REVIEW REQUEST: The Silo Network

First problem - I have no idea what this site is about. No clue whatsoever. Now, I think of silos as being on farms, but for some reason I don't think that's what you're talking about here. The navbar doesn't help either - seems like there's not a lot of real content here at all.

It tends to be difficult to comment on a site when you don't know the subject matter. I feel that a design should always be appropriate for the subject. Here, I have no idea.

I think this doesn't look bad overall. The blue provides a nice contrast against the black and white. I like the way you've used the city scape picture in the header area - it provides some much needed depth. I like the font you've choen for the logo but the text should be rearranged somehow. "The" and "|" seem separate from "Silo Network". Also "Silo Network" are the most important words and should therefore be larger than "the". The words need to relate to each other visually a lot more than they are now.

Try to find something more interesting to do with the navbar. This really is rather dull and those links could easily be confused with plain text. Definitely style them differently somehow, and consider adding some graphic headers or something to make that areas more interesting.

Overall, not a bad start.

P.S. Much better than the dark design you have on the old site.

A few problems, but they shouldn't be to hard to fix.

1. The nav bar - try moving it so it's not touching the edge of the browser. The links should also be a size larger.

2. The background image looks good, isn't so dark as to overlap text.

3. The slogan should be bigger, or in another color. Very hard to read.

4. The "quick links" logo also seems to blur together.

And like Megan said, it would be easier to make further judgements if we knew exactly what type of site it is.

"Within our walls you will find great many great things"

I think it really needs some content which would size it better. (make it complete)
If your pages aren't going to be long, take off the "quick links" as they are the top three links on the navigation section.

That background, if you added some white space to the top of it, it would readable, at the moment its tucked under the blue section, maybe make it a fraction wider as well. (I use one like this on my HTML site) Or even use it as a fixed background, fixed in the content area.

I personal don't like the font you used for the logo but thats what this is all about, to get peoples opinions.
Whats the text next to the building say, "VB" or "V2" or "V8"?

I'll add an "about us" page to my site. I forgot all about it. I've fixed up the header image, the words are now all together and the slogan is bigger and easier to read. The text next to the building was actually V2, which stood for Version 2. I have removed it. If I were to get rid of the quick links what else could I put up there?

I've applied a blue colour to the links so they look different from the normal text. I might add some "header" images to the menu at a later date. Right now I think content is in my best interest. I'll add a few pixels between the broswer and the nav bar so it isn't all bunched up against the screen.

The answer you have all been waiting for. What is my site about?
This site is the good old webmaster resource site offering tutorials, generaters, discussion forum, etcetera. Pretty standard really. At the moment I haven't got much content up.

Why choose SILO? the site has nothing to do with grain, crops or missiles!

I would have the actual logo in a different colour to make it stand out and I don't like the blue scrollbar. It is hard to tell without content on there what it is going to look like properly.

Quote: Why choose SILO? the site has nothing to do with grain, crops or missiles!

It's probably me imagining this, but for some reason I'm reminded of Command and Conquer: Red Alert — was that not the main content of a previous site under the same name?

(maybe not... I think it's just me...)

Anyway, I haven't much advice regarding design that's not already been mentioned, so I'll instaead just tell you about your navigation system.

Try going to http://silo.newezone.com/page.php?anything_goes_here_such_as_aasjgjhgdgdjkfgs - and ugly error is thrown up. It's something most coders miss. I don't know how much of a security risk it is, but I hate leaving a system open to error anyhow. You'll probably want to use a file_exists() procedure to check if the file exists (duh ), and if not, redirect to a cleaner error page, or your home page.

I don't know how often other people screw up URLs so they hit an error like that, but I frequently do... (it's not me, it's the clipboard).

Anyway, good luck with your site.

See, I think that the purpose of the site should be obvious right away - hopefully the content you put on the front page can do something to resolve any ambiguities.

The logo text is better, but now you should move it closer to the picture. Remember that you want to create relationships between important elements. You could even try moving the "the" to go under the cut off angle of that picture.

P.S. The reaosn I like this font is because it creates a really good look and feel and works well with the picture. It's not a particularly well done font, but I guess you could consider that a design element in itself.

