South Africa: Traveller's website

Are you doing some work on here or something? The last time I checked there were a background image but now it's not there. Oddly, it's appearing on the forums page but not the other pages.

A few things to consider:

• The topic of the site needs to be more obvious. The title and background image made it look like a travel site, but the content got me confused. Then there was the sidebar with the language switcher (that still pointed to English content), and the login box (what do I need to log in for here???)
• The design still looks rather drupal-ish. I shouldn't be able to tell by looking at it that it's running Drupal. Did you start with one of the default themes? I find that you usually have to start from scratch or look for a bare bones theme.
• If there's a title in the graphic there's no need to repeat it in text. If you're worried about search engines, either put the logo in with alt text or use image replacement to put in the image instead of your h1.
• The grey background doesn't work well with the header image. Try white or maybe a yellow-ish pulled from the image.
• It might be nice to have a bit more in the header image. It's too simple right now with the logo shoved all the way to the left. Look for a better landscape photo and try moving that logo a bit to the right.
• Check your link hover colours. IN the forum there's a white hover on a white background.

Hi Megan,

Thanks for the comments.

No I wasn't doing work on it. Which background image? What does it look like?

The topic of the site needs to be more obvious. The title and background image made it look like a travel site, but the content got me confused. Then there was the sidebar with the language switcher (that still pointed to English content), and the login box (what do I need to log in for here???)

Okay, I'll look at that.

The languages section is a bit of a problem as I had intended to have my partner translate for me as she spoke Spanish, French, Italian and German. Shirley and I had been living together for 16 years but she had a massive heart attack a couple of months ago. She is a huge loss.

The design still looks rather drupal-ish. I shouldn't be able to tell by looking at it that it's running Drupal. Did you start with one of the default themes? I find that you usually have to start from scratch or look for a bare bones theme.

I'm not too worried about this, I suspect that once I rearrange the blocks it will be a little more difficult to tell.

If there's a title in the graphic there's no need to repeat it in text. If you're worried about search engines, either put the logo in with alt text or use image replacement to put in the image instead of your h1.

Yes, I'll take that out.

Thanks for the criticism. I'll look into it.

I think it would benefit from some further layout or a background image, at the moment I'm finding it hard to seperate out which parts of the page are which.

You have a skip to navigation button that points to #navigation in the top right corner but it doesn't seem to do anything, I assume this is something that is still under construction.

I like the routwise logo but I'd be tempted to remove the post, I don't think it adds anything to the logo and would possibly look better without it.

I know it's a small thing (literally) but I can't tell what your favicon is and for me it makes it look a little messy. I'd be tempted to go with a Yellow Box with a green R in it to match the logo.

Honestly , I can say that , its not good web site for any user to stay on your site , You need batter and batter design to stay him on you site

Thank you all.

I've updated it and changed the theme.

Okay, here goes. Your site could be a lot better. I surf for info about South Africa all the time because I find it's a fascinating place of modern and traditional, western European culture and African fusion culture. The fact that SA has so many different languages in daily use and still functions as a democracy is amazing! It has one of the most beautiful cities on the planet in Capetown; it's wine regions are world renowed (I have purchased SA wines here in Canada and they are wonderful!). A mix of history, tribes, religions, races and cultures that (more or less) function together and make this country a one-of-a-kind destination.

Unfortunately, your website captures none of this. The homepage is quite bland. I would like to get the feeling that you (your name is never mentioned as far as I can see) are my tour guide and will personally whisper into my ear all the fascinating tidbits about your wonderful country. The home page needs more informal text about who you are, what you can show and tell me, and many more pics. Introduce yourself, tell me a story, such as why I would want you to guide me thru SA. Engage me, fascinate me.

The layout of your website is ok, but it is lacking in content, in my opinion. The page about culture has one article about the Zulu, which is a bit interesting, but again, no pics, no graphics to illustrate where the Zulu live in SA, the types of homes they live in, their role in SA society or history etc.

I found your map to be a bit problematic. I had a difficult time making it larger to see what I wanted to see, without it disappearing into the top right hand corner of the page. Also, it might be helpful to have one really good political type map, then other maps for weather, geographic features and maybe even ethnic or language distribution.

I think you should feature something on your site about the wine-making regions, and also something distincitvie about the largest cities, such as Cape Town, JoBurg, Durban etc. If I was travelling from Canada to visit your country, I'd be thinking about these cities and the wine regions as primary destinations, and the wildlife tours/packages as secondary. That's just me. Other tourists might be interested primarily in the wildlife. I didn't see anything about the diversity of plant and animal life, which SA has an abundance of.

I hope I haven't been too harsh; I simply think you've missed scads of fascinating information about SA that could be mined for your site. Many more pics, and much more in-depth information.

Frank

Hello Davy,
It's a nice and helpful website first. Here is my 2 cents.
- Your site is providing Travel information for the Traveler in South Africa. So, it might be better if you could use a picture of South Africa as the homepage header imagine. Right now it's somthing with red sun. I can't see it's a site about travel in South Africa.
- Could you have a site of Contact us and About us?
- Nothing happend when I click "Deutsch". It might be more fun if you just put ome site with one line "Guten Tag! Herzlich welkomen : )
- Nothing happend when I click "Accommodation". I understood you haven't got time to make it. I think it would be better if you could just provide a link to South Africa Government Travel Site as a temporary page

It is a nice website but I believe your website will be better when you have done some modification on your design , such as layout or images.
1. The logo image is a bit bigger at your homepage and seems like not to fit your homepage. Additionally, the background of this image is a bit strong to your other color.
2.As your website is providing travel information, in my view, it is better to add more animated stuff at your website ,such as interactive image or others to replace some texts.
3. I know you use Drupal to develop your website. I think you may use other templates or themes to make your site more functional and attractive.

Good job and need a bit improvement.

I like your web site, especially the Weather section.

However the web content would benefit from including more images and functionality for other sections. It is a bit misleading on your target audience regarding the content.

I especially liked the theme; it is easy on the eyes and eye-catching at the same time (a first time visitor will like that) and the support for multiple languages is definitely a bonus.

Good work!

Hello there,
as for design, the header looks pretty good while the layout in general is too simple. I suppose it should reflect the African atmosphere somehow but at the moment it looks rather like some standard blog.
Also it definitely lacks a photo section.