# My website: Any suggestions?



## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

Hi everyone,

As you may know, I have a website about speedcubing. I have some articles on speedcubing and blindfold cubing. Brian Yu ( byu) has also submitted some articles. Do you have any suggestions, requests, or comments?

Constructive criticism is appreciated 

Thanks

P.S. The website link is in the signature


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## byu (May 1, 2009)

I just think that your blindfold cubing articles are a bit vague.


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

By vague, do you mean just too general?

I will try to beef them up in the summer, thanks for the suggestion though


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## byu (May 1, 2009)

Cubegeek.net said:


> Orientation of the edges: Okay this the first step to solve while BLD cubing. You need to correctly orient your edges. In other words, make sure that you can solve that edge without doing an R or L move. If you need to do an R or L that means it is incorrectly flipped according to your color scheme. The most simple algo is: M U M U M U2 M' U M' U M' U2. This alg flips your front top edge and the back top edge. If you do this a while you should be able to pinpoint the misoriented edges naturally. You can use any moves to set the 2 edges up in the front up position and back up position. Just do the inverse of the moves, so like if I did R U B to set it up, I would do B' U' R' to reverse the setup.



That's ALL that you do to describe edge orientation. To me it makes sense, but to a beginner this would probably really confuse them.


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

Yeah, that seems a bit too confusing


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## byu (May 1, 2009)

Off the topic of your website, but your tutorial seems to restrict moves to <UDFBL2R2> and I think its easier to restrict to <UDLRF2B2>
It's easier setups, but both work fine.


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

I never learned it that way


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## byu (May 1, 2009)

I learned 3OP from Cubefreak and that's how I was taught.


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

I thought he restricted the moves to anything but R and L


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## qqwref (May 1, 2009)

Your website seems kind of not-filled-out for a "#1 speedcubing resource". Don't make claims like that unless you can back them up. My first impression is that you are an arrogant liar and that makes me a lot less likely to read your articles. I also get this impression from your username (Rubikgenius? you gotta be kidding).

I suggest removing the "world news" thing - it makes your website look more cluttered and doesn't have anything to do with cubing. (Maybe you could put the About Me/Links/Privacy Policy things there?) Also I strongly suggest that you add a glossary, and you might want to consider making the text column larger, because it feels cramped and tiny.

You have many many spelling/grammar mistakes - reread the articles to make sure they are as readable as possible. As far as organization, don't just put huge blocks of text - use headers of various sizes to break it up (for instance in the Fridrich section you should put "cross", "F2L", etc. as large bold text) so that people easily know what section they are reading. HTML

As for individual pages, your Notation page is just a copy of the WCA regulations without explanation. Your beginner page has an entire paragraph in bold and I think the 4x4 and 5x5 section is completely bold (NEVER HAVE A BOLD PARAGARPH, NO MATTER HOW IMPORTANT THAT PARAGRAPH IS... IT'S JUST AS ANNOYING AS TYPING IN ALL CAPS), and also very many paragraphs that just look like a wall of text without any breaks; in addition the images are of several different sizes (and you might want to learn how to make the text go around the image; it's by using the CSS "float" property). For the weekly contest it looks like you don't really know what you are doing. You only provide 3 scrambles (for what, mean of 3? who does that?) and you say "milliseconds" to mean probably hundredths of a second. Also you don't seem to have any links to past contests or anything like that, so it's not clear if the contest is even running.

Keep associated articles together. For instance, on the left hand menu, you might want to have sections such as "basics", "speedcubing", "blindfold solving", "miscellaneous". If you don't do that you should at least organize the articles so that all of the basic articles are at the top, and all of the blindfold articles are right next to each other.

Your "about me" page is on top of the header image (in case you didn't know...) and again it's just walls of text with lots of white space between paragraphs. For your records you REALLY should put averages of 12 rather than single solves... and you should also realize that your times really aren't very impressive. I mean, no offense, but if you're going to try to create a website that aims to be the best place to go for speedcubing information, you should really try to be fast enough that it seems like you are an expert. A 15 second PB single isn't "mind blowing" at all really - 474 people have gotten an official time under 15 seconds.

