Secrets of a Rakehellby Cybil SolynFebruary 2003 Microsoft did a large (and it being Microsoft I imagine it was LARGE) study on how people navigate on websites that contain extensive amounts of information. The study concluded that when people are presented with a lot of text on the front page, they don't go any further.
After reading this study I decided that Rakehell might benefit from showing off some of its "hidden" parts. *grin* If you haven't left the front page – well honey, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
You may never have noticed, but on the right side of the page is Rakehell's nav bar. Rakehell is split into three main sections: Front Page, Resources, and Articles. In this image you can see our greeting, the email login, and the two navigation tabs, RESOURCES (green arrow) and ARTICLES (blue arrow). When you click on a tab it expands revealing more subsections.
 When you click on the Resources tab (green arrow) it expands revealing more options:
- Authors - a list of author websites
- New Books - new books being releases next month
- References - an interactive list of 700+ historical research sources.
- Links – links to other useful websites and their description
Notice that the Articles tab is still here (blue arrow).
Just like the Resources tab, the Articles tab expands when clicked on. The Articles tab (blue arrow) contains the archives from the articles that once resided on Rakehell's front page:
- Reviews - book reviews
- Features – featured articles like, historical essays, travel stories, or the one you are reading now
- Interviews - author or publisher interviews
- Site News- Rakehell news
Notice the Resources tab (green arrow) is now at the bottom.
I hope that showing off Rakehell's hidden parts will inspire you to leave the front page and look a little deeper. If nothing else, it should help you find your way around the site better. As always, if you have any suggestions or comments about Rakehell please let us know by posting below or using the email links at the bottom of the page!
| Cheryl | User-friendly | 2003-02-21 | | One thing I've always appreciated about Rakehell (aside from the cool name, of course!) is that it has such a well-designed, clean look to it. A lot of romance sites have great content, but are just ugly and hard to get around. Thanks Nils and Cybil! | | | | Michelle | Take a page from your book | 2003-02-21 | | I have felt the same way about Rakehell. I often wish it wasn't limited to Regency and Regency boundry books because the style of this site is a cut WAY above others on the net. If Rakehell did a larger base of books it would probably blow the other sites out of the water. The design is lovely, the content well organized, and the quality of the writing is wonderful. I love that I can come onto Rakehell and get well developed reviews and interesting articles. | | | | Cybil | Rakehell's niche | 2003-02-21 | | Thank you Cheryl and Michelle for the praise. In the greater scheme of things I have always wanted to launch "sister" sites to Rakehell, but keeping Rakehell running has been hard enough. I still dream of putting up paranormal and erotica sites. :) First things first though - keep the site running and find an editor! | | | | Mary Ann | Applause | 2003-02-21 | | Yes, it's always been a beautifully designed site-- and the range and quality of content are really astonishing, even if one *didn't* know it was a two-person-plus-contributors effort! | | | | Cybil | Rakehell Staff | 2003-02-21 | There are actually a few people who make Rakehell what it is:
Nils Devine - Website Developer & Site Help author
Cheryl Sneed - Reviewer
Suzanne Coleburn - Reviewer
Barbara R. Hume - Reviewer
Christopher (yes I am a man) Jenkins - Reviewer
Janet Russo - Reviewer
Sharon Holland - Reviewer
Cybil - Founder and all around hand
Everything else is submitted by Rakehell users so please submit and help keep Rakehell running.
| | | | Myretta | Way cool | 2003-02-21 | | I concur. This is a lovely, well-designed site. It's nice to see things hopping around here again.
And, by the way, I miss seeing you and Nils. | | | | Mary Ann | Whoops! | 2003-02-22 | | A thousand apologies for denying folks appropriate credit. I had noticed repeated contributions from several people you mention, with pleasure. I was dimly hoping to include them as `contributors'! It's lovely to see a list-- thanks. | | |
Contact us!
Cybil Solyn, csolyn@rakehell.com
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