REVIEW REQUEST: Computing Tips

Welcome to TWF Mike.

First thing that struck me is the logo/banner, it just doesn't do anything for me! The two shades of blue look a bit odd with that curve going on and the black text just doesn't stand out enough and I'm not sure about the font either. I would have expected to see a computer there rather than a CD which I automatically associate with music.

Secondly the icons are just from IE, try getting your own to make your site unique. Dingbats are a great way of making them if you can't create your own. The menu is also hard to read black on dark blue but the box itself looks out of place and kind of just stuck there. The rounded corners don't match anything else on the site.

The boxes with the content aren't too bad but when you click to go to the forums I would have expected the same colours!

It's an ok start but with so many other sites out there offering the same content you really need yours to stand out above the rest to keep people coming back.

Hi Mike,

The design of the site is quite good except for a thing or two.

That nav is quite small and empty. I think it'd be better suited going across the page... mmaybe just under the title.

The font in the title isn't very appealing, especially the color. The whole banner is very plain. But it is a good base for something. How about adding some kind of a mosaic of images in the background?

The tables on the Drivers and Tips pages don't line up very well.

Looking at the code, I see you're using MS Frontpage. Personally, I don't like using WYSIWYG editors, but even if I did, I'd use a good one like Dreamweaver.

Good luck.

I agree with what the others have said here.

About the FrontPage thing - as a computer savvy person I would say that your credibility goes right out the window when you're using a product like that to develop your site. That's just coming from a person who is familiar with FrontPage and other methods of developing websites. Most people probably wouldn't notice though.

The main problem I think you have here is that your actual computer tips section very skimpy. If you're going to promote this site as a real respository for computing tips you're really going to need to expand that area. What you should proably do is create a sub-navigation menu with the tips divided into different operating systems. Those categories would be sub-divided into further categories. Content is King, remember that.

This is one of my favourite sites for computing tips - take a look at how they do it. One quick glance at the navbar gives me the immediate impression that there are lots of good tips and tricks on the site. Your navbar, on the other hand, has very little in terms of real content. What I like to do is separate the administrative tasks (Home, Links, Member List, Awards, Resources) into a separate menu, usually in a less conspicuous location like the right side or the bottom part of a left navbar. This way the main navbar can focus on the real content which is what the user wants to see in the first place. Annoyances.org has also put their main forum categories on the front page, which first of all encourages people to visit the forums and also adds to the impression that the site is an extensive and valuable resource.

As for the design, the first problem I see is that your colour scheme is really incoherent. Your logo area is grey, bright/dark blue and black. The content area and navbar are shades of a more faded/dusty blue. Make sure your colour scheme is consistent thoughout. The other problem is the boxes that make up the content area aren't all the same width. Make sure there is a clear left and right alignment there.

Edit: one more thing - don't have a poll unless you have a good, provacative question to ask that people will care about. This could then be tied in to a forum discussion on the same topic, but only if it's something that people really would care about (i.e. Which operating system is best? Is Microsoft good or evil? etc. etc.)

try to add more attractive images into your site.
the size of the table between the top and the below is different.
i suggest you to make all your table to the middle of the page. else your site will looked blank on the right side when it is viewed in higher resolution.

Overall, it's a nice site. I'm a novice designer myself, so any critique i give is from my relatively inexeperienced point of view. Someone mentioned the banner at the top, and i'd have to second that thought...it's kind of drab. Distinct logos are really catchy, and seem to help

You might also want to try buttons instead of text links. For me, the more graphic a website, the easier it is on my eyes

Anyway, hope this helps. good work!!

I like your site but there are a couple of things that threw me off. First, your search powered by Google is overwhelming. The first thing that came to my mind was "how did I get into Google?" I would make the search box a little less prominent with a tagline "Powered by Google".
I would make you navigation menu more prominent than your search box. Maybe put the navigation horizontally and put the search box in the table. Just a suggestion. One last thing, this is no big deal, is that you open another window to get to the forums and another page. I don't think those pages deserve separate windows. I could be wrong on that and it is just differing opinions on style. The main thing with me is the navigation and the search box. Otherwise, the site is great. Good job.