dad-burn menus!!

I'm viewing in IE5.5 & get the following error message :

Line: 13
Char: 1
Error: Type mismatch 'mouseOverHandler'
Code: 0

The menu looks ok if not a bit too boring now.

Quote: Originally posted by disaster-master
I would like to use plain old text links to assure that all browsers can access the site but the menu would take up 2 ft. of screen.

I also played around with a new logo at the top which I think is kinda cute but it doesn't really go well with the content so I probably won't use it. Any suggestion or ideas here welcome.

All I really want for this post are comments on how the meun works in other browsers if it works at all.

IE 4.0 can't display png format, broken images, sub categories don't show.

In NS 4.6 it appears to all show up as plain text. No mouseovers. This is on a Mac, BTW.

I agree about the new logo. It's cute, but the font looks like it belongs on a kid's page, not really appropriate for the seriousness of the company.

Ok...i got rid of that dreaded menu with the .png graphics.

I managed to get the menu called "iNavigate" to work. It is very similar to the one that I posted yesterday. I shall keep my fingers crossed that it does what it is suppossed to (or that I did what I was suppossed to do). The menu is featured on hotscripts.com and says that it is "for IE4+ NN6+ Mozilla 0.9 and other Gecko-powered browsers and ensuring graceful degradation on older and other browsers." Someone please tell me how it "degrades gracefully" in NS and if anyone has Opera, does it work on that browser?

I changed the logo. Gizmoid was right about it looking like a title for a kids page. It was cute though. Not sure if this one is any better. Comments welcome.

I also added a background that frames the page so that it doesn't look so plain.

Please tell me....should I keep the old site, use this one or start over? I am a little concerned due to the lack of response from other people. Is it really that bad?

If this menu doesn't work will some of you more experienced web designers please give me some advise on what type of navigation I should use for this site. I am stumped at this point and don't know what else to do besides just list all 27 links in PLAIN TEXT. ARG!!!

Here is the link for the newest menu:
http://www.virtualgraphiti.net/index4.html

Thanks,
disastermaster

I actually like it all now! The new logo I think looks good and gives some warmth (haha pun intended!) to the site as before the blue was kinda cold. The menu worked fine for me IE5.5 and with the new logo it looks less boring.

I say keep this version

Thanks for the encouragement Webmistress. I am going to let the client view the new menu and see what he thinks. I had gotten so many complaints about the other menu here and felt really bad about not providing the client with something better.

I am going to play with the logo a bit more and see if I can make it look better. I made it really quick and think it could stand improvement.

I still have to do a little tweeking to the menu. I am unable to get the little arrow that points to the page you are on to show up. Although you can't see if in IE, you can see the place holder for it in NS.

Could someone look at the menu on an older browser and tell me what it does? Does it work and can you navigate with it?
Does it work with Opera?

Thanks,
disastermaster

Quote: Originally posted by disaster-master
Someone please tell me how it "degrades gracefully" in NS and if anyone has Opera, does it work on that browser?

I changed the logo. Gizmoid was right about it looking like a title for a kids page. It was cute though. Not sure if this one is any better. Comments welcome.

Okay, the menu is working fine in IE4.0.

In NS4.6 it's just a long list of all the text links. It works but it's not as elegant. "Degrading gracefully" just means that it doesn't "break" or make it inaccessible to someone.

I like the new logo much better!

Thanks Giz! Your opinion is respected as well as Webmistress. I like the new logo also but I have become creative today and come up with another. I know you guys are saying, "Oh No! Not again!" I have these moments sometimes where I get on a roll. I will post it later tonight. Please check back and take a peek at it.

I might even get brave and put up one of those cute polls and let everyone vote.

I think I can be satisified with the menu not working like it is supposed to in NS. I just wanted to make sure that the navigation was accessable. Let me ask you and Webmsitress this....Would you use this menu on a site such as the one I am doing that needs subs?? Just curious.

Thanks,
DM

The nav works fine for me and I really like it. It's a good way to present lots of info without the long list.

