I think image rollovers can be unpredictable and dodgey at best, they dont work well if someone uses the menu very quicly and a plethra of other things.
This is why i no longer use them, its a very old technique and most times unnecessary, especially for menu items. The thing with your menu is, it is the MOST IMPORTANT part of your site, it must work perfectly or users wont be able to access your site, if they dont have a clear understanding of where the menu items will lead them - they will just leave your site, after all there are a million and one other sites just like yours out there.
Make sure you keep your focus on user accessibility, these days people arent fussed about "fancy" (if they are even fancy these days) things like buttons that change picture. People want sites that load fast, work well, and that can get them to the information they want.
From: Rochester, New York, USA Insane since: May 2000
posted 05-25-2004 22:33
The site is not a nightmare, the site is average. We are very critical here. This site would not go for any major outfit, it might be what small mom and pop shops would have gotten back in the 1990's. It looks much like a first attempt site. I.E. your first attempt at designing a professional site. But now it is time to move on.
This design is flawed in many ways. Those that stick out are your use of tables and not a CSS based design. Your flawed navigation which is just bad form using two different menus. Finally that the site looks dated, like it was designed 5 years ago.
If you want to continue designing this web site you need to scrap this current version and move onto version 2. Start from the ground up.
First : The Competition
----------
Take a look at other computer repair sites, or computer sales sites, you have a lot of different places that offer this kind of service. So it shouldn't be hard to find some. Lets have a look at some links. First the big boys:
These sites are all very standard. You don't have much variety. You also have a huge budget since the online sales is an important business function. That means you will get lots of photographs done by a pro, and professional illustrators doing your graphics. This does not mean you can not do this stuff, but most time it will involve purchasing royalty free photographs, or taking your own pictures. But in all these sites you will find that really people with computers are being depicted, and they are all happy. You don't want people standing over broken equipment. You want it pristine.
Now go find 10 more of your own competitive sites that offer the same or similar services that you offer.
I think you will find that there isn't much different between many of the designs, they are all clean and easy to navigate, you will see the ones you like, and the ones you don't. For the 10 sites write down exactly what you like and exactly what you don't like. Lots of the designs are similar because that is what works, breaking the mold is often what designers say they are trying to do. But most times it is just plain wrong, and doesn't work well.
If you need to ask for critiques of your work you are not at the level where you have mastered the basics enough to try and branch out in new directions. (This is a side rant, sorry it made it in here)
Second : The Sketch
----------
Now get out a pad of paper and a pencil. Quickly sketch between 10 to 20 different designs using the list that you came up with as your guide to site creation. Don't include anything you didn't like in the other sites, and include things you did like.
Once you have 10 or 20 sketches down, pick out your favorite ones, and spend some more time on new sketches using them. Include more detail refine them all. You will most likely be drawn to one of the sketches, but work on all of them. You should have no less than 3 that you like, and have spent and equal amount of time on. Normally 3 to 5 at this point is good.
Your end results should be well drawn, you might even use colored pencils, markets or crayons to do some basic color work on your designs.
Third : The Code
----------
Make your designs digital. Either do it all in photoshop or using some XHTML / CSS to prototype each of your designs. Spend some time refining them. They should still be a bit basic, but they should give you a basic idea of where you are going with them.
Then you should show them to us and ask for opinions and ideas. Let us know what your inspirations was, if you have any problems ask questions. Tell us what you think of the designs.
From: 2 steps away from a los angeles curb Insane since: Nov 2003
posted 05-28-2004 04:22
Ahhh, not a nightmare, that's really what I was hoping for ... LOL!
quote:(This is a side rant, sorry it made it in here)
no apology necessary... this is the first site I've designed that had a purpose other than taking up web space. I am pretty much just winging it.
Any chance the bumpy bubble button will come back?
I really like buttons that are soft and shiny... [rambles incoherently about the glass and metallic qualititties blended into the point and click construct buttons... bumpy bubble button... bumpy bubble button... mmm, bu-tt-ons...]
I've been toying with the css float and inline boxes that were posted earlier... but just seem to think in terms of <table> <tr> <td> </td> </tr> </table> . Do you know how hard it was not to capitalize those?
xhtml, css, floats, inline... {POP}
I will eventually start over... but... project creep has taken a lateral turn and is now going towards different elements.
quote:Your end results should be well drawn, you might even use colored pencils, markets or crayons
This has something to do with that "SKETCH" thing you were talking about, eh?
I've tasted crayons but am not sure what these pencil and marker things are... very interesting...
From: Rochester, New York, USA Insane since: May 2000
posted 06-08-2004 03:02
LoL... I think we just got google rank related spam... yum... going to edit the links out just in case.
