Criticize this please!

its umm very colourful

first thing i saw (after all the colored links) was the note to netscape users, I had a quick look around your site and theres no reason why you cant make it for Netscape and IE, seems the only things your using and style sheets for the links (which are to dark even in IE), some of the links dont mouseover in IE anyways.

a lot of yoru pages are very slow loading (in both browsers)
you have animated fire lines and brick lines.

I couldnt go far as everything was screaming at me, its to hard to try keeping in one section as the multi color on a dark background is hard to read and follow, not that there is much content on each page.

the first thing you see when you enter the site is links (email the pres. and google) to leave your site.

different fonts sizes and styles are also hard to follow.

oohhhhh i se why it doesnt work on netscape, the history page using iframes, why? i have no idea, this could be done just as well with the same layout as the rest of the site.

I think you need to get a theme, limit your colours used and followit throughout your site.
Its a very interesting subject but to hard for me to follow

You forgot the color red, oh wait there it is

Waaaaaay to many different colors. When I look at the page my eyes have no idea what to look at first, it seems overwhelming visualy. Tone it down on the colors.

The logo is neat though.

Far, far too busy. A site like this would put me off going any where past the first page as it's so hardto read with all the colours jumping out at you! I think sites with three colours, a light background and dark text are much more professional looking, easier on the eyes and less confusing to look at.

I agree with Busy that there seems to reason why the site shouldn't be compatible with all browsers. You say in the blurb there about not receiving many visitors using Netscape but if you haven't yet submitted it to the search engines how can you really tell who's going to come in the future???

Don't center text - very hard to read and unprofessional looking.

The 'Science is Popular!' text at the top, first of all I thought it was part of the banner then I realised that it's just text. If it's there for SEO reasons then you could take it off the top there and make the one in the main section H1, then to stop it looking quite so blocky use CSS to mask the size.

Why have an enter link - you don't say where you are entering and you already have entered the site. Just seems a bit odd to me.

You should somehow state that the links in the main part leave your site.

Good start but I think it needs some more work.

Way too many colours there. The other major pitfall i found was that on the first page you havent continued the side navigation colours to the bottom so the page looks rather bad when scroll down to read the text.

Lukster

this has been said, but colors are too many and the science is popular is pointless.
also, why do you have the google search, the zip code thingy, and a counter? makes it look like a personal page.

your logo is kewl.

I go through this point by point:

aszl826: All of you seem to be put off by all the colors. My reasoning for all the color is that AweQuest is a network of 10+ subjects separated by colors to help you know where you are at any given time within the site...at least this was the plan...

The 'zip code thingy' is provided as a public service. the Google search box is meant to provide a way for people to get more info about subjects they are viewing on the site. I don't see how this would make it look like a personal page, but then, I am new at this! What would be my alternative? As for the counter, well, that is cheesy, but everyone seems to have them. I am working on NO budget here, so...?

The Webmistress: It's hard for me to see how busy the site is with color...I just didn't want it to end up looking like every other site out there...I guess there are good reasons why all those sites look alike! As far as the Netscape thing, I wanted to use CSS and iframes to make management easier...I will study-up some more on Netscape optimization because your point that I don't know what will happen after search engine submission is true.

You hit the nail on the head with the assumption that "Science is Popular" is for the benefit of SEO. The same reason applies to the entry page, which contain's the science is fun article as a keyword-rich page for SEO. A little more advice on this please?

busy: I am taking your comments into consideration as well.

Now, all of you so far seem to agree that the logo is kewl and I am not willing to part with it...however, it is only condusive to a black background. I will change the whole friggin' thing if you can suggest a way to incorporate a black back behind the logo and still use light backs for darker text. Also, should I just make all the subject links (which each have a different color assignments) the same color, like black on white, and ditch the color scheme for each subject?

So now that we have established possible improvements based on your comments, can you make suggestions on design, what to do about SEARCH and how to make each subject stand on its own?

