mama_soap 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2005 A few days ago, I posted a snapshot of the front page of my site, and luckily, no one hated it. Er... so far Finally, I have the whole site up and running, and I will be grateful for any suggestions/feedback. I've tried it on Mozilla, Opera, Firefox, and Konquerer and they seem to be rendering it OK, almost the way I want it (firefox is drawing borders around the buttons, I'll try and fix that asap). I'd really appreciate help here... if you could just look at it and tell what you thought of it, it would be wonderful. The "Entertaiment" section won't work, all the game applets I have are too big and I'm trying to push it into my current layout. Since I have other things to do, I'll get this done in a week or so. Also, the problem of the month and article of the month (the main things, really) will not work because I have to make sure I'm not infringing any copyright laws. The articles will be mine, of course, so no problem there, but the problems will be borrowed from other sources, and I need to confirm that it's all right. Again, I'll probably need a few days to sort this out and put 'em up together. I have a link to Xisto in the About->Credits section. I'm not sure if this is enough. Ideaz? A banner/button, perhaps, that I should be using, instead of an obscure text link? Finally, the forums. Again, this seems to be running all right on my comp,but I still need to make sure it's universally ok, lol. Again, if you can look at it, it'll be really nice. Nicer if you join, hehe If you have any suggestions... I mean, feel free to rip my site apart and abuse it -- I've grown a thick skin lately. *big, stupid grin* For nobody's information, I built the site using a text editor and Opera. No phpNuke, no Dreamweaver. So it's probably looking thoroughly unprofessional, please let me know what you think if you have the time. Cheers, Neel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
electriic ink 1 Report post Posted June 9, 2005 Actually, apart from the broken images in the forums, it looks great. Everything well laid out and presented. The navigation system at the top of all and bottom of some pages makes your site easy to navigate. Having the message board on the left hand side of the front page is an effective way of telling visitors the pages content. The only critism I can find is that none of your pages make use of the title attribute. This is a good tag. At the top of this page, in the title bar (the bar with the _ and X button,) its says Ideaz Unlimited. Your site could benefit from this. To do this simply add this into your <head> </head> tags: <title> Ideaz Unlimited </title> The red part represents what you can change and the blue what you can't. That's the only critism I can find. Congratulations on a good site! ----------------------- The Xisto banners are located here. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Harisn 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2005 Well it looks absolutely beautiful. That is a cool layout!The only thing that bothers me at all is the broken links. Also, there is not much material that I am into, but that is just a matter of taste.I do like the poetry though. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Phyre 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2005 Looks good. It has a very clean interface, so navigation looks pretty simple and straight forward. That's pretty rare these days. Simple, but effective. Only suggestion I have is try to add a bit more color. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mama_soap 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2005 Thank you all for taking the time, and for the great feedback :DYes, I will fix the title tags. They're useful, as I can see... *grin* I thought I included them, but I think some of them got mixed up with the javascript in the <HEAD> part of the pages and were ignored; and for a few pages, I think I must've plain forgotten :oops:I'm glad the navigation seems okay. I have been trying to keep it as simple as possible. Good to know you liked the message board for the front page, cmatcmextra Also, thanks for the links to the banners. I'll try to include one of them on the credits page, or even try my hand at creating one (wonders if it needs admin approval... maybe I should just post the banner and see what everyone thinks). Didn't notice that thread before, thanks again for pointing out.The colors are deliberately restricted. I wanted the site to have a very blue look, and since I have no specific theme to go by, I was actually thinking of making it monochromatic (shades blue and white only). Luckily, I like gray and dark green, so some of the content is non-blue. I'll try to find unobstrusive ways of including more color Thanks again, everyone!Cheers,Neel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rvovk 0 Report post Posted June 10, 2005 How did you manage to get horizontal scroll bar? Try to fix this Try to learn CSS, your site would look wonderful if you use it, cause it looks nice already, but with CSS you would give it a great boost. On the other hand I like content especially poetry, site to be bookmarked Just work on this, you are on the right way. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mama_soap 0 Report post Posted June 11, 2005 rvovk,Thanks a ton for the feedback. I am a bit of a stranger in the CSS world, but trying, nevertheless, to find my feet in there. I do use a bit of CSS for the layout, but it's all very basic. I guess I didn't notice the horizontal scrolling because it doesn't show up on my computer. I will put a overflow: hidden for horizontal scrolling in the external stylesheet, that should, hopefully, set things straight.I'm glad you liked the poetry. Thank you very much Again, still a beginner to the world of writing, but I am enjoying it very much so far. That counts enough to keep me from giving it up, hehe. I am, of course, thinking of ways of developing the site; and even if don't put an "Under Construction" sign over there, it's still being worked upon Thanks again for the feedback, it helps tremendously.Regards,Neel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rvovk 0 Report post Posted June 11, 2005 Which resolution do you use at home? 1280*1024? That might be the answer to you problem, cause you don't see horizontal scrollbar that way. Try lower your resolution to 1024*768 and you might see it Hope I am not wrong Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Liquid-Fusion 0 Report post Posted June 11, 2005 This is a great site, and its very clean and simple..The only criticism is maybe make the welcome page more colorful and maybe a background.Keep up the good work!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mama_soap 0 Report post Posted June 12, 2005 Rvovk,Yes, you're right - I think I'm just using the resolution at which the scrollbars just about disappear. Will fix the CSS, thank you again :DFusion,Thank you so much for the input. It helps a great deal I'm still looking for the right background for the frontpage. Will come along soon, hopefully. That comment was spot on I'm looking forward to some more color, although colors that won't be too conspicious.Thanks again!Cheers... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