Don't take it as being a nightmare, the site is about on average with a huge portion of what is out there on the web, we just don't accept average here, not when there is the potensial for the extraordinary. It is very hard to come up with a "good" design (look at my site for example, its not all that good).
These two sites will provide you with the CSS and HTML templates you need for a good percentage of the different types of designs you will use. The rest is simply customization.
Did I mention don't try and do something "different"? This is a current rant I am on, I just keep mentioning that you don't want to go off and try to do "something different" because there are certain good design guidelines that you should follow. http://www.webstyleguide.com/
From: 2 steps away from a los angeles curb Insane since: Nov 2003
posted 06-17-2004 01:13
quote:Did I mention don't try and do something "different"? This is a current rant I am on, I just keep mentioning that you don't want to go off and try to do "something different" because there are certain good design guidelines that you should follow.
But... I am different. My Mom told me so...
FINE, then!! My next site will be Tabalicious and conformist, Anyone got a good template I can steal... err..., study?
The site for my tastes is too blah. Blue, White, and Black? All you are missing is red and we'll have the United States flag. It should be more professional looking. If I went to that site and then to another site - the one which looked more professional would have my business.
I have issues with the top navigation too. The color that it changes to when I hover my mouse hurts the eyes - too bright. The code is an utter mess in my opinion and could be done better. And whats with the font man? Ever heard of a .CSS style sheet? Rid yourself of 'Times New Roman'. That font should never be used on a website unless it's on Geocities and even then....
You should never use the HTML color codes. Always use .CSS for your site.
That about sums up my opinions. Wait.. There is one more...
Change the sites design - another complete overhaul. It needs a lot of work. It's.. hideous.
EDIT: I'm not dissing you - just the site. Take nothing I said personally.
_____________________________________________________________________________
Please visit my site. It is a site for GAMERS and OTAKU's. A great forum it is! Please visit me!
Hey i need help on a couple of thing ..... i have a computer here homebuilt by me and my unlce and my computer keep on freezing which i dunno what wrong i am doing this becuz i am bored and stuff so give me some brain storm!!! *ideas on y it keep freezing ^_^* ok this what happen when i pop in a game i can play for 5 min then ir freez when i restart it work for 5 hour then freez and sometime i cant install a program.. which is gay.. so my cpu fan broke when i was playign my game my computer was soo quiet i didnt even knwo the fan was broken untell it restart auto ahha and a bleu screen came up i was like WTF and i touch my heatsick and that shit was hella hot burnt my finger a lito so i let it cool down for liek a night then i went out bought a new cpu fan went home use it for 10 day then it broke and i only had 3 day of warrnty on it i was hella mad and befor that my computer was keep freezing on me sence so i boguth another cpu fan and install it and it work but my computer is still freezing i dunno what to do i reinstall my window befor i had window xp pro i reinstall it to window xp pro again and it still freez eheh and my computer old but 3 year old ^_^ but it still running good ^_^ untell now -.-t ahah i have a amd 1.2ghz 128mb antec case+fan dvd-cd-rw, dvd drive 60gbHD LAN card 10/100, 2usb + a 2extended usb card Gforce 2 graphic card shit been so long i dunno what kind of mother bored i got hmmm lmfao i am soo crazy o well yall dont need to knwo my stuff ahah ok back to the point so what u think is up with it?! huh huh huh?.. heeh i think it my cpu and the mother bored i think i fried it -.-' possible eheh will ill be waitting for ur answer my email Vi3t_sTyLEz_Azn@yahoo.com
SonAMD...I want you to listen carefully to me for a moment:
1. Do not double post, anywhere, on purpose. it is considered rude and harrasing, and is more likely to get people to ignore you than help you.
2. Learn to use the enter key, and possibly correct gremmer, spelling nad punctuation too. Those are factors that wil make it more likely that people will help you; if they can read what you're saying without having to troll through a post that sounds like the innane mouthings of a hyped-up 10-year-old.
3. (ad this is just a perosnal one for me, don't know if anyone else holds this view) please, refrain from refering to things as 'gay'. Unless your computer has really expressed an interest in having its male ports plugged into another computer's male ports, it hardly qualifies. It is also derogatory to homosexuals evreywhere, becuase you're using a term that refers to them in a context that qualifies as an insult, thus taking them down to the level of something insulting. This is unacceptable behaviour in my book, and I will not tolerate anything like it, here or in real life. We are who we are becuase that's how <insert diety of choice, power or random cosmic chance here> made us, and so there must be some purpose behind it.
If you read all of that and think about it, learn from it, I'm sure we can all live peacefully.
posted 05-11-2004 03:23
New rankings?