Thanks alot so far for all your help and I am working on a prototype based on your comments and I will post a link to the resulting design later today.

quick thought -

have your links with a 10x10 colored box next to it (box color of that section), when yoru on that page the whole line with link etc is that color, while the rest remain 10x10 boxs. (this to do done with tables).

your first two pages, or at least the first one shouldnt have any links (ie google, and zip thingy) that take you away from your site

I also just noticed your home link doesnt take you to the index page, theres no way to return.

think of your site as a magazine article, think how you could transform your site into one (some people love to print out sites), like a magazine, devide your site into sections but make it easy to get to any page, follow the 3 link rule (should be able to get to all pages on your site within 3 clicks)

The logo doesnt have to go on a complete black background, you could make the top section black only, or fade it out etc see how the newszone one is done, you could fade your one out like that using greys to white, or even blues to whites or any color you decide to use as a background.

your only limited by your immagation

Quote: Originally posted by the13thMajestic
the Google search box is meant to provide a way for people to get more info about subjects they are viewing on the site. I don't see how this would make it look like a personal page, but then, I am new at this! What would be my alternative?

I think the point here is why do you want to tempt people to leave your site? A good alternative is a search feature that searches only *your* site. Try http://www.picosearch.com/ It's a free service that will do a full text index of your site and maintain the database for you. You can re-index your site whenever you make changes. I've been using them on one of my sites for a while now and am very pleased with the service.

One thing I never understand is why people put date scripts on sites. I really don't need to go to your site to find out what day it is. And it's not Friday February 19, 2106! For some reason some of these date scripts don't work right in IE4.0 (Mac).

Oh, and on home.htm the date is a link to http://www.awequest.net/AweQuest/Earth which gives a 404.

Good luck with it.

Only had time to skim the other comments so I'm sure some of this has been mentioned before but anyway...

There's just too much going on here. Too many colours, too many layout styles, too much trying to catch my attention. Try to set on kind of a defined colour scheme. I like the idea of having each section of the site themed with a different colour, but firstly you need to coordinate your colours better, then relate them all back to a common base set of colours that go with everything (gray or black and white work well), and then apply them more directly to each page.

Another problem I'm finding is that there is way too much centered text. In graphic design this is used to achieve a formal effect, like on wedding invitations, but on the web it just ends up looking unprofessional. Just align leave the alignment at the deafult for most elements.

The logo looks like it came out of a haunted house or something. Should be re-worked. Use a less hallowe'en-ish font. I think part of what's contributing to this effect is the black background. I would seriously consider ditching that. One idea, since you're trying to use a different colour theme for each page, is to desing a layout with template elments that will work against any colour background. So a navbar and logo that could be put up against any colour and still look good. Then change the page background to the theme colour you've selected for that section.

Here I am on the reference page and I see an "America Reacts" button asking me if I want to write to the president. Just enter your zip code. Wait... I don't have a President or a zip code.

One thing that I'm beginning to realize is that there's a reason why so many sites on the 'net look the same. It's a matter of what makes a site functional and usable. White backgrounds work. Left-aligned text works. Left corner logos work. Left side navigation works.

Thanks for all the help so far folks! All I can say at this point is that it seems the concensus here is that it's too busy and too colorful. I am working on a couple of prototypes that I will put up against the current design in a few days.

I have decided to give Netscape another chance as per your suggestions. The iframes I am now using will be gone when this design is either improved or changed completely. I am fond of most aspects of CSS and from what I know as a newbie, CSS doesn't work in Netscape. Can someone challenge this or is that pretty much the case? The logo will stay because in invokes the mystery of knowledge that I wish to impart, and besides, support for it is widely unanimous, with the exception being that I will experiment with other fonts, as Megan suggests. (Is Mandingo halloweenish?) I am also addressing the background color/neutral template elements issues Megan brings up. Centered text is out and so is the America Reacts box, which I realize Megan is absolutely right about...well, I will at least relocate it so that it is not so prominent. The Google search will be relagated to the bottom of the column rather than the top. Also, while I am answering Megan's comments, the points you make in your last paragraph are right on target and I have been thinking about that.

Busy, I will address your comments as part of the prototype redesigns, the links to which I will post in a few days.

Gizmoid, I will investigate picosearch.com, but part of the mission of AweQuest.Net is to initiate interest in the subjects I choose to cover so limiting a readers access to only local information may not work at this stage as AQ's information database is still quite limited and building it require an unbelievable amount of work just getting copyright permissions alone. When the dev phase is complete, my time will be freed up to build the AQ Knowledge Base from which to draw local search results. The idea is great and I will implement it soon, however, for now I feel I have no choice but to keep Google, but will move it to a less prominent location. And all links leading away from AQ will be eliminated from the index and home pages.

Once again, thanks everyone for your help! Keep it coming because you guys are a lot of help...

