Site Ratings & Reviews - Re: Critiqe my site please

Author

Re: Critiqe my site please

Terry

2005-07-18, 11:38 pm

Virginia wrote:
[snip]
> Like I said, the over all look of it, and I know I need to finish alot of
> thing up including alt tags. I have the squares going to the end of page on
> the left. I didn't want the box centered, but thanks anyways

I do not want (or need) my scroll bars changed in any way (only shows in
IE).

You have a linked style sheet - why not put this in:
<style type="text/css">
body{
scrollbar-arrow-color: #FF0000;
scrollbar-3dlight-color: #727272;
scrollbar-highlight-color: #DFDFDF;
scrollbar-face-color: #3D3C39;
scrollbar-shadow-color: #727272;
scrollbar-darkshadow-color: #727272;
scrollbar-track-color: #3D3C39;
}

</style>
;-) makes it much easier to maintain this annoying feature.

You have also used px which blocks IE users from resizing text to a more
comfortable size (for them).

--
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http://www.wejuggle2.com/
Still Having a Ball

A: Because it messes up the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is it such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
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Virginia

2005-07-18, 11:39 pm

"Ben Measures" <saint_abroadremove@removehotmail.com> wrote in message
news:0wWCe.72754$G8.69028@text.news.blueyonder.co.uk...
> Virginia wrote:
>
> Tbh considering the line of work you're trying to promote, the site is
> far too plain. Lacking any real design it unfortunately resembles a
> run-of-the-mill template.
>
> I may sound harsh when I say this but a short course in Graphic Design
> before continuing would be a very valuable investment. In a highly
> competitive field such as "Web Design" you must do all to keep your
> skills sharp.
>
> Regards,
> --
>Ben M.
============================
No Ben you didn't sound harsh. You were speaking the truth. That is
something I have just put up, and realize I have to put some of my graphic
elements into it.
It is far too plain and doesn't look like professional. I'll be
incorporating a banner with my own digital photography, etc. on the new
layout as I am revamping the whole site, as I cannot present that to any
client. About the only thing I will be keeping for now is my logo :-) It
is a temporary site and had to put something up to fill the empty space for
now, as I have a few things on the go and had to move quickly.
Thanks for your input.

Virginia :-)
==========================

mbstevens

2005-07-19, 4:34 am

Virginia wrote:
> Hi All. I'm new to newsgroups, so bear with me. I would appreciate it if
> someone could critique my site. It isn't done yet, and there are a lot of
> things that need to be fixed up, but just the overall look of it etc.
> TIA
> http://www.vgwebdesigns.com
>
>
Others have covered most of it. Just a couple of notes on first
impressions.

The mouseovers don't work until after you want to click on something.
This is a dead give away that they are javascript based instead of CSS
based. Old technology. What books are you using?

Second, No source code! Oops, it's the old trick of putting a lot of
spaces so it starts below the window. Forget it. No one wants to steal
your code. Your code would have to be reeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeely good for
anyone to want to do that.

I like the red and grey. Don't crowd things so much together. Drop
the boxes around the links or give them more room. Get more contrast in
them, too.

Disco Octopus

2005-07-19, 8:20 am

Virginia wrote :
> Hi All. I'm new to newsgroups, so bear with me. I would appreciate it if
> someone could critique my site. It isn't done yet, and there are a lot of
> things that need to be fixed up, but just the overall look of it etc.
> TIA
> http://www.vgwebdesigns.com

Your portfolio page ( I didnt check others) is extremely annoying how
it seems to reload when I resize my browser.

Why do you attempt to disable the right-click?

