5-Pages Compared

June 29th, 1998 - 1:47 PM

Since late January, Nirvana In Nirvana has been dedicated to bringing reviews of all kinds of Nirvana pages. We have learned that many pages over-do the graphics and do not focus on what is important: the content. Nonetheless, graphics must be pleasing to the eye. You do not want a white background with yellow text, do you?

When we visit a page, we usually expect updates. Updates is what keeps the page from going bad--it keeps you coming back. The information, also, must be accurate and informative nevertheless. We also expect originality. We do not want to keep visiting the same page with a different name and a different webmaster.

However, there are many pages out there that are original, and that stand out in a unique way. The 5 pages that are compared today are not necessarily the best pages out there. Each page has it's strong point and it's weak points.

Comparisons

Nirvana Down Under | Downer | Nirvana Land

I'm worse at what I do best | Nirvana/The Mighty K.C.

Graphics | Multimedia | Final Scores | Conclusion

Graphics

Something that is essential to each and every site. Graphics can kill your site or save your site. There are even people that leave a site just because they do not like the graphics, hence they have wonderful content. Everything in the page has to blend in well with each other, and by means you can not have a white background with yellow text.

Nirvana Down Under 95%

As with some pages on the Net now, there is usually an 'opening page.' Or as I would like to call it, a preview of things to come. ;) And it does show that. It gives the title of the page, mostly in some picture-like banner with the name of the page on it, or logo for short. Also most pages give which browswer looks best in it. You first impression on the main page of Nirvana Down Under? It should be 'Wow.' The background is black, notice the 'NDU' which is almost faded, and the frame to your left.

There is also a frame on the top with seven Australia flags. And a pull-down menu. I would prefer for it to have all the listed items in the frame(s), but it does not do that. Most of the text in the center of the page is white, however, you will see some spontaneous colors for the text here and there. The clickable images in the frame is white with a green glow, and for the 'Next' button, it is white with a blue glow.

Downer 97%

Just like NDU, it has an exotic style that will keep visitors coming back. The frame bar to your left is blue, with the listings, which is white. Let's not forget the nice logo. You might have trouble seeing the 'Powered By SubPop' logo and the amount of hits on the page if you do not have a plug-in or any other enhancements. The page is divided into a column-like format. News, site information, and banners go on one side, and the listings go on the other. The hyperlinks are light blue, and the text, like NDU, is white.

Nirvana Land 90%

The first thing you will get upon entering this site is a black-filled screen with a 'come to nirvanaland,' and a banner at the top which does not lead to the page. Rather you must click on the hyperlink. The page is a little on the darker side than Downer. There is frame to your left, most off the text is gray, and so are the hyperlinks. The logo on the top is rather nice, containing different pictures of Kurt and such. There are some broken pictures/banners on this page, and there are a lot of banners on the bottom of the page, which are nicely organized. It is simple, and, if you are looking for something simple, then this a good page for that.

I'm worse at what I do best 99%

Can you be complicated and still be simple at the same time? This page answers just that, with a definite 'Yes.' The polished and clean looks will attract your eyes, with the different variety of text colors as well. However, there is no 'frame (bar).' Moreover, it is a black-rectangular box with everything avaliable. The links on the main part of the page are sky blue. Most of the text is black, and there are two banners on the bottom. The big logo on the main page might distract you a bit.

Nirvana/The Mighty K.C. 92%

Upon entering this page, like NDU, you get the logo of the page, some information, and a couple of banners at the bottom. Clicking on the picture (or banner) will take you to the page. The background is white and most of the text (including the frame's) are black. The text in the frame look a little distorted, but that's on purpose. ;) The center page, when entering, has the 'Thank You' picture (from Wishkah), and two candles on the right and left. You will also be asked to take part in two polls: the first is on which is your favorite band member, the second is what you think of the site.

Multimedia

In the most rare of cases, a page can not live well, or recieve a strong amount of hits, if it does not have any sort of multimedia: pictures, sounds, and other such things which depend on the site. A lot of people look for this sort of thing in webpages, and it depends on two things: what the person is looking for and what the page offers.

Nirvana Down Under 90%

The second thing in the frame-bar is the 'Audio' section. How good is this? I'm sure you will agree that it is. However the extra frame might bother you. It has: 'Audio Feature of the Month,' Real Audio, MP3, WAV., MOD/S3M. But before you do any downloading, most of the songs (that contain lyrics) are cut to 30-seconds. The pictures section is not as impressive as the sound section. Not a great deal of variety in each section. I hope it will improve in that. However, if you are looking for sounds (that is legal ;) ..) Then do not look any further. If pictures are your thing, then it is not recommended.

Downer 95%

Downer nails it when it comes to multimedia, or at least it tries to do so. Multimedia must be its priority because it is the first thing listed in the frame-bar. And then, you get a great deal of variety here. The pictures is interesting; you have 'text-only,' which means it just gives you a description of it, size, format, and size in pixels. The 'Thumbnails' add thumbnails to that. However, 'Random Image' section is down at the moment. As for sounds, it only offers Real Player or MP3, and you get 'rare clips,' 'live,' 'album,' and 'speech' clips. This page has three Animations, unlike what it sounds like. It has little 1-3 second movie/picture clips. You also have a section called 'Essential Programs,' which will help you out, in addition, they are essential. In the 'Micellaneous' section there are other downloads: fonts, guitar tabs, and a CD Player recognition. You can also play games: a memory game, a slider puzzle using pictures, a quiz, and finally Nirvana libs.

