Check out my website... UPDATED

[aybalit]

My New Website

Hey all.. pretty new here, just trying to generate some traffic to the site. If it's down, then the provider is doing routine maintenance on the servers, and it should be up within 12 hours or so. Let me know what you think, and any suggestions you might have to make it better.

 

[dighn]

:thumbsdown: on all caps

 

[Mo0o]

3/10 ? Atleast the color match... kind of...

 

[imported_Mike]

Originally posted by: dighn
:thumbsdown: on all caps

thats a funny pic of the week

 

[aybalit]

Wow.. 3 repies already.

I should have mentioned that I have no real experience with building/designing sites, and that this was my first time at it. </William Hung>

 

[Mo0o]

your experience doesn't really affect people's opinions on the quality of the site itself.

 

[aybalit]

True.. I'm just saying

I will probably get crappy reviews here, since a lot of people here are really tech-savvy, but it's OK. As long as it's constructive, I'll take it all in.

By the way, I only have all caps on the first 2 lines of text...

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: aybalit
True.. I'm just saying

I will probably get crappy reviews here, since a lot of people here are really tech-savvy, but it's OK. As long as it's constructive, I'll take it all in.

By the way, I only have all caps on the first 2 lines of text...

i think functionally the design is not bad (except there is a blank area beside the navigation menu)
it's not ugly either.

only two lines? looks to me all the paragraphs are capped

 

[aybalit]

Thanks..

No, all the paragraphs aren't capped; check the first letter of each paragraph, signifying the beginning of a sentence. It's larger, as are the letters that start all the other sentences. I guess the font is playing tricks with your eyes..

 

[Mo0o]

Here are some suggestions
-Move the navigation to the side or make then horizontal instead of verticle
-Your pages dont match the overall color scheme and they dont have any page titles
-Maybe something other than Times for font
-A banner?
-Try to change the borders of the stables from the standard colors

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: aybalit
Thanks..

No, all the paragraphs aren't capped; check the first letter of each paragraph, signifying the beginning of a sentence. It's larger, as are the letters that start all the other sentences. I guess the font is playing tricks with your eyes..

you mean drop capping?

sorry i wasn't more clearly, i meant capped as in capitalized, ie upper cased

 

[aybalit]

Thanks! I'll look into that stuff..

I used a little bit of Dreamweaver, but mostly FrontPage to make the site. I have a laptop with a 15.4" widescreen, and I guess the page looks different for me when I create/look at it than for other people (for me, the navigation is all the way to the left side of the page). Is there a way for me to make the page mold itself to whatever resolution the person viewing it has, so that it all looks the same for everyone?

 

[dighn]

Originally posted by: aybalit
Thanks! I'll look into that stuff..

I used a little bit of Dreamweaver, but mostly FrontPage to make the site. I have a laptop with a 15.4" widescreen, and I guess the page looks different for me when I create/look at it than for other people (for me, the navigation is all the way to the left side of the page). Is there a way for me to make the page mold itself to whatever resolution the person viewing it has, so that it all looks the same for everyone?

in dreamweaver, use relative (eg "90%") width for tables instead of absolute width

 

[aybalit]

Eh.. I don't know. I don't know what drop capping is; all I did was type like I always do, except I used a different font (Copperplate Gothic Bold). That is the font for all of my work on the site.

EDIT: Thanks for the tip!

 

[gsaldivar]

Your dashkit = RICE.

 

[aybalit]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar
Your dashkit = RICE.

Meh, different strokes for different folks.

 

[DJFuji]

it will never look the same to everyone, but you can use javascript to detect the user's resolution and format the page accordingly. However, what most people/organizations do is simply design for 800x600 since that's pretty much the lowest common denominator these days. Everything above that should still be able to view the page correctly.

i agree with eliminating the caps and that font. It looks to geocities-ish. I would also put some form of identification on your site. When people go to your site, they should be able to figure out the purpose in less than 5 seconds. If they can't they will oftentimes go elsewhere. Look at the big sites and notice how they have logo/brand identity or at least a title image to the site that tells you where you are and what theyre all about.

