hi can anyone give me with ideas to improve our site set up in memory of our son Gary

They have: 9 posts

Joined: Feb 2000

WE set up this site to remember and honour son Gary who died on 22May 1999 aged 14.Can anyone give me ideas on how we might improve our site.Many thanks for anyone help .

Justin S's picture

They have: 2,076 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

The address is: http://brendan.somers.tripod.com/

1) Since this a memorial site, I would definantly not use the color black. Make the colors joyful etc...

2) You need a good logo. Right now you just have text which looks amateurish.

3) Check the spelling/grammer on the site. I found a few spots that wern't spelled correctly etc...

4) Don't make people click every few paragraphs to read the rest. Make a menu on the side or something, then put all the main page text on the main page. Don't make people keep clicking...

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  • They have: 472 posts

    Joined: Oct 1999

    I feel very sorry for you. I would like to know how he died.

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    They have: 16 posts

    Joined: Jan 2007

    There is nothing more sad than to have your child die.

    I happened to us in 1996 when our second baby was born with congenital heart disease and had to have a 7 hr open heart surgery on his 3rd day of life.

    We thought all was well after that, but it wasnt to be and after having such a joy for 6 mths he completely unexpectedly died.

    I was able to find some comfort at that time of this emence pain but finding Jesus.

    I realy feel for anyone who has lost a child.

    I have dedicated this page to his memory
    http://bodiorganic.com/ben.htm

    demonhale's picture

    He has: 3,278 posts

    Joined: May 2005

    I cant say how much I empathize with you... Nice tribute page btw...

    They have: 426 posts

    Joined: Feb 2005

    Get your own hosting and rid of the adverts! Break up the text and put in full view in bullet points who he is?!
    Put your links at the top.

    They have: 4 posts

    Joined: May 2007

    I lost my sister when she was 19 and I was 16 so I can begin to empathize with your pain as I have watched my parents endure the same loss. I want to applaude you for finding a healthy way to sort through and honor your emotions.

    With that being said, some might argue its perfect the way it is simply because of the sincere love put into its development. But because you have come this far for advice you must want to improve upon your existing site so I'll offer what I can, bearing in mind I think its great as is.

    The very first thing that jumps out at me is the tripod hosting and the advertisements. I think the advertisements and the tripod logo greatly detract from your intent. It is difficult to give your son the centerstage when you have advertisers upstaging the act. You can find cheap hosting under, $10 a month, and many will also include web design tools. Check this site out for some reviews of cheap hosting :

    http://www.hosting-review.com/

    But again this all depends on what you want for this site. If all you want is to honor your son, I believe you have done this. If you want to have a hobby and at the same time raise awareness for the living memory of your son, then I would definitely start with some cheap hosting where you can do whatever you want, advert free. And then I would go to your library and read about web development, and continue looking around sites like this one. Read as much as you can about programming, and look at websites you visit and think about why you like some and dislike others? Whatever you do, stay strong, and know you've done a great job already.

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