General impressions requested [Archive]

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mcosca

4-7-05, 11:40 PM

I have just started working on this site. So far I'm just using the easy site builder tool. Any help with what should be improved within the constraints of site builder would be appreciated. I eventually plan to use some thing stronger than site builder but I guess I was thinking to put content together first.

thanks,
Mike
ExchangePeon (http://www.exchangepeon.com)

CommentaryDVD

4-8-05, 12:03 PM

Great work, it looks really nice! The only thing I'd have to suggest is to consider separating the google search box or giving it a border. The way it is now, with a white background adjoining the left-hand part of your site's white background, stands out as a little funny to me ... but that just might be me. Overall it looks really professional.

Kitchensink108

4-8-05, 04:56 PM

I'd like to see something other than white on the sides. Maybe a gray or something. Right now, as the blue fades into white, the white is just too bright for the rest of the page. Also change the BG color of the Google search box. Also, make sure you close your body and html tags in your code.

Other than that, looks good :)

YvetteKuhns

4-8-05, 08:34 PM

Personally, I prefer a lighter background with darker text for easier reading, but the color scheme is okay. The Google ads blend into the background and should have a background that stands out. There should be copyright info at the bottom of the page.

There should be an About Us/Me page that tells about you and why we would want to follow your advice. The home page should simply tell what the site purpose is or what the visitor can expect to see in the website.

The images take some time to load and I see a bunch of empty boxes until they load. And I have a cable modem! You may want to use a Javascript image preloader.

I am not a fan of site builders or WYSIWYG editors, because they use inefficient code. But since you are new, I won't get into that. The site still needs contents, but at least you keep your contents related to your topic.

Good luck!

Skunkboy

4-8-05, 10:53 PM

Okay, I'm doing this one the right way and NOT looking at Yvette's post.
As I do with all posts, (most of the time) I'm not reading prior comments... posting opinions as I see 'em:

Blue to white fade ++ But then again, I've got blue to white fade on my site too. Gives a sense of color but gives a soft touch to the design.

Menu: I would maybe consider some way to tie in the buttons with the body - even a straight line between the two - they seem "separated"

It's somewhat of an abrupt change from the body table to the background... perhaps a fancy border (as far as showing depth)? Even something simple - I like the example on this site (http://rcsk12.org) even though the site itself needs more content (leave it to the school though - all the plans were there but the tech director wouldn't let SO many things happen - that's another story though.

If you can remove some spacing between the google bar and your e-mail information. If you can get rid of the vertical scrolling, have all of your contents on the first screen, that in and of itself helps leave a good impression.

I see e-mail addresses in plain view a few times - If you're using @ for the @ sign, great! If not, I would recommend doing so - this will help limit the address harvesters for spammers.

On your Site Log, it may be a nice addition to include a hyperlink back to whatever page that was that had been updated. If you use <a>nchor tags to go to specific articles on a page, that will even be good for engine ranking.

Speaking of that page, 6.html, I took a look at your source - you'll also want to check your code. The one tag I noticed missing right away was </html>

On your Links page, ...erver I found this ar..... If you use "we" and "us" instead of "me" and "I" it will make you sound like more of a group rather than just a single person out there. I try to do that with my own site but slip from time to time as well.
___________________
Those may be little things that could give you some big work on your hands; but, it's all about making it more professional right? :cool:

Good luck!

mcosca

4-11-05, 02:00 PM

Thanks to everyone for your feedback. I am going to hopefully get started on some suggested fixes today.

Mike

robwillmann

4-12-05, 12:24 AM

Not bad overall.

here's an idea: the Google ad box on your site has some scripting that makes the background white. Why not modify it so that it will blend with your website background? If the box was the same color, it would probably not stand out so much.

nice job tho. keep working at it.

:)

Rob

dantol

4-12-05, 01:28 AM