Website critique

[Forsaken_Saint]

I'm not sure if this falls into this forum or CGHMN, but I am having to build a website for the History Honors Society at my University, I wanted to get some thoughts on the site.

http://www.vpsa.txstate.edu/chris/pat/index.htm

first off, I know the links aren't working because this isn't the permanent server. Basically I am wanting design thoughts.
Are the colors alright?
Fonts?
Would it be easy for non-computer people to follow the links?


Thanks,

Saint

 

[Jgedeon]

IMO, it looks nice and clean. Did notice on your drop down menus that the gray background when hovering doesn't reach the end of all the words. Do you also have a navigation way for those browsers where javascript is disabled?

 

[BillLeeLee]

It's fine, but it displays differently in IE and Firefox. In IE, the bottom has the maroon background. In IE, it has the same color as the background (slate grey I guess).

 

[Pirate Pete]

From a functional standpoint, most users who use a website look for links to look a certain way. The "zeta zigma nationals and calande"r sorta run together and don't give an impression of a link to me. It wasn't until I read this thread more carefully that I even knew they were links.

It looks clean, which I can appriciate. Not sure how I feel about the cream colored background. Maybe try something a little less modern. The site without it has a sort of older, more mature and prestigious feel to it. The creme, to me, takes away from that.

One last minor nuance, don't center text thorughout the site, it gets harder to read the more of it there is. Just left justify it. over all, I like it.

 

[PopeKevinI]

Heading: Looks good; classy and professional. Something about the text arrangement feels a bit "off" to me, but that might just be me. It just doesn't seem quite as...balanced...as it could be.

Menus: I agree with what was said above: they don't stand out. I knew what they were because you used a very standard site format, but to more novice users who don't spend hours a day on the web, those can get lost with the heading they so artfully match. You need to do somthing to make them stand out...I'd personally bring them down maybe five or eight pixels, push them to the right a bit, and underline them (as in draw a line several pixels below the word as part of the image). That will make them "pop" a bit more without disrupting the overall look of the site.

Body: Definitely left-justify it. Since you built the site for 800x600, you might even try breaking it up into two columns if that works with your content. That's a lot of text to read in one line; most people's eyes will want to stop and go to the next line about 2/3 through one of those. Just food for thought.

Also, I agree that the background color doesn't quite work there. Something a little more muted would work well. I don't have my utilities at the office, so I'll give you what I can:

The RGB numbers for the color you used are 254/247/197. After half a minute of tweaking I tried 231/226/202. It's not quite the color I'd use, but it's close enough. Here's the difference:



Overall: a good page, especially due to its simplicity of design and function.

 

[Thunder]

Very nice, I have visited many Texas university pages and I qouldnt have thought twice about that not being part of one, very professional looking, GJ.

 

[doh]

Invalid HTML.

Your menus overlap outside the text border.

Furthermore, use CSS menus.

Tables for layout == Bad. But considering you're using javascript for simple menus I'm not surprised.

 

[PopeKevinI]

Invalid HTML.

Your menus overlap outside the text border.

Furthermore, use CSS menus.

Tables for layout == Bad. But considering you're using javascript for simple menus I'm not surprised.

I didn't look at the code. Good points. Read up on CSS. I'm just getting the hang of modern HTML myself, but I can tell you that CSS would refine that page remarkably.

The design is still quite good

 

[maw]

Are the colors alright?
- unless maroon and yellow are the school colors, i'd say change the yellow, or change the light grey background. the background doesn't give enough contrast against the yellow.
- same issue with the colors of your logo fonts. the grey is a bit too light, it's not making the text "pop", so it just looks flat and uninteresting.

Fonts?
-default font-size isn't bad, but your main content probably should be left-justified instead of centered.

Would it be easy for non-computer people to follow the links?
- the menu system seems responsive enough, though it is a little disorienting when the pointer changes from a hand to a cursor whenever i hover. people are used to seeing a hand pointer to indicate links.
- make sure people can still navigate your site if they have javascript turned off.

Other
- the address and contact info stuff should probably be on it's own page under a link called "Contact Us"
- it could use some padding and whitespace, especially in regards to the nav menu
- there seems to be some alignment issues with the picture and it's container, it's not sitting properly inside the lines.

