I just got finished updating my site with the lastest changes. If you have the time take a look please give some feedback.
I'm sure you won't hurt my feelings. Oh, does anyone know of a good html/javascript/css editior *cheap*?
From: Somewhere over the rainbow Insane since: Mar 2001
posted 10-21-2003 16:41
The poster has demanded we remove all his contributions, less he takes legal action.
We have done so.
Now Tyberius Prime expects him to start complaining that we removed his 'free speech' since this message will replace all of his posts, past and future.
Don't follow his example - seek real life help first.
From: A graveyard of dreams Insane since: Mar 2001
posted 10-21-2003 17:46
Vim is a very good text/code editor. Comes with syntax highligting for all languages you'll ever dream of needing. Takes some time to get used to, but with a nice tutorial to help you out you'll do fine
Then on to the review.
The design looks good. Simple, without unneseccary doodads. But the background behind the title stops a bit abruptly. Why not have the background flow around 'freely' and only cut it when it is bellow the content area. You should be able to get some whitespace to put the menu in that way without having to cut it like you've done now.
I would also drop the inner border around your content area. The outer border is enough, and the inner border is causing some troubles in FireBird0.7/Linux.
Add some more spacing to your menu. Right now they seem abit cramped up there in the corner. I like the hover effect you got there, but you should make it so that the link is hovered over in a bigger area. As it is now you've got to hover over the text to get the effect, but you should 'be hovering over the link' even when you're a bit to the right. What I mean is that all links should have the same size (width and height) and therefore have the same effect-area. This ALA article is a nice place to get some more ideas on how to manipulate the menu.
I would also like to see some more 'luquidiality' to your page. Set the width and/or height to a precentage (e.g 60% ) so it flows with the browser window. Right now it will look kind of small on a big monitor...
Codewise you should add a Doctype and an Encoding. You've used a table-less layout which is very good, but all the things you've put in the 'style' attributes should also go to a separate stylesheet and be accessed using classes or divs instead. Instead of using to separate the mail and other contact info at the bottom you should set the mail's left margin to 4-6em.
Would be nice if you added some more text to the page, since it is easier to see what works and what doesn't work when you've got some text there. The Lorem Ipsum is perfect for this
_________________________
"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 10-21-2003).]
[This message has been edited by Veneficuz (edited 10-21-2003).]
Man, I take a break for a few months and now V is using words like "doodads."
V made some good comments, and judging by what I see (at least in IE6/Win), you've acted on some of his comments (especially in the menu area). Either that, or your site behaves differently in Firebird than it does in IE, and if that's the case you should definitely look into that.
Don't have much to add here (since there really isn't all that much there yet), but I do have one issue: that little line that runs up and down the side of the site as you move the mouse. Personally, I find it a bit distracting (in fact, I would consider it a "doodad"). Perhaps it has something to do with radiology (I wouldn't know), but you have to ask yourself if it really needs to be in there. In other words, what does it do, outside of the "gee whiz factor"?
I guess that's about it, really. The title looks a tad funny sitting out there in the middle like that, but I guess it works because of the black on the left.
From: A graveyard of dreams Insane since: Mar 2001
posted 10-22-2003 19:36
Nice to see you back here Suho
I agree with the thing about the little line on the left. Reason I didn't comment on it earler is that it didn't show up in FireBird After looking at the page in IE I see that there is a lot of things that are different. The menu spacing (good in IE, bad in FireBird), the menu's hover effect, alignment of text and borders++. So you should take a look at it in FireBird/Mozilla and Opera to ensure that the page renderes correctly in those browsers as well...
_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"
- the Golden Ratio -
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From: A graveyard of dreams Insane since: Mar 2001
posted 10-22-2003 23:07
And the point of that was? Showing of you create copy/paste skills?
_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"
- the Golden Ratio -
Thanks for the suggestions. I guess as a web designer I should have opera and mozilla, but I don't. Is that really nessary with IE have a 98% market saturation? Please provide some links to these browsers.
As far as the line that follows the mouse... Let me start with the fact that I LOVE DHTML, I just wanted the viewer to say hey this isn't just plain old HTML. I haven't quite figured out how to incorporate DHTML into a real world situation. I mean, how can I make DHTML appropriate in the business world? Also it's hard to be creative when you audience is a bunch of doctors? Plus I'm a little rusty... Suggestions?!?
Also are there any *advanced* DHTML tutorials? I have found some but I haven't really found a "set" of good tutorials...
Anyway Vene thanks for the suggestion on VIM I DL'ed it and tried it for a little while... I didn't really care for it. So, I deicided to write my own. I'll be sure and publish it here when its complete. Anybody got an idea for a name?
quote:As far as the line that follows the mouse... Let me start with the fact that I LOVE DHTML, I just wanted the viewer to say hey this isn't just plain old HTML. I haven't quite figured out how to incorporate DHTML into a real world situation. I mean, how can I make DHTML appropriate in the business world? Also it's hard to be creative when you audience is a bunch of doctors?
Wow, there's so much here I almost don't know where to begin. You sure know how to push my buttons, don't you?
