My First Attempt at a Site

[midnight251]

I'm just finishing putting the final touches on this site. www.gogeorgetown.com. I took the free Dolphin script from Boonex and removed most if not all the dating info (as it's basically a dating script), and tried to make it into a community/social site. I used the default template, as I thought that was the cleanest of the templates. My goal was to put up a site for the people of the town I live in. My first attempt at a website. Any comments/suggestions are appreciated.

Midnight

 

[fiyahgfx]

looks good.
pretty nice work imo

 

[shockie]

some suggestions:

- make the header larger and move the weather box to either the left or right side bar.
- remove one of the flanking skyscrapers and try to make the page flow more downwards than across.
- add more content to the body (feature latest profiles, events in the area, etc).

good luck %%-

 

[midnight251]

Thanks fiyahgfx, been working on the for quite a while now, learning PHP, HTML, CSS, as I go.

shockie, thanks for the suggestions. I was debating where to put the weather box, you make a good suggestion. I will remove one of the skyscrapers. I actually did have a latest profiles section on the first page, but removed it when I took out all the dating info from the script. I may put it back, or try to think of some other content for that spot. I'd like to create a real nice header for that spot, but I'm not really sure on how to do that as of yet (basic question from a novice, how to create a real nice header for your page, what programs to use etc.). I will do some searching and work on this today. I'll re-post when changes are made.

Rep on the way guys.

 

[Mike]

In addition to what's been said already:

Images! Your city is a pretty decent place, position your site as a virtual walkthrough, a way of seeing the city without physically being there.
Place the site into a boxed framework (side bars) work with backdrops, image gallery, user submitted pictures (w. rating). There's quite some history in your city, present the facts with pictures, but leave the conventional ways when you do it. (play around with drawings first, envision whether something would potentially work for you and your site before you go about building it)
The adsense scrapers should be repositioned and take up less space/presence on the site. What would be interesting is to know whether your city has something to sell that's rather unique to it. If so, try to extend that through your site.
It's a good start, but there's quite some more to do to make the site truly shine. For your first project, though, it's a solid :tu:+1/2 out of 3

 

[midnight251]

gjsys, thanks for the suggestions, you make some really valid points which I will be working on, starting today. You are right, this is a great town in which to live and raise a family. I just wanted to create something for the community that it did not already have. There are a few other sites that the town has, but not with the features that mine has, like a forms section, or the profiles with blogs etc. As I am still in the learning phase of web coding, things take me a little longer to get done, but we'll get there. I'm been a systems programmer/analyst for many years, but have since moved to management, so I pick up on the coding fairly quickly. A good reference manual really helps. Thanks again for the suggestions, rep on the way.

 

[Koopa]

Very good for a first site, mine was awful

Adsense on both sides makes the site a bit chlostrophobic, as the links tend to be the same.
You could loan/sell virtual space in the virtual town to attract visitors, I for one would visit if you offered this

Keep up the good work :tu:

 

[hereyago]

Not a bad site.

Looks pretty cool.

 

[midnight251]

Koopa, thanks for the response, ya, I'm going to do something with the adsense. I'm just currently having a heck of a time creating a new header in Photoshop (never really had a requirement to use it before), but I will prevail.

hereyago, thanks for the reply, I'm hoping to get this project wrapped up very soon, and start my advertising campaign throughout the town.

rep on the way...

 

[netguru]

Looking good. white colour scheme is best. but i can't see both side properly. site is too wide for me.

 

[midnight251]

Thanks netguru, I am working on that. I'm going to remove one of the skyscrapers, and that should help. I'm also going to try to reduce the size of the other skyscraper. I'm still working on my new header, hope to have it finished today. Thanks for the reply, rep on the way.

 

[prdomainseller]

well,
not bad for a first attempt
i'd say it is rather good

 

[midnight251]

prdomainseller, thanks for the reply. The site will be a work in process, like a fine wine, improve with age, (and as I learn more). I'm just about ready to start my advertising campaign in town, it's great to have a friend who owns a printing business. I'm still working on a few changes, (new header for one), and learning more about seo.

Rep added.