# Cubetimer new look



## kickinwing2112 (Feb 3, 2009)

Everyone should go check out the cubetimer new look. www.cubetimer.com looks better than ever


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## maxcube (Feb 3, 2009)

Looks cool.


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## (X) (Feb 3, 2009)

Doesn't make it a good timer


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## Samlambert (Feb 3, 2009)

Looks quite nice


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## kickinwing2112 (Feb 3, 2009)

(X) said:


> Doesn't make it a good timer



I like the timer. What don't you like about it?


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## JLarsen (Feb 3, 2009)

kickinwing2112 said:


> (X) said:
> 
> 
> > Doesn't make it a good timer
> ...



Yeah I have to agree that was quite pointlessly confrontational.


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## d4m4s74 (Feb 3, 2009)

looks good
but as X said, looks don't make a good timer.

(glad the backend is good too)


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## compudaze (Feb 3, 2009)

(X) said:


> Doesn't make it a good timer



Why isn't it a good timer? What should we be using instead?


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## Samlambert (Feb 3, 2009)

compudaze said:


> (X) said:
> 
> 
> > Doesn't make it a good timer
> ...



CCT?


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## rjohnson_8ball (Feb 3, 2009)

Looks better than before. It still has the minor bug that the space bar press should stop the timer rather than space bar release. Some scrambles are not available for some puzzles (like 7x7 or Megaminx). The scramble does not get stored with each solve time. Still, it is a nice timer -- especially for a youtube video. I like the big numbers and audible countdown.


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## Musturd (Feb 3, 2009)

*I* like the look!
and *I* like your site!
Most online timers that I have tried stop randomly mid solve (I don't know why), but yours doesn't...

It's simple and useful.
I don't know why people are saying to use CCT (although good) -- it is not an ONLINE timer, so if you are not at a home computer what will you use?

I don't know why people don't appreciate programs like this...

EDIT: Actually, after having reread a few of the previous posts, it has come to my attention that no one was really that mean in any way, but I will not delete my post because I took time to write it.


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## MaO (Feb 3, 2009)

Today I was using this timer, and i got a new personal record: 45.53(I'm still a beginner)
Must have been the new look.


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## JLarsen (Feb 3, 2009)

I say good for an online timer in looks as well as functionality. I prefer using CCT because I save all of my official times in there. I have 212 sessions in there now and its cool to see my progress from 29>17.


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## Musturd (Feb 3, 2009)

I didn't mean to dis CCT, but I just wanted to make a point.


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## JLarsen (Feb 3, 2009)

No offense taken.


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## JBCM627 (Feb 3, 2009)

compudaze said:


> (X) said:
> 
> 
> > Doesn't make it a good timer
> ...



He never said it wasn't a good timer...

The only issue I have with it is that it doesn't stop when you hit spacebar.


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## Musturd (Feb 3, 2009)

Yah...
I noticed that no one said anything mean when I read it a second time, which is why I edited my post


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## VirKill (Feb 4, 2009)

We talk about online timer here....so, please stop comparing it with CCT.

I use cubetimer when I'm using public computer or at my ofifice. Now, I mostly use cubemania, but sometimes I want a bigger time display, and cubetimer is simply pretty.


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## cubetimer (Feb 4, 2009)

Glad you guys like the new logo. Another cuber made it for me. And sorry about the spacebar thing. It turned out to be a complicated issue to fix and I just haven't taken the time to go back to it.

As far as CCT goes, a javascript based timer will probably never be *quite* as good as an offline timer, but I originally made it for myself and it's plenty good for me. Use whatever timer you like - I just wanted something simple that looked nice.

Also, I have in mind to eventually add in the features everybody keeps talking about, but it's hard to make the time. I'm trying to think of ways to make a bit of money off the site to help fund my time to put back into it. Otherwise it's just too hard usually to address the feature requests.

I've been thinking about selling some T-shirts with the new logo. What do you guys think?


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## byu (Feb 4, 2009)

If you send me the source for CubeTimer, I could probably edit it and add in some more features and send it back to you, if you want.


