New MYNIC Malaysia Website Launches and Misses

MYNIC is the domain registry and domain registrar in Malaysia. They also are administrator for the .my top level domain name and second-level Malaysia domain names for organizations, businesses and individuals. Such as .com.my, .net.my, .org.my, .gov.my, .edu.my, .mil.my, and .name.my.

Currently, you can only register Malaysia domain names with MYNICs appointed resellers. And, not every company may apply to be a reseller (even if you are an MSC company). But I’m not here to rant about the MYNIC registration process. Instead, I’d like to discuss about their new website launched on June 25, 2008.

MYNIC, you guys are (I have to say this) arrogant fools – be it old or young. You are so arrogant you think having a Flash menu on the front is cool or neat. I’m already thinking of screaming “God?!” but it won’t do any help since I see we’re dealing with people on a limited mindset. So I want say this again.

Flash is NOT cool or neat every time.

Once you’ve managed to fit that into your head, here’s a thing I’d like to share with you. Did you know your (useless) Flash menu on the side could have been done with HTML, CSS and Javascript? Plus, not only will it load faster but will be accessible to even the blind users (if required). When the website launched, the entire banner was in Flash including the search option for domain names. Thanks to a sane person, they’ve amended it.

Technical details aside I wonder who’d agree with me the design of the Flash menu is horrendous from a user experience. It’s text is black on grey (which isn’t light) and it’s got an unnecessary glow around it. Are you trying to make your users think they’re in need of reading aid? As for the large banner space above the search, I hope you guys are planning to put it to good use.

Before I move onto the inside pages, I dislike the mini arrows in the Announcement because it doesn’t define the end of an item. A quick fix is include a line beside the arrow stretching to the left edge. And here’s a fundamental mistake, headings and date are blue and did you know links are also blue? I don’t want to say anything on the FAQ Quick Takes because the color of the links and the panel is making me frustrated.

When I was browsing the MYNIC inside pages, I wanted to return to the homepage but I couldn’t find the Home button. I ended up clicking the logo and thank goodness it had a hyperlink. Then I discovered the Home button was hidden on top with the site search. I don’t even want to ask.

I hate (so frustrating) the blue link text on light grey background. And here’s another idea for MYNIC instead of anchoring information, use a show/hide option. It’s not difficult to implement and it’s light if you leave out the animated stuff. Either that or fix the blue link text on light grey background please – see, I’m trying to be nice here.

I’m tired of complaining further about their website. If they’ve learned anything from this, I look forward to them approaching us at Simpleet Solutions in future. Now, on to the parts of the website I like using. Surprise!

First is the MYNIC Public Announcements page. It’s got a welcoming calendar navigation and archives area. But did anyone realize there are 3 options at the bottom?

Finally, I like the MYNIC domain names statistics page. I now have a way which tells me what’s the average number of registrations per year. Besides that, they should consider fixing the filename typo; stastic.

Before I leave, I have to say it’s the first time I’ve seen anyone use a scrollbar in a tiny panel for their website sitemap. This has been done so the boxes are constantly aligned and it retains the perfectionism of the layout. And I say, hogwash! Just break down the information accordingly without restricting its space so users can find the information easier. Why do you think HSBC or HLB sitemaps are broken up that way?

Now I’m starting to think the Malaysia Internet or website industry isn’t saturated but filled with complete opportunities.

p.s: If you’re wondering why some text links link back to this entry, I’m experimenting an optimization technique I found some blogger using in his entry. I want to see if it works though annoying.

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