SITE REVIEW: Search all of Craigslist - allofcraigs.com

Hi-

Thanks in advance for your time. My name is Richard, and I would appreciate it if I could get a review of my site that searches all of Craigslist, and other sites like Backpage, Kijiji, Oodle, and Gumtree.

Thanks again! http://www.allofcraigs.com

I like the layout and simplicity. Resembles other search engines so is easy to catch onto what it's for.

I'd suggest removing the animated graphic in the logo area, it looks somewhat cheezy spinning around like that.

The feedback "tab" look doesn't coincide with the expected outcome. It looks as though if you click on it, it will expand into a sidebar of sorts. This may be a bit dissorienting to an average user when they click on it and find that there is a small popup in the center of the page. The google toolbar screenshot isn't needed and may do nothing more then confuse someone who clicks on it expecting to do a search only to find that it takes them to the install page.

After submitting a search, the feedback tab jumps to the other side of the page, again dissorienting.

Personally I would put dollar symbols next to the range input areas to drive the point home that it's for a price range. Someone may confuse this as a range of cities, a range of miles, etc. etc.

That's all I have for now, overall it's a good layout and is fairly straightforward in usability. Keep it up.

Thanks Mindfullsilence-

Most of what you said aligns with what I've thought of as well.

The feedback tab is a free service offered by uservoice.com. I moved it to the right because it was overlapping the text in the search results on 1024x768 monitors. I went ahead and moved it to the right on the homepage too.

I've received mixed opinions on the spinning peace sign. Aside from the name of my site, and saying "all of craigslist", the spinning peace sign, along with the favicon, give allofcraigs some extra identity.

Regarding the range, I have some "tips" on top of the search results box that explains to the user what some of the search parameters are for and how they can be used. The range is actually "numeric range" (same as advanced google search), so one could narrow their results by year, age, product specs, etc..thus, not being limited by only price.

Thank you for your time!

From a usability standpoint, I would consider moving the instruction closer to the input fields. With the instruction above the results, I almost didn't notice them, thinking it may have been another ad of some sort. As for the logo, the peace sign is completely acceptable, and I agree that it helps in building identity. What I meant was that as an animated gif it looks cheesy. If it was stationary it would appear so gimmicky.

I like your idea of combining many ad sites in one. The design and layout looks good. My only suggestion would be to add more sites. For example, many of us in my area use recycler.com and khrido.com a lot. You can also search using google what other sites are popular. Otherwise, great concept, good luck!

I will second the removing of the spinning peace sign. Makes the site look like it's from 1995.

Yes, the spinning peace symbol is annoying I think. I like the fact that users can give feedback. I guess with a site like this its all about how good the search results are. Also I would worry that if your site took off, then craigslist would copy it themselves.

Also, how come you have all craigslist, all oodle etc.

Why dont you have an option for ALL of these sites together, and then it could be refined by location. That would be extra useful I would imagine.