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To shut you up, I’m including some screen caps from my system, and the following are screen captures of some of the pages as I’m testing the system. The database is written with Postgresql, and consists of around 30 tables at the present time.

I wrote the system to compete with all news organizations, and to even replace those news organizations, by enabling the columnists/reporters/writers, to work on their own, and not have to be affiliated with any publisher. However, even writers with affiliations, and publishers, can use my system to publish their work.
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The first screen is the start screen, with a small introduction about what the system will do, and how it will do it.

http://www.4freeimagehost.com/uploads/761ab12bce4b.jpg

The second is the criteria screen, where a regular user selects and/or enters the specific criteria for searching the system for articles.

http://www.4freeimagehost.com/uploads/bc0615fe7151.jpg

The third screen presents a listing of the articles found that met the selection criteria which was entered n the criteria screen.

http://www.4freeimagehost.com/uploads/5fa5b3e6e270.jpg

The fourth screen presents an article, which was selected in the listed articles screen. (The presented article, is one hosted within “MY” system, and which was entered by an author/writer/columnist, whose information is also hosted within my system

http://www.4freeimagehost.com/uploads/3f00e8bed2da.jpg

The fifth screen presents an article selected from the articles list screen, but, in this case, the link to the article sent the user to an externally hosted article.

http://www.4freeimagehost.com/uploads/81da1c2b7a60.jpg

Just a hint, seriously clean up the criteria screen, far too many choices on the page at once for the average user. Take a hint from Apple: people like simplicity. Even if the system is complex, hide the complexity. I have seen a system with this huge number of choices on the page, but in that case the small number of people who used it were experts with the subject matter, and the complexity was actually written to cater to their taste.

Titles should also stand out from the rest of the text, so at least bold them. And choose a font style for your input boxes. Mixing serif and sans-serif doesn’t work.

Also think about better use of white space, and shortening your lines. It is very hard to track from the end of a line to the beginning of the next when lines are so wide with normal leading.

Notice extensive duplication of wording on your buttons on the left. If the title says “News Stories” then those words don’t have to appear in every option under it. This throws more text at the user, making it harder to easily see the options. Simplify. Stuff surrounded by other stuff doesn’t stand out. White space is your friend.

And check out “Top Discussion Sites.” You have “Other.” That’s not top, that’s “Other.” My eyes tracked to this to look for “Top” not “Other.” How about just “Recommended Discussion Sites” with “Top 20 Republican”, “Top 20 Democrat” and “Other.”

But even then, what if I want below the Top 20 Republican? Am I stuck with “Other” that would be logically mixed Republican and Democrat? Simplify further under this category “Republican”, “Democrat” and “Other.” Under each category’s page you can do a “Top 20” or even allow sorting options like by editor’s choice, by popularity, by activity. You’d have to add extra programming, counting the click-throughs to determine popularity, and constantly checking your linked sites to check for their activity.

Yes, I’ve played usability expert in a past career. I’ve revamped applications and had the users literally excited and downright giddy to use the new one. No, I don’t do it anymore, but it doesn’t hurt to throw out a few hints.

Even if you’re clueless on the electronics industry and absolutely myopic in your hatred of all things Apple, you’re still a conservative, and conservative endeavors deserve to prosper regardless. Good luck.