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## bamman1108 (Feb 4, 2009)

I really like the new site. If I'm not in any hurry and want to track my times, I use cubemania (PPC Mac FTL), but if I'm not at my house, or I want to time myself quick, I always use this site.


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## mcciff2112 (Feb 4, 2009)

it looks nice, but that changes nothing. the new look isnt gonna magically make you drop time. just looks more modern. i like it, but its really not that big of a deal what the page looks like


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## Musturd (Feb 4, 2009)

byu said:


> If you send me the source for CubeTimer, I could probably edit it and add in some more features and send it back to you, if you want.



His source is un-obfuscated, as in, if you click view source on your browser you should see his code. I think it's Ctrl+U on most browsers (at least Chrome and Firefox)


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## Hadley4000 (Feb 4, 2009)

I use it while at school. It's easier to go there on a computer lab computer than to shlep my laptop in. Works fine for me.

I also like the new look. However, I tend to pay a little more attention to the cube


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## cubetimer (Feb 4, 2009)

Well, I'm glad SOME of you like it... sheesh 

If you prefer ugly timers, take your pick. There's plenty of them out there. I'm hoping to make something that's a bit different.

Anyway, the logo was actually contributed by a fan of the site. I think he did a great job. I just threw it up there.


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## cookingfat (Feb 4, 2009)

It looks better I guess. 

Unfortunately, since they changed the computers at work, cubetimer.com just completely crashes the computer when I start the time.


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## Stefan (Feb 4, 2009)

byu said:


> If you send me the source for CubeTimer, I could probably edit it and [...]


No, that statement already shows you don't have the required skills.

Oh and I like the old look much better.


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## cubetimer (Feb 4, 2009)

StefanPochmann said:


> Oh and I like the old look much better.



One thing I've noticed about you is that you're usually direct/honest. Respectable.

Ok so I'm curious what you don't like about it? It's really not that different other than the logo. I made the numbers bigger, which I thought was a good thing. I made the background of the stats box just a bit darker. Overall, it's not THAT different.

Unless you're referring to the version of the new logo I had up yesterday. Yesterday I had the new logo with a cube in the background. I thought it cluttered things up a bit and wanted to keep it simple, so I took it out.

Anyway, I enjoy the feedback, whether good or bad. Thanks much.


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## rjohnson_8ball (Feb 4, 2009)

The cube in the background looked okay to me, but it looks fine now too, without the cube. The first improvement I would like to see is the timer *stop* when you *press* the space bar, not when you *release* the space bar. JNetCube has the same issue, but I still use it.


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## Stefan (Feb 4, 2009)

cubetimer said:


> Ok so I'm curious what you don't like about it?



It's the logo, it's the title, and it's the stats box.

For those who don't know/remember the old look (only image I found):
http://cdn.stumble-upon.com/mthumb/654/13207654.jpg

The old look seems much friendlier and warmer. There's way too much cold and dirty blue now. Now the only colorful part is the bottom advertisement, and it makes it stand out. I like the old logo, the colored cube, much better than the blue clock. I like the old playful blues of the title and stats box, and I dislike the new cold blue of the title and the new dirty greyish blue of the stats box.

Btw, yours is my main timer software and the only online timer I use. Doesn't get in the way, just gets the job done. I like not having to register/login, and I love simplicity. Great domain name, too.


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## panyan (Feb 4, 2009)

i still prefer cubemania becuase of the community orientation and the lack of adverts!


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## cubetimer (Feb 4, 2009)

Stefan: Points well taken and I'll definitely consider them. I can even identify a bit with what you're saying. It's hard for me to be unbiased because of my attachment to the process of actually making the changes. I'm going to leave it as is for awhile and see if I can look at it more objectively later.

I never really liked the logo before, at least not the lettering. I like the new one, but will admit I miss the cube. My attempt to stick the cube in the background felt claustrophobic. Perhaps I'll play with dropping the clock icon and putting the cube back or something. A couple links you might find interesting.