Nirvana Land 85%

Like Downer, you get Animations. There are two that Downer does not have. Next are the Pictures. You get 32 pictures, no thumbnails or information. You have them listed as 'picture 1' (and so on), which are listed into fours and double spaced, then the same pattern again.

I'm worse at what I do best 90%

One the first things in the frame bar is 'Jeff's Picture Gallery.' It is a link to that page, and if you remember from the old review, this is a great place to go if you want to look for high-quality pictures. You have 'Early' pictures, then the years 91, 92, 93, and 94. In addition to the pictures of Kurt at a 11/10/93 show. The gallery has pictures in thumbnail, which they run horizontally--very organized. You also have a Quiz, if you have read Come As You Are, and watched Live! Tonight! Sold Out! you will probably answer these questions with ease.

Nirvana/The Mighty K.C. 85%

If thumbnails are your thing, then you should not be too disappointed with this page. This page has thumbnails running 3x5, with four pages, a total of 60 pictures.

Content

The most important thing to a page is the content. You can have the best graphics in the world but what it comes to, last and most importantly, is the content. Content is basically information, FAQs, and what effect it gives you when you leave the page.

Nirvana Down Under 88%

The first section you will see in the frame is the 'News.' The news are a little outdated, but it has kept up with some of the news this year. The Nirvana FAQ, which is found in the 'FAQ' section, is not found. The 'Anatomy of a Nirvana Tour' could not be found also. However the 'Recording Sessions and Songlists' were found. As for the 'Articles,' this section is 'Under Construction.' And so is the 'Biography.' As for the 'Discography,' it contains both the U.S. and the U.K. discography. A great source of information there. The 'lyrics' is another great source of information on this page, it contains all the albums and rarities, but not Hormoaning. The 'Resources' section has books and their cover scanned (except one). It also gives the author, page number, and the publisher. You can also 'Contribute' information, or whatever is needed to the page (yes, it is a section). In the links, there are quite a good variety of Nirvana links, as well as 'Other bands' and 'Micellenous' links. You will find the guitar tabs helpful, not only because of the tabs but it also has a complete section about feedback. The bass and drum tabs are under construction, and not to forget the bootlegs.

Downer 92%

The information section in Downer is very helpful but very limited in some ways. You will find articles about Kurt's death, (or the affect it had), band Bios, or just simply articles. Not to forget the section about 'Singles' or 'Kurt's Equipment FAQ.' The 'Tribute' section also has a lot of information, again, on the subject of Kurt's death and the affect it had on people, songs they written about him, and some sounds as well. In the 'Links' section there are a lot of links, which webmasters has added themselves, and for free, you can even add yours.

Nirvana Land 88%

Ahh, I see this site has cleaned up some of the broken pictures. Okay, the first section is called, 'Reviews.' This reviews other Nirvana sites on the web, and, at the end it gives the site a grade. Also, another section is called the 'Message Board.' You can post up any subject you want, or reply to one. Dissapointly, it does not have a lot. The next section to be reviewed here is the 'Suicide Note.' It has a scanned version of it and under it, a text version. Also, in a section called, 'Voting,' you may vote on the person you think 'killed Kurt Cobain.' You will find a Chat Room in this page. 'Timeline' is a section that is not really about Nirvana but, about Kurt's life. You will find the lyrics, which only go up to In Utero. The 'Memorial' section says an Eulogy about Kurt, basically. You will also find the "Polly," and the "Francis Farmer" story as well. The 'Drummer Jokes' are also included on this site. If you are also interested in trading Bootlegs, you will find a couple here.

I'm worse at what I do best 90%

The first section it has is 'Back Info on Kurt.' Which it gives information about Kurt's life, in a brief way. Another section is called, 'We Miss Kurt,' in which people give their thoughts on him, and why they miss him, etc. Also in this site is 'Rated Nirvana sites.' Also a section which relates to it is the section, 'In Bloom.' At first, I thought it was something about the song, then I thought it was about sites that were growing. It turns out to be sites that 'are there for no reason, or no good reason at all.' 'I Hate Myself' is a section that gives the signs that Kurt did die at his own hands. Finally, the section called 'Say What?' is basically about bootlegs.

Nirvana/The Mighty K.C. 90%

Excellent source for the simple stuff. It has: Kurt's, Chris's, and Dave's Equipment FAQ. The company or the 'Tabs' is closed now. The 'Concert Chornology' is easy to read and very helpful in most respects. You will also be able to find the 'Nirvana Dictionary v. 1.0' in this page, which gives the definition/meaning to each song. The 'Nirvana Discography' is a little different than most. It gives the line-up, the band history, and a comprehensive Discography as well. An interesting article is the 'Dream Machine.' The 'Nirvana FAQ' could not be found. But we all know it don't we? And Kurt's ID is basically just giving information in the most brief way possible.

The Final Scores

Conclusion

The scores and the reviews does not matter much at all. There is no such thing as the best Nirvana page, or any other page on the web. This comparison shows that each page has it's strong and weak points. But depending on what kind of person you are, each page may be better than the other.

All the pages reviewed had pretty good graphics, but your best bet would bet I'm worse at what I do best. If you are looking for simple graphics, Nirvana Land or Nirvana/The Mighty K.C. would be your choice. Downer and NDU are pretty much on top of things in graphics, but they do have some faults.

For Multimedia, don't look any further than Downer. It is the top choice for an all-around selection. But if you are looking specifically for sounds, NDU is probably your choice, it offers a lot more formats than Downer.

Each page did lower than I expected to in Content, but Downer comes off easy-handed in this one, however it was lower than I anticipated. This is a section, in each page, where it needs to improve upon. Again, it's your choice depending on what page you choose.