All in all it's cool that you've put so much work into the page, but you should really work on the presentation, because my first impression is that you're enthusiastic but don't really know what you're doing.


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## PatrickJameson (May 1, 2009)

To add qqwref's post: 

"All content is orginal and created by Aditya Dargan"

Um, I highly doubt you created all the coding/styling/scripting involved in that page.


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## byu (May 1, 2009)

Speaking of what PatrickJameson said, I made two articles! So it's not ALL CONTENT made by you, my articles are "content"


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## JBCM627 (May 1, 2009)

qqwref said:


> You have many many spelling/grammar mistakes - reread the articles to make sure they are as readable as possible. As far as organization, don't just put huge blocks of text


^^ this.



qqwref said:


> Your "about me" page is on top of the header image


He probably doesn't... you'd have to have really low resolution for that to happen. Not worth catering to people with resolution that low. There probably should be a min-width property on the wrapping, though.

Its nice that everything is one click away, and the design looks ok. It is a bit jumbled though, and could use better organization.


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

byu said:


> Speaking of what PatrickJameson said, I made two articles! So it's not ALL CONTENT made by you, my articles are "content"



Ummm... If you read what I wrote, I put "unless otherwise noted" on the footer of each page.

I appreciate all the feedback that I have gotten, thanks, I will work on it


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## byu (May 1, 2009)

OK, but that's not the point. Do you mean you hand coded the entire thing, including the login, subscription features, chatbox, etc. ?


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

It says "content". The login, subscription, chatbox, etc. is not content


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## Stefan (May 1, 2009)

I visited the site, saw "The #1 speedcubing resource", and left. No actually good page would feel the need to say that.


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

So I should change the header?


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## cuBerBruce (May 1, 2009)

byu said:


> Off the topic of your website, but your tutorial seems to restrict moves to *<UDFBL2R2>* and I think its easier to restrict to *<UDLRF2B2>*
> It's easier setups, but both work fine.



Technically, that should be written as <U,D,F,B,L2,R2> & <U,D,L,R,F2,B2> (with commas). Without the commas, <UDLRF2B2> really means you can only use the sequence U D L R F2 B2, rather than the individual moves. <UDLRF2B2> is a cyclic group containing only 6 elements, while <U,D,L,R,F2,B2> is a large group with over 21 quadrillion elements. Commas make a big difference!


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## Stefan (May 1, 2009)

Rubikgenius said:


> So I should change the header?


Wow, you *are* a genius.


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## spdcbr (May 1, 2009)

StefanPochmann said:


> Rubikgenius said:
> 
> 
> > So I should change the header?
> ...


ROFL! My stomach hurts...


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

Umm.. Okay

I changed the header


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## byu (May 1, 2009)

You haven't changed the title


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## Rubikgenius (May 1, 2009)

Yes, i have


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## a small kitten (May 2, 2009)

I get an "invalid Token" when I try to vote for "I can solve it in under 15 second every time". Are you trying to suggest that it is invalid if someone claims they can solve it in under 15 seconds?


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## Rubikgenius (May 2, 2009)

Oh, it is a glitch. I will try to fix it.

Thanks for finding it though


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## byu (May 2, 2009)

Try to fix it? there is no try, according to your sig


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## ajmorgan25 (May 2, 2009)

byu said:


> Try to fix it? there is no try, according to your sig



Burned.


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## Rubikgenius (May 2, 2009)

I fixed it. And yes there is no try according to me, my bad


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## rachmaninovian (May 2, 2009)

mm the website is boring.


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## Rubikgenius (May 2, 2009)

rachmaninovian said:


> mm the website is boring.



Ummm... That is not nice at all, and I don't think it is boring. It is supposed to be helpful to cubers


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## byu (May 2, 2009)

Well, I know you put a lot of work into it, but I think the content is very limited and websites such as CubeStation, CubeFreak, and the Speedsolving.com Wiki are much more informative and useful to new cubers. Your website has a nice layout, but I think new cubers wouldn't get much useful information out of it.


