a forum instead of a guestbook? (Or additional to the guestbook?) - Would you like the images (in the photos and festivalphotos- section) to open in a NEW FRAME? Or is it better to see them in the middle of the same frame? - Is the first page of the magazine too full (= overloaded)? - Are some working links not underlined (in my PC all links automatically are underlined, but a friend told me, she doesn't see all working links being underlined). - Or whatever comes in your mind to this mag, just let me know, because I really wanna make it more enjoyable for a wider range of Metal fans. Thank you very much for your help in advance!
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Post by Humppaporo on Apr 6, 2005 22:29:44 GMT 2
Due to lack of time I never took more tha a quick glance at your magazine, shame on me! Now I did look better and I like your site very much, it's really nice! My biggest interest are the interviews, very good ones too, not the usual chit-chat but really good questions, showing that you know what you are talking about. The pictures section is also nice, but maybe a bit to big, I know how much work this takes! Quizzes are not my cup of tea, but a lot of folks like those. I understand that doing this all by yourself takes too much time! Maybe you should concentrate on the subjects you really like and drop some of the others, or find a co-editor to help you. If you add a board, I think your site will be visited more often and maybe you'll find that reviews are going to write themselves...if you know what I mean! Personally I would vote for a forum instead of a guestbook. I like the images to open the way they do, you can click 'next'and that's the way I like it. New frames are always tedious imho.
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Post by twilightheart on Apr 8, 2005 6:41:29 GMT 2
Thanx for your opinion, Humppaporo! Now I still don`t know, whether to keep the reviews or not. I wonder if anyone reads them anyway!?? (And only from ONE answer to my question I of course can`t get an overview of interests... it´s really unfortunate that people don´t help with a simple opinion, except you of course.) And what do you think about the news section, Humppaporo? Should I add one? P.S. Finding a co-writer for the reviews was impossible... people get easily bored writing it. Maybe the people from the big magazines still like to do so, because they get the demos... thus it´s really new for them & still interesting.
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Post by Humppaporo on Apr 8, 2005 8:31:38 GMT 2
Newssection: I think it'a good idea. The more visitors you get, the more chance you have in continuing your magazine with less work. A few years I took over a magazine about a rare horse bread (I have such a horse, only still 500 exist worldwide, it once was the widest spread race in the Netherlands). It's also totally volunteer work and because no-one could or wanted to make it, it ceased to exist. I liked the challenge and the first few magizines I wrote by myself entirely, lot's of work, searched the net for info and pictures a.s.o. Afterwards, I got more and more replies and more people who want to write in the magazine also. Those bits and pieces grew and now I don't write so much anymore, I merely control the magazine, do a lot of editorial work, and yes, I still put it together (for 6 years now, 4 times a year, 60 pages). I also wrote the contents for the website of this horse-bread (also partly in English). After a while other people join, not many, but it helps. That's why things like a forum and a newssection, will help you in the end. Because you get so little replies, I think that the number of visitors should increase, and those things attract people! Did you advertise your site on other sites and starting pages? *It's a pity that you don't understand Dutch, I know a Belgian guy (Grimgaert) who not only has a good band (Wapenspraak & Drinkgelag) but also makes a fabulous magazine (on paper) about metal.*
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Post by SPooN on Apr 8, 2005 13:27:20 GMT 2
Alright, i'll whore myself some more; www.spoonartcom.comGraphic design/web design Mainly do band sites also album design/tshirt design.. just about anything that can be printed somewhere we can do. Hire us and help us take over the world.... (I swear these delusions of grandeur will pass one day..... or so i've been told. ) also some of my own art: aesirwrath.deviantart.com
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Post by MaliceGarden on Apr 8, 2005 13:46:26 GMT 2
Alright, i'll whore myself some more; Hire us and help us take over the world.... you americans.....always thinking about world domination.
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Post by twilightheart on Apr 9, 2005 21:19:45 GMT 2
Did you advertise your site on other sites and starting pages? It all costs money. And "free of pay" exchanges most sites only do with famous (= much bigger) magazines. My mag is too little for that. So I have no support at all. The only advertising I can do, is to mention it in the band`s forums (for instance writing into the Sonata Arctica forum, that I uploaded new photos of the band ...etc.). So I´m pretty much alone with it all. But I do remember exactly who helps me now in the starting time, and who doesn`t. I will not forget that later, if the mag should become bigger one day. But actually I´m satisfied with my number of visitor... I mean, I re-activated the mag only in February... now we have April, and it´s about 4000 new visitors since then. I didn´t expect that actually. (Okay, Swedish Metal has 1500 visits per day... but everyone has to start at the beginning, you know. I´m sure, they also had only 30 hits per day in the beginning.) Thanx again for your opinion, Humppaporo.
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Post by MaliceGarden on Apr 10, 2005 11:10:49 GMT 2
cant you do links exchange and try to have your magazine in the links sections of bands?
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Post by Hedetrolden on Apr 10, 2005 16:20:59 GMT 2
Have this photo-page www.angelfire.com/band2/roskildecampIf any of you want some of the photos, either as prints or high-res files, feel free to contact me. Especially if you want some for artowrk pruposes, cd covers, homepages or the like, I'll be happy to see you use them. I generally won't take any payment for the pics, I'd rather prefer people to send me something in return for payment for postage or the like... for antance a cheap cd, or something. If you just want a high res file, I'll happily mail you one, of you explain to me why you want the pic and to what prupose
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Post by twilightheart on Apr 11, 2005 3:07:24 GMT 2
cant you do links exchange and try to have your magazine in the links sections of bands? Well, I have... for instance in the links section of the Korpiklaani page. But... honestly ... I don`t think, anyone goes there and looks at all the links. But today I gave away 250 flyers which I made with the URL of the magazine and the wolf-picture in the background (at the concert of Naglfar and Finntroll here in Munich). Let´s see if this gives me 200 clicks in the next week or so.
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Post by Nordis on Apr 11, 2005 12:23:30 GMT 2
Well, I have... for instance in the links section of the Korpiklaani page. But... honestly ... I don`t think, anyone goes there and looks at all the links. I do ;D It's one of the best ways to find new and interesting bands.
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Post by Humppaporo on Apr 11, 2005 12:33:26 GMT 2
Agree with Nordi, I also look there!
Btw starting pages are usually free for advertising your site. I used those a lot of times. In the statistics of my sites I can see where folks are coming from, quite often this is a starting page.
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Post by twilightheart on Apr 17, 2005 11:40:06 GMT 2
Btw starting pages are usually free for advertising your site. What do you mean by this? I never heared of it. Can you show me an example? By the way... I uploaded many photos of the Finntroll concert last weekend (here in Munich) to www.sheol-magazine.com (> photos > Finntroll, Munich... ) and a report about the concert (incl. photos of Naglfar, Amoral + Finntroll soundcheck) to "concert reports"...
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Post by Humppaporo on Apr 17, 2005 12:10:55 GMT 2
@twi: I tried to find such a page in German or English, but I didn't succeed. Maybe I overlooked something. The English portal sites I found are very different. This is f.i. the Dutch metal starting page (portal) You can add your own site(s) freely. metal.pagina.nlthere are over 4000 of these pages. This is another page which only contains links to other starting pages about music music-pagesIn this concept (not only from http://www.startpagina.nl) we have lot's of starting pages. There are very useful and very handy if you're looking for something. Lot's of people visit my sites because they find them in this kind of pages. Adding your site is always for free. Regular checks if links are not broken take place.
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Post by Hedetrolden on Apr 19, 2005 13:19:28 GMT 2
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