Look forward to your new look. Remember to post again here to continue this thread so that people get a chance to reread these posting to refresh their memories when the time comes.

Good luck with it

I have redesigned AweQuest.Net taking into account the suggestions all of you made.

Mind giving it another look, please Thank you guys for the help. Keep it coming!

Thats alot better.

The colors clash in way, but i know that u want to seperate the different areas. so if thats what u want keep it.

well, use like 2 main colors! make it simple! It has 2 many different colors! It looks like a kid page!

I like the design.

The colors seem to be a little too bright - not good for the eyes.

Looks like a great portal to visit if you are into awe-inspiring things. I guess your site is kind of like an online version of "Ripley’s believe it or not".

Gavin

Totally new look, looks good at first glance
a few Netscape vs IE things thou

at the very top, you have "This site is self-rated: Rated ...." this doesnt show up in netscape, font is black, the icon does thou.
the "Science, Adventure and History " part in netscape looks like its a heading 1 tag (h1) covering 2 lines, on IE it looks more like h3 or h4.
I get a javascript error in IE but not in Netscape.
The links on the left, the words news and forums have the underline (on both browsers) but the others don't.
have you thought about putting the colored squares befor the links?
I personaly think you have to much info on the first page, I dont know where to start, its at a point where its to confusing to go on, even thou its a very interesting subject/s.
I'm sure the messge you want to put across is a serious one, but things like "We need channel operators, bad!", "and has nuthin' better to do! What the h...aaayyyyy! Leggo-a my earlobe you stupid dog!" seeing things like that makes me think its more of a fun site.

instead of having the search google link on your site, i think you should have a search your own site. example, I'm looking for info on crazyhorse, I learnt a little about him while in USA, I know if I search google I'd find something but am at your site but dont know where to look. I just noticed most of the links go off your site anyway.

looking good, keep up the good work.

Well, I just lost like a 5000 word post 'cause my !@#$% modem disconnected and I am angry. And I just noticed that this thread has gone to two pages and missed some of your comments, so I have edited this post.

So, suffice it to say that AweQuest.Net is actually a collection of, at this time, 15 different sites under an umbrella name. The different colors on each page are to help in navigation. If you are on the green page, it's Earth and Environmental, violet is Space, dark red is Geo and so on. There will be hundreds of pages indexed on this site. All the green ones will be Earth and all the olive pages will have something to do with Paleontology and so on. If I am about to put a page about Hitler to the net, I know that I need to edit a light-grey page for the History section, rather than a tan one (archaeology). I see it as a functionality issue, both for me as editor and for ease of use for the visitor.

Quote: at the very top, you have "This site is self-rated: Rated ...." this doesnt show up in netscape, font is black, the icon does thou.

This was an afterthought. I want parents to feel secure letting kids hang-out. I am looking for another way to do it prominently. I think I will just optimize it for NS and leave it there for awhile.

Quote: the "Science, Adventure and History " part in netscape looks like its a heading 1 tag (h1) covering 2 lines, on IE it looks more like h3 or h4.
I get a javascript error in IE but not in Netscape. The links on the left, the words news and forums have the underline (on both browsers) but the others don't.

It is a tag. I use Dreamweaver and haven't gotten used to what it does to the code. In IE, it's masked by CSS, that's why it looks like H3 or H4. Will the SEO suffer if I changed the page titles to H3 or H4 instead of H1? I cannot find the Javascript error. Can you tell me what page it's on? I don't know what's causing the underline on those navlinks, but I'll find it.

Quote: I personaly think you have to much info on the first page, I dont know where to start, its at a point where its to confusing to go on, even thou its a very interesting subject/s.
I'm sure the messge you want to put across is a serious one, but things like "We need channel operators, bad!", "and has nuthin' better to do! What the h...aaayyyyy! Leggo-a my earlobe you stupid dog!" seeing things like that makes me think its more of a fun site.

You see too much info, I see reason's to explore further. What's the balance? As far as putting across a message of seriousness, no, that is not my intention. If you knew me personally, you would know that I am serious about nuthin' . But really, there are plenty of serious sites covering the same stuff. I want the site to be fun for everyone, useful, educational, inspirational, snappy and comedic, while at the same time providing an underlying archive of useful information.

