Website critique please...

First off in 800*600 there is a big horizontal scroll bar and the blue at the top of the box goes right to the left margin which looks odd. Size wise better at larger resolutions.

Other than that it looks pretty boring I'm sorry to say. The logo is awful as the text is all blocky and very uninteresting and the drop down menus always look bad if they drop down over the logo as yours do and I don't like the rollovers where it changes a box colour.

Sorry to be blunt, but if I was you I'd rethink the layout now before you do too much else.

The logo graphic is, well.. atrocious! I was going to suggest you use a gif then realized it IS a gif. I'd go back to the source on that one.

Also, the blue in the logo doesn't match the blue of the site. Different enough not to match, too similar to contrast.

I too dislike the menu dropping down over the logo. I also dislike that it is the same colour as your background.

Is the great big "Home" really necessary?

Lots of wasted whitespace - top-align your TD tag

Is there a particular reason why I am unable to highlight any of the text with my mouse? I didn't delve into the code to see if there is some script preventing me from doing so.

Typo in "Natural" at the bottom of the page. Also: "across", not "accross"

You've got some positioning problems in NS 6 - the navbar is overlapping the logo. I agree about the way the drop-downs work. They're covering up the logo and you can't distinguish the drop down from the same coloured background behind it.

I also agree about the white space. You have to think of white space as somthing more than empty space - when used correctly as a design element it becomes something of substance, but the way you've used it here it really is nothing. I hope that makes some sort of sense.

Quote:
Bringing Nartural Sunlight into your Life

Okay, how? You need more to provide a better indication of what this company does. Maybe you could incorporate some photos into the header area along with the logo somehow.

I chose contact > GRP (had no idea what that was supposed to take me to) The map there is taking way too long to load and it doesn't look very good either. Try colouring in the different regions and adding in some major cities for reference.

I was going to say that it was poorly coded but then I saw that you used GoLive and that explained it. The code is pretty junky. I try to design a website without using the font, br, and nbsp tags if I can help it. There was one line of code that had three font tags closed in a row. A couple of little things. Instead of script type='text/javascript' , try script type="text/javascript".
There are the usual Netscape alignment problems as well.

Quote: by Taff The logo graphic is, well.. atrocious!

True, if there is no logo, at least anti-alias the text there. I don't like the java menu at the top. The text looks bad because white aliased text on a dark background brings out the worst in jagged edges. I also don't like the style nowadays of using << and >> . It is kind of dated.

The site needs work. I would scrap and start over.

Ouch,
well before anyone else tries the sites down...
I knew there were some small problems, but never expected that backlash...
The logo is the company's and won't be changing, but I agreethat it does look blocky, that's an easy sort though...
The MD of the company wanted the logo at the top so I tried it... I'll probably move it back to the bottom were I had it originally...
anywho thanks for the critic I'll post again later after i've done some work and braced myself...

DavidJaymz

Quote: Originally posted by davidjaymz
P.s be as nasty as you like I want this site to be good...

Sorry man, but ya did ask

Actually, I don't think anyone was nasty, just frank. Take it from someone who has said "ouch" himself a couple of times after asking for opinions - it is all constructive criticism.

Godd luck and post your progress.

It really is not our goal to be nasty. It is our goal to make you better at web design. Sometimes though the truth hurts worse than a lie.

As far as the logo goes. You don't have to change the logo. You just have to redo it. In about 5 minutes in Photoshop, you could recreate it and it anti-alias it. It will look a whole lot better. I look at it like this. Even though it is their logo, it is going on a site that you built. So clean it up a bit.

I didn't reply to this one, i wasn't fast enough, but you might find yourself going Ouch a lot around here. At least i do, but that's a good thing i think. I mean, what good is a critique forum if people sugarcoat their answers, or try to be nice about it if you don't get the help you aske for? Blunt ness is good sometimes, and the vast majority of people here aren't nasty or cruel. Just reember it isn't a personal attack and that makeing websites, like all creative mediums, is a constant learning experience. You can never try all the different script types, like you can never try all the different types of paint types. Three's always something new coming out, or something waiting in the wings to be discvered.

Mmm.. my two cents. Bah.

hi guys,
I know that none of the above was personal, I've seen the help that most of you have given and know that you are being helpful...
It just went from the company liking it to being taken apart here...
Can I ask A quick Q. This site needs to fit 800*600, so how big should I make my holding table so that it fits 800*600 and then when it's shown on a larger res it has that white border...

Thanks again

DavidJaymz

I normally do my tables 750 wide if using pixels otherwise 95% if the content can stretch to fit.

seens as the general concensus was that you didn't like the nav bar at the top where should I put it...
Also do you think i need more colour rather thatn my two blues and white...
any help is always appreciated

... so I don't know why the navbar should go elsewhere. Perhaps because it was positionned to overlap the logo ... in which case change the layout or size of the navbar and/or logo to avoid the overlap.

Where should the navigation be? Where it's obvious to the visitors - which is usually at or near the top of the page.

Colour choices, etc. >> plugs own site halfadot.com/color

NS 4.6, IE 4.0, Mac, 800x600

First of all, get rid of the pop-up ad. If you're using a re-direct service that does that, it would probably be preferable to use the actual URL for the pupose of having it reviewed, since I'm presuming the company will have its own domain and not be hosted under yours?

I use Adobe GoLive 4 and have not had a problem with its code not displaying properly in NS. You might try running it through a validator such as http://validator.w3.org/ or http://www.htmlhelp.com/tools/validator/

There's also a free program called HTML Tidy which will strip your code of any proprietary tags such as those generated by some WYSIWYGs. It's been ported to about every OS, just do a search.

You can disable the GoLive meta generator tag in preferences, BTW.

There are several broken images below your nav bar... (img src="(Empty Reference!)" width="32" height="32" border="0")

In IE, the light blue text on the white background was hard to read. I'd make it darker. In NS, all your text is black, except for the text links at the bottom which are my default link setting of blue, and the heirarchical menu text at the top, which is light blue.

Not all of the links worked for me.

hi guys
At the moment the site is hosted on my domain. but when it goes live it will be on their own site http://www.harcon.co.uk I'll check with the colours and see whats missing...
I put it back so people at work could view it for feedback.. forgot that i'd given the addy here...
(Maybe be getting bruised but) Is this an improvement bar the broken images... which is an idea that i haven't completed yet...
DavidJaymz