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Chesta
Nervous Wreck (II) Inmate

From:
Insane since: Dec 2002

posted posted 02-19-2004 21:34

Hey guys. First off, I'm a young strictly amateur web designer and don't have the talent nor the tools that some of you guys have. But I find it fun, and I tend to lurk here and pick up helpful tidbits.

Anyway, I'm working on a site for my mothers work, which is the first site which I've felt really needed a proffesional look. Also, despite being valid, it shows up different in Mozilla than IE. Serves me right for designing in IE, I suppose. Anyway, I think I've narrowed the problem to that the two browsers are interpreting the float command differently. Would anyone mind reading through my code and see if they can spot the problem or suggest a work around.

The idea was that I would make each page slightly different by having a different picture, and have that picture either on the left or right. I managed to get it working pretty well in IE (I still need to work with the numbers, it doesn't render in the same place).

And also, I know that pesky advertisement is in the way, but how does the site look otherwise (it'll be placed on a paid server in the near future). Is it professional looking enough? It's hard because my sites so far have been basically hobby sites, so I haven't had to worry about this.

So I'm basically trying to shoot two birds with one stone. I'd like suggestions for the code and the design. Thanks so much.
http://www.worldzone.net/travel/dbennett/Chebuske/futureindex2.html
http://www.worldzone.net/travel/dbennett/Chebuske/futureindex3.html


Thanks so much!



-Chesta

Veneficuz
Paranoid (IV) Inmate

From: A graveyard of dreams
Insane since: Mar 2001

posted posted 02-20-2004 03:38

None of the pages work in Opera nor Mozilla (on Linux). They both return an image (of what I think is your webapage) with the a 'Worldzone Pro' banner above.

If what I'm seeing is part of your design I would remove the faded blue-to-white behind the title. It looks like a cheap photoshop effect and not very proffesional. I would also do something about the adress information in the top right corner. Why not remove the separate background color and have the text in simple black?

It seems like you've got a separate border around the content of the page. I don't really see a need for this border. It would probably look cleaner without it. The change of background color and good padding is enough to separate it from the rest of the site.

I like the colors you've used on the site, except that you might consider removing the gray background and replacing it with the darkblue you've used in parts of the menu.

Except from that it is hard to critique the site since it is only a couple of images with no content or interaction. Only thing I can think of is the contrast between the rounded corners of the menu and the sharp corners you've used elsewhere on the site. It might work, but I've got my doubts. Personally I think sharp corners can look very good, often better that rounded corners. A style with sharp corners is also easier to maintain throughout the whole site...

Changing image depending on where the user is on the site seems like good idea, but it is hard to give further comment on it since it ain't working for me

You should also take a look into CSS and sematic coding. It would make the page rank higher in search engines, make it easier to upadate among other things. Take a look in the faq for more information about those things.

__________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"
- the Golden Ratio -

[This message has been edited by Veneficuz (edited 02-20-2004).]

Chesta
Nervous Wreck (II) Inmate

From:
Insane since: Dec 2002

posted posted 03-20-2004 05:14

Wow, just like to say, impressive review considering the site didn't even work for you.

Pretty sad, but I had to put this on the back burner for a month or so. Let's see, too start here are two new links.

Image on the Left
Image on the Right


What has happened? Well, it works well in Mozilla now, thank god. IE apparently was doing some crazy thing with the margin values not to mention doubling the padding I set (this is all fixed thankfully). I thought the sharp corners bit made a lot of sense, and my first thought was to rework my sorry buttons into some fancy rectangular ones. After a quick attempt I thought perhaps it would be better to just round off the layout a bit, which turned out to be pretty easy. I did a quick hack job at that to see how it would look. I'm pleased with the results, but it needs something else, which I can't quite put my finger on. The background color changed to a blue. Interesting switch. I don't think it was bad with the gray, but it's a bit nicer with blue.

So what do I need? Well, an overall evaluation on the look of the site. I know it isn't at the level that many of you can create webpages, but I want it to at least look somewhat professional. Have I accomplished that?

Also, if someone could check it in Opera that would be cool. I believe it's more or less standards compliant, so I don't see why it wouldn't, but couldn't hurt to check.

Hmm...I believe that's all for now. Thanks everyone for looking, and feel free to be critical, I'm very much an amateur but would like to know how I can get better.




-Chesta

velvetrose
Paranoid (IV) Inmate

From: overlooking the bay
Insane since: Apr 2001

posted posted 03-21-2004 13:56

personally, i prefer the image at the left with text to the right.

using opera 7.23, the ad at the top of your page is partially covered with the blue working area in each of the 4 index pages.

our search engine (we have archives of this forum) and faq have a volume of useful information.. the links are at the top of this page.

Cameron
Bipolar (III) Inmate

From: Brisbane
Insane since: Jan 2003

posted posted 03-21-2004 16:38

I'm starting to feel like a parrot after the last two reviews...

You need more white space in the header & menu areas. It's just way too cramped.

The rest of the review I'm going to do something a little different. I know nothing about being a dentist, and have done zero research about them so I can't really provide any kind of direct advice. Instead, I'll write out a series of questions I might ask a client if I was trying to understand their decisions for wanting me to make design changes to something. The answers you come up with should give you ideas as to what you should change.

