Very nice web site. The only thing really that I would suggest that be changed is the first page. The image used there is a great one but it is a little big. You have to scroll down to see the whole image and to read "CLICK HERE OR THE PICTURE ABOVE TO GET INSIDE".
This is just my opinion but I think I would make that image about half its size and add some more descriptive text on the first page. That may help with your search engine rankings as well.
Mr. Kidtimer posted this at 19:24 — 14th May 2002.
For my above critique I was viewing the site on IE 6.0.
Looking at it on NS 4.79, I see a few things you may want to check out.
The section on PageID=2 that starts with "The need for control over children’s’ Internet browsing... A special surveillance
camera (ScreenSnapshot) is built into the software, which enables you, via the..." is showing a default font. Looking at your styles I think all you need is the class="content".
On all of the pages in NS at the very bottom where you have the images for About Kidtimer, forum, support and download now....the text for the images are not lined up with the images. Might want to consider making the text clickable as well.
OUCH...on PageID=11 the areas that you enter text in the form are spanning all the way across the page which pushes your right side (green area) off the page. (800X600)
Also on this page the sentence, "Kidtimer™ is available boxed for retail sale." needs class="content".
One other little thing that isn't really a biggie but more FYI. The borders are not showing up in NS 4.79. Here is a screenshot.
Opera 6.0 displays everything fine as far as I can tell with a quick peek.
Looks really nice. I like the distinctive look and feel you have created with the cartoon images and bright colours. Very cute
I do find that there is a little too much text information on the front page. What I would do is separate most of that out and put it on a new page called "Learn more" or something like that (with the screenshot and everything from "How does KidTimer work?" down to the bottom). You could eliminate the "Nowadays, the home computer is a necessity in every household..." part - I'm sure that if people are looking for a product like this they are aware of these sorts of problems.
Found a spelling mistake - at the bottom of the "reasons to buy" page you say "Is your child wondering about without supervision in a community of 500 million inhabitants?" - should be "wandering" not "wondering"
I'll have to tell my friend about this - he's always complaining about his kids fighting over the computer! Seems like a really good idea.
I like it! Nice, colourfull, bold and fun. I do agree though about an awful lot of information on one page, better to break it up into smaller chunks as people will find it easier to digest that way. The only thing that stood out to me was the orange text over the grey KIDTIMER, as I found this harder to read and on the second bit the KIDTIMER in the background doesn't fully show. I love the little characters you have there.
Can you help us out by reviewing some of the other sites posted here for critique please
Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 12:12 — 15th May 2002.
Quote:
I do find that there is a little too much text information on the front page. What I would do is separate most of that out and put it on a new page called "Learn more" or something like that (with the screenshot and everything from "How does KidTimer work?" down to the bottom).
I'll take a different approach to this one.
One can argue that by putting all the information on one page, continuity is maintained.
Personally, I think that as lengthy as the page is (on 800*600), it still works well. It is well divided; has emphasised text; lots of visual impact; listing; and so on. Overall it's well organised. Even the green sidebar is filled up quite nicely all the way to the bottom.
The only downside is that the navigation is lost in scrolling. But then again, you do want customers to read/scan the text first...
Quote:
You could eliminate the "Nowadays, the home computer is a necessity in every household..." part - I'm sure that if people are looking for a product like this they are aware of these sorts of problems.
It could pass as an advertisement technique -- drawing the user in, including them, forcing them to think along those lines, rather than to have them make that decision themselves.
I really like the theme you've used. Very appropriate and professional. I'll have another look soon. Until then, job well done.
Mr. Kidtimer posted this at 17:47 — 15th May 2002.
Thank you all for very nice and helpful reviews.
Especially disaster-master for that well done browser test, thanks I'm working on those bugs.
I see that many of you think that too much text is not good on the frontpage, but Abhishek Reddy seems to understand what I'm trying to do.
It sure is a lot of text one the frontpage, but it's straight forward and simple. The surfer can stop reading after the 1/5 but if you want more you read on, and so on. So if the surfer is easily convinced he just clicks Download now, but if not he reads more.
I think if surfer is not sure he likes the product and not convinced he's not going to click another link, Learn more or Read more about kidtimer, he's just closing the browser, hitting the back button, and gone.
