need feedback from the flash community

[test1]

Hey Everyone, I've been working on a new website as a side project for quite some time now and it's ready for some beta users. Basically the site will eventually be a suite of online flash based applications. Right now the only app I have running on the site is a photo sharing/organizing tool. It's free to register and easy to use. All the apps are built entirely in flash so I'd really like some feedback from some fellow flash developers. Here's the url to the site

http://www.snappages.com

Let me know what you guys think! The app is still in an early beta form so there are bound to be several bugs. I'd appreciate any feedback you would have to offer.

[CyanBlue]

Howdy and Welcome... :)

It'd be great if you could provide a test account so that we don't have to go through all the registration process than concentrate on the content of the site... That way you get whole lot more feedback from us... My 2 cents... ;)

[test1]

Thanks, that would probably be easiest but I don't think it would work right now to have multiple users editing the same account at one time. I realise a lot of people will probably shy away b/c you need to sign up but hopefully I will get a couple people to do it and see that it's worth it. It's really a pretty neat application(biased opionion?). Think of it as an online version of an app like iphoto or picasa, if that helps to entice anyone...

I also have a calendar application that is almost ready to be realeased. I think th e site eventually will be a one of a kind especially b/c the apps are completely in flash so that's why I'd really like some other flash enthusiests to check it out if you have the time.

[CyanBlue]

That's fair enough... ;)
I think th e site eventually will be a one of a kind especially b/c the apps are completely in flash...
I think that's really the biased opinion... The end user does not really care what technology we use to develop... All they care is the content of the site... That's my biased 2 cents... ;)

[test1]

True the end user doesn't care what it's made from, they are more concerned with what it does (as they should be). I don't really emphasis or mention the fact that it's made in flash on the actual website, I just mention it here b/c I'm speaking to other flash developers who might be interested to know. It might be a biased opinion for me to say it's one of a kind so check it out and you can tell me if it is or isn't. :D

[Flash Gordon]

IMHO, it is overkill to use Flash 8 for a sign up forum! Flash 8 still only has around ~70% penatration. Flash 7 has ~95%.

Also, quite honestly I'm not going to give my email addy out to a site on a site check. Sorry. Perhaps like CyanBlue said, maybe you can set up 20 account for us to test with.

2 more cents ;)

BTW, sorry this hasn't be a completely postive experince. :o

[test1]

Yeah, it might seem like overkill but all the apps I'm creating will use at least flash 8 and I might be moving to 9 soon, so I figure if they don't have flash 8, they can't use the site anyways. It's not a commercial site so I'm not to worried about it at the moment. Just a project I'm doing on the side. Eventually I'll add all the auto-detect/install features for people who don't have flash 8.

As for the email address, it's simply an integral part of any user management system. I needed to give mine out to join this forum. I can assure you I don't give it out to anyone or use it to spam you.(although you don't know me so that probably doesn't mean much. :D ) It's just used so people can recover there password and b/c of server space limitations, I don't want people to be able to sign up for multiple accounts very easily b/c I know I'm going to need to put a cap on how much someone can upload. I already have about 50 users signed up and some of them are uploading over 1000 images so it could get out of control if it were simply a matter of entering a new username to get a new account.

Don't worry, this is not a negative experience. I wasn't expecting a huge response or anything. I have a lot of non-technical people using it and they all like it and have great usability feedback but I know fellow developers will probably be the toughest critics so I'd like to here what they have to say. No worries.

[CyanBlue]

Looks good... I can see lots of resemblances with other products... (I am in no way saying it in bad ways...)

My first impression is that the site is loading somewhat slow... Small Flash movies like login panel on the main page could use some indicator for loading cuz blank white space does not look very good...

The initial screen of the Photo Manager is saying 'loading library while I am writing the previous paragraph and I see no indicator there either... So it is either loading big files or you are not displaying anything visual or I am stuck somewhere... Mind you that you might be losing lots of users right there becuase they don't know what's going on... (My 2 cents on that part...)
I see a couple of undefined written in the Photo Details panel...

Well... Import button... I see the gray screen for abit longer than I anticipated... and then I am happy with what I see... Though I am not quite understanding the dragging on the photo... The location of my mouse and the image thumbnail does not really match...

I like the layout manager... It works fairly well...
Don't understand why the Gallery button should open up a new window... It'd be great if you can somehow combine it into the app...

In overall, I like it... I see a good potential with this... Good job... ;)

Oh... I think it is a good idea to add a small Flash element before you present the main app... That way, the user can prepare their system with the right environment and that actually makes better user experience when they are presented with the main app... My another 2 cents, I guess... ;)

[test1]

Thanks for you comments, that's all good feedback. I see what you are saying about the loading message and the undefined stuff. It must just be saying that b/c it doesn't have any photos to load yet so that should be replaced with an alternate message. Believe it or not your the first to mention that so thanks.

There are still some issues with the drag and drop stuff. The problem is adjusting the timing between what makes a "click" and what makes a "drag". The timing either needs to be reduced or taken away all together. If you hold the mouse down for a second you'll see the two line up when you drag.

The gallery button is actually a seperate window b/c the gallery is what other people see and have access to. You use the button to see what everyone else will see when they go to your "SnapPage". The actual pages themselves will be where you share your content with others if you choose to. But the photo manager itself might need some sort of built in way to preview photos easier.

Eventually there will be a "control panel" page before the gallery page when you login b/c there will be multiple apps and other things you will need access to. Right now it just goes straight to the photo manager b/c that's all that's working at the moment.

Thanks again for the feedback. It's good stuff.