Request for Web Site Evaluation

[Chaplain Doug]

Dear Fellow Web Designers:

I designed our main organizational web site a couple years ago using Visual Web Developer and the ASP.Net Ajax toolkit. I would really appreciate some other IT/Web professionals looking at the site and telling me what you think.

http://www.goodnewsjail.org

1. Does it appear "old fashioned" or "clunky"?

2. Is it easy to navigate?

3. What do you think of the overall feel, color scheme, etc.

4. Would you describe it as professional, neat, sharp, etc.

Any observations and constructive criticisms will be greatly appreciated.

This is a "data-driven" site relying on many databases in our secure LAN. I have a vendor trying to convince others that he can do a better job with our web site using "WordPress" and hosting it outside our secure network. Any thoughts on this would also be appreciated, especially any drawbacks to WordPress as it relates to being data-driven. Thanks so much!

Dr. Douglas Pruiett
Good News Jail & Prison Ministry
www.goodnewsjail.org

 

[ronaldroe]

1. Something about the look of this site strikes me as odd. Portions of it do, in fact, look dated. The logo font is Viner, which I haven't seen on a website since the very first one I built about 8 years ago. The menu, with its default link colors also looks dated. Other portions look/act newer, such as the text that animates in/out on the "Who We Are" page. I don't think it's "clunky". Information appears to be right where I would expect it to be.
2. It is easy to navigate.
3. Again, certain portions look dated, almost as if the site was partially redone at some point. The color scheme seems professional and calming, but almost feels like a college website. If you change nothing else on this site, redo the header font, and completely redo the menu.
4. See #3

On Wordpress. I don't know the structure or extent of the data you're speaking of, but if there are many databases that the site automatically draws data from, you may be better with a custom solution, or at least a very customized version of Wordpress. On the other hand, if you're entering the data largely by hand, Wordpress or Joomla would be a great way to simplify day-to-day site updating, etc.

 

[Chaplain Doug]

Thank You for Evaluation

Ron:

Thank you for the valuable feedback. I hope I hear from others as well so that I may revise my site based on good multiple professional recommendations. Can you suggest another forum where I may ask for the same help?