Topic: New Site!!! Pages that link to <a href="https://ozoneasylum.com/backlink?for=10445" title="Pages that link to Topic: New Site!!!" rel="nofollow" >Topic: New Site!!!\

 
Author Thread
Hadlinho
Nervous Wreck (II) Inmate

From: Reading
Insane since: Aug 2003

IP logged posted posted 09-29-2003 19:33 Edit Quote

Hi there

This is a site i am doing as part of my role on this committee.

Can you tell me what you think of it and suggest some improvements for the layout/formatting?
www.fdtta.org

Cheers

Chris H

DL-44
Maniac (V) Inmate

From: under the bed
Insane since: Feb 2000

IP logged posted posted 09-29-2003 21:10 Edit Quote

Formatting and lyaout I'll leave alone for the moment.

The code is an absolute nightmare, and I'm actually rather surprised the page even displays....

1) You need a DOCTYPE

2) You need to specify the encoding

3) You have no opening or closing <HTML> tags!

4) You have no <head> tags!

5) Your <meta> tags are inside your body tags!

6) You have no closing <body> tag!




7) You have about ahundred <font> tags, each specifying the same thing. THis could be eliminated simply by adding this:

body {
font: appropriate font information here...;
}

8) you've a decent start at a non-tabled layout with CSS, but then you've got a big ugly nest of tables right in the middle

That's a start. Hope that helps a little...


ozphactor
Maniac (V) Inmate

From: California
Insane since: Jul 2003

IP logged posted posted 09-29-2003 21:23 Edit Quote

...and it still loads correctly. Just goes to show you how lenient browsers have become

twItch^
Maniac (V) Mad Scientist

From: the west wing
Insane since: Aug 2000

IP logged posted posted 09-30-2003 01:08 Edit Quote

As these other two yokels have taken the road of code destruction, I'll talk a bit about the design, though given the sparse nature it will be difficult to add too many constructive words.

First and foremost, #ffffff on #ff0000 makes for a nasty contrast, on almost any gamma. Even by looking at the hexes of the two colors, you'll note that they share 1/3 of the same color combinations (ff). Because of this, you're giving the viewer only a 2/3 chance (66%: in school, that's called a "D" grade) of creating the color contrast in his/her eye. This is, naturally, a rudimentary rule of thumb on which to base your contrasts (there are other aspects at work in the creation of color contrast) but I think you should take this one to heart. At least two shades darker on the red (I'd go #990000), if nothing else. Otherwise, you're likely to give the reader a headache before he can recognize that those are menuing options.

Another distraction is the occurance of those silly red bars on the scrolls. I recognize they you think this is a design element, but it is not when you're attempting to disseminate information. For the Asylum, it's fine (we know how to use browsers relatively well) but not for table-tennis-enthusiasts. I would suggest removing that style from your css entirely--not only because it draws the eye to the side (where there is no information).

From a typographical standpoint, you've done a major no-no. If you're going to mix serif/sans-serif in a design, you need to differentiate between body and header. Your menuing system is in a 12px serif. Your content is in an 11px sans-serif and your headers are in a 12px sans-serif bold. The latter two follow eachother nicely; the former acts as a detractor. I recommend either using a sans-serif, 13px or larger, or making the current font size much, much more pronounced. It is easily lost in the design--bad news.

The design is not liquid, and that vexes me. I would like to see the design spread to fill at least 80% of the browser window. The image at the top could easily be sliced up to include that funky background (designed to tile properly) and the logo set aside. This change would not only lower the download size of the imagery (mixing gif-type images and jpeg-type images makes for giant images) but would allow for a spread of that design across the screen. I would also suggest shrinking it in height, as it does suck up an obscene amount of real estate that could be better utilized by the content of the site.

The two-column content layout is good.

Change your a:visited style to something other than purple. It looks like a mistake.

I would suggest (from a usability standpoint) displaying "fixtures" as blocks of content, laid out with text that can be sized larger should the user require. It's difficult to read, even on low resolutions, and the content would be more easily accessed by people interested in it--both on screen and in print.

A good start. Keep at it.

-S

Alevice
Paranoid (IV) Inmate

From: Mexico
Insane since: Dec 2002

IP logged posted posted 09-30-2003 03:06 Edit Quote

On the color matter, i suggest not using an incredibly contrasting color. Those red elemnets seriously hurnt my eyes. No joking. Try a more desaturated version, and it will look fine. It could even have a slight red-ish (again, desatured) tone as background, and IMO it will look more eye-friendly.

__________________________________


Alevice's Media Library

josh
Bipolar (III) Inmate

From:
Insane since: Jul 2003

IP logged posted posted 10-01-2003 12:03 Edit Quote

yeah, those red scrollbars put a whole "i cant READ this goddamn thing" on the whole website.

it puts me off.

i'm going back to sleep.



[This message has been edited by josh (edited 10-01-2003).]



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