First, I was emailed your initial post before you edited it. I noticed you had asked if you could use the timer the old way. Well, I can't guarantee it will work forever, but for the time being you could use this:

http://www.cubetimer.com/index.20090203.pre_new_logo.htm

Second, feel free to browse the logo in it's various forms as I've been playing with it:

http://www.cubetimer.com/cubetimer2.png

Replace the number '2' in that link with any number 2-5 to see what I was playing around with.

Anyway, thanks again!


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## Stefan (Feb 4, 2009)

Thanks! And now that I can compare them full-size, here are some more observations:

I prefer the old font of the title better. Nicely uniform and still very readable. Writing "CUBE" in all caps and black, then "Timer" with only capital T and in blue, then ".com" all lowercase and non-italic... ugh.

Looks like the new look has one huge graphical ad on the bottom where the old one had several small textual ones. And the old ones often had to do with cubing, the new ones never do. I like the textual ones much better, they're not as intrusive (especially compared to the graphical ones that are even animated... uber-ugh). I hope you at least get more money from those new ads.

The old background of the stats box was not just nicer, it also matched the color of the bar on the top. That was good.

The one thing I like better about the new look is that the stats box is aligned next to the timer rather than to the right side of the screen (matters at least on a 24 inches wide screen display).


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## cubetimer (Feb 4, 2009)

All good points, and all are definitely being considered. You're very thorough 

As for the ads: I'd like to toss all out completely, but I also enjoy the little extra cash they bring in...

The new ads are an experiment. I don't know if they'll work better or not. The whole site has always been a bit of an experiment, really, from the beginning. I made it for myself at first, then decided to use it as a testing bed for techniques in search engine optimization, web marketing, and affiliate advertising. So far I'd consider it a success, but the look has suffered a bit for it.

As of now, though, I'm not willing to just throw away the monthly check, so I'm trying to find a good balance. I know the Google ads were more relevant, but they don't pay well. With the amount of traffic I've been getting, I can't help but use it to try out new ideas. I'm offering the site for free, but I'm getting something for it, too. Aside from the cash, I'm learning a lot about capitalizing on a free web-based service. That obviously benefits me greatly in my career as a freelance web developer.

As mentioned before, I'm considering the sale of products from the site. If that went really well, it's conceivable that I could do away with the ads and switch entirely to that, but I'm not sure how much interest there would actually be. I threw it out there earlier in this thread, and can't ignore that fact that there hasn't been a single response...

Thanks again


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## bamman1108 (Feb 5, 2009)

I think the logo's nice, but it seems to make the site look more plain and less inviting. The only thing I can think of is changing the color scheme to something warmer.


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## mcciff2112 (Feb 5, 2009)

cubetimer said:


> Unless you're referring to the version of the new logo I had up yesterday. Yesterday I had the new logo with a cube in the background. I thought it cluttered things up a bit and wanted to keep it simple, so I took it out.



you need a cube in there somewhere. its too generic without a cube. i agree it was a little crowded with the cube, but maybe you could downsize it or something rather than taking it out completely.


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## Sg.Speedcuber (Feb 5, 2009)

totally awesome!!!


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## rahulkadukar (Feb 5, 2009)

Dont you have the offline version


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## Stefan (Feb 5, 2009)

cubetimer said:


> As mentioned before, I'm considering the sale of products from the site.


You mean like the cubetimer.com T-shirts? Can't speak for others, but I only wear monochrome stuff (no text/images/patterns). I also never wear the cube shirts we get at competitions. And I don't know about interest in speedsolving.com shirts, but that's a community people might want to invite others to. I don't really see that motive for cubetimer.com because it's not a community or a hobby but rather a minimalistic tool (no offense, remember that's why I like it). Then again, I could be wrong, and maybe people just need to see possible designs of shirts/mousepads/teacups/whatever to get interested.

An alternative might be affiliate programs like Meffert's which you can see in action for example on TwistyPuzzles.com, also on the forum there. I don't see anything like it from rubiks.com or v-cubes.com, though maybe one just needs to ask. I vaguely remember cubikon.de offering me something, but I don't really remember and could be wrong.


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