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## Rubikgenius (May 2, 2009)

Okay, I will try to beef it up in the summer break. I don't have time write now


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## byu (May 2, 2009)

I find your tutorials to be OK, but a bit rushed, which makes them difficult for beginners to comprehend. Here's an example



CubeGeek said:


> So now we flip the cube so that the white side is on the bottom. To solve the second layer we need to put in the 4 middle layer edges. First things first, find an edge piece that belongs to the middle layer. Belongs to the middle layer means it does not have yellow on it. Found it? Now look at the color of the edge piece that is not facing up. By using the U moves connect the not facing top color with its center.





CubeStation said:


> At this stage you should have completed the Bottom Layer. On this page you will learn how to solve the Middle layer using a simple procedure, thus enabling you to complete the First 2 Layers, or F2L as it is known in cubing jargon.
> 
> The middle layer contains edges which do not have the top layer colour (in this case Yellow). So the first thing you have to do is search for edges in the U layer (the top layer), which do not have stickers of the top colour. If there are no suitable edges in the U layer, see further on for dealing with edges trapped in the Middle layer. Next, turn the U-layer to match the colour around the side of the U-layer with the same colour centre (in the diagrams this is the red sticker). Then use the following steps to solve them!



Dan Harris also provides an animation so the people who do not fully understand the notation can see exactly how it works on a real cube.


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## rachmaninovian (May 2, 2009)

heh, no offense, i was joking =P

one thing: too wordy. at least try to separate huge chunks of text into smaller paragraphs, that would make people more interested to continue reading. XD


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## Nevrino (May 2, 2009)

I think everyone complaining here are morons, every attempt to a new cubing website is better then nothing in my opinion. 
For the website to make sucess I think you need to put some more special information on the website that you can't find anywhere else, it's prob not so easy thou.


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## spdcbr (May 2, 2009)

I don't like the layyout. It should be more exciting than that.


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## Rubikgenius (May 2, 2009)

Nevrino said:


> I think everyone complaining here are morons, every attempt to a new cubing website is better then nothing in my opinion.
> For the website to make sucess I think you need to put some more special information on the website that you can't find anywhere else, it's prob not so easy thou.



Thanks, I will put written articles about the 2x2, 2x2 blindfolded, 4x4 blindfolded, and 5x5 blindfolded in the summer, though. It is going to be extremely difficult though, because 4x4 Blindfolded is not easy to do or explain.

spdcbr: "I don't like the layyout. It should be more exciting than that."

@spcbr: First, please correct your spelling. The layout is fine, I don't want to make it too complicated so that people would need a Phd to navigate through the website. Everything is one-click away, for now, but when I put more articles,it won't be that way anymore

rachmaninovian:"one thing: too wordy. at least try to separate huge chunks of text into smaller paragraphs, that would make people more interested to continue reading. XD"

@rachmaniovian: Yeah that is somewhat true.

Thanks for all of your suggestions.


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## byu (May 2, 2009)

Rubikgenius said:


> Nevrino said:
> 
> 
> > I think everyone complaining here are morons, every attempt to a new cubing website is better then nothing in my opinion.
> ...



Have you ever done 4x4 blindfolded or 5x5 blindfolded?


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## Rubikgenius (May 2, 2009)

Well....

I have gotten really close to solving the 4x4 Bld like 2 times. I was off by like 2 centers and a couple of edges. I will get better though


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## byu (May 2, 2009)

Well, no offense, but people won't want to learn 4x4 and 5x5 blind from someone who hasn't done a 4x4 blind


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## Rubikgenius (May 2, 2009)

Ummm... When I write the tutorial, I will put in the introduction that I have actually solved a 4x4 BLD, and perhaps a video for proof.


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## Lord Voldemort (May 2, 2009)

If you post asking for suggestions, don't get defensive when people suggest things.

"spdcbr: "I don't like the layyout. It should be more exciting than that."

