Site news
It seems like it keeps the 10 latest articles there, right ?

The oldest one is dated december 17th, 19 days ago. That's about an article every 2 days.

Wouldn't that tell you that if you visit every week or so you won't miss anything ? I know that's how I'd see it. And the goal is to get repeat visitors, and for that you need interesting content, that renews itself often enough.

Though, looking at Anand's that about the way he does it, and moreover, the 2 sites' design is scaringly similar. More or less the same placement for everything. Being different really makes you stand out well, if it's properly executed.
Anand's
[IMG]www.geocities.com/keltorak/anand.txt[/IMG]
SLCentral
[IMG]www.geocities.com/keltorak/sl.txt[/IMG]

1) The titlebar and options : of course it makes sense at the top ... just included cause there's other ways to do it and it's yet another similarity
2) Tech news : both kinda smallish and on the left side
3) Site News : Both in the middle, kinda big and with an indentation at the top right
4) Featured article : in said indentation

Be careful not to look like a copycat ... at this point, I'd wager Anand has more "followers", hence can claim the design as is, whether it is or not.

Although, I must admit this format works quite well for what its intended purpose is.

Tech news
The latest one is the New Year one, 4 days old. Now, I know this is usually an off-computer period for many, but seeing as how I didn't notice how often posts are made before, I can't really judge on it, but that seems like a great lapse of time between posts.

Disclaimer
I don't mean anything bad by this, just some things I just noticed. I don't visit front pages often anymore, due to my lack of available money.

I know finding decent news is hard, and that you can't create content from nothing, just noting maybe you should try and make it look more active ? Having it look active can be a big plus, and phasing out articles while still keeping them on the front page gives a sense of progression.

Maybe by keeping the latest 5 site news in the current format and the next 5-10 ones in a shortened version with no pictures ? For some reason, I think that would make it seem more active.

I'm really not slamming SL, just trying to point out possible "weaknesses" before somebody does it with less than positive intents. Then again, I'm a perfectionist, so maybe I'm imagining too much of an Utopia. This and Ars are the only tech sites I visit, and the only forums, though I don't post much at Ars.

I like SL and want to see it grow. I don't have many solutions in mind at the mo, I'll let you know if I think of anything.

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