And in keeping with your comments about earlobe snatching Chihuahuas, I will just say this. I have only been doing this for 6 months. Everything, it seems, that I have read, seen posted, or been told verbally is that to have a successful repeat visitor base, a site must have three things: Usability, "original" content, and it should have personality. Is it safe for me to say that I have achieved this at AweQuest.Net, with less points for "original" content, since there is not much content yet, but there will be. Boy! There WILL be!?

And, as for the dog...it worked for that taco joint! No, but really, here is thing about that. In the course of building this "learn as you go" website, the topic of originality kept resurfacing for me. One of the aspects of that became, for me personally, the need for some kind of "mascot". I am a newbie and I know that, in this respect, I may be naive. But one thing I do know is that I can't think of a single marketing strategy that failed which used a mascot. Who doesn't know Joe Camel. Heck! he was so popular that people put their health at risk just to have him in their pocket. What about that Taco Bell chihuahua? How crazy was that? And the Coca-Cola polar bears? and Morris the Cat (for some of you older folks)? and Tony the Tiger...and though he's not a mascot, Taz...need I go on? So why not have some kind of identifying mascot? I wanted a cartoon Polar Bear and Penguin (why? Well...because they're cool!) duo until someone told me it had already been done at freeze.com. (going there will give you an idea of what I would rather have in the way of mascots) Since I don't have a cartoon mascot like I would prefer...and until I do...All I have at my disposal for creating a "mascot" is my webcam and the coolest and most hilarious dog I have ever owned, TweetieBugs. So, move over Taco Bell! There's a new Chihuahua in town! And if she's popular, she'll stay and if not, she'll be replaced with a cartoon character.

But I have read and heard time and time again that a personal website should be just that, PERSONAL. And that requires a reflection of personality, in this case mine...or the one I create for AweQuest. I know I can't compete with those big sites. So I don't try. Instead, I link to those sites and negotiate incentives such as being allowed reproduction rights for articles or images, or getting them to place a reciprocal link or whatever or, in some cases, I link to an external site with the hopes that later on, I can go to them and say "Hey! Look at all the eyeballs I am sending you. How about that link?" You see what I am saying? So, in it's basic form, it's just another portal. But I hope to build it into a 'destination' instead of a gate.

Busy, you are great at finding the little details and I appreciate it! Google...I completely get what you are saying and as I stated earlier in this thread, I will keep it as an option for people who are looking for specific information as a service because, at this stage, I have nothing for them. However, I am not totally dismissing your advice as I will install a local search option very soon. Anyways, the way I figure, if they aren't finding what they are looking for on my site, they are going to leave anyway. So why not provide the gateway with the hopes they will remember the convenience of not having to leave before conducting the search, leaving the possibility they will return via the back button.

Gavin, your Ripley's analogy is a good one...I can only dream of AweQuest becoming as popular. Other analogies can be made, but the bottom line is that I just want AweQuest.Net to be fun, informative, provocative and entertaining and most important of all, I want it to invoke "awe"...to be "awe-inspiring", hence the name AweQuest.Net -- the MIND and BEYOND.... I believe that's what will keep people coming back.

Once again, thanks to all of you! and keep your suggestions and comments coming.

I think u just won the award for longest post :)

oh yes one other thing, your blue links sometimes are hard to read.

and I thought my posts were long
You mentioned you've only being doing this for 6 months, if your talking web design in general them you can give yourself a pat on the back.

Quote: Will the SEO suffer if I changed the page titles to H3 or H4 instead of H1? I cannot find the Javascript error. Can you tell me what page it's on? I don't know what's causing the underline on those navlinks, but I'll find it.

h1 is biggest, then h2, h3, h4 etc, so yes it will affect it, will make it smaller. CSS is good to use, but also a lot of headaches come with it, because it doesnt work backwards it can infact mess up html coding, if your concerned about this, just use html, if not you could leave it as is as I think I was the only one who saw it on my browser version. Sorry I didnt catch the error, the status bar showed it up, if it was in netscape i could just type javascript: and it would tell me, but didnt happen there. (so I guess this was useless imformation lol)

if your using class's in your links check you havent got a typo on the two links underlined, if your not then check you have all the quotes etc where they belong.

You also mention your site is apersonal site, I think its a professional site, maybe done as a hobby, non profit etc but still profesional, look at sites like rotten.com and amihotornot.com they arent serious but still not "personal" sites, I think a personal site would be about my cat fluffy ...