@spcbr: *First, please correct your spelling*. The layout is fine, I don't want to make it too complicated so that people would need a Phd to navigate through the website. Everything is one-click away, for now, but when I put more articles,it won't be that way anymore"

Really now? One extra y is clearly a typo.
Don't tell me you're perfect every time. I can pick out several grammatical posts in the quoted post.

The articles seem to be pretty good. Try to make them seem a bit more professional, as if you were submitting them for school.

Like this:
"Eastsheen- These cubes are the same size as a Rubik's 3x3x3. Well, a centimeter difference"

Instead, you can say "Eastsheen cubes are about that same size as a Rubik's 3x3x3."

Overall, the site is pretty good. Just add more content when you can, and try to make it more organized and polished.


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## Rubikgenius (May 2, 2009)

Ok, thanks. Yeah, I was getting a bit defensive


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## Bryan (May 2, 2009)

My suggestion would be to try and find something that hasn't been done and do that good. Having a website with a bunch of solution articles is just going to make you the same as hundred of other websites. Unless you're one of the top cubers, or you're doing some different method, don't bother.


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## rjohnson_8ball (May 2, 2009)

byu said:


> Off the topic of your website, but your tutorial seems to restrict moves to <UDFBL2R2> and I think its easier to restrict to <UDLRF2B2>
> It's easier setups, but both work fine.



Right. At http://cubefreak.net the 3OP BLD section mentions that prior to 2006 many people used to use the group <UDFBL2R2> but later people switched to <UDLRF2B2> because they believed the setup moves were easier. I use what byu says, by the way.


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## qqwref (May 2, 2009)

Nevrino said:


> I think everyone complaining here are morons, every attempt to a new cubing website is better then nothing in my opinion.
> For the website to make sucess I think you need to put some more special information on the website that you can't find anywhere else, it's prob not so easy thou.



So you think that an intelligent person would look at a new website with many problems - when the website creator is asking for suggestions and comments - and say "it is perfect"? No, that's what a moron would do. We're not just randomly complaining, we're providing constructive criticism. Besides, YOU'RE complaining about how there's not enough special information. Practice what you preach.


Anyway, Rubikgenius, I've already noticed that the website is looking a little better! Thanks for actively considering the suggestions we have been giving.


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## Anthony (May 3, 2009)

I really don't feel the need to create my own thread, but.. If anyone wants to give me any suggestions for my website, it'd be appreciated. However, keep in mind that I basically made this website so that I could easily refer people to somewhere showing the OLL's and PLL's I use, aswell as my best times. And I believe it serves that purpose.


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## Rubikgenius (May 3, 2009)

qqwref said:


> Nevrino said:
> 
> 
> > I think everyone complaining here are morons, every attempt to a new cubing website is better then nothing in my opinion.
> ...



Thanks! I am going to do a bit more of organizing.

Bryan: My suggestion would be to try and find something that hasn't been done and do that good. Having a website with a bunch of solution articles is just going to make you the same as hundred of other websites. Unless you're one of the top cubers, or you're doing some different method, don't bother.

@Bryan: Well you are right. I am thinking about putting "different articles" on my website. That way the only place to find the info would be on my website 

Hi all I have updated the contest page. Check it out


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## Rubikgenius (May 9, 2009)

Anything else?


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## byu (May 9, 2009)

Bring back the member system.


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## Rubikgenius (May 9, 2009)

Why? Do you like it?


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## Rubikgenius (May 9, 2009)

Guys, look what is on the homepage


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## byu (May 9, 2009)

Are you talking about the articles?


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

Yeah on the frontpage

I think it make the site better


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## byu (May 10, 2009)

Hm... I don't think that's the case. Your "articles" are more of a blog type thing, posting what's interesting to you. You don't even mention the big stuff, like you talk about the NAR for Multi-BLD, but not the WR for BLD...

I would recommend just giving links the the WCA page, or if you really want, create a Blog part of your website to put that stuff in.