--
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stretch after a workout

DJ Craig

2005-07-20, 7:21 am

This isn't coded right:
<a href="mailto:info@vgwebdesigns.com?subject=VG Web Designs Site">
I'm not sure, but I think the correct way is like this:
<a
href="mailto:info@vgwebdesigns.com?subject=VG%20Web%20Designs%20Site">
Tell me if I'm wrong. I usually just keep them to 1 word. But I have
heard that this only works with some mail clients, and will confuse
some mail clients and cause them not to send the message. Also, you
have a copywrite symbol in the source code. You should have the
copywrite entity:
©
When I viewed your source code, there were about 50 blank lines before
the beginning of the code on the home page. Is there some reason for
this? Is this supposed to be another attempt to hide the source code,
like disabling right-click? **Don't try to stop people from getting
your source code!** They can still do it. Disabling right click
doesn't work in Firefox. And it is a major annoyance in IE. And you
can still view the source by going to the view menu, or just by turning
javascript off. This kind of thing only encourages more users to
browse with javascript turned off, which makes your job harder.

What's wrong with changing the scrollbar colors? I think that looks
really cool. And the tableless layout thing is a bit extreme. I tried
viewing your site with Javascript turned off and it looked fine. The
layout and colors look great. I think on the link to email you, the
text of the link should just be info@vgWebDesigns.com. This is a bit
more self-explanatory, and if someone is looking specifically for a way
to email you, this will jump out at them more.

Jim Moe

2005-07-20, 7:22 am

Virginia wrote:
> Hi All. I'm new to newsgroups, so bear with me. I would appreciate it if
> someone could critique my site. It isn't done yet, and there are a lot of
> things that need to be fixed up, but just the overall look of it etc.
>
The fonts are specified with pixels (px). These cannot be resized in
Internet Explorer. Use % or ems instead. The font-family selections seem a
bit random.
The text contrast is poor and is aggravated by using medium light text
on medium dark background. With light-on-dark the background color bleeds
into the text further lowering the contrast. The text should be either
much larger or bold.
The red text should be both brighter and bold. It looks like a faint
red splotch.
There is insufficient space around the menu text. The text blends into
the borders. It is hard to read, most especially on mouseover when the
text changes to dark red (assuming javascript is enabled). It is not
difficult to get the same effects with CSS. See
<http://css.maxdesign.com.au/listamatic/>.
A few grammar problems, too.
- Home: Missing a comma after "founder" in "The founder Virginia Griffith."
- Missing a semicolon after " " and "©". Although the copyright
symbol is correctly displayed, " " is not. It is not valid html.
- Maybe "rest assured; you" should be "rest assured: you"?
Have you considered hiring a copy editor? Your English is rather
awkward. The change from first person plural to third person singular is a
bit confusing. Is Virginia not involved with this page?

Subtlety of appearance and fine detail is hard to achieve on the web.
Most monitors offer low contrast, poor resolution, limited color range and
dodgy color balance.

--
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(Remove .AXSPAMGN for email)

Virginia

2005-07-20, 11:28 pm

"DJ Craig" <spit@djtricities.com> wrote in message
news:1121781084.363229.235410@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> Disco Octopus wrote:
it if[color=darkred]
lot of[color=darkred]
>
> He has added a Javascript that makes certain browsers reload everytime
> the window is resized. This is supposed to prevent a bug in some
> browsers that makes the window flash while you are resizing. It only
> happens in a few versions of NS. He has it reloading for quite a few
> browsers other than NS.
> ==============================
I made the site using Dreamweaver. I didn't add anything to make browsers
reload. I have link images preload, but other than that....I don't know why
it does that.
>

Virginia

2005-07-20, 11:28 pm

"DJ Craig" <spit@djtricities.com> wrote in message
news:1121781084.363229.235410@g49g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
>
>
> Disco Octopus wrote:
>
> He has added a Javascript that makes certain browsers reload everytime
> the window is resized. This is supposed to prevent a bug in some
> browsers that makes the window flash while you are resizing. It only
> happens in a few versions of NS. He has it reloading for quite a few
> browsers other than NS.
> ===============================================
I answered my own question. The javascript "back to top" feature is
reloading the page upon resizing window.
>

DJ Craig

2005-07-20, 11:28 pm

Virginia wrote:
> I made the site using Dreamweaver. I didn't add anything to make browsers
> reload. I have link images preload, but other than that....I don't know why
> it does that.