 

[aybalit]

Originally posted by: DJFuji
it will never look the same to everyone, but you can use javascript to detect the user's resolution and format the page accordingly. However, what most people/organizations do is simply design for 800x600 since that's pretty much the lowest common denominator these days. Everything above that should still be able to view the page correctly.

i agree with eliminating the caps and that font. It looks to geocities-ish. I would also put some form of identification on your site. When people go to your site, they should be able to figure out the purpose in less than 5 seconds. If they can't they will oftentimes go elsewhere. Look at the big sites and notice how they have logo/brand identity or at least a title image to the site that tells you where you are and what theyre all about.

Thanks!

For some reason, I like the font - I might experiment with some others, as there was no real reason that I chose that font, other than that I liked it. If I want to design for 800x600, should I change my screen's resolution before I do that, or is there some way to simulate that effect within the program that I use to create the site? As for the logo/brand thing, I figured the first sentence/quote would let people know where they are.

By the way, I have a friend stationed at Camp Pandleton

 

[Eli]

TEH N0ES!

 

[zimu]

more importantly, welcome to anandtech - i see you've noticed how fast the responses come

 

[aybalit]

Originally posted by: zimu
more importantly, welcome to anandtech - i see you've noticed how fast the responses come

Thanks, man..

I'm gonna hit the sack. Keep the replies/suggestions coming!

 

[DJFuji]

Originally posted by: aybalit

Originally posted by: DJFuji
it will never look the same to everyone, but you can use javascript to detect the user's resolution and format the page accordingly. However, what most people/organizations do is simply design for 800x600 since that's pretty much the lowest common denominator these days. Everything above that should still be able to view the page correctly.

i agree with eliminating the caps and that font. It looks to geocities-ish. I would also put some form of identification on your site. When people go to your site, they should be able to figure out the purpose in less than 5 seconds. If they can't they will oftentimes go elsewhere. Look at the big sites and notice how they have logo/brand identity or at least a title image to the site that tells you where you are and what theyre all about.

Thanks!

For some reason, I like the font - I might experiment with some others, as there was no real reason that I chose that font, other than that I liked it. If I want to design for 800x600, should I change my screen's resolution before I do that, or is there some way to simulate that effect within the program that I use to create the site? As for the logo/brand thing, I figured the first sentence/quote would let people know where they are.

By the way, I have a friend stationed at Camp Pandleton

The quote is confusing because most web surfers arent expecting it. Remember that you want people to come back. Your visitors are going to be saying "i want to go back to that one site about the cars and stuff....with the quote on it.." This is why most sites have the name of the site prominently displayed at the top, even though you should know EXACTLY where you are already.

Remember that all caps fonts are hard to read....

In order to design for 800x600, either adjust your resolution beforehand or resize your browser to an 800x600 window and see what it looks like. There are several IE and Mozilla based apps that will autopreview a certain resolution so you can see what the site looks like. Remember to account for overhead with scroll bars and such.

 

[alkemyst]

Originally posted by: gsaldivar
Your dashkit = RICE.

Looks like how most cars are coming stock....nice hating though, gg.

Your content has promise...however it's presentation is reminiscent of an AOL homepage .

The homey the clown start page is different.

 

[episodic]

That link to the Anabolex forum is hilarious . . .

I find the colors hard to read.

You switch colors going from page to page.

Consider hosting your own photos, that would look more professional as you could control the site's looks.

Is the clown suppose to be off center?

Explore tables/and or CSS to place the text next to your nav bars.

The dice pattern on the nav bars is kind of weird.

Get a banner for your site designed for a heading.

Get some interactivity going on - a forum - something.


ON THE upside.

You have some content - and content is King, and it probably looks better than my 1st geocities page along time ago . . .

 

[Aimster]

How the hell is his dashkit rice? It looks nice with his interior.
You don't know what rice is.