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

I talk about the WR for BLD, if you read the whole article


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## byu (May 10, 2009)

Rubikgenius said:


> I talk about the WR for BLD, if you read the whole article



Oh, and if I'm interested in the new WR for normal BLD, I would definitely look at an article titled "Anthony Searle's new NAR multi-blind", yeah that makes perfect sense...


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## PatrickJameson (May 10, 2009)

About the contest.

First: >_>
Second: "2) POP's count as DNF's and will be counted as the slowest time in the Average of 5" -> ...you can't fix a pop?
Third: <_<


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## byu (May 10, 2009)

PatrickJameson said:


> About the contest.
> 
> First: >_>
> Second: "2) POP's count as DNF's and will be counted as the slowest time in the Average of 5" -> ...you can't fix a pop?
> Third: <_<



Also about the contest:

Do you know any good cubers that you could get to compete? The first time I won, I averaged like 17-18 and still won the competition.


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## qqwref (May 10, 2009)

byu said:


> PatrickJameson said:
> 
> 
> > About the contest.
> ...



Yeah, and I can't even see the past times. So I don't know how hard it is to win.

The third rule is funny. Just TRY to enforce that.


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

I would like people in this forum to compete

@qqwref: I am going to put the times of the people who competed soon.


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## PatrickJameson (May 10, 2009)

Why would that competition be better for us to compete in than say, the two competitions in the Weekly Forum Competitions forum? Or even the Sunday contest in which you basically stole their name


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

I dunna know... You can compete if you feel like it


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## byu (May 10, 2009)

PatrickJameson said:


> Why would that competition be better for us to compete in than say, the two competitions in the Weekly Forum Competitions forum? Or even the Sunday contest in which you basically stole their name



Answer A. You like winning. This competition is really easy to win. Pretty much if you're faster than me (since I've won the past two competitions) you can EASILY win. I don't think I'm going to compete this week though, not enough competition.

Answer B. This one is judged on Friday.


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

You are just better than the rest of the people who competed...

The closest guy to you had an average of 24 seconds


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## Ellis (May 10, 2009)

> Rules:
> 
> 1) Times must be entered in seconds:*millisceonds*( ex. 50.57)



Oh no, not this again.


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

oh my bad it is a typo


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## Ellis (May 10, 2009)

Rubikgenius said:


> oh my bad it is a typo



Yea, but I wasn't even referring to that specifically. Try again.


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

Isn't it seconds: milliseconds ?


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## Ellis (May 10, 2009)

No, a hundreth of a second is not a millisecond.


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## byu (May 10, 2009)

milliseconds are thousandths of a second


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

Ok, my bad. You know what I mean lol


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## moogra (May 10, 2009)

You're the one that pissed off Tyson Mao 
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10465

anyway the site isn't that bad. Fix grammar mistakes and your success profiles seem really odd.


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## Ethan Rosen (May 10, 2009)

byu said:


> I averaged like 17-18 and still won the competition.



Thats debatable <_<


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## puzzlemaster (May 10, 2009)

byu said:


> I averaged like 17-18 and still won the competition.



Just curious... how is it that someone who has not achieved a sub 30 solve or a sub 35 average in competition is averaging 17-18 seconds?


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## Ellis (May 10, 2009)

puzzlemaster said:


> byu said:
> 
> 
> > won, I averaged like 17-18 and still won the competition.
> ...



Well... he started cubing around december, and he already has at least a few 4x4 BLD successes. byu is crazy like that.


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## Ethan Rosen (May 10, 2009)

Ellis said:


> puzzlemaster said:
> 
> 
> > byu said:
> ...



I'm sorry, I don't want to turn this into a thread about this, so I'll just make this one post and then I'm done.

http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showpost.php?p=163728&postcount=31

That was posted almost exactly 8 weeks after he got an official average of 36. Assuming being around 20 means below 25 (which I think is very generous), he had a total of three weeks to get from 35 to 25 and 20 to 17. I call shenanigans.

