Layout and Income suggestion

Hi,

I think that this Chess site is:

1)Too loud (as in too much going on on the page.)

It takes too long too load, it's got an annoying scheme. Everything is HEY HEY HEY HEY HEY YOU! CHESS FOR YOU! DON'T YOU LOVE CHESS!?!?!

a)Solution: Tone it down to, like entering a really quiet library, or you know that place on campus (I can't see what i'm writing right now because there is an advertsiement over my words.) Anyway, like on campus in your favorite building with toned down mellow colors and friendly interior architecture. A place to meditate. Keep everything important on one page. Imagine a Yoga Studio website. Breathe. For life. Congregate. To awaken the spirit. Something like that. A yoga studio wouldn't have this kind of scheme. Why?

2) Quit the begging for membership, (I know it's the source of money for everything) but make people want to donate. This will be hard. And I know the powers that be are probably just trying to get so many people to come here, so that they can sell the website to another entity, by making it attractively active. That business acumen is right there with lawyers, and peddlers. It makes it un-attractive to the people who use it. Peddlers and lawyers probably don't trust eachother, for example.

a)Solution: donations. This will be hard.

3)No advertisements! At all whatsoever. This all goes against the Chess feeling. It is also so annoying people will go elsewhere to free, less bountiful chess sites. This is a very bountiful chess site from the few that I've checked. But I've checked, see? I can't even see what I'm typing, and people don't like to be bullied out of their money. It doesn't work, and regardless of what the online industries say, it's not going to stick around in relevant online business or not-for-profit websites. Business grows itself like a monster, and than has one head telling another one of it's heads that some idea works. Like Billboard magazine saying that Guns and Roses is one of the world's greatest rock bands. That's not true and everyone knows it. They just happened to be near the back of the armored car truck when the back door was opened, and bags of money spilled out. Noone will really believe that mobsters (the recording industry) are a barometer of quality. Bottom line: Annoying. (If you like guns and roses sorry)

To sum it up. This great site is just too messy, and annoying to navigate. The color schemes, and general schemes are all "wrong." The pages are all to big or to small or too weirdly laid out. The advertisements over everything are like the cherry on the dogmilk icecream.

But I will continue to come here because it has the most to offer.

Check out the

http://www.crazyleafdesign.com/blog/top-40-beautiful-and-inspirational-website-designs-of-2008/ website. Look at the

Kulturbanause scheme, or the

Gavin Mackintosh or the

Guide de Prague (I like just the tabbing idea) and how it all fits on to the page nicely.

I also think the theme of castles, and fields may work well. But make it load fast.

4)Take out the floating bar at the bottom of the page or make it smaller. It's in the way! Don't worry about what facebook says. Do it your way.

We don't all have home theater screens.

~AlexanderYugonov (an incredibly bad chess player)