 

[PopeKevinI]

Are the colors alright?
- unless maroon and yellow are the school colors, i'd say change the yellow, or change the light grey background. the background doesn't give enough contrast against the yellow.
- same issue with the colors of your logo fonts. the grey is a bit too light, it's not making the text "pop", so it just looks flat and uninteresting.

Aside from the body background, I rather like the colors. It give a classy look to the site. "Pop" is overrated (see my post above about the background color)

- make sure people can still navigate your site if they have javascript turned off.

This can't be stressed enough.

the address and contact info stuff should probably be on it's own page under a link called "Contact Us"

I think it works where it is, though I would go ahead and set up a "contact us" menu item as well. It's something a lot of people (including myself) look for.

there seems to be some alignment issues with the picture and it's container, it's not sitting properly inside the lines.

I'm not entirely sure it's supposed to be in the lines. I rather think it looks good the way it is.

 

[maw]

Aside from the body background, I rather like the colors. It give a classy look to the site. "Pop" is overrated (see my post above about the background color)

on a second look, i have to agree with you, the colors have indeed grown on me. the problem is definately with the background color. I still stand by my "pop" statement though the grey font color just doesn't stand out very well.

I'm not entirely sure it's supposed to be in the lines. I rather think it looks good the way it is.

it looks kind of sloppy to me. the top line goes right through the building, and since the bottom of the image is straight and flat, it just looks like it should be at the same level as the bottom line.

 

[Forsaken_Saint]

I will see if I some everybody up in one post.

1. The yellow background broke up the maroon (which is the official University Maroon) but I do kinda like the muted color suggested by Kevin.

2. As for the line going across the banner, originally they weren't there, then I accendently increaced canvas size on the image, and those lines appeared, and I thought it made for a good break under Texas State University.

3. I have heard comments from other friends of mine that the grey text on the banner looked a little drab and needs a little more color.

4. The left justification may be the way to go.

5. As for adding Links that work without Javascript enabled, where would you recommend putting them so not to disrupt the cleanness of the page?

Overall the members and faculty advisor were floored, they loved it and wanted to submit it to nationals because, as a whole their aren't very many good sites for a history based organization.

BTW- here is the original site, http://www.txstate.edu/history/phialphatheta/index.html


Thanks to everyone for their responses, I will have to implement some of these changes, and learn more about CSS

 

[PopeKevinI]

I will see if I some everybody up in one post.

1. The yellow background broke up the maroon (which is the official University Maroon) but I do kinda like the muted color suggested by Kevin.

2. As for the line going across the banner, originally they weren't there, then I accendently increaced canvas size on the image, and those lines appeared, and I thought it made for a good break under Texas State University.

3. I have heard comments from other friends of mine that the grey text on the banner looked a little drab and needs a little more color.

4. The left justification may be the way to go.

5. As for adding Links that work without Javascript enabled, where would you recommend putting them so not to disrupt the cleanness of the page?

Overall the members and faculty advisor were floored, they loved it and wanted to submit it to nationals because, as a whole their aren't very many good sites for a history based organization.

BTW- here is the original site, http://www.txstate.edu/history/phialphatheta/index.html


Thanks to everyone for their responses, I will have to implement some of these changes, and learn more about CSS

1.

2. I still kind of like the lines. He's got a point about the straight edge at the bottom, but I can't think of a good way to remedy that without looking a little goofy. The only thing that immediately springs to mind is using an elliptical crop to round the bottom of the image, but I'm not so sure that's the way to go.

3. You might lighten up the gray a bit (also, try bolding the letters where you can...that'll make them a little stronger), but I like the gray-on-maroon thing. It's different, very easy to read, and has a classic print look you don't see often on web sites.

4. Definitely. I still like the idea of columns, but only if your content warrants it.

5. Read the CSS menus link provided earlier. You can do pretty much the same thing without the javascript. That way you'd only have one menu to maintain (btw, I'd really suggest using SSI for your header and menu rather than building into the HTML of each page...that's a pain to update). I still say you should pad the menu down and to the right a bit more, and underline it (I'll edit with an image to demonstrate in a few minutes).

edit: here you go. Lousy thumbnails