I would like to ask your feed back please

[BigBoyBall]

I'm a novice web designer, ok that may sound too complex. It's my hobby and I enjoy doing it. I've recently purchased FP2003 and am in the process of redesigning the site, but would like your input.
the url is:
http://bigboysoftball.com

[mlearn]

Wow, I could not make it past the opening screen because it just turned me off... First of all, I had to scroll to the right to get the whole page, and I am running my screen at a resonable resolution like 1024x768 or something close to that (I am not sure on this computer)...

Secondly, I open your page, and all that shows up is banners to two other sites, I had to scroll down to get any content... After that, I just could not continue...

I am not sure if you are just previewing the site at a high resolution or what, but you need to work on this site a lot... Try making table of flexible size (relative percentage sizes).... Move the banners down, or atleast only have one at the top of the page and maybe rotate the image amound different banners if you must...

I understand that you are just starting, but you might want to try that again...

-Matt
http://www.LearnFamily.com

[BigBoyBall]

Thanks I appreciate your input and will work on the problems you mentioned.

[BigBoyBall]

I've made some simple changes to the site banners and the size of the website frames. I hope this helps enhance the viewers experience to the site.
Now again I know that I need to learn a lot more about web design, hopefully with your input that learning curve will increase more rapidly.
The original site looked fine on my pc, but it wasn't until I posted in this forum did I find out that there were viewing problems.
Thanks for your input Matt, I believe that it's on the right track now.

[YvetteKuhns]

The black background, red text and flames has a gothic or rock theme. I would expect to see a red, white and blue color scheme for softball. The links would look better on the left and the banners could be scattered between the paragraphs. Too many banners in one place are overwhelming.

Links to other pages in your own website should not open in a new window. The free web counter isn't necessary. Just use webstats. The rotating email image is just ugly. The site looks busy, unorganized and dark. There are missing images on other pages. There should not be horizontal scrolling for 800x600 or higher. I have a higher resolution and see scrolling.

The forum matches the color scheme, but there are too many banners at the top. There is no copyright info at the bottom of the page. You got the contents, you just need to plan a nice web page design layout for them.

[gardensafari]

The free web counter isn't necessary. Just use webstats.

Oops, have you forgotten? His site is on PowWeb..... :D

I do however agree upon the black background. It is very useful on a goth site. And depending on your taste also on a site showing photographs. In 90% of all cases photographs look better on a dark background. In this case however, lots of what's offered is text. Reading a text (and in this case not even white) on a black background is quite tiresome. Bur overall I liked the site.

[YvetteKuhns]

Oops, have you forgotten? His site is on PowWeb.

Ha ha. I still have the old webalizer webstats enabled. They go out sometimes, but there seems to be more problems with awstats lately. There are other alternatives to seeing the old site counter ON the web page.

My comment about the gothic look was not just the black background. There was red text, images of flames and stylish fonts to bring together that theme. It was just my first impression upon reaching the site, but it stayed with me. Softball is a game ideally played outdoors when it is nice and sunny. The site would be nicer if brighter.

[gardensafari]

Ha ha. I still have the old webalizer webstats enabled. They go out sometimes, but there seems to be more problems with awstats lately. There are other alternatives to seeing the old site counter ON the web page.


Ah, I switched to AWStats. Still wonder why......

About the gothic thing: I agree with you. This would be a nice lay out for the gothic site the both of us criticised just a few days ago :)

[BigBoyBall]

Thank you! This is great, I'm learning and enjoying the experience with FP2003 and all the different avenues I can venture down.

I'm going to work on busying down the website. Moving the banners to better locations and trying to allow the visitor to view the site without having to scroll.
Can I ask what screen resolution would be best suited?
The color scheme is what it is because I feel that the traditional red white and blue, which I've used in the past are far too common for sites like mine. I'm trying to be a bit different and invoke response from those who view the site. Attrack advertisers to help defer the cost of running the site and so far I've been lucky.
My next concern is now that I've resized the screen resolution of the site, the banner advertisements look very compact and not legible. I'll be working on redoing them, so that the sponsors who have already invested are still pleased and their sites do get the referals that they expect.
The hit counter hosted on the site is more user friendly for me personally. I've used it since the sites inception and it has been let's say dependable and an easy reference for information.

[YvetteKuhns]

I'm going to work on busying down the website. Moving the banners to better locations and trying to allow the visitor to view the site without having to scroll.

Yippee!

Can I ask what screen resolution would be best suited?

About half of Internet users use 800x600 screen resolution while most of the rest use something higher. This is all Internet users, but not necessary the correct statistics for YOUR target audience.

Use a relative screen width for your tables and center your banners. You should not have to resize your banners. Just don't have so many columns. If you decide to resize your images, just set the width in the code and do not mention the height, until you figure out what works best.

The color scheme is what it is because I feel that the traditional red white and blue, which I've used in the past are far too common for sites like mine. I'm trying to be a bit different and invoke response from those who view the site.

I understand that you want your site to look different, but it should still be an appropriate color scheme. I showed your site to my husband for another opinion. He thought the dark background and flames looked like he was in Hell! He didn't like it, either. It just doesn't give the right atmosphere.

Maybe you can use green like grass, blue like the sky and bright orange buttons for contrast. Black text would be easier to read on a lighter background.

The hit counter hosted on the site is more user friendly for me personally. I've used it since the sites inception and it has been let's say dependable and an easy reference for information.

Could you use an image (like a softball) that could link to your webstats? I just don't like seeing them on the site. It makes me think of McDonald's - how many burgers have you sold? ;)

[wrapdida]

HI BigBoyBall,

If you are really interested and serious about web design, please throw out Front Page. :)

Heres a few places to start learning and enjoying the world of web design and compliance with web standards:

www.w3.org
www.stopdesign.com/articles/
www.alistpart.com

for css:
www.csszengarden.com
www.stylegala.com
www.cssvault.com
www.cssbeauty.com

for usabilty:
www.useit.com
www.asktog.com

I hope that helps :)

Carmelyne Thompson
www.intricately.com