10 Tips For Designing a Better MySpace Profile

(MySpace People #15)

This MySpace People is going to be a little different this time around.

I have been online in one form or another since 1992! I first started using the world wide web in 1995 and designed my first web page in 1996. While I am not a professional nor have I ever been to any classes, I can tell you a thing or two from my 15 years of experience.

Since MySpace evolved, we get a lot of people who "pimp out" their profile. While doing this, they make some very basic mistakes you learn NOT to make in your 5th lesson in HTML 101 Class. I mean, it took me a long time to accept the fact that users can have a song automatically be playing on their profile (That is usually considered "rude.")

So, I have come up with a list of 10 basic tips for users on MySpace when it comes to designing your profile. This is especially if you want people to keep visiting and commenting on your page.

Here are the tips:

1. First of all... you see that scroll bar to the right? That should be the only scroll bar you ever see on a home page. The only time you should see the scroll bar on the bottom is when you are viewing media, document, blog entry, or something where your users would expect to see that scroll bar.

A NOTE TO COMMENTERS WHO POST IMAGES THAT CAUSE THAT VERY SCROLL BAR. I delete those comments immediately, no matter hw incredibly witty, beautiful, or funny they are. GONE! SEE YA! BYE BYE!

2. NO TRANSPARENCIES. That GREATLY slows down the page as it constantly tries to re-render the page. You can cut down on your MySpace's load time by at least half if you don't have anything transparent. Besides, it also makes things harder to read! How are your visitors supposed to get the message you are trying to give out?

3. You should not have to be able to select text with your mouse in order to read text. You should have a color scheme that is visually pleasing and not seizure inducing. Not to say you can't have bright and vivid colors, just be sensible about it!

4. There is NO need to have 60 pictures on your page. That increases the load time and makes your page hard to navigate. MySpace gives you a gallery with 300 pictures for a reason. Use it wisely. If you really want to put your pictures on the page, MySpace has now offered a slideshow flash scrip, which brings me to my next tip...

5. Try to limit yourself to about 3, MAYBE 4 scripts. By that I mean: YouTube videos, countdowns, slideshows, your furry pet, games, playlists, etc. Aside from the fact that pretty much NOBODY is going to be playing with the stuff on your page, it, once again, increases the load time... making your DSL connection seem slower than AOL Dial Up.

6. Okay, that left column where you list all of your bands, books, etc? That is not a spot to add pictures larger than thumbnail size. Its a list with text. Trust me, people can read, I've seen them do it.

If they can't read, maybe not knowing who your favorite bands are isn't exactly their biggest problem. All of your main content should be in the main "About Me" section, and not have two large columns that, once again, create that scroll bar at the bottom I discussed in Tip 1.

7. Blinking text, strikeout text, text THIS SIZE or this size is okay to emphasize something, but not to be used as your main font of choice.

And really, stay from blinking text. That is SO 1997.

8. Polka dots, flashing things, stripes, zig zags, and David Hasselhoff make for busy and nauseating backgrounds.

Stick to solid semi-neutral colors, your favorite celebrity/cartoon character (as long as the picture is faded really well), or something a little more neutral.

9. Now this is something I don't expect the basic MySpace user to catch, but it can really help!

You know those "MySpace" design sites? They like to be cute and stick their logo in a corner on your page. They usually like to sandwich that in between style codes or after the style code. You can eliminate ANYTHING not contained within the style codes. It would be nice if I can click on those links at the top that MySpace went through a lot of trouble providing for us. :-)

10. Okay, I admit that I have added this tip just so I can stretch it out to ten because "TEN SOUNDS OFFICIAL." It is a bit more advance... BUT....

Designs that look good on your computer may not look good on others. Some people have Firefox. Some people have IE. Some people have Safari. Some people have the Wii! Someone may be fucking blind and have an 800 by 600 resolution, someone may have a 24 inch monitor with a ridiculously high resolution. In other words, the best route to take is to stuck with a fluid design that is easily expandable and retractable, and not a fixed design. If you aren't sure, when you are at your friends house, ask them to pull up your page on their computer and check it out for yourself.

Well, that should get you started! Any additional tips or any feedback is greatly appreciated. If you need help, JUST ASK me or your neighborhood friendly web designer. Trust us, we have to look at your page too and rather it look a little better. :-)

SO... in an effort to promote good MySpace designs, we are offering badges to anybody who follows these tips (although Tip 10 is superficial, so don't worry about it).

Your URL will be put in where it says "Your URL Here."

READ ABOUT IT MORE ON OUR MYSPACE BLOG

RJ45