story site layout

[goodbye_sun]

I was discussing some of the design elements involved when setting up a storytelling site with lachesissom the other day, and it got me thinking about what sorts of things readers really like to have as part of their experience, above and beyond just reading the story. Is there real interest in character bio's, how obligatory are those custom content lists

Comments

[freezetomorrow]

Personally

[phoenixfg]

It depends on the story for all of the above. If a story has a plethora of characters or has been going on for awhile then I love character bios. That way I can just jump right in knowing how this person is connected to that person and what makes them tic. It makes it easier for me as a reader

[esperesa]

I won't lie; I'm rather visually inclined, so a gorgeous header or site design in general is definitely an extra poke for me to go and read something (as long as it's not at the expense of practicability). With or without a fancy layout, chapter previews are a plus for me too - the design and/or pictures either draw you in or they don't. I admit I'm less likely to click further if a story website has none of either in direct sight *pokes self* XD

[goodbye_sun]

For me minimalism always wins bonus points. I want to be able to find my way around a site easily, so really in my face tags or links make me very happy. Very muted or simple colour palette and basic, easy to read, normal sized fonts for the links and story text. Black text on a white background for the actual story. Seriously. Chapter indexes are also a favourite of mine since I often don't start something until its a bit more established

[simtopi]

I never thought about layout design until much later and that was only because I was bored of my original layout on a personal level. I'm not sure if site design for the story is as important for me, because I guess I'm one of those people who just get into the meat of it. In saying that, I do appreciate how people organize their stories. I like to be able to know which pictures the captions belong to, and I like for the images to be a sensible size (bigger isn't necessarily better, sensibly sized pics make for people to be able to focus on what's important instead of your eye wandering all over the page). Some people have been using slideshare to post their pics up in LJ, and I have to say I'm really not a fan of that format even though I can see some of it's advantages