REVIEW REQUEST: The Dugout

Are you sure that you have posted the correct URL? I have looked everywhere for the silver batter and don't see him.

OH!!! I put in a website address I used a few years ago! I wrote the title correct but then wrote a different one in the post. I'll fix it now to http://softball.at/charlotte. Thanks.

Try again.

Nevermind...here it is. The period was included in the URL.
http://softball.at/charlotte

This seems to be the right one - http://softball.at/charlotte
Having a period at the end of the url seems to be causing problems.

That logo is pretty cool looking. That's a nice aspect for the site. The thing that's missing when I look over the design is a navbar - maybe it's because what you have is not working in my browser... if you're using java, or flash, or something like that for navigation you should really provide a text-based option for those of us who can't see it for whatever reason (I usually surf with java turned off). That applet also seems to be taking awhile to load for me (using opera 6). The "extra innings" link is a big problem on there, since the font is so much smaller than it is on the other buttons. It not only looks bad, but it's also hard to read. You might want to seriously consider using a different form of navigation.

Okay, so the logo looks great. The rest of the design doesn't quite measure up to it though. I'm finding the left sidebar to be very cluttered with the batter image, the navbar, and the three logo buttons down at the bottom. I would find another place for those - maybe in a horizontal line along the bottom of the page. The difference between the background colours seems odd to me as well.

The content area also needs some work in terms of organization. The "news" header is a particular problem in my opinion - it's just seems out of place. I also think that the opening paragraph there is kind of redundant - your logo really says it all as far as explaining what the site is about. Also avoid centering things - it just looks unprofessional on a screen.

if your applet doesnt work in macs, dont use it, redo it with flash or something, or just use images with mouse over which would be a easier and faster method. that was until i clicked on a link lol, ok forget the image one, use flash

the font size (main content) is same in Opera6 and IE, but slighty smaler in NS.
I like your banner/logo too, its very well done

looking at your soucre code (no right clicks are useless) you need to use width, height and alt tags in all your images, some images have some but not the others.
also why do you have all those hidden links at the bottom of your page?

You should think about using style sheets (CSS) to control things like fonts etc, this way you can control the whole sit layout from one file

Very nice logo. I agree that the batter looks out of place. May just be the color of him though. Definately re-think your navigaion. The nav shows up for me in IE 6.0 and isn't that dreadful (after it loads...i dislike those gray applet place holders) but the "windows looking"?? menu that pops out is funky looking. Two totally different styles.

The little down arrow that is below the "Extra Innings" link in your nav isn't clear as to where it goes until you click on it.

Check all of your html tags and make sure that they are in the correct order.

There is something about the page that looks unfinished. Can't put a finger on it though. I think it is something with the table that your main content is in. You need something at the top of the main content like maybe a sub heading/title. I see that you are using the yellow bat at the top of some of the other pages. I would just use text there. Not crazy about that bat.

I really dig that logo.

I think the top logo pretty cool and i like the silver batter but maybe color could be changed to blend into the top logo colors? None of my info probably will help you i dont know what the names for all the parts of the website are (i'm super amatuer you're like AAA and i'm still on sandlot) But reading through it the sight seems to be an excellent resource like if I was new to charlotte played softball this would be the place I'd like to go to get on a team or join league etc.
The grey drop down or drop to the side menu when you hit a main link is there any way they can be same color as the links and like drop straight down expanding the table or nav bar? Also is there anway when you click one of those links it would be the sound of ball hitting bat then crowd cheering? I like the link under nav bar that has a litlle home plate that takes you.... home, it took me awhile to figure it out but think its a nice touch especially because people should be familiar withit because they play or are interested in softball. wish i could be more knowledgeable and help but I like the site think it good idea... Joenov

The site looks pretty good. You are bound to have problems with the code and some browsers though.

• Logo - looks great
• Navigation and Layout - Not intuitive. I first clicked on the link and waited... Duh, a little submenu popped out. Then after clicking on the links, the links overlapped each other adding to the confusion. I also didn't see a home button. I finally figured out that the home plate was the home link. That was cool but it should be made bigger with text also signifying it's purpose. If you are going to use a menu/sub-menu system then I would get one that shows the sub-menus on rollover, not on click. I personally don't like the sub-menu type of system. The layout was okay, but it needs something. I am not sure what though.
• Code - Must you use frames? One of my least favorite things on a site. I don't think that they are necessary on your site. The code on your pages is quite bulky and full or errors and some deprecated tags. Try never to use tags except inside of tags. You used them for nav spacers and for table spacers. I would create an external stylesheet and use it to rid yourself of font tags. I also am curious about the use of the no-right-click script. The script is not effective and is mostly an annoyance to people. Besides what is there to steal? I would clean up the code by putting everything in tables.

Overall impression is good. I would just work to get some of the problems fixed.

Thanks for the advice everyone. I knew the navigation needed to be better but I thought it could wait a little while. I guess I really shouldn't wait on that aspect. I chose it because I needed a lot of sub sub-menus but for now I'll use simple text links, which will also aid in search engines (that's why I had those hidden links at the bottom).