Dreamweaver has the NS bug fix Javascript in the snippets. Just take
this code out of the Javascript on the portfolio page to fix it:

function regenerate(){
window.location.reload()
}
function regenerate2(){
if (ns4)
setTimeout("window.onresize=regenerate",400)
}

I think all the text is perfectly readable. Sure, if your monitor is
crappy enough you won't be able to read it, but that's not her fault.
Make the browser's text size bigger, use a custom style sheet, or turn
down your screen resolution.

Virginia

2005-07-20, 11:28 pm

"DJ Craig" <spit@djtricities.com> wrote in message
news:1121866630.317105.87710@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> Virginia wrote:
browsers[color=darkred]
why[color=darkred]
>
> Dreamweaver has the NS bug fix Javascript in the snippets. Just take
> this code out of the Javascript on the portfolio page to fix it:
>
> function regenerate(){
> window.location.reload()
> }
> function regenerate2(){
> if (ns4)
> setTimeout("window.onresize=regenerate",400)
> }
>
> ============================================
Thanks DJ for the tip. I really appreciate it!! Thanks again :-)
Virginia
==============================================

kchayka

2005-07-21, 7:32 pm

DJ Craig wrote:
>
> I think all the text is perfectly readable. Sure, if your monitor is
> crappy enough you won't be able to read it, but that's not her fault.

There is nothing wrong with my monitor. The trouble is using
low-contrasting colors and microscopic font sizes. A lot of people will
have trouble reading it. Not everyone is so lucky as you.

> Make the browser's text size bigger, use a custom style sheet,

Please explain how that will make those graphical navigation buttons
more readable. Hint: it won't. If I disable image loading, I get nothing
at all. The site is doomed.

> or turn down your screen resolution.

Nothing annoys me more than somebody telling me I should change my
screen settings to view their lovely, perfect web site. That only tells
me that you don't understand the media well enough to do decent *web*
design (not to be confused with graphic design).

You got more learnin' to do, mate.

--
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Please reply to the group so everyone can share.

kchayka

2005-07-24, 4:42 am

Virginia wrote:

> "kchayka" <usenet@c-net.us> wrote in message
> news:3kakj4Fsf22sU1@individual.net...
> I (owner of website)wasn't the one who said those tings to you. Someone
> else in the newsgroup did.

Yes, I know. I was replying to him, not you. :)

--
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Please reply to the group so everyone can share.

web_design

2005-08-08, 4:21 am

"Virginia" <missjoker97@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:GtYCe.271099$El.53727@pd7tw1no...
> incorporating a banner with my own digital photography, etc. on the new
> layout as I am revamping the whole site, as I cannot present that to any
> client. About the only thing I will be keeping for now is my logo :-) It
> is a temporary site and had to put something up to fill the empty space
> for
> now, as I have a few things on the go and had to move quickly.
> Thanks for your input.
>
> Virginia :-)
> ==========================

I think it's going to look good once you put your graphics in. At the
moment the contrast is very low -- light grey text on dark grey background.
Maybe try experimenting with different variations. If you make a site in
all greys, it usually needs some bright colors somewhere to contrast with
the greys -- the purpose of greys is often to make the colors stronger.

Do you use the Firefox browser? I highly recommend downloading a free copy
at:
http://www.getfirefox.com

Then install the free Firefox Web Developer Toolbar from:
https://addons.mozilla.org/extensio...&numpg=10&id=60

If you do your design in CSS, you can edit it in real time with Firefox.
Just use ctrl-shift-E to go into 'edit CSS' mode (or access the feature from
the Web Developer Toolbar CSS menu). Then you can change the CSS and watch
the design change in real time -- so you can experiment with a lot of
different ideas quickly. When you find a CSS layout that you like, just
copy and paste the CSS into your code editor and save it.

My critique:
Try more contrast... some whitespace... If you use a lot of greys, it's
good to put some stronger colors in somewhere.

I would take the email address off the pages and use a contact form
instead or you might end up with a lot of spam after a few years (from
automated email harvesters). I know one guy who spends an hour a day
sorting through his junk mails for legitimate customer mail but he can't
change his email address because it's already been in use for 7 years.

Looking forward to seeing the finished site.