chess.com homepage redesign!?

we're going to be re-designing the chess.com homepage a little bit in the next few weeks and i was hoping to get some feedback!

what do you think of the following parts of the homepage (do you like them or use them?) 

• main news article at top
• recent articles list
  
• recent blogs list 
• chess equipment reviews
• newest members
• recent forum topics
• chess videos
• play chess blue box
• learn chess yellow box
• daily puzzle
• survey
• events & calendar
• featured coach
• featured download

here are some other additions we are considering, so tell me what you think:

• more prominent search bar
• better PLAY | LEARN | SHARE boxes at the top to help people get started
• a link to a Guide to Chess.com (to orient people)
  
•  faster loading times by removing the interactive daily puzzle, but having just an image of it that you can click and then go to the bigger one in the forums
• stuff near me (players, events, coaches, etc)
• a huge animate picture of monkeys jumping on a bed

Often Use:

recent articles list, recent blogs list, recent forum topics, daily puzzle, survey

Sometimes Use:

Never Use:

chess equipment reviews, chess videos, play chess blue box (I use the My Home link), learn chess yellow box, events & calendar, featured download

• faster loading times by removing the interactive daily puzzle, but having just an image of it that you can click and then go to the bigger one in the forums

Cool. I usually click-through for the larger board before solving it anyay.

• a huge animate picture of monkeys jumping on a bed

Even better, find a way to make sure they're always in the center of the screen... even for those poor fellows with Javascript disabled!!

• more prominent search bar
• better PLAY | LEARN | SHARE boxes at the top to help people get started
• a link to a Guide to Chess.com (to orient people)

::shrug:: I know where the search bar is and don't use those other features.

•  stuff near me (players, events, coaches, etc)

I'd include the monkey picture if you could make them playing chess at the same time.

 Also, it's nice that you are catering to people of certain countries, but shouldn't you call them Asians?  :)

 I really don't use the chess.com homepage; I have a Firefox tab parked on my homepage.

 Happy Halloween

 I absolutely agree whit the puzzle modification and the monkeys stuff!

"a huge animate picture of monkeys jumping on a bed"

I'd put this in some huge pop-up ad that follows the screen as you scroll and when you click to close the pop-up it redirects you to some random domain for sale. 

Main news article at the top: I often click to read about it and I think this should stay

Recent articles list: I don't really use this, but it should stay if it does not take up too much space

Recent blog list: Same comment as above, I don't use this but it should stay if it does not take up too much space

Chess equipment reviews: I do not like this section and I feel that it should be removed to have more space for other things

Newest members: I feel this is very important and should certainly stay front and center. The members is what makes up the site and the new members flashing on the page shows that the site is growing 

Recent forum topics: I think this is important because it is a major way for the chess community to communicate on various chess topics.

Chess videos: I personally do not use this section and I think it could be removed. Many of the videos which show up here are insignificant, very short, or not enjoyable. Maybe there could be some kind of featured video where only important ones are shown such as recent chess news clips, or recent player interviews and such

Play chess blue box: This is very important because most of us are here to mainly play chess with others, so of course this must be included

Learn chess yellow box: Again, this is very important because we have many new members who are beginners just learning how to play chess so we must make it easy for them to learn and enjoy the game

Daily Puzzle: This is very important as many users come to the site just to take a quick look at the daily puzzle to keep their chess vision sharp. This is a must for the homepage

Survey: I always find the surveys fun and interesting so I hope there would be room for this to be included

Events and calendar: I am always interested to see what chess events are coming up in my area as I am an active tournament player so I think this should stay

Featured coach: I think this should be removed. Personally I have never had a chess coach and I dont intend to ever have one

Featured download: I am always looking for new and interesting resources and tools to improve my chess so I think this is useful

More prominent search bar: I support this idea

better PLAY | LEARN | SHARE boxes: I think this is a great idea. We need to give the new members all the help we can so they do not get frustrated and leave

a link to a Guide to Chess.com: Again a great idea, the more user-friendly for new members the better!

Faster loading times / removal of daily puzzle interactive: I do not like this trade off. I think the load time is already good and I like the idea of allowing users to solve the daily puzzle from the homepage

Stuff near me: I think this is a very good idea. I am always looking to find chess resources in my local area

Animation of monkeys jumping on bed: Of course we are joking here, but what about monkeys jumping on the bed while juggling chess pieces?! That would be impressive!

that didnt help really did it .......

you usualy get things right the recent adds havent messed up owt, good to think your gettin some extra revenue

• main news article at top - I read the headline, and click to read the story if I'm interested.  I don't usually click into the other news headlines, so I sometimes miss interesting news items if they have been pushed off the front page by a newer item
• recent articles list - I don't often read the articles, so I tend to skip this.
  
• recent blogs list - I usually look at any article that interests me.  I look at blogs quite a lot.
• chess equipment reviews - hardly ever used.  The reviews seem to link to Wholesale Chess which is US based, so not somewhere I would order equipment from (I would normally order from a UK based store).
  
