GearHeads please provide feedback

[GearHead]

I didnt know that this section existed.. I would love some feedback on my site.. I've been working on it for a while.. Thanks

Anthony
www.GearHeadRacing.com

[TERRELL]

Ahhhh,the good ol use of frames
For a second.I was sorta confused on where to start my navigation.And on your homepage.You have a link linking back to your homepage:rolleyes: .I can see your links in the left frame using a rollover effect...Make the window kinda crowded but this site looks alright...Keep at it....the degins that is ;)

[Bad Hair Day]

Originally posted by GearHead
I didnt know that this section existed.. I would love some feedback on my site.. I've been working on it for a while.. Thanks

Anthony
www.GearHeadRacing.com
Your main picture is a massive 735k bmp image which is being re-sized to fit your alloted space, making your page a 4 minute load on a 56k modem! :rolleyes:

I've re-sized it in .jpg format and got it down to 24k, if you would care to replace the one you're using....

http://www.bad-hair-day.com/untitled.jpg

I'd agree with TERRELL about the buttons on the left, they could be smaller, maybe with an easier to read font.

BHD

[blurchy]

hi

im not keen on frames and id probably
change the fonts on your pages to verdana
cos its my preference

but hey i love the site
its got lots of excellent content
i bookmarked this one and im not even into cars
i loved the weird cop cars and the car art section
youve got so many pics on here but ive no complaints
the COPS.gif is cool

one thing that bugged me is the contact us section
a contact form would be much better here

apart from that nice work dude :)

[GearHead]

BHD.. Thanks for the new picture..
Blurchy.. Thanks for the comments..

I have received several remarks about the frames and I glady nuke them.. But... how do I keep my title bar and side bar for all my pages without editing each one?.. I dont care about the trailing bar as much, but I would like to have every page uniform. I have 300+ pages. I currently use FP but will be converting to DW in about 30days..

[Bad Hair Day]

Originally posted by GearHead

I have received several remarks about the frames and I glady nuke them.. But... how do I keep my title bar and side bar for all my pages without editing each one?..

You should be able to do that with 'Style Sheets' I believe.

I've never used them, but they are supposed to keep the pages uniform, from my understanding.

Have a look at http://www.webattack.com/Freeware/webpublish/fwstyle.shtml

BHD

[RSaucier]

You can use Server-Side Includes (SSI) to have the same menu and banner across all your pages.

You create one file containing the code for your banner and one for the menu then use the include tag (<!--#include virtual="/path/to/include/file"-->) to put them in the pages. Edit one file and immediately have the change show on all your pages.

You would need to create or modify your .htaccess file in the root of your webspace (in the htdocs directory) by adding this:
AddType text/html .shtml
AddHandler server-parsed .shtml
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks Includes
DirectoryIndex index.shtml index.html

(You can change your 'index' or default page with the last line -- if you plan on using PHP, you can add index.php as one of the page names.)

The hard part would be editing all of your pages, though if you start by creating the include files then edit a few pages a day, you can get them caught up easily and transparently to your visitors.

Hope this helps!

Robert

[(jj)]

I guess no one else is using 800x600 resolution. With an 800x600 screen size I can not see all of your menu unless I go to full screen mode. Without going full screen, I can not see anything on your menu beyond the "Car Clubs" button.

I have to agree with Robert, that using SSI would be the wise choice for your site. If you create a file with your menu and header in it, and use <div>'s to set position for them, then you would only need to edit the existing pages to add the <!--#include virtual="/yourfile.html"--> . Since all of your existing pages are now loading in that frame, it wouldn't be too much work to add that coding in to them. Then it would just be a matter of recreating your index file for your main page.

But overall, I do like your site and have it bookmarked so that I can take my time to check it all out :)


Just my "For What It's Worth"

[GearHead]

Ok, now I feel like a complete idoit. What do I do? I use FP because it's idoit proof. I don't mind learning, I look forward to it. but.....

Server-Side Includes (SSI) ??? Do I need to install something for SSI?

.htaccess file in the root of your webspace (in the htdocs directory) ??? I have this?? I looked in th FP directory of my web site and I can't find a file called :HTDOCS..

Man I feel stupid....

I know, your rolling your eyes... newbie!!

[GearHead]

Ok.. I got it figured out.. I will try to implement the SSI suggestion by placing the "included" tag into each of my pages.. bye bye frames!

[(jj)]

Just a little warning for you. If you are using Front Page and it's extensions, it does NOT like to have you messing around with your .htaccess file.

I'm no FP guru, so you'd need to ask someone who uses it for the best approach to get what you want.

Or better yet, just use Notepad :D


Just my "For What It's Worth"

[RSaucier]

I think jj's got it ... I use FP for editing mostly then use FTP to push my pages out. It's not as painful as you may think. :)

[GearHead]

Hey guys, thanks for your help.. What if I did something thing like this:
http://www.gearheadracing.com/Temphome.htm

[Jade Dragon]

Better!!! except you're w i d e

might want to fix this

BannerGHR01.gif" width="1600" height="50"

;)

[GearHead]

How wide should it be to fit all monitors and resolutions?

[roystreet]

Ah yes!

There is comfort in having no frames present. A good site/page should be made to be viewable, (entirely width wise) on a 800x600 setting. Maybe a slight, (very slight) bit larger. You generally do not want a scrollbar to appear because if it does, then the page is bascially to wide. Most people, (your potential clients) use the 800x600, so "catering" to them would be the most beneficial for you.


Hope that helps!

---roystreet

My page is fixed now! :)

[blurchy]

hi gearhead

it seems its your menu thats taking up too much space

on your page and your banner being too wide etc



try this

http://scriptasylum.com/misc/sidemenu/sidemenu.html

heres where u get the download

http://scriptasylum.com/miscpage.html

just a thought :)


actually forget that it wont work
u have more than one page dont you :(

[roystreet]

Gearhead,
I would be very careful w/these types of menus that follow down the screen as they scroll down. Some people find it irritating. I have found that there are people who don't like that style. I believe a good amount of people don't like it. I'm not the most fond of it, but it's OK.


Hopefully, this tip can help....

---roystreet

[GearHead]

Ok.. I think I have a solution.. see example:
http://www.gearheadracing.com/Temphome.htm
I reduced the size of the buttons and removed the long header graphic.. Does this work on everyones machine?

This was a bit hard than I though it was going to be.. I didn't realize how different everyone viewed my page..
Thanks for all your input!!!!

[xclicks]

Great improvement so far, your site is coming along
great! I would like to give you a few more suggestions.

The buttons need to have a transparent background
instead of the white on the right side. This way they
would blend right in with the page. They could
even be a little smaller still, or the right column wider.

If you decide to use SSI (server side includes) for the
menu be aware that it may not work while viewing
pages offline from your hard drive. They are still a great
solution though.

Keep up the good work!

Regards,

[project_sentra]

I like the idea that blurchy suggested. I've used that menu on one of my other sites,

http://www.angelfire.com/nb/ricerules/riceindex.html

(please ignore the main image, it was linked to another page, and the image was recently removed from their site)

Anyway, the menu is customizeable. Its a great menu.

Also gearhead, you emailed me about link exchange for your car club section. I just visited this section and found that there are no links to these car clubs, only phone numbers. Do these clubs not have websites? Just curious.

By the way, BadHairDay,,,good lookin out on that main image. I have a cable modem and never would've noticed that.