pilgrim_of_mini-monkeys 0 Report post Posted June 14, 2005 Hi cmatcmextra, I am very ruthless when it comes to reviewing, so be warned. Header: 1. Headers go in one of two places, the left or center. Never put it on the right. Your header is the thing that visitors first look at when the enter a site. The first thhing I saw was the flowers and time/ date. This is a bad practice and you should try to stay away from it unless you are extremely talented and have a perfect layout. 2. Am I right in thinking that you are a newbie to webdesign? If so it doesn't matter, and this would be a very good start at it. But the header is something to be desired for. Headers should always make a statement, grab the visitors attention with an array of varying effects (simple layering of textures / patterns). 3. A very bad design sin. I have seen many people do it and it just destroys the site completely. Never fill your header with text. There should always be at least 1/2 (preferably 2/3) of the header cleared. 4. Gradients in headers are often used inappropriately. You are not the first person to do this and you wont be the last. Gradients should always direct the user's eyes down. That means a horizontal gradient should be used with a darker varient of the colour on top (or bottom if it is the white shading) and gradually lightens to a higher tone of the colour. By using a vertical gradient, the eyes are directed to the side of the page. This stops everything for a split second from being noticed. This is where you should always be incapturing the visitors attention. A split-second can make a visitor leave. 5. If you have an image, then the site name with a slogan to the bottom right of the name, then this gives it a more standard look. Menu: 1. You have the plain unformatted menu links (below the header). Using simple CSS will help you overcome this. If you do not know how to use CSS, then I suggest you use Google to search for tutorials, or you can do what I did and teach yourself by trial and error. 2. The menu links need to be bigger or the gab between them and the next blue gradient smaller. 3. The button links. If there is something I can't stand more than a hot summers day, it is buttons arranged in a nasty way that link to an image. Buttons should be used sparingly (like on message boards). And the bttom four buttons make the stand move down a couple of pixels on hover. Content: 1. I would say it is ok, but there is not that much of it. You also need an opening paragraph. I have no idea as to what your site is about and why it is up on the Internet. Time / Date: 1. Something that many people overlook is the little things, like simple PHP time and date scripts. However, the people that do use them don't always make them work efficiently. 2. The time and date should be within a line or box either on the header (as a layer or table nesting) or in a side column. Somewhere it isn't in your face, but still accessible. 3. Make sure you keep consistency, have it on every page at the same place. Footer: 1. You need a footer. It is the basic rule of all websites. A footer should contain information like copyright and disclaimer link and also links to the different parts of the site. And don't forget to put the appropriate images to text (70% text or psace and 30% images unless otherwise). Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rvovk 0 Report post Posted June 14, 2005 Wow, this is great review, even I got few ideas on how to change my site, especially about index page, what is on your site and so. Great thing you said here, pilgrim_of_mini-monkeys, I guess you are webdesign expert. Best regards. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mama_soap 0 Report post Posted June 14, 2005 Hi cmatcmextra, I am very ruthless when it comes to reviewing, so be warned.Hi pilgrim_of_mini-monkeys, I really appreciate the time you took to look at the site, and there is no need for the warning, all your observations are spot on With regard to the header issues, I agree with most of what you've said. I am wondering if the content on the top-left of a site loads first by default. I only want my header to be some sort of a title, and I didn't mind filling it up with text therefore. Much as I don't want to bother you too much, it'll be very nice if you can give me examples of the standard 'good' headers that we're talking about? Erm... the menu links below the header are deliberately plain and unformatted. I didn't quite realize this doesn't look good. I know a little CSS (mostly self learning through trial and error) and use an external stylesheet for all the content pages. I am sorry you don't like the buttons, but I would really prefer to keep them for a while, at least till I feel sick of 'em myself. The front page was an experiment, I am not sure if I will stick to the layout anyway... I'm trying to figure out the problem with the last four figures. Maybe I have to recreate the graphics and upload them again.The content... well, maybe I did not mention it, but most of the real content is really yet to come. I haven't shown the site to anyone yet, except here, of course. Hopefully will be completed soon. The intro paragraph is something I will include, it occured to me too I just hoped people who want to know what the site is about will go to the 'about' page... doin' too much wishful thinking these days, sorry I wanted the time/date beside the flowers to give it a table-clockish look. I didn't intend it to be in-your-face, but now that you mention it, I will look at it again. I'm afraid I will break the consistency rule in favor of (pseudo)dynamic content, I rather like the quotes that go with the separate pages. I thought I did include a footer for navigation. The copyright/disclaimer notice is missing because I am still trying to phrase it properly. IdeaZ is not a corporation, or even an organization. I'm just hoping to build a student community that interacts in a healthy, intelligent way...Finally, thank you very much again for all that feedback. It's very kind of you to take the time I hope I will be able to pull up something more tolerable next time. On a side note, I am new to web design, this is indeed my first attempt at putting up a website. And this is mama_soap (although you could call me Neel) and not cmatcmextra.Regards and cheers,Neel Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
rvovk 0 Report post Posted June 14, 2005 Neel, howdy,thanx for your email.I guess you are on your way to learn CSS in future. Good site for CSS and HTML goodies, thus website for webdesigners and administrator would be A List Apart (ALA). I am visiting this site reguraly and you will notice that there are lot of examples of CSS navigations, even I have used their example for CSS navigation bar which is excelent, only thing you must do is to compose those script to your site. Well, just learn and try it.Can't wait to see your site will go fully operational Best regards, Robert Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adriantc 0 Report post Posted September 11, 2005 Well i can tell you the "ideaz" is great. I specially like the flowers and the billboard and the color theme you choosed. Still on the front page there is a bug... the text that links to the forum , faq and so on has the default font which doensn't match the rest of the website.Also the font on the other pages have the same problem as the front page. The font for Ideaz Unlimited is great even if it is pretty hard to read. You should try to apply the same font to all texts. Of course that is just an "ideaz" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
