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Website Critique

I

imported_LoKe

Lifer
Be harsh. Please. I want honest opinions because I don't want to put out this half-assed website. I strive for perfection, so I'll consider every suggestion/opinion.

Text

I realize the header is lacking and the font is huge/ugly, I'm working on that and I think I'll be able to fix that up.

Thanks for the comments,
LoKe
 
Originally posted by: tfinch2
It's a really good start, but too plain. Where are the images?
Click to expand...

I'm debating as to what kind of images to add. The thing about my layouts is that they're all CSS based because it loads faster and looks cleaner. An image may obstruct that, unless carefully placed. Do you have any suggestions?
 
Originally posted by: LoKe
Originally posted by: tfinch2
It's a really good start, but too plain. Where are the images?
Click to expand...

I'm debating as to what kind of images to add. The thing about my layouts is that they're all CSS based because it loads faster and looks cleaner. An image may obstruct that, unless carefully placed. Do you have any suggestions?
Click to expand...

Well it all depends on what type of website it's going to be?

If it's advertising a product or service, it better have some type of stock photography to advertise that product/service.

 
Nope, not advertising a product or anything. Just a collection of information on programming and it's counter-parts. Eventually I'll open a forum along with it.
 
I think a well done header image would do. I'm not the biggest fan of such a plain header. Send a couple minutes in photoshop and throw something together. As for the layout it looks very good. Good job!

edit: on closer look, I think the right column should be smaller in width.
 
Originally posted by: MangoTBG
I think a well done header image would do. I'm not the biggest fan of such a plain header. Send a couple minutes in photoshop and throw something together. As for the layout it looks very good. Good job!

edit: on closer look, I think the right column should be smaller in width.
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree there. I had planned on shrinking the page, because there's a lot of whitespace.
 
Using CSS shouldn't keep you from using images. I use plenty of images in my sites for backgrounds and little graphic details that add to the visual experience. Granted, I'm the first to admit I'm no great designer but I can do a pretty decent workmanlike site that's not hard on the eyes, and they're all done in CSS, no tables. Your site is simplistic and clean but I'd try to add a little flair here and there to make it more appealing.

For example, your header could contain a background graphic related to the title. Your line of site links below that could be better presented and tied into the header than just a simple rectangular, color-filled background. Other details here and there.

If you want to see some great style sheets and graphics using one html template that makes a page look completely different, check out css zen garden http://www.csszengarden.com/
My favorites are the LuGoZee and Mozart examples, but all of them are pretty nice to look at.

But there's also nothing wrong with the minimalist approach if that's what you want. Everyone has their own style of presentation. Just trying to point out that the use of images shouldn't really affect your overall layout if used appropriately.
 
Thanks for the input. If the users want images, then I guess I'll be giving them images. I suppose now that a cable connection has become stardard, they'll be able to handle a little more of a load transfer than just text. I'll make up some images and see how it looks.

Thanks again. =]
 
I think it looks pretty nice actually. I like the text size too. I hate always having to zoom in on sites that use the smallest font just to make their layouts function.
 
Does not look good on widescreen. It's TOO wide.



The standard for Menus is on the left. Not the top. Some sites look good along the top even though it's against standard. To be honest, I didn't even notice your menu until I was about to hit the button to post this message.
-Forums should be closer to the bottom of the menu. Putting them first implies that your site has nothing to offer and you are better off getting help from the general public. While this is actually the case with most websites (I can get better computer help on forums.anandtech.com than the main website!), you want people to read your site until your forums take off. BTW, the new "buzzword" for "forums" is now "community".
-Search should be a seperate form box on every page. People look for that box if they can't find what they need right off. If they don't find the box, they keep clicking and get annoyed that they can't find what they need.

The colum on the right needs to be on the left... or much smaller. (Greatly preferred on the left.)

I'm assuming that the "categories" at the bottom are going to end up being nothing more than linked articles? Align them with the body content. Category 4 is under the "news"-like items on the right, and it alienates it from the rest.

Get some brighter colors. What you have no looks decent, but it's very depressing. Throw some flashes of like, a lime green, pale orange, or some golden yellow in or something.

Use icons. People associate with icons very well, and on what will be a text-heavy site, many people don't take the time to read everything but will still get annoyed when they can't find what they need. Keep the text... but... Use like... a bulletin for "Forum Discussion", A Newspaper for "Other News", an Exclamation point for "Tip of the Day".

The name of the site is all wrong. People aren't going to tell their friends "Dude... you have to go check out "Compendium of programming Knowledge". Give it a name and reserve the domain. You can worry about webhosting and such once it gets filled in and gets closer to being big and gets a fanbase. Sucess often lies in sites where the name doesn't necessarily relate to the content. (WTF was an "ebay" before the website gave it the definition? )
 
Whoa, Injury. :thumbsup:

I agree with just about all of that. I assume that people are like me and able to navigate through everything, but that's not the case at all. I forgot about beginners, who are in infamiliar territory. I definitely have to make the page more usable and friendly. I'll work on all those aspects.

EDIT: Any suggestions for a name? I know that one's terrible, but I couldn't think of anything. It's much too long, as you said, and definitely needs to be shorter and more...catchy.

Thanks, again.
LoKe
 
Rule #34: Don't be afraid of fixed width.

Your site visitors are probably going to be happy viewing your page "as is." Meaning, you likely won't be having many visitors with disabilities that need to dramatically increase the text size. Therefore, don't worry about those few people that might "break" your layout. Fixed width generally results in a "prettier" layout with less effort than that of a fine-looking liquid/elastic layout, and it's silly to shy away from that 100% of the time. Just have fun with it and design away.

In short: Accessibility compliance is a good thing to practice, but it is *not* always necessary.
 
Originally posted by: LanceM
Rule #34: Don't be afraid of fixed width.

Your site visitors are probably going to be happy viewing your page "as is." Meaning, you likely won't be having many visitors with disabilities that need to dramatically increase the text size. Therefore, don't worry about those few people that might "break" your layout. Fixed width generally results in a "prettier" layout with less effort than that of a fine-looking liquid/elastic layout, and it's silly to shy away from that 100% of the time. Just have fun with it and design away.

In short: Accessibility compliance is a good thing to practice, but it is *not* always necessary.
Click to expand...

:thumbsup:

1024x768 is the new standard, so that means that you can design with a max set width of about 990 and be safe on most browsers. (a little less room than max for the borders and scroll bar.) There is no max "height", but be sure that all important items (menus, etc.) don't require a user to scroll to see them.

Make an extra text-based menu at the bottom and a "back to top" link if your page scrolls down more than a couple inches.

Expect a PM with some name ideas.

If you need any help, I'd be glad to donate some free time if I run across some of mine. 😉
 
I think you've got a good start there, and a site like this doesn't necessarily need a lot of imagery. It has a nice, clean 2-col layout and I always like those. :thumbsup:
 
Despite your current lack of images, I still think it looks good. For a site like that it doesn't have to be image-intensive considering it's a site concerning software/web development information, not an artist's site showing his work. Plus this type of page loads faster. But a few small ones to accent some parts would be good.

I agree with Injury on the shrinking of the right column... it could still stay on the right though IMO.

It's sort of minor, but on the bottom the lines separating the categories should be the same height, and add a border to the right side to match the left.

Nice start though. :thumbsup:
 
Changed the domain, title, subtitle, categories at the bottom, right box width, community link and added the tips. Still working on that last part, gotta get some that don't stretch the box too far, because it leaves a nice big whitespace under the main section. I could use php to limit the characters, so that's not really an issue. I'll be adding some images soon, starting with the header. Is the right collumn still too wide?
 
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