As for some other issues:

The frame at the bottom is from an URL redirection service. I'll drop that and get a real URL if this becomes more popular (and I'll also add my own forum rather than a 3rd party)

The "No-right click" is a habit from my only "real" website CharlotteMLB.com. I have copyrighted graphics that are unavailable anywhere else on the internet and I found people taking them and putting them on their 'geocities-type' homepages. It isn't as important for this content.

I'm not too familitar with using CSS for anything more than changing the hover color of links, but I'll look into it more.

Well Thanks again. I've got to "launch it" soon because the season is coming up. I'll fix the most importnat aspects before launching and then fix it up much more after that.

P.S. I tried to review some other sites here but they all look so great to me, so I've got no constructive criticism. I wish mine could ever look that good. Thanks agian and I'll let you know when I've come up with a new and improved version.

Quote: posted by fifeclub
P.S. I tried to review some other sites here but they all look so great to me, so I've got no constructive criticism.

reviews can be good and bad, people love to hear what a good looking, easy to follow web site they have (if they are), just saying you like their site could make their day , but only say it if you mean it, no one likes getting false hope. If someones site has problems, code errors, clashing colors ... then its better if they knew this, as thats what they are here for.
whether it be good or bad, having mutli outlooks on the same site is helpful to all.

remember to smile as it confuses people

I think everything has been said about the site. Good start and with some tweaking it should come together really well. I don't think the batter is bad but maybe would look better in a different colour.

For CSS here are some tutorials

http://www.mako4css.com/index.htm
http://hotwired.lycos.com/webmonkey/authoring/stylesheets
http://www.pageresource.com/dhtml/indexcss.htm
http://www.wdvl.com/Authoring/Design/Layout/Style.html

And for actually creating the stylesheets this is a good utility: http://www.bradsoft.com/topstyle/index.asp

I'll add one more -
it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to easily read any of the white text in the main body part of your pages except for the bold headings as - for my eyes 0 there is too little contrast between your background and the white text. Even if I could distinguish the text, it's too small.
(Every now and then I run across a site say with a black background and dark blue text that I really want to read and have to copy and paste the text into Notepad or something to actually be able to read it. Similar situation for me here - if I wanted to read it, it would be a big effort!)

Modemsite, another way to read text on a conflicting site is to select all from your tool bar and thus making it easy to read, unless its in a graphic then your stuffed.

Hi. I'm back. Those of you who remember what my site looked like last month... please erase that image out of your mind. It was horrible.

Here's my new design. It's not too fancy. The key I'm looking for right now is SIMPLE FUNCTIONALITY and BROWSER COMPATIBILITY. I'll worry about eye candy later. The only things I'm concerned with now is are there any problems?

Before I list the url, there's several known issues you must ignore.
1) The CSS links in the menu section aren't the right color in NS4, but they do work in IE4+ and NS6.
2) I'm still working on gettng the forums integrated into my template. When I do, they won't pop-out and I'll make them the right colors, so ignore the forums all together.

Here's the url:
http://www.charlottemlb.com/softball/home.shtml

Thanks a bunch. And I'll get my 3 more minimum in soon.

Ya gotta love that logo at the top.

Are you planning to leave the font size of the paragraph at the top of the home page bigger than the rest? I think I would make it the same as the paragraphs below it.

I know you are working out some CSS problems now but if you plan to leave the font tags in your code, put them inside the tags.

The italic "Batter UP, Parks and Bullpen" may look better if they weren't italic.

I have tried to let that background grow on me but it just isn't growing too well. LOL Personal preference but I don't like it. As the pages load you see the white background and I think that looks better because the green in the bg and the green of the side bar don't match.

You have done a nice job on this site. Congrats.

Very nice but I agree with DM, I don't like the background and think white or a solid colour would look much better. Keep the font size the same for your text and don't underline things as it makes them look like links & talking of which, why is the Parks Map link underlined when the others aren't?

Thanks again. I'm guessing that since we're just talking about colors and backgrounds (and not table errors) that there's nothing major anybody sees to stop me from launching this week (I'm on a deadline to keep up with the fast approaching softball season).

Some of the things you mentioned are exactly dead-on right. I already hate that faded-grass background too. I do plan on changing it to solid white but the reason I haven't yet is becasue I need to fix a lot of graphics first, which will take a little time. But it is high on my post-launch to-do list.

Same goes for the loose font tags. Just a matter of finding time. After I get everything running I'll go back and clean it up.

And as for the underline on the "Parks Map" link, my reasons are that although it is a link, it is 'above' all the other parks listed below. That page actually just contains graphical links to the same parks listed below it. I know it looks wierd but I figured it had to be singled out somehow as not being like the others in that list.

Thanks again everyone.

Looking better. I definitely agree about the page background. Definitely change that to white. I would also make some changes to all the colours, actually, to get more of a coherent look with a defined set of a few colours. Take the colours from the logo - black, yellow, white, and red, and use only those colours. The green on the left navbar is what I'm particularly seeing as a problem - it just doesn't seem to fit in. I would just change that to black, or maybe a dark red. Also bump those nav items in from the left margin a little bit. I still think that those bat shape header things should be removed; they're pretty cheesy looking.