I like the striped effect and the way the subheads are placed on the second one - but I don't particularly like the font on the logo. I also think that red is much better. the font on the first one is a little kiddish - but it stood out so much more because of the color!

Keep us posted!

Brooke

OK...here goes.

I have been really creative today and made two more logos. I wasn't too happy after I got them online and saw how long it took them to load though. Will you guys take a peek and post which style you like best. Or which features look the best for this particluar site. I think the two newest ones are too dark, cluttered and way too big. What do you think?

This was my first try at doing a picture medley. I really had fun putting it together but in the end it didn't turn out exactly like I wanted to it. The scan lines are too big but they are as small as I could get them in Paint Shop Pro.

Also, any suggestions on a good font that is business-like would be appreciated. I spent an hour looking at fonts today. Nothing really caught my eye.

Any suggestions, cut downs, ideas welcome on the logos. I guess I will just post all of the pages here so that you all won't have to dig back through the other posts.

The original site here: http://www.ettfire.com

#2 http://www.virtualgraphiti.net/index4.html

#3 http://www.virtualgraphiti.net/index2.html

#4 http://www.virtualgraphiti.net/index5.html

Thanks for hanging in there woth me on my menu and logo problems!!

DM

Hi,
personnaly i like the logo on index4 better, but 5&6 look more business like in my opinion but I don't think they are finished. maybe a logo and the montage of pictures might work...

DavidJaymz

I still like index4 but I think index2 is the more professional looking one and with a bit of a polish (there's something not quite right with it but I can't put my finger on it) that will just the site the oomph it needs

I like the font and color better on index 6. I like the montage as well - but there is still something that I like on index 4. But the curvey font probably doesn't cut it for this topic.

It seems to me that this topic needs a warning color - red or orange - I say forget the blue - it's cooling. Now I realize that you want that cooling when there is a fire - but to prompt people into action you use red or something vibrant anyway.

Just my ideas.

Brooke

Thanks for the input Brooke. Oh, I don't have an index6... yet. Did you mean 5 with the red text on the montage?

I have been eyeing these logos all morning and I am still drawn to index2 but there is something about index4 also. I think the yellow text looks good but it does still need something like Webmistress said. I think I will try and use features of both to come up with a new one. To me, the red text doesn't show up as well as the yellow.

I will try red instead of blue for the bg and see what it looks like. The client initially chose blue as the main color. It doesn't look bad but you are right about the red as a prompt.

I finally got the bugs out of the menu. That thing was a toughie. It took me two weeks to figure it out and the code looks like a tornado went through it but I feel like I have accomplished something. YEA!!

You ladies have a good day!
DM

yup - I meant index 5.

If you use that background then the yellow does show up better - but that yellow seems a little soft to me. You may want to make it a strong warning color.

I would love it if you would post back and let us see how you are progressing!

Brooke

I vote for keeping the present menu.. the other I just didn't like.. never liked it anywhere.. doesn't look so much like a website as it does a computer program menu or something..

I think this is it! New logo...new page layout. What do ya think?

I had to change my style sheet because of the background color change for the menu and didn't think about it at the time but it changed the text color on all the other pages that I had posted earlier. OPPS!!

I gave this new page a blue left border and used tables to give it a "framed" look. It looks more organized to me and seems as though the page is held together better.

I know the top montage is large but I have already reduced it from 76,000 bytes to 24,000 bytes. I tried to reduce it further but things started getting distorted. If you guys say that the load time is AWFUL I guess I could reduce the height of the montage. It would probably be hard to tell what the pics are if I make it any smaller though.

I also framed the two images in the body of the page. If you remember, on the old site the pics are oval and have fuzzy edges. I thought the new square ones fit the layout better.

One problem though. For the life of me I could NOT get the caption text under the two images to go where I wanted it. So I just made a little graphic with the text. It worked but you can tell that the text captions are graphics. Anyone know how to do text here??? I think I would probably have to change the whole layout to put text.