But this way he'll have it all. And organised in that way he just reads what he needs.
Well I guess it's time for me to do some reviews here… !
It sure is a great board! And nice to meet you all!
The reason why I mentioned that is because I wouldn't have thought to scroll down to find that sort of information. I would have expected to find it on another page and would have been looking for an option on the sidebar for it. I probably would have clicked on "Product Info", which actually takes you back to the home page. I wasn't expecting that to happen either.
"When time is up, there will be no squabble; KidTimer makes sure of that!"
"... built into the software. This enables you, via the KidTimer application ..."
"... to each of their children. There will no longer be..." - or at least delete the space in front of the comma
"It?s a medium which provides useful information ..." - also, adda space before and after the ellipsis
"... which can both be easily accessed or is sometimes even thrust upon the unwary computer user, and the monitoring of it can be extremely difficult." - I'd say rewrite this
"... and therefore is difficult to keep out of the reach of children."?
maybe get rid of a "dubious"?
"... in the way pedophiles ... seek to ..."
"... or ... other means of communication ... on the Internet." - just tryin' t' trim this sentence a little - it runs on a bit
"... as specified during the installation process ..."
"Create as many users as you wish -- it's unlimited
"...his own separate settings ..."
"When time is about to expire, Kidtimer tells ..."
"... they have 5 minutes left ..."
"... extra bonus time,by simple entering." - add a space after the comma
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disaster-master posted this at 19:19 — 14th May 2002.
She has: 2,154 posts
Joined: May 2001
Welcome to TWF Daniel.
Very nice web site. The only thing really that I would suggest that be changed is the first page. The image used there is a great one but it is a little big. You have to scroll down to see the whole image and to read "CLICK HERE OR THE PICTURE ABOVE TO GET INSIDE".
This is just my opinion but I think I would make that image about half its size and add some more descriptive text on the first page. That may help with your search engine rankings as well.
Mr. Kidtimer posted this at 19:24 — 14th May 2002.
They have: 4 posts
Joined: May 2002
Thanks for fast response and warm welcomings!
Yes you're totally right on this one.
The first page is made for 1280-960 screen res., but should be for 800*600.
I'll correc that asap.
Best regards,
Mr. Kidtimer (Daniel)
disaster-master posted this at 20:06 — 14th May 2002.
She has: 2,154 posts
Joined: May 2001
For my above critique I was viewing the site on IE 6.0.
Looking at it on NS 4.79, I see a few things you may want to check out.
The section on PageID=2 that starts with "The need for control over children’s’ Internet browsing... A special surveillance
camera (ScreenSnapshot) is built into the software, which enables you, via the..." is showing a default font. Looking at your styles I think all you need is the class="content".
On all of the pages in NS at the very bottom where you have the images for About Kidtimer, forum, support and download now....the text for the images are not lined up with the images. Might want to consider making the text clickable as well.
OUCH...on PageID=11 the areas that you enter text in the form are spanning all the way across the page which pushes your right side (green area) off the page. (800X600)
Also on this page the sentence, "Kidtimer™ is available boxed for retail sale." needs class="content".
One other little thing that isn't really a biggie but more FYI. The borders are not showing up in NS 4.79. Here is a screenshot.
Opera 6.0 displays everything fine as far as I can tell with a quick peek.
Megan posted this at 20:10 — 14th May 2002.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
Looks really nice. I like the distinctive look and feel you have created with the cartoon images and bright colours. Very cute
I do find that there is a little too much text information on the front page. What I would do is separate most of that out and put it on a new page called "Learn more" or something like that (with the screenshot and everything from "How does KidTimer work?" down to the bottom). You could eliminate the "Nowadays, the home computer is a necessity in every household..." part - I'm sure that if people are looking for a product like this they are aware of these sorts of problems.
Found a spelling mistake - at the bottom of the "reasons to buy" page you say "Is your child wondering about without supervision in a community of 500 million inhabitants?" - should be "wandering" not "wondering"
I'll have to tell my friend about this - he's always complaining about his kids fighting over the computer! Seems like a really good idea.