I don't know if this will actually help you, but it might.

1) Why the "rounded" elements?
- It's a dominating geographical feature, how does it relate to being a dentist?
- Does it relate to teeth?
- Can your customers (people who don't live and breathe your profession) relate to it?
- What king of shapes would be more fitting to use as a dentist or would what you're currently using be the most ideal, if so why? (Knowing why is important).

2) Same as question 1, but in respect to the font used for the title.
- Additionally, what is the purpose of the gradient behind the title?
- Considering what the gradient does, drawing a user?s eye to the middle of the title, is that were most people start reading a title, form the middle out?

3) What motivated the choice of colours, for both structural and textual elements of the design?
- Do these colours appear in your workplace?
- Are there more fitting colours that directly relate to the kind of product/service your trying to sell?
- Do you want the colours to relate to and signify a typical dentist if your potential site visitors have a fear of them?

4) Why are you using a dotted line around the textual content area?
- How does this relate to a dental clinic?
- How *could* this relate to a dental clinic?
- Is there any particular reason you want to "window" off the content?
- Is there a better means of displaying this information?

Your answers should tell you want approach you should be taking. You don't need to actually post the answers in here, as they?ll be of no use to anyone but you.

DmS
Paranoid (IV) Inmate

From: Sthlm, Sweden
Insane since: Oct 2000

posted posted 03-22-2004 10:14

Nothing to add on the visual part, but since you asked for code pointers as well...
I suppose this part is yours:

code:
<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01//EN"
"http://www.w3.org/TR/html4/strict.dtd">
<html>
<head>
<title> Heyyyyy-Ya. </title>
<style type="text/css">
body {
background-color:#0F3C8F;
}
#content {
position:absolute;
left:50%;
top:50%;
width:700px;
height:400px;
/* the width/2 */
margin-left:-350px;
/* the height/2 */
margin-top:-200px;
border:0px dashed #333;
background-color:#B8D0E8;
text-align:left;
font:11px verdana;
}
#bottom {
position:absolute;
left:50%;
top:50%;
/* the width/2 */
margin-left:-350px;
/* the height/2 */
margin-top:186px;
}
#menu {
width:700px;
text-align:center;
}
.mage {
padding: 0px 15px;
}
.main {
width:670px;
height:274px;
text-align:left;
margin-left:15px;
margin-top:0px;
background-color:#B8D0E8;
}
.left {
float: left;
margin: 20px 0px 20px 20px;
display: inline;
}
.right {
float: right;
margin: 20px;
display: inline;
}
.contents {
width:440px;
height:242px;
overflow: auto;
border:2px dashed #CCFFFF;
}
P {
text-indent: 20px;
padding: 0px 15px 15px 15px;
}
H4 {
padding: 15px 15px 0px 15px;
}
</style>
<META http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
</head>
<body>
<div id="content">
<img src="drc3.gif" alt="Bla">
<div id="menu">
<img src="dentistsbutton.gif" class="mage" alt="Bla">
<img src="aboutbutton.gif" class="mage" alt="Bla">
<img src="servicesbutton.gif" class="mage" alt="Bla">
<img src="hoursbutton.gif" class="mage" alt="Bla">
<img src="contactbutton.gif" class="image" alt="Bla">
</div>
<div class="main">
<div class="left"> <img src="outside2.jpg"> </div>
<div class="right contents"><h4>Welcome to our dental practice.</h4>
<p>We are interested in providing the highest quality dental care with service and prices that will keep you smiling.
<br><br> Start from Scratch Attempt. </p>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div id="bottom">
<img src="bottom.gif" alt="bla">
</div>

</body>
</html>


Which seems quite ok at a glance.

But WTF is the rest?!?!?!?
If the code above and below is inserted by your current host... Sigh!
They are tagging you site with their keywords for searchengines at the top, they add a table with outdated font-tags at the bottom, as far as I can see there are even closing tags that aren't opened... there is a form in there that doesn't show up on the page...
And to top it of, IT'S ALL OUTSIDE THE <HTML></HTML> TAGS!!!

Sorry for shouting and ranting and it's not your fault, but please for the love of the web, LOSE THAT HOST! Any host that destroys you pages in this manner should be banned from the internet!

Oh what the heck, I'll have a go at the visual as well
The general feel of it is very cold and clinical to me, this most certainly comes from the "all-blue-theme" choice. Most often blue is associated with trustworthy and professional (that's why a lot of the big boys such as banks, IBM and more use it).

My personal feeling of this is that since I'm not a big fan of visiting dentists (not many are) I think you could make it a bit warmer colorwise, try to create a personal connection between the clients and the office in the whole concept of the site. You want to make this inviting and pleasing, not just clean and professional (it's a dentist, the things they do hurts... ).
Take a look at the actual office if you have access to it, note the colors used there and see if it's something you can pick up in the design. That way the clients will recognize the look and feel once they visit, makes it a bit more personal.

All in all, decent start, and you have some good advice from here, use it and it'll get even better.
/Dan

{cell 260}
-{ a vibration is a movement that doesn't know which way to go }-

[This message has been edited by DmS (edited 03-22-2004).]



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