• newest members - I occasionally click on an interesting name or picture, but not often.  I'm not sure this section is really needed at all.
  
• recent forum topics - I often click on these and wish there were more than the 5 most recent on the front page.
  
• chess videos - I like this feature because I don't usually go looking for videos on the site, but will click on one here if it is interesting. 
• play chess blue box - never used - I use the 'my home' link.
  
• learn chess yellow box - never used.
  
• daily puzzle - I usually click the puzzle to go to the main page because the diagram is too small for me on the front page.
  
• survey - I usually complete surveys as they appear and try to comment if I can.
  
• events & calendar - hardly ever used.
  
• featured coach - clicked in once to look, but never since
  
• featured download - use sometimes , but not much.  I tend to foregt about this because it's at the bottom of the page, but I think it's useful because they may be good downloads being added that I miss unless I go looking for them.
  

here are some other additions we are considering, so tell me what you think:

• more prominent search bar - I never use the search bar
  
• better PLAY | LEARN | SHARE boxes at the top to help people get started - I don't use these, but maybe other people do
• a link to a Guide to Chess.com (to orient people) - I think this is an excellent idea
  
•  faster loading times by removing the interactive daily puzzle, but having just an image of it that you can click and then go to the bigger one in the forums - another good idea
  
• stuff near me (players, events, coaches, etc) -not sure.  How close would something have to be to be classed as 'close'?  How well this works depends on where you are obviously!
• a huge animate picture of monkeys jumping on a bed - I think you need to take a break fromChess.com, erik!

 YES!! If you need models I am available!

I would like a help page to tell me and others how the chessboard should be used in forums.

I've now worked out that there are ways of putting in variations etc. but obviously some members who are looking at these dont realise (from their comments e.g. 'why cant the Bishop take on f6?') that they can be viewed in the move list.

Also, I have put comments in my submits, and they come at the side of the board instead of underneath.

And I cant download my games in pgn even though there is a button for it in the game creator. So I end up going through the whole game. Which can be a waste of time.

I must say though, this is a really minor point and the site is, overall, absolutely excellent. So congrats to the chess.com team and thanks for listening!

       main news article at top – I don’t read them often, but some are interesting       recent articles list – should stay! I like browsing through the articles       recent blogs list - same       chess equipment reviews – I don’t think we need this on the home page, just a link would be enough I think       newest members – maybe more than just 2?       recent forum topics – same as articles and blogs       chess videos – I never watch them, connection too slow       play chess blue box – I hadn’t noticed that one yet       learn chess yellow box – good to have on home page       daily puzzle – good!        survey – usually fun J       events & calendar – I don’t look at it at all       featured coach – why? it has been the same guy for months now, I would think he pays for this       featured download – has been the same for a while too, I think a link would be enoughhere are some other additions we are considering, so tell me what you think:       more prominent search bar – good idea       better PLAY | LEARN | SHARE boxes at the top to help people get started        a link to a Guide to Chess.com (to orient people) – good idea too        faster loading times by removing the interactive daily puzzle, but having just an image of it that you can click and then go to the bigger one in the forums – yes, makes a lot of sense to me       stuff near me (players, events, coaches, etc) – yes, good idea, though it won’t be much in my case; players near me would be interesting 

I'm sorry my layout got messed up by copying pasting and copying pasting to and from Word :(

• main news article at top

• recent articles list

use it, use it... 

• recent blogs list

sometimes use it, if a title catches me 

• chess equipment reviews
• newest members

nope, nope, though the second is a novelty 

• recent forum topics

use it 

• chess videos
• play chess blue box
• learn chess yellow box

nope to all three. 

• daily puzzle

yes, but I like your idea of speeding it up

• survey
• events & calendar
• featured coach
• featured download

here are some other additions we are considering, so tell me what you think:

• stuff near me (players, events, coaches, etc)

When I first log on, I want to know about my games, and then immedately want to know what is going on in the chess.com community, and I think the best way to do that is through the forums.  Any chance you could make that "recent forum topics" a little longer, so we can see more of what was just posted?  I also like the idea of speeding up the website by putting the puzzle on another page.  Would it speed up more to do the same thing with the chess video? The newest members section gets about a half-a-glance, and I do not use the events and calendar.  The idea of *players near me* is a REALLY good idea, though! (nice job, Margreet!)

what do you think of the following parts of the homepage (do you like them or use them?) 

• main news article at top NO
  
• recent articles list NO
  
• recent blogs list NO
• chess equipment reviews OK
  
• newest members YES
  
• recent forum topics YES
  
• chess videos NO
  
• play chess blue box Huh?
  
• learn chess yellow box NO
  
• daily puzzle YES
  
• survey YES
  
• events & calendar NO
  
• featured coach NO
  
• featured download YES