I'll start off by saying this: yes, DHTML is cool. I used to mess around with it quite a bit--I just loved making these funky little doodads to put on web pages. You must remember, though, that DHTML is a tool. In other words, it is a means to an end, not an end in itself. If your little DHTML doodads (also sometimes called "bells and whistles") don't serve any real purpose, then they shouldn't be there.
I also have a few issues with your perspective here. You are asking how you can make DHTML appropriate in the business world, but I think you are missing the point. What is the point here, exactly? To provide a functional, aesthetically pleasing site? Or to have a bunch of nifty doodads? If you were building a DHTML tutorial/resource/etc. site, I would say "the more the merrier." But you're not. You're building a site for doctors, as you said. And like I said above, DHTML is a tool. When a carpenter builds a house, he doesn't sit down with his nail gun and say, "Now how can I show off this nail gun in my work?" The nail gun is a tool, and it should do what it was created to do without being intrusive.
Another issue I have is with your intimation that your creativity is, in fact, stifled by your audience. If this is what you truly believe, then you might need to rethink your definition of "creativity." You may or may not like Shakespeare, but many of the sonnets he wrote are considered masterpieces of the poetic art. As you know, sonnets have a very strict structure they must conform to, including strict guidelines for meter and rhyme. These constraints, however, did not stifle Shakespeare's creativity--they forced him to dig deeper and be truly creative, and he produced works of art that are that much more meaningful because they were created within such constraints. In the same way, you could look at this site as an opportunity to dig deep down inside yourself and be truly creative.
And I would be remiss if I did not mention the problem with your focus--if your site is for a bunch of doctors, then you should be considering what a bunch of doctors would want (and, more importantly, need--since the two are often not the same), not what you would like to put into the site. Like I mentioned above, save your neat DHTML tricks for your personal site, where you can show them off in all their glory.
So, to wrap up, I'll address this concern of yours: "I haven't quite figured out how to incorporate DHTML into a real world situation." My answer would be this: you don't need to figure out how to incorporate DHTML into real world situations, just like the carpenter doesn't need to figure out how to incorporate his nail gun into his latest project. Use DHTML when it is the right tool to get the job done. If "plain old HTML" gets the job done, then that's what you should use.
In closing, I just want to say that I wasn't trying to get on your case here. You touched on some issues that are very near and dear to me, and I just wanted to give you another perspective. Everything I've said here has been said in the hope that it will be of some help to you. If I have come off as preachy, I apologize. You are free, of course, to ignore what I say. I am a functionalist to the bone, and I tend to be a minimalist as well (except when it comes to writing really long Asylum posts ;-), and this is my perspective. I just thought you might find it useful.
Suho1004: Being a DHTML freak myself and a recent novice advocate of XHTML+CSS, I must say you clearly explained how to consider the use of DHTML. Oh, and I missed your monster posts
buddylee: No more suggestions than the ones I made in your Script(bug) Help! thread, and Veneficuz suggestion about the inner borders. Regarding the editor, I use UltraEdit since the v5 ( it must be ~6 years now ). It's not dedicated to HTML editing but it's so damn powerfull that my ex-co-workers kept asking me to do some task they couldn't do with their regular editors ( such as EditPlus, CuteHtml, ColdFusionStudio ... )
Thanks for all your posts people. I guess you could say I'm a creature of enviroment. Meaning, I have never been formally taught in web design. And I agree with your post Suho. I'm not going to be a rebel on this one and shakespear doesn't bother me. The only reason I like the "bells and wishtles" is because it makes the site look "alive". All I mean is that it looks like someone keeps the site up. I guess that same thing could be acomplished with displaying the time and date. I could very well be wrong though. And like I said, "you won't hurt my feelings". As far in the inner border is concerned it seperates the contact information from the content. Maybe this is no good? Anyhow thanks for the suggestions on the editiors but being a programmer as I am, I think it will be fun to create my own editior... Probally more trouble than its worth...
Thanks for all the advice, nothing goes un-noticed.
From: A graveyard of dreams Insane since: Mar 2001
posted 10-25-2003 01:45
quote:Meaning, I have never been formally taught in web design.
I think very few people here have acctually taken courses in web design, most of are self learned as you.
quote:All I mean is that it looks like someone keeps the site up
Up to date content is the only thing that will achieve this. No matter how many doodads ( ) you add the page will never look up to date if the content feels old. Adding a javascript date thing won't help either. What you could add is a little notice bellow with something like: "last updated on xx.yy.zz". If the date is recent it will tell the user that the page is up to date and being used by the company.
Good luck with the programming your own editor! Post it here when it is done, would love to see what you'll come up with
_________________________
"There are 10 kinds of people; those who know binary, those who don't and those who start counting at zero"
- the Golden Ratio -
Yup, I agree with V. I would definitely avoid gimmicks and just make sure that the page is update regularly. A bulletin board where the doctors can congregate and share ideas would also go a long way to making the site look alive.
And I'm glad my comments were of some help.
quote:Being a DHTML freak myself and a recent novice advocate of XHTML+CSS, I must say you clearly explained how to consider the use of DHTML. Oh, and I missed your monster posts.
posted 10-21-2003 16:32
Oh, does anyone know of a good html/javascript/css editior *cheap*?
