Hey all. This is a project I've put up a while ago but haven't really put so much effort letting the world know about it. After the success off shareminer.com I thought that it could be useful to take it one step further by giving the user the power to create his/her own query builder. For example, for those missing the old shareminer, you can use this which has the same functionality: http://querymash.com/index.php/query/a/shareminer currently it only targets google, yahoo and live.com, but more are to come. http://querymash.com opinions and suggestions are wellcome
First off, I would expand the "What is this?" function - because I have no clue what this is or how to use it. I've played around with it a bit but without knowing how to use it I can't really comment on functionality. As for look, the page looks nice and simple. Nothing intrusive at all. I like the colour and layout. Very nice. The blog could use a non-default wordpress template. Though with only two entries, it is clearly still newish. Good work, keep it up.
Design QueryMash.com looks very simple and soothing with a cool looking logo. However it could use some small improvements in terms of navigation. There is no way to navigate back from the "Submit New Query" page unlike other sub pages where the QueryMash logo leads back to the homepage. It may also be helpful for the user to make it more explicit that the logo leads back to the homepage or instead add a "back" link from the sub pages. The blog also doesn't link to the homepage. The queries listed on the "browse queries" page could use a less condensed layout, perhaps a list with each query on its own line. Putting search results in a QueryMash frame is a nice touch, but could further be improved if the navigation was added to it, a link back to homepage or all of the links featured on the homepage for convenient access (create new queries, browse queries etc.) Design rating: 3/5. Focus It's certainly clear that the site is all about making new and browsing existing queries, but to users who don't know what queries are or what their purpose and usefulness is, some additional hints may be necessary to make the site immediately more clear about its purpose. Perhaps come up with a slogan that describes the purpose of queries, something like "create your own custom search". Focus rating: 4/5 Content There is a "what is this" link on the homepage leading to what users would expect would be a concise explanation of what the site is all about. However at authors own admission the description isn't very good. So.. here's a small suggestion. Define the terms you use to define the site, that is, try to define in common language, what query builder does, what exactly does a query search archive refers to (maybe just link to the actual archive) and what an open search plugin is (also maybe link to the page with an example of where one can be installed). A suggested description start: "QueryMash is a builder of search queries that allow you to search for specific kind of content such as content published on only a specific site or a specific subdirectory of a given site and so on. Queries built with QueryMash are stored on the site for easy access and you can even install a given search query to your browsers quicksearch area." Of course, this is just a suggestion, modify it at will. If you wish to target this to a wider array of users it may also be necessary to publish a guide through queries that could be used. I personally had trouble creating a simple query to browse all of slashdot.com, for instance. I know how to do it in google, but I failed with querymash. Perhaps add a question mark near the input fields on the "create new query" page which when clicked would pop up with an explanation. Content rating: 2/5 Overall It should be noted that this site is apparently a work in progress so most of the mentioned issues will probably be fixed if the site continues to be developed. But I must say it's an excellent idea and I can see how it will be useful. So considering the potential of the site I would bias the final rating more towards positive. Once the remaining issues are fixed this could be a five star site and service. Overall rating: 3.5/5 Btw, the reason I'm writing full reviews like this is cause I'm practicing writing good reviews... I hope you wont mind.
Thank you for the reviews, I apreciate this kind of feedback varey much because is very constructive and straightforward. Lebervisco, those full reviews are awesome. Yes, the site is a work in progress though this is the the first fully functional version, I would say it's in beta state. There's a lot of small changes adition to come, but they'll show up one at a time. I like to have a project that I can put a bit of time here and there, it's fun. Some aspects you guys pointed I've already thought about, some i didn't. I think I'll start by the navigation improvements and then maybe the tips on the form, then some sugar in the query list, and so on... BTW, I used the description you wrote, it's short, simple and concise. Looking forward to more feedback from more people.