What do you think about my site?

They have: 54 posts

Joined: Dec 2000

This is the second website I make and it's for this guy named Gibson Dorcé that sings opera. Let me know what you think of it. I have it in hypermart just as a test site so please don't mind the pop-ups, I dind't put them there, hypermart did and they won't be there when I register. It's at http://marinedog.hypermart.net

Megan's picture

She has: 11,421 posts

Joined: Jun 1999

Just quickly - I definitely think you should do something with the menu. Because of the topic for your site I think it would be more appropriate to do a graphic menu instead of the dHTML thing you're using there. Use the same font as the header graphic - that would look nice. Otherwise the site looks pretty good!

Just so you know - that menu DOES work in NS6 - a lot of those dHTML scripts don't.

They have: 677 posts

Joined: Mar 1999

Isnt to bad so far, a nice color scheme you have there, and thats a great start.

Maybe use the blue bar on the left and put your navigation in there, that would be better for a site such as this, I have a feeling that most of the people using this site wont have the best dhtml viewable browsers.

On the resume page, maybe use a table instead of having everything seperated by ".............". That would make it more professional.

On the sound clips page, try using a better table color then green. On a Grey Green White site, it doesnt blend.

On the Photo's page, the buttons of Professional, Personal, are a little big, and with the red text, it makes them tlook even worse.

The photo's themself, I think would look good with a black line or such around them, but thats just me.

Good job so far though.

Ken Prescott

They have: 54 posts

Joined: Dec 2000

Thank you for your replies. I'll try to fix that a.s.a.p. But the mp3 files don't want to download for some reason. I set it so that visitors can view and have access to it but it still won't work.

mairving's picture

They have: 2,256 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

It looks a little bit barren with the menu hidden as it is. Here are some things that need work:

  • Little bit rough on the English

    Quote: from your website Welcome to the website of Gibson Dorce, bass-baritone. Here you will find information on the work he has done in opera. There are samples of selected areas as well as sacred songs from his repertoire. You can glimpse in the photo gallery, and you will see him in full costume, representing the different roles he performed. There photos of his family also. Simply move your mouse over the "side menu" tap to the left.

    I know that this may be a rough draft but things like "There photos of his family also" and "glimpse in the photo gallery" are not proper English.

  • Picture - Here is picture of an Opera Singer dressed like a blue collar worker (short sleeves and a tie). I would get a picture that makes him look more like an Opera Singer.
  • Netscape shiftiness - their appear to be some rough spots in your tables caused some indents where there should not be in Netscape 4.7. The js worked fine though.
  • Side Menu - assume that people that come to a website are stupid. If you have to explain to them how to use the menubar, then you can bet that most won't figure it out. Also if you do use the menubar, then I would be consistent. Right now everything has one line except for Bios/Email on the same line. To be consistent, put it on the same line.
  • MP3's - you will run into problems with using MP3's. Since there is no true MIME standard, they will usually have to be downloaded first to play properly.
  • Layout - after looking at the layout for awhile, I think the background is okay. The white content table in the middle needs something. Not quite sure what. Maybe it is the drop shadow on two sides and a fade of white table into background that caught my eye.

Overall impression was pretty good. It had a generally clean look to it. I am not so sure if the pop-out menu is such a good fit for this site. Those types of menus are generally more effective on a content heavy site, where eyeball space is mostly filled.

Mark Irving
I have a mind like a steel trap; it is rusty and illegal in 47 states

TheGizmoid's picture

They have: 168 posts

Joined: Apr 2001

Yeah, my first impression of seeing him in a short-sleeved shirt and tie was "software developer" or such. LOL! He's a nice looking man and would be better presented in a tux or a suit or such, more befitting to an opera singer.

The table edges don't line up for me in either NS 4.6 or IE 4.0 (Mac).

Add some more keywords to your title. In NS it's just his name, but you could add "opera singer" or such. In IE it has his name and "January 23, 2106". What's up with that?

The sliding DHTML menu is, IMO, rather irritating, and you'd be better served with a table with a more straightforward nav menu.

Centered text looks less professional and is harder to read than flush left. And please don't make it all bold.

You state he's sung throughout the "tri-county area" but I have no idea where that is.

More grammar: "He is avalaible to sing upon request should his schedule dictates."

There's about a 4" gap of white space on the main page before the copyright stuff.

On the bio page, pad the main cell so the text doesn't bump up against the edges. Also, make your page titles distinctive so that if one uses their "go" menu, they can differentiate between the pages and they don't all have the same title.

Include a horizontal row of text links at the bottom of each page.

On the sound clips page, let people know the size of the MP3s they'd be downloading, so peeps on a dialup know what to expect. We're not all on broadband, ya know?

Sadly, I got 403s trying to download any clips, just when my appetite had been whetted and I was really looking forward to hearing what this guy sounds like. I love classical and was willing to wait however long it took an MP3 to download because I was that curious.

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

I get an error :

Line: 129
Char: 1
Error: Object doesn't support this action

I would use a static navigation, the site just doesn't really warrent this type.

Don't centre text & only use bold text to emphasize certain words or headings.

Get rid of blank space on first page.

On the photos, tell us something about them, at the moment we have to guess who the family ones are.

Stick to the same font throughout the site otherwise it looks disjointed.

Julia - if life was meant to be easy Michael Angelo would have painted the floor....

They have: 21 posts

Joined: Jul 2001

You need a better pic of him on the main page. Ideally, you would put a picture of him peforming there.

When I went to look at one of the pictures there was no links at all. I had to use the back button on the browser.

The vid clips worked for me.

They have: 54 posts

Joined: Dec 2000

How can I fix the tables so that it lines up when you view it in Netscape? I had this same problem in my last site and couldn't figure it out.

They have: 58 posts

Joined: May 2001

I agree with the rest that you should go to a static navigation instead of a DHTML. It doesn't really work with it.

As for the table problems, what version of Netscape are you using and what page are you having the problems? I looked at it in Netscape 4.7, and didn't really see anything wrong.

I also viewed it in IE 6.0 and recieved a runtime error on line 122.

Other than that I think that the site looks good. I like the fancy text that you used for the headers.

Zimbabwe

They have: 54 posts

Joined: Dec 2000

What do you guys mean by static navigation? I kinda know what you mean but I'm not 100% sure.

The Webmistress's picture

She has: 5,586 posts

Joined: Feb 2001

Basically don't use dhtml. Use static text/graphics or rollovers, that show constantly.

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