Input on this needed! The client will see it tomorrow.

http://www.virtualgraphiti.net/index7.html

Oh, don't bother with the links. No telling where they will take you.

Thanks all,
DM

I forgot to tell you....DON"T HOLD ANYTHING BACK!!!
Sock it to me.

DM

looks pretty darned good. Definitely my favourite rendition so far. You DO have to get that graphic down in size though.

What are you using for optimization? I ran it through my software (Ulead SmartSaver) and got it down to an acceptable 25k or a slightly crisper 36k.

I tested in IE5.5 btw

I initially used the optimizer with Paint Shop Pro 7. I don't really like PSP's optimizer. It seems to distort too much.

I then took it to Spinwave.com and used their online optimizer which said that it was down to 24,064 or something like that. The next smallest distorted the Yellow title too much.

I have several other graphics programs that I don't know that much about which are Image Composer, Adobe Illustrator, and Photo Impact. I have never tried optimizing in those. I am going to see if I can figure out how to do it and reduce in one of those.

Any tricks on optimizing this graphic appreciated.

DM

My favorite version so far as well.

The corner of the blue - ever thought of making that curved? It just feels like it needs to be...

Brooke

It's looking good in IE4.0.

However, in NS 4.6 the CSS isn't kicking in and I'm getting default link colors on the nav bar. Dark blue for links, purple for visited, black for non-links, all of which are hard to read against a dark blue background.

I like the logo montage a lot, but maybe try the text as red? It would stand out more, and well, fire is red. Then I think the yellow as an accent color would really set it off nicely. My first impression is "too much yellow". And possibly make the logo text a tad larger.

The font is perfect, BTW. An excellent choice. What is it? Reminds me a bit of Copperplate in its blockiness. Very legible though, professional looking and appropriate for the client.

Giz, Would you take a look at the menu in NS 4.6 again. I had forgotten to upload some of the files that is supposed to take care of that problem.

I have also reduced the logo. I just discovered my Ulead SmartSaver. Thanks Taff.

I am going to try the red text again. I did one in PSP earlier and the text just didn't seem to show up as well.

Any suggestion on text link colors besides the red hover and yellow visited?

I also tried the red nav bar background but it was just too much "in your face".

Brooke I had the same thought about the curved corner. I will work on that.

DM

I rounded the corners. They do look much better. I hope I did them right. The larger title shows up better. The red title breaks down too much when optimizing. Stll have to do something about the text under the pics. I tried something different with that but I think it looks bad. Will fix later.

DM

I really like this one

Only thing that looks wrong to me is the text 'Solutions for Effective Fire Fighting' I would put this all on the one line.

It looks really good! Good job!

Brooke

Quote: Originally posted by disaster-master
Giz, Would you take a look at the menu in NS 4.6 again. I had forgotten to upload some of the files that is supposed to take care of that problem.

index7.html, right?

Link is now white, visited is yellow. active is red. But non-link text in the nav bar (Videos, Dry Hydrants, etc.) is default black on dark blue and not very legible.

The text links at the bottom... Videos, Dry Hydrants and Instake Strainers text is white on white.

Also, don't use the break tag to format. The words Accessories and Plans come out at orphans on their own lines for me.

The curved corner looks nice at the top, but at the bottom the area to the right of the white corner2.gif is all blue. Works fine in IE, though.

Well, guess what guys? The client doesn't like it. He wants to use to original logo and menu that is at http://www.ettfire.com but said that if we really needed to use this menu at http://www.virtualgraphiti.net/index7.html that would be ok.

I am meeting with him today to discuss this situation. Wish me luck!

BTW Giz, the font that I used is called "Futured". It is a real clean font. Found it at http://abstractfonts.com/setup.html

Oh well, at least I did learn a lot of new stuff while doing this page that will be helpful to me in the future. I will keep you guys informed on my project.

Have a great weekend!
DM

That's the trouble with clients no taste most of the time!! LOL

Oh well good luck