Website No No's Things a GOOD website SHOULDNT have

NOTE: this post is based on ICYLADY101's opinion and was not aimed to offend nor encourage existing sites.

 

The first post to this topic. I am hoping to expand this list as time prceeds.

Here is the surrent list of things that I THINK a good website shouldn't have!

 

1. An enormous amount of animated .gifs

OK, who in the "normal" world likes to visit a site full of these flashing animations/banners/buttons/images??? (But I do understand that some sites have to endure these due to their host) I extremely don't like arriving at a website that takes 10 years to load and in the end all I see is a massive clutter of blinking images! In particular, to those animations that only contain one or two frames and are on loop. When I see those, I thank the people at Microsoft(and other browsers) for creating the "STOP" button, that way it will freeze the animations so they don't continue to "blink me to death".

 

In conclusion

I suggest to not have ANY of those animated gif's on your website, but if it really IS that tempting to have it on your site, than please only use 1 or 2 because, honestly, they are very annoying. You shouldn't have animated .gifs because of these reasons:

 

>>they take a lot of space > on your server and on your bandwith (especially if your site has a lot of visitors.

 

>>they take a long time to load > tough on your visitors who have to wait for each and every image to load and by the time it's finished loading, your visitor would of been long GONE!! It's also tough on your bandwith!

 

>>they are annoying > YES THEY ARE! Very annoying and if people look at it for a while they may even suffer epileptic seizures!! (if the case is serious)

 

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This is the first thing that I think a GOOD website shouldn't have, I hope to add more soon, so keep on visiting back to this forum and all comments on what I could add or improve on is welcomed!

I've apparently got nothing to do, so I guess I'll keep going on with the 2nd thing that I find a GOOD website shouldn't have.

 

2. CSS coded scrollbars where all the values of the scrollbar are in the same colour

People with Firefox, should just ignore this because the browser shows the default scrollbar anyway. But with people whom use Internet explorer and are able to see the coloured scrollbar, keep reading if you like. Let me explain:webdesigners whom are capable of coding CSS, usually like to code the scrollbar colors so that it fits in with their site or with their site layout. But some people for some strange reason like to change the colours of their scrollbar so that all the values (track color, darkshadow color) are in the same colour. So when users visit their page they will have a see a "lovely" scrollbar where you cannot see the difference between the arrows, the face of the scrollbar and or the track colour. Thats fantastic (NOT)! Especially to those websites that have very long pages which require excessive scrolling. Most people click and drag the scrollbar on the screen to scroll down the page but unfortunately when they encounter a "one color scrollbar" (as I call it) they will just have to guess where the face of the scrollbar is and drag. Also, does anyone know what it feels like to scroll down a page to read the content but then when you want to scroll down a little further by pressing the scrollbar again, it suddenly drags you to another part of the page? This usually occurs when you haven't been able to exactly hit on the face of the scrollbar and continue to drag, instead you had clicked on the track of the bar(short for scrollbar, I am so tired of having to write that word), thus has taken you to another part of the page from where you clicked. I KNOW IT IS VERY COMPLICATING, BUT BEAR WITH ME. That is a problem that I find is quite annoying, because then I have the hard task of finding the face of the bar which is close to impossible because the colours of the bar are all the same! And then try scrolling again!

 

In conclusion

 

>>when selecting colours for your scrollbar>remember to diversify in your colours, meaning to use dfferent colours, it's easier for you and it's even more easier for your visitors to navigate--especially if you have very long pages or even worse, Inline frames.

 

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There we go another thing a GOOD website shouldn't have!

OK, it didn't seem like you were venting at first, but anyway...Yeah, I hate those kind of sites too... I think overenthusiastic kids made those sites, they don't know better than to keep it simple and make it heaven for their visitors. I was like that once before, but thankfully, I realized that I was also having trouble with my site. (It also crashed my computer) But I have a classmate who thinks she's such a computer genius. She wanted to be a programmer thinking that she's gonna be good, since she's good at math. Wha? I may be 14 but I've programmed every now and then. (VBasic, lame, I know... ) Anyway, she thinks she's such a genius. I made my site when I was 6. (It was simple point and click. No, it wasn't image overloaded as you might think) It was uploaded to the web. (I did that all on my own) But of course, that doesn't mean I'm a good web designer. I'm still template reliable. I'm not good at making my own web graphics for headers. I also need to learn.I've seen her site. DiS iz hOw sHe "tAlKs" tO hEr vIsItoRs. She also has a few special characters now and then. Oh, and she "text" talks with that kind of character arrangement in Filipino, would you believe it!? It's such a hassle. I viewed it with Firefox, and the frames went berserk. It seems that she didn't think there were other browsers out there. She should've said, Best viewed in IE, but no!Oh, and she also has tons of "adopt a---" animated gifs. It's so annoying! I could hardly read her light blue on dark blue text!Ooh, just thinking about how she boasts about her site makes me so angry... I never boast about my site in class, I hardly tell my friends! She thinks she's so elite! Tch.*icemarle tries to cool down*(Yeah, I guess I really turned it into a venting topic hehehe )

