My first site!

jonze

New Member
Hello!
This is my first site :) Theres still a lot of skills I need to learn, but I was wondering if anyone would be kind enough to give me some honest criticism on the design of my site.

http://blanchardstown.webmasters2008.com/

I already know that some of the links lead to the original site, but I never got around to fixing them! And I think I put too many images in, but I'm not really sure :p

Thanks :D
 
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hkdragon

New Member
I'm not pro or anything either, but this is my best creation: Hot-software.com

Hmm I love your Site Images/ Colors used. Very vibrant.
One thing i remember after seeing that site is, my teacher saying to me,
" If you went past this site on the net, will YOU actually buy anything from the site?" -- And i was ashamed of my work. lol.

The site you made isn't professional enough yet, it looks VERY starter/basic design :(
-- You don't have any font scheme's yet, Use a CSS file to make the site text/other stuff a better look.
-- Images on the About page menu were sliced way too much. It works ok, but err might wanna neatly slice those one full row per button.
-- Did u use frames? It will reduce your page loading... dont need to reload full page since your design is like that,
-- I couldn't even find the Entertainment page until i saw the Sitemap, Some better navigation/ images or more text needed?



Uggh let me stop there, Good luck!!
 

jonze

New Member
Thanks! Everything you said were my thoughts exactly! The entertainment page was just an afterthought really, and I was trying to do a div replacement javascript thing so I wouldn't have to use frames but realised when I was making things harder :p And I know it's embarrassingly basic.
I'm glad your crit's were the same as my own it means I'm not as clueless as I thought I was :p

Thanks for taking the time to look around!

(love your site by the way :p )
 

hkdragon

New Member
And btw if you have access to ASP or PHP, you might make your work ALOT less when you update/create pages.

http://www.hot-software.com/header.asp
http://www.hot-software.com/navigation.asp
http://www.hot-software.com/footer.asp

Now if i need to update anything in these, i don't need to open the 50 pages in my website. I just update these, and all pages call them, so updated instantly!!

You can use the ASP include (w3schools.com/asp/asp_incfiles.asp)
or
php include too, (albinoblacksheep.com/tutorial/include)
 

jonze

New Member
Thanks for the advice! I've only started my course recently so I've only really learned html and dreamweaver, I've been teaching myself css and some javascript on my own time.

So it's good to know something new
 

tonybrand3

New Member
Perhaps for each page, the tab on the nav bar of the page you are currently on could be a different color/the text could be underlined or something, to give emphasis that you are currently on that page. Just a thought.
Well done on your first site. Tony :)
 

gchang

New Member
Well done on your first site!
Personally, I don't think the light blue menu buttons really work well on the site for two reasons. First, the white text is a little hard to read even with some black shadow surrounding it. Second, the entire site has a rectangular design structure. No where on the site has rounded corners. So having the capsule like menu buttons seems to divert away from the general design of the site.

Keep it up!
 

jonze

New Member
Second, the entire site has a rectangular design structure. No where on the site has rounded corners. So having the capsule like menu buttons seems to divert away from the general design of the site.

Thats a really good point.
I just learned how to make those gel buttons and I probably went a bit crazy with them!

Perhaps for each page, the tab on the nav bar of the page you are currently on could be a different color/the text could be underlined or something, to give emphasis that you are currently on that page. Just a thought.

I tried to do that but I haven't learned frames yet, someone told me you need frames to do that. I'm gonna try to do it with my next site tho!

I'm working on a new site now and I've definetly learned some good tips here!
My course doesn't focus so much on design, so it's something I'm trying to figure out myself.

When I get my new site up I'll post it here, cos I know you guys have good advice!!

Thanks again :D
 

bannerblueprint

New Member
Jonze, this is a great start for a 1st website. My first site was really ugly. Nice use of mouseovers and tables. Are you using frames too?
 
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