Site Critique please?

crazyluv

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• May 3, 2005

• #2

Clean layout, good loading time but your site seems kind of dull to me or maybe just amateurish. Why? Well for me it’s the colors you used and the backgrounds. I like how the blue links and the orange dates look but the mesh white background is just not doing it for me. The banner needs some work too. The side bar is ok.

Well that my opinion on the look. Now for stuff you really should change. First, make the headers/titles (underneath Technology News) at least a bit bigger then the rest of the context so as to bring the readers attention to them and so they can see them better (it is pretty hard to read as is). Leave more space between the separator underneath the date and the description they almost seem to over lap which isn't good.
These are important changes cause if your user can’t see your content clearly then they'll just leave thinking you don't have anything that interest them. I would have too, if I wasn't reviewing it even though you do have some interesting stuff there.

 

sufi

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• May 3, 2005

• #3

Good layout but I dont like the logo. Header on top will look better.

 

¤.Linchausen.¤

Account Suspended

Impact

1

• May 3, 2005

• #4

I think its kinda boring design. No bright colors, or unique logo. But I think the information on the page is good, so just work on the design for a bit.
Good luck!:tu:

 

.X.

In God I TrustTop Member

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54,150

• May 3, 2005

• #5

You have a nice layout and your content is rich,For what your site is offering,I think it is nice,Maybe a few tweaks adding a little more color brightness to it.But it looks nice,Good job.

 

H

hazza.mcazza

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• May 3, 2005

• #6

i agree with everything that everyone has said so far. logo and banner in particular need work.

also looking at you source code for the site, it is a real mess - like 50 line breaks in a row. not the best way to go about it. you are in desperate need of some tables. check out: http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_tables.asp for an introduction to using tables. using a program like dreamweaver can make you job a LOT easier too. can i ask what program you used to write this in?

some simple CSS could make this site a lot more visually appealling. you said you are new to web design, but i dont know exactly how new. CSS basically allows you to control the content of you site. using simple CSS found here you can change the font, colour of you text and in particular you links. making it so that your links appear in a different colour with mouse over effects. this makes you site look a lot less rookie-ish than the classic blue, underlined links.

but well done so far, i can see that there is a lot of work in this. keep it up!

 

StudioWorks

no one lives foreverVIP Member

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• May 3, 2005

• #7

IT looks like something done with Frontpage...

 

Mystic

Account Closed

Impact

8

• May 3, 2005

• #8

also, when you rollover links, the whole link is highlighted in blue, that looks bad, and the header looks nice, except the logo, change the logo, i dont like the side navigation menu's in silver, the content is good, its a matter of putting it to look good, and i reccomend dreamweaver not frontpage if thats what your using

 

loul | uk

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• May 3, 2005

• #9

Good for a first attempt mate, well done.

I feel that you are possibly learning the hard way and could do with a copy of Dreamweaver and Adobe Photoshop??!! (Forgive me if I'm wrong )

Just needs some polishing to add the 'sparkle'

Good luck...

 

J

John_P

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• May 3, 2005

• #10

First I want to thank everyone for all the replies, this is alot more than I've gotten anywhere else!

hazza.mcazza said:

also looking at you source code for the site, it is a real mess - like 50 line breaks in a row. not the best way to go about it. you are in desperate need of some tables. check out: http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_tables.asp for an introduction to using tables. using a program like dreamweaver can make you job a LOT easier too. can i ask what program you used to write this in?

Click to expand...

Yes... But it's so much simpler than it was!

Here is what I had before - tables going everywhere. I started out doing everything in NVU, which is great, but as with any free WYSIWYG editor it added tons of redundant formatting tags.

Now I'm doing everything in notepad and formatting with CSS which is much easier to maintain having all the formatting centrally located.

hazza.mcazza said:

you said you are new to web design, but i dont know exactly how new.

Click to expand...

Well, I'm 16 and I've been fiddling with HTML for a couple months.

hazza.mcazza said:

some simple CSS could make this site a lot more visually appealling.

Click to expand...

What sort of visual enhancements did you have in mind, I didn't realize there where many options other than the hovering on the links.

loul | uk said:

I feel that you are possibly learning the hard way

Click to expand...

True. But Dreamweaver, though surely easier, is quite expensive.


Thanks everyone!

Any more tips/suggestions/insights would be very welcome!



Thanks,
John

 

Last edited: May 3, 2005

loul | uk

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• May 4, 2005

• #11

well how about downloading the FREE trail version and then er....go from there :gl: if you wanna email me, I'll help you out with some tips here regarding dreamweaver 'trial versions'

 

Mystic

Account Closed

Impact

8

• May 4, 2005

• #12

yeah, download the trial, then im sure someone will help you with the rest, theres always a way to get it free, im not suggesting illegal activity btw..... lol

 

loul | uk

Established Member

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• May 4, 2005

• #13

....yeah I was kinda taking that route myself :blink:

 

J

John_P

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• May 4, 2005

• #14

Thanks, I'm sure what you're suggesting is perfectly legal...... But it doesn't sound like it.

Anyway, I think for now I'll stick with notepad.


xtreme-forums: You say you're not suggesting any illegal activity, why not post this legal method to get it free on the forum so that others may benefit as well?



Also, if anyone has ideas on what would make the colors and background less boring, they would be quite welcome.


Thanks everyone,
John

 

Last edited: May 4, 2005

B

bhyraj

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• May 5, 2005

• #15

Good site and good layout also. nice site.

 

loul | uk

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• May 5, 2005

• #16

rofl...d'load the trial (free for 30 days) if ya like it, then let me know because I can BUY it at trade (when required :tri: )

 

StudioWorks

no one lives foreverVIP Member

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• May 5, 2005

• #17

John i would suggest that you start rebuilding the entire site. Do a search on google for " free templates" you will find a lot of templates more good looking then your site. Please dont get offended my sole intention is to help and guide you in the right way

Cheers.

 

weblaunch

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• May 5, 2005

• #18

I like it. Very fast. Clean, intuitive navigation structure.

Good luck!

 

SB_GEMINI

VIP Member

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• May 6, 2005

• #19

Not that found on textured background, the logo looks a little bland, i think you need to do something to bring it to life.

Hope this helps

 

J

John_P

Established Member

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• May 8, 2005

• #20

Alright, it looks like the most common thing people mention is that the colors are boring.

I couldn't figure out what to do with the logo, but I remade the color design and, although it's far from finished, I think It may be a lot better on the colors.

http://www.js.excelitehost.com/


Anyone else have any comments or suggestions?



Thanks,
John