Hi Icemarie, yup I totally agree, I really don't like those people whom boast a lot about their site when really their site's nothing special! I mean, I'm not saying I'm an expert at webdesigning or anything but I know that a site that types in sTiCkY cApS is nothing unique. A good website, doesn't require anyone to boast about it, people would just know that it's a good website. Anway, Yeah, I agree, my first post doesn't even sound like venting, it sounds more like, me trying to tell people what not to add to their site than venting about what I hate! Don't worry I'll try to start venting, once I see a site that really pisses me off, and trust me, there are so much sites out there that you know you'd love to burn! Oh, do you like anime/manga as well? I do too!

Font tags. And blinky/scrolly things. And table based layouts. And, the big one....Comic. Sans. Prefix the following with : Micro. Soft.In true slashdot style : "There's no emoticon for what I'm feeling!!oneone!"

I'm icemarle by the way... ICEMARLE. A lot of people think I'm icemarie, I know, I'm used to it...

 

Oh, do you like anime/manga as well? I do too!

Yeah! I especially like comedy and shoujo (girl manga). I also study Japanese because I wanted to read my games and talk with my 3 Japanese cousins. (They don't speak English or my language)

 

Edited August 27, 2005 by cmatcmextra (see edit history)

Oooh I'm glad I don't have any blinking gifs in my site and a colored scrollbar... whew! but I use an inline frame for my shoutbox.

 

I agree with what you guys said about animated gifs being annoying when they're all you see in a website. It's distracting and it takes the focus from the whole site content and it makes the designer seem amateur and the website tacky. sorry!

I agree with all of the above. Animated gifs are so annoying... of course I have used in the past... the first time I decided to make a website I found it a good idea to give movement by using those horrible sequences of images. Oh, that typical gif of a mail box... Fortunately, I?ve never ever used Comic Sans... I don?t like it even for Word.Now I?m rehabilited

Corrections/replies:

Icemarle- I got your name wrong.. I like the manga/anime Chobits-I really like Chii

Leiaah-don't be afraid to speak your mind, this is venting!! No need to say sorry, and have fun!

Littleweseth-hehe, funny username! and yep, I find the Comic sans font really boring and sorta lumpy too (if you get what I mean)

Sprnknwn-Good for you!! I think I used the animated mailbox once too.

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A short post this time.

 

3. Large Images

A good website should be a website where the site is quick in loading. But if you have large images, you can say bye to the impatient visitors at your site. Also a good website should have a layout that is designed by the site owner, using graphics and coding all by the owner. When I see a very large image on a site, I try to look away and I also try to stop the temptation of clicking the [X] in the top right corner. The first idea I get is: this site owner cannot design or it could be he/she is so lazy. I think this because any webdesigner should of heard of the "slice" tool. (a tool used to cut an image into smaller sizes, to improve loading time and space). Slicing your image is not that difficult at all, just open up the slicing program and cut away (But remember, cut the image into reasonable sizes and by that I don't mean cutting it to 3-4 pixels per slice). Thus, your images are smaller and are quicker to download. I really dislike websites with enormous images for their layouts, it takes so long to load, I sometimes feel sorry for those webusers that have slow internet connections, they have to wait so long for the image to load.

 

In conclusion

 

>>if you have large images in your site layout, use the slicing tool with adobe Photoshop, Jasc paint shop pro or download a free slicer from coffecup software. Slicing the image decreases the loading time and as a result visitors might decide to stay at your site for longer to check out what it's got to offer.

 

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Kind of short.... I guess, with 1769 characters. Thank You to everyone reading!

I dont know what Comic Sans are, but I totally agree with your thoughts on the little animations, I hate those things. Or even on peoples myspace's. Everyone has some music video, or even videos, that take forever to load and slow you down, some peoples Myspace has so much stuff on there like animated gifts, adpot a pet, custom scroll bars, videos etc, that my computer will lock up. On websites its just as annoying. I think having a nice simple layout, with good content is ideal. Like I prefer google's look over yahoo's. Or aj.com is simple and kind to the eyes as well. Anyhow thats just my opinion. PeaceJason.

i completely agree about the animated images. its usually people who dont know much about graphics design or are new to the website thing (ive seen many of these cases) that use them. they look at them and go, "oh cool" but really dont know how unprofessional and horrible it really looks.i wouldnt really know about the css scroll bars as i use firefox, but i can imagine that it would be annoying.i havnt seen to many sites with problems of large images. yes it is annoying and i dont really like it.also, you said that a good website should have a layout which includes graphics and coding all done by the owner. this isnt necessarily true. lots of people download templates for their sites or pay people to make them a layout. there really isnt a need for the website owner to be good at making layouts. i think they should be more concerned on content and organization. some sites have pretty much no images but the way the layout is and the organization, it looks really nice. but whoever is going to make layouts using a lot of images should know what they are doing. and if you want to make a nice layout but dont really know how to make all the images and slices, there are plenty of tutorials out there that can give you enough knowledge to at least make a basic but decent looking website.but to add to this list of bad items in a website, id say something i dont like are those counters that show how many people have visited your site. you dont see any major companies with a little counter on their website, do you? to me, it looks unprofessional. even if you are just making a personal site, it just looks bad. its like saying "w00t im so 1337 i made my first website, it rox0rz!"