EDIT:
http://www.speedsolving.com/forum/showthread.php?t=10337
I was in that chat room in mid march. I wish I had chat logs, but he said he had not been practicing 3 speed, and his times had gone up a lot. IIRC, he said something like 50 seconds. This was a month before he claimed to be averaging 15.


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## Ellis (May 10, 2009)

Ethan Rosen said:


> Ellis said:
> 
> 
> > puzzlemaster said:
> ...



Maybe he just gets nervous at comps. Have you seen any of his videos? I don't know if he has any speedsolving videos, but he does turn decently fast. Looks to me like he'd really be sub-20 with that speed.

Edit- besides, improvements like that aren't all that unbelievable. I just checked my sunday contest results from last year. On June 1st my average was 36.45, then on June 29th my average was 25.84... yea that's a little more than 3 weeks but I think those improvements are definitely doable.


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## Faz (May 10, 2009)

Having been suspected of cheating a number of times, I'm sure that byu would have confessed if he was actually cheating. I believe him, and his abilites.

However, I would like to see an average of 5 or 12 on video. - sub 18 seconds.


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## Ellis (May 10, 2009)

fazrulz said:


> However, I would like to see an average of 5 or 12 on video. - sub 18 seconds.



I would too, actually.


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## PatrickJameson (May 10, 2009)

fazrulz said:


> Having been suspected of cheating a number of times, I'm sure that byu would have confessed if he was actually cheating. I believe him, and his abilites.
> 
> However, I would like to see an average of 5 or 12 on video. - sub 18 seconds.



Why would he confess? There are not many people on speedsolving that think he is cheating. And if there are, they aren't saying anything.


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## Dene (May 10, 2009)

Ok guys I have a confession to make. I'm a lie. I don't actually exist. I'm just a bot that has been putting my times into the database on the WCA. Anyone that thinks that they saw me actually saw a clever illusion. This is why I could never have physical contact with anyone, for they would go straight through me. I'm sorry, I'll go and clean up the mess soon...


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## byu (May 10, 2009)

Ellis said:


> fazrulz said:
> 
> 
> > However, I would like to see an average of 5 or 12 on video. - sub 18 seconds.
> ...



Ok, when I return from my trip on Thursday, I'll try to make the video if I have time, I'll have a lot of other stuff to take care of.


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## puzzlemaster (May 10, 2009)

byu said:


> Ellis said:
> 
> 
> > fazrulz said:
> ...



thank you  I just find it hard to believe.


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## SnappleXXL (May 10, 2009)

Pretty sweet site but it could do with some work, basically just the presentation and arrangement of the site needs to be tidy


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## SnappleXXL (May 10, 2009)

byu said:


> I find your tutorials to be OK, but a bit rushed, which makes them difficult for beginners to comprehend. Here's an example
> 
> 
> 
> ...



I agree, they are very confusing especially to someone who is new to cubing and doesnt know cubing terminology etc. Maybe take the time to re - write the guides rather than rushing them.


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## Rubikgenius (May 10, 2009)

I will work on the site shortly.

Thanks for all of the suggestions, I appreciate it

And yes I pissed off Tyson Mao


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## Mike Hughey (May 11, 2009)

Dene said:


> Ok guys I have a confession to make. I'm a lie. I don't actually exist. I'm just a bot that has been putting my times into the database on the WCA. Anyone that thinks that they saw me actually saw a clever illusion. This is why I could never have physical contact with anyone, for they would go straight through me. I'm sorry, I'll go and clean up the mess soon...



That's why you were so easy to pummel at the Ohio Open. Now I understand.


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## Rubikgenius (May 11, 2009)

Hahaha

lol


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## soccerking813 (May 11, 2009)

I think that the information you have on your site is good, but like countless other people have said, make it look pretty.


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## rahulkadukar (May 11, 2009)

Dude just wait my site is coming maybe by the end of June as I have my exams


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## Rubikgenius (May 12, 2009)

rahulkadukar said:


> Dude just wait my site is coming maybe by the end of June as I have my exams



Looks like I might have competition


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## Rubikgenius (May 18, 2009)

Hey, 

I changed the template


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