Metamorphosite Variables

Metamorphosite was a "living" site that changed its appearance for every new user. It recorded a myriad of stats and tried to maximize the time on site and pages per visit. (Of course a higher time on site may not be better, since it could mean a confused user who couldn't quickly find what they were looking for).

Below are graphs representing each of the display attributes for Metamorphosite. You only need to look at the lines relative to each other. The higher a line is on the graph, the better that variable is doing. They are plotted independently as there are more than eighty quadrillion(8.7877086x10¹⁶) unique combinations the site could appear in. This page itself is not "alive" nor are stats from it counted in the algorithm. Of course it's not statistically correct to look at these variables independently, or as averages, but you can still see some interesting trends emerge which could make the basis for future, more precise tests.

These results include all values. Some time values appear too be way to high, probably caused by somebody leaving their browser window open for a prolonged period of time. To mitigate this issue we can filter values above a certain threshold. Please use the form below the adjust the parameters to display the results you want.

Scroll down or pick a link below to jump down to that section. To speed up initial page load I don't render graphs below the fold until you scroll down, so please give graphs further down the page extra time to load.

Body width

- Fixed
- Fluid

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Fluid width means the site expands to fill your whole browser. The fixed width option is 900px which is just slightly narrower than this page(which is 960px) and is centered like this page. If fixed width proves to be the best choice the algorithm will start changing that 900px number until it finds the optimal fixed width.

Background color

- 000000
- 0000FF
- 00FF00
- 990099
- FF0000
- FF6600
- FFFF00
- FFFFFF

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Background color appears on the side of the page—outside the content—only when the site has a fixed width.

Font family

- Arial
- Geneva
- Helvetica Neue
- Helvetica
- Lucida Grande
- Lucida Sans Unicode
- Tahoma
- Trebuchet MS
- Verdana

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

If a computer dosn't have a font listed—which is unlikely given these fonts—the browser will use the default sans-serif font.

Line height

- 1.1
- 1.2
- 1.3
- 1.4
- 1.5
- 1.6
- 1.7
- 1.8
- 1.9

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

These line-heights have been rounded to one place value.

Text color

- 000000
- 2D2E2E
- 333333

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Link color

- 006699
- 0085E7
- 125CA2

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Menu position

- Left side
- Top

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Menu background color

- 000000
- 0000FF
- 00FF00
- 990099
- FF0000
- FF6600
- FFFF00
- FFFFFF

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Menu hover color

- 1A1A1A
- 333333
- 3333FF
- 33FF33
- 6666FF
- 66FF66
- CC00CC
- CCCCCC
- E5E5E5
- FF00FF
- FF3333
- FF6666
- FF8533
- FFA366
- FFFF33
- FFFF66

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

This is the color a menu item changes to when you hover over it.

Menu text color

- 000000
- FFFFFF

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Suggested corner rounding

- None
- 1px
- 10px
- 11px
- 12px
- 13px
- 14px
- 15px
- 16px
- 17px
- 2px
- 3px
- 4px
- 5px
- 6px
- 7px
- 8px
- 9px

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

The suggested article module can have rounded corners up to 17px in radius.

Share this location

- Top & Bottom
- Bottom
- Top

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

The share this button allows people to bookmark, send or share articles on any of the social spaces. It can appear at the top, bottom or in both places on a page.

Share this position 1

- Left
- Right

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Share this position 2

- Left
- Right

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Star rating position

- Left
- Right

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Date Location

- Top & Bottom
- Bottom
- Top

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

The date an article was written and/or updated can be shown above and/or below the article itself.

Date format

- Original & Edited
- Originally posted
- Edited

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Date placement 1

- Left
- Right

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Date placement 2

- Left
- Right

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Ad 1 location

- Above navigation
- Below nav left
- Below nav right
- Bottom
- Top content
- Bottom content

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Ad 2 location

- Above navigation
- Below nav left
- Below nav right
- Bottom
- Top content
- Bottom content

Avg. Time on Site vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Time on Site (sec)

Avg. Pages per Visit vs. Days Since Launch

Days since launch

Avg. Pages per View

Ad 3 location

- Above navigation
- Below nav left
- Below nav right
- Bottom
- Top content
- Bottom content