Good thinking Ralphie! I totally missed it. Yup people do pay people to make their layouts. It's true... My worst enemy is animated .gifs, they are so irritating... (no offence to animated .gifs fans though )

So you like Chobits... Honestly, I don't like it that much. I find the story, very bland and it doesn't make too much sense to me. Oh, and I don't like main characters like Hideki. He's too naive... (I don't like naive guys) Oh and Chii is really cute too! I like her voice, especially...On topic:I don't like amateur sites with a lot of excess content. Of course, when I was gullible and ignorant (6-9) I made sites that were hazardous to visitors. Frames... (OMG) and many other animated gifs and (gasp) MIDIs played in the background. You know what? I crashed my computer using my site. I suddenly hated updating my site. It was a chore. It took forever to find the content in the code. (Even through searching) I suddenly realized that I was making a monster. No one will want to visit an excessive site. Amateur sites with heavy and excessive content, as I soon realized, were a No-no...Whew, I was suddenly enlighted at 10 years old. I made clean sites pleasing to the eyes and with better content. I realized that this is what the visitors wanted. Then when I transferred schools, I met the classmate I mentioned earlier... *cough* That was last year, I was 13. I can't believe I met someone who didn't care for visitors. She just says whatever she wants, and even writes in Taglish! (Tagalog and English combined in one sentence) She didn't even think that other people from other countries will see her site. When my friends from my old school sign my guestbooks, I tell them to write in English, so that others will understand. I guess my classmate acts that way, because ever since she found out that I had a site, she made one too, and encouraged her friends to do the same... >_< Copycat...Oh, did I mention sparkly cursor trails and blinking backgrounds ? Oooh, I'm so pissed off with that classmate of mine...

Icemarle>>Yeah that happens. I don't like Copycats... it's like as if people cannot find their own style, for some strange reason.

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Anywho, lets continue, with some basics.

 

4. Blinding Colours & blended text

And I thought flashy .gifs weren't enough. Blinding colours on your website, like the background or borders and stuff are really annoying. It really does hurt people's eyes whenever they've just visited a site with dark colours or if they've just woken up . Especially if people have been staring at your backgound for ages. Colours such as fluro yellow, pink, teal etc, to me are classed as "blinding colours". These colours should really not be used, unless you want to blind your visitors or if you're attempting to gain attention. I can assure you that this is the worst way to make your site stand out. Oh, don't get me wrong, you're site will stand out, it'll be the runner up for the most "blinding/irritating site on the web!".

Blended text is something that I am not very fond of either. Text and backgound combinations such as yellow text on a white bg or black text on a navy bg. These are VERY bad colour combinations and I suggest that people should not use them-eventhough many still do. Text is mainly the most important part in your site, because it usually represents your content (duh!) unless you have a graphic site, in that case your graphics should be your main content. But both ways, you will still require text to present your graphics/content. BUT... of course, your visitors could always highlight the text to read it, but that may be a problem if you have right click turned off. Wouldn't you just help your visitors that little bit by using some regular colours on your text that don't require a lot of effort to read?

 

In conclusion

>>Try not to use fluro colours (fluro yellow, purple, pink, teal, aqua etc) as your background colour. You want your visitors to STAY st your site, not to BLIND them.

 

>>Try to choose some regular color combinations for your background and text so that they do not appear blended, thus creating a problem for your visitors to read. Some examples are: black text on white backgound or vice versa. OR try to remember these rules I've thought up: "dark on light OR light on dark".

 

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I hope this helps some people, but if it doesn't, it's quite a boring read..

Hard to know where to start with this one, there are so many terrible things people do to their sites.Some that haven't been mentioned so far:Sites that use frames without providing a no-frames version. I hate frames.Same thing with Flash; if I can't skip a Flash intro I never wait for it to finish, I just move on. No CSS, or CSS that makes no sense and is no better than tables. The scrollbar thing is a good example of this. Too much clutter and clashing colors. That hurts my brain. Then again, in my own designs I can get carried away with minimalism. I love black and white.Oh, and then there's bad writing. Some sites have great code, perfect scripting, but I find I have no idea what the written content is supposed to mean.