Need VERY Crital Review!!!
It looks like most people here are VERY well learned when it comes to web site design, and I would like to take advantage of that resource if you don't mind.
the URL: http://www.beartoothbullets.com
Ok. I'm 14 years old, and this is my first site. I am NOT afraid of being told what I am doing wrong, in fact I figure if I'm ever going to make a job of this website stuff I had better make sure my stuff is top-notch. And the best way to do this is to get VERY critical help. Here is what seems to be a fairly average day at my site as far as demographics go:
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Browsers
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MSIE 5.x 57.19%
Netscape 4.x 25.2%
MSIE 4.x 12.64%
MSIE 2.x 2.69%
Unknown 1.16%
Netscape 3.x 1.05%
MSIE 3.x 0.02%
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Platform
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Windows 98 55.53% 1998
Windows 95 24.01% 864
Windows NT 13.45% 484
Unknown 3.94% 142
Macintosh 2.41% 87
Solaris/SunOS 0.58% 21
OS/2 0.02% 1
Other Windows 0.02% 1
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Screen resolution
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800x600 52.8%
1024x768 23.73%
640x480 9.39%
Unreported 6.28%
1280x1024 3.16%
832x624 0.66%
800x553 0.63%
1152x864 0.61%
640x433 0.33%
1600x1200 0.33%
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Screen color depth
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65536 (16 bit) 48.58%
32 bit 26.07%
256 (8 bit) 9.81%
16 million (24 bit) 8.53%
Unreported 6.28%
1 bit 0.72%
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JavaScript version
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1.2 70.73%
1.3 23.01%
1.0 2.72%
Disabled by user 1.69%
Unsupported 1.16%
1.1 0.66%
These stats are for a 3598 day.
Kinda lengthy, but it might help in the kind of audience I'm trying to target.
I just put up a new FULL upgrade to the site. Went from frames to noframes, chenged color scheme ect. Made it focused on 800x600 viewing, but it looks great (of course) in 1024x786.
I also went from using FrontPage (I know, I've changed my currupted ways.) to NOT. And tried focusing on Netscape as well as IE.
I also re did my pics on a friends paintshop. (I've got to get it, I never used it untill he invited me over to try it out, and WOW!!! It's great..... I never believed until i tried).
What I really need is a good VERY critcal review from the big guys.
Thank You all,
Exbabylon
Babylon- It's where I'm from.
Revelation 18:2-5
2 And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird.
3 For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. {abundance: or, power}
4 And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.
5 For her sins have reached unto heaven, and God hath remembered her iniquities.
[=1]Blamestorming: Sitting around in a group discussing why a deadline was missed or a project failed and who was responsible.[/=1]
JP Stones posted this at 10:43 — 29th August 2000.
They have: 2,390 posts
Joined: Nov 1998
several points:
- you logo is jagged use anti-aliase
- you seem to have two logo, mixed branding and cumbursome
- site is dull (yes I know grey=bullets but hey I can think of some great ideas that look less dull!)
- don't center text.
- don't used tiled backgrounds.
- use a paragraph to introduce your product.
Those are all negative things, the site itself is OK just amateurish.
JP
HumanClay posted this at 04:30 — 10th September 2000.
They have: 5 posts
Joined: Sep 2000
With 800x600 resolution there is a vertical scroll bar... I hate vertical scroll bars as do many people on the net
Megan posted this at 16:40 — 10th September 2000.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
I think that overall you just need to keep practicing - check out coolhomepages.com for some examples of really good design. Get Paintshop Pro and learn how to use it well (Photoshop would be better but is probably too expensive for a beginner!).
I wouldn't say that tiled backgrounds are always bad, but it is very hard to make them look good. I would get rid of that part. You can't tell what that picture is supposed to be anyway.
Don't center so much of your text - especially the navbar on the right. Also get rid of most of those horizontal rules. I would also add in a bright colour, like red maybe to liven things up. So much grey and black and blue is a kind of dull.
Adobe GoLive! Interesting - if you don't already you really need to learn HTML, and learn it well if you want to make this into a career.
Megan
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Brian Farkas posted this at 04:03 — 16th September 2000.
They have: 1,015 posts
Joined: Apr 1999
I agree with Megan. From a professional standpoint the site doesn't do it for me. However, I would like to say it is much better than the first site I designed, so at least you're off to a start.
You need to work on the logo, and maybe take a look at some of your competition, or http://www.coolhomepages.com to get some layout ideas. You also need to fix the sidebar- the fonts are Arial for the bottom half (which is fine) but Times New Roman for the top part... which does not look very good.
Again, I strongly urge you to check out coolhomepages.com, that site is great at giving you ideas on the layout of your site- so even if you aren't great with graphics you can still make a _decent_ looking site. It would help if you got a little more graphics practice, however.
Another thing to think about is the color scheme. Gray seems kind of dull, you might want to liven it up a little with some more color.
Good luck!
Brian
Jim Shilt posted this at 03:42 — 18th September 2000.
They have: 268 posts
Joined: May 1999
How about a semi-critical reply from from a small guy.
Your bullet select page is still using frames. Also on that page you might want to learn how to use a cookie to eliminate the pop-up if a user has seen that page. You might also like the look of the pop-ups that I use on my calendar page. http://shoutingrock.org/troop214/Julxx.shtml
They would be fairly easy to control with javascript.
On your gunnuts page. The second table should be shorter and wider instead of one column.
On the FAQ page you repeat the paragraph about Heavy bullets jump crimp in my .454 Casull, what can I do?
The notes about color and scrolling that previous writers have told you about also apply.
Lastly, do some editing. Short pages work better on the web than long scrolling
On a side note. Something about the impact of using lead bullets for the enviromentaly correct personage would be nice.
My goal in life is found in Phillipians 4:8-9
shoutingrock.org/troop214
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