Megan
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The Webmistress posted this at 07:09 — 15th May 2002.
She has: 5,586 posts
Joined: Feb 2001
Hiya & welcome to TWF Daniel,
I like it!
Nice, colourfull, bold and fun. I do agree though about an awful lot of information on one page, better to break it up into smaller chunks as people will find it easier to digest that way. The only thing that stood out to me was the orange text over the grey KIDTIMER, as I found this harder to read and on the second bit the KIDTIMER in the background doesn't fully show. I love the little characters you have there.
Can you help us out by reviewing some of the other sites posted here for critique please
Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....
Abhishek Reddy posted this at 12:12 — 15th May 2002.
He has: 3,348 posts
Joined: Jul 2001
I'll take a different approach to this one.
One can argue that by putting all the information on one page, continuity is maintained.
Personally, I think that as lengthy as the page is (on 800*600), it still works well. It is well divided; has emphasised text; lots of visual impact; listing; and so on. Overall it's well organised. Even the green sidebar is filled up quite nicely all the way to the bottom.
The only downside is that the navigation is lost in scrolling. But then again, you do want customers to read/scan the text first...
It could pass as an advertisement technique -- drawing the user in, including them, forcing them to think along those lines, rather than to have them make that decision themselves.
I really like the theme you've used. Very appropriate and professional. I'll have another look soon. Until then, job well done.
Mr. Kidtimer posted this at 17:47 — 15th May 2002.
They have: 4 posts
Joined: May 2002
Thank you all for very nice and helpful reviews.
Especially disaster-master for that well done browser test, thanks I'm working on those bugs.
I see that many of you think that too much text is not good on the frontpage, but Abhishek Reddy seems to understand what I'm trying to do.
It sure is a lot of text one the frontpage, but it's straight forward and simple. The surfer can stop reading after the 1/5 but if you want more you read on, and so on. So if the surfer is easily convinced he just clicks Download now, but if not he reads more.
I think if surfer is not sure he likes the product and not convinced he's not going to click another link, Learn more or Read more about kidtimer, he's just closing the browser, hitting the back button, and gone.
But this way he'll have it all. And organised in that way he just reads what he needs.
Well I guess it's time for me to do some reviews here… !
It sure is a great board! And nice to meet you all!
Thanks a lot, I'll be back.
Daniel.
Kidtimer.com
Megan posted this at 17:57 — 15th May 2002.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
The reason why I mentioned that is because I wouldn't have thought to scroll down to find that sort of information. I would have expected to find it on another page and would have been looking for an option on the sidebar for it. I probably would have clicked on "Product Info", which actually takes you back to the home page. I wasn't expecting that to happen either.
Megan
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Mr. Kidtimer posted this at 18:15 — 15th May 2002.
They have: 4 posts
Joined: May 2002
Thanks Megan, good point.
I should probably add a new link, "How does it work?"
That would scroll you down to "How does kidtimer work?" with (name anchor).
Daniel.
mmi posted this at 18:42 — 22nd May 2002.
They have: 457 posts
Joined: Jan 2001
hey Daniel - a little more suggested copyediting:
you see this different ways (rules change), but I think children's is more widely accepted
see http://www.bettergrammar.org/5.html
"... and to its time allocating device ..."
"When time is up, there will be no squabble; KidTimer makes sure of that!"
"... built into the software. This enables you, via the KidTimer application ..."
"... to each of their children. There will no longer be..." - or at least delete the space in front of the comma
"It?s a medium which provides useful information ..." - also, adda space before and after the ellipsis
"... which can both be easily accessed or is sometimes even thrust upon the unwary computer user, and the monitoring of it can be extremely difficult." - I'd say rewrite this
"... and therefore is difficult to keep out of the reach of children."?
maybe get rid of a "dubious"?
"... in the way pedophiles ... seek to ..."
"... or ... other means of communication ... on the Internet." - just tryin' t' trim this sentence a little - it runs on a bit
"... as specified during the installation process ..."
"Create as many users as you wish -- it's unlimited
"...his own separate settings ..."
"When time is about to expire, Kidtimer tells ..."
"... they have 5 minutes left ..."
"... extra bonus time,by simple entering." - add a space after the comma
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