Quote: Originally posted by Abhishek Reddy
It's probably me imagining this, but for some reason I'm reminded of Command and Conquer: Red Alert — was that not the main content of a previous site under the same name?

(maybe not... I think it's just me...)

Go to the head of the class. My old site was The Nukesilo, which had content based on the game Command and Conquer. Call me lazy, but I just went with the name The Silo Network.

A silo stores grain doesn't it? Well I chose it because its sort of like "The Storage Network", saying that we have a whole pile of content that has been collected waiting to be read.

Quote:
Try going to http://silo.newezone.com/page.php?anything_goes_here_such_as_aasjgjhgdgdjkfgs - and ugly error is thrown up. It's something most coders miss. I don't know how much of a security risk it is, but I hate leaving a system open to error anyhow. You'll probably want to use a file_exists() procedure to check if the file exists (duh ), and if not, redirect to a cleaner error page, or your home page.

I'll see what I can do about that. But I wasn't the one who wrote the code so I'm not the stupid one. lol

Quote: Originally posted by Megan
The logo text is better, but now you should move it closer to the picture. Remember that you want to create relationships between important elements. You could even try moving the "the" to go under the cut off angle of that picture.

P.S. The reaosn I like this font is because it creates a really good look and feel and works well with the picture. It's not a particularly well done font, but I guess you could consider that a design element in itself.

I'll have another go at the header. I might be able to change it around a little more. BTW, This new layout has gone live. Go to http://silo.newezone.com/index.php to see it.

I liked it. Easy to navigate. But there is the question, what is this site all about? It looks like a webmaster resource site, and if that is so it should be stated clearly somewhere. One other thing: Why can't you use the same graphics/ colors on the forum that are used on the rest of the site?

It looks good so far. I really like the logo. My critisms...

1.) I don't like how the links get bigger on the left side when you roll over them. Bold is fine, different color, but not bigger. This is being nitpicky though.

2.) Less white space in the main section. The Tutorials page is good, just too much white space on the main page.

3.) Personally I dispise the colored scrolling bar. A touch of a color isn't bad, but as blue as you have it makes it hard on the eyes.

and

4.) I agree with what JohnScott777 said. Whats the site about? I am a true believer that any visitor should be able to tell you exactly what your site is about and does within 5 seconds of being to your page. Otherwise your chances of losing that visitor is very good.

I have added some descriptive text about my site in the title. This should fix any confusions about the subject of the site. I'm making a new skin at the moment, if you visit the forum you'll see what I mean. The links now don't get bigger when you hover over them, instead they will now just change change colour. The white space on the main page is gone. BTW, What other colours could be used on the scrollbar?

I personally think there should be some descriptive text on the actual page not just in the title which I'm sure many people don't actually look at! I think the links should be bigger as they look a bit lost as they are now with such big headers above them. As for the scrollbar, IMO it should be left alone as the browser default and not coloured at all.

The scrollbar has now been left alone and I have made the links one point bigger, but where could I put some descriptive text on the main page? The only option I can think of could be to have a splash page..?

Your site looks good but don't know the purpose. It appears like a site where you post anything that was on your mind or of things that interest you. Good Luck!

Look right above the news, it's now printed as clear as day.
Any other comments on my site?

Good Job! Your site already makes much more sense. Build on that and skies the limit. Good Luck!

Hi, im not going to repeat what others have said already, but I would put a short description of the site with your links.

But other than than that, it loads fast and had a clean look to it. Im not big on the colors myself but it looks pretty good.

But hey, who am I to talk about colors visit

http://www.maximum-digital.com

now that has color heehee

Keep up the good work.

Done deal

Thanks for the comment pfeiffdog.
Point taken about the colour donedeal. I'll hop over and review your site now.

Really like the site, layout, and colors you chose. Very clean, functional, and easy to navigate. The font used for your logo fits well with the picture next to it. Only complaint on the logo is the line that seperates "the" from "silo network" adds a little bit of confusion to the title. Nothing major, just being picky.

overall 8/10.

Thanks for the comments Audigy. I'll see what I can do about the line on the header image.