Site Check + Interactive Page Questions

"GeoBear" <GeoBear (AT) geobop (DOT) com> wrote

They're probably just jealous because they know nothing about pine trees.

I grew up in a house that had 47+ loblolly pines in the yard. I've rakes
more pinestraw than I care to remember.

OT: what's the goal of your site?

1. It's a revision of my current symbols site, at http://www.geobop.com/symbols/ In fact, I'm revising my entire website and will be splitting it into several separate websites, as well as bringing some new sites online.

2. It's an educational site, but I also want to try to earn some revenue through advertising, affiliate programs, or whatever.

3. I'd like to break into the freelance web design business, and I want to use my websites as an example of my work. "I'm not only the president - I'm a client!"


http://www.geobop.com/, GeoBearATgeobop.com (Replace AT with @)
Interests: Web Design, Linux &amp; Political Reform

H Geo:

"I was surprised at the vehemence of the criticism,"
They're probably just jealous because they know nothing about pine
trees.

I didn't really see any "vehemence" in the critiques posted. Probably just
honesty and said quite nicely - without any malice as far as I can see.

I also "hated" that background - maybe if it had been like a watermark - but
only a slight maybe - Maybe a watermark of a pine tree would be more
suitable. - it really took away from your content and any message you are
trying to portray.

With your change to solid colour - is a little better, though WAY too much
content on one page.
I am not sure about that "lime green" stripe at the top in your header -
doesn't do a think for it - would be much better without it and not detract
from your header image. If you want that stripe, use a softer version of
the dark green of your header and use white text or simlar.

Why not use some matching colours in your menus - take some of the greens
from your new background and use those instead of the red and yellow.

You also mentioned you used 'everything' you had learned about dw and css on
this page - but maybe you have over done it :-) Just because you know it -
doesn't mean you have to use it all at once :-D

Not sure if this helped any as it sounds like you are pretty set with what
you have come up with so far though, just some ideas for you anyway.

Nadia

http://www.perrelink.com.au
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Geo,

As I promised, I took another look. Here are a few comments after a
quick glance:

1) It seems as if you've got numerous overlapping tags, tags that aren't
closed, etc. If you're on DWMX, I think you can run a command called
"Clean up XHTML"? If so, do that.
2) It's better with one column, but it's still ugly and IMHO, it looks
quite amateurish. One reason is the absence of a working color scheme.
Colors like e.g. #99ff00 and #0066ff are too strong and are definitely
not to been seen on the same page.
3) Still too tall. But you have considered breaking it up in different
pages. Do that.
4) That blue/white/red floating menu *is* a PITA, IMO. I didn't have a
clue that it could be moved, and expecting visitors to guess riddles is
not the best usability approach. And when I tried, I couldn't move it at
all (Safari, Mac).
5) If you like to make some statement against IE, go ahead. But your
links to "download Mozilla" and "Why" isn't working on Safari or IE on
Mac. So I assume people need Mozilla to download Mozilla or learn why.
Isn't that a bit awkward?

Oh, and I *DO* have a vast experience from pines!!! While I was working
as a bartender, I made thousands of Pina Coladas with juice from their
apples. ;-)
--
Dan Vendel - *GOF*
http://www.vendel.info
Contact me directly by clicking here:
http://contact.vendel.info
Formmail tutorial:
http://www.vendel.info/tut/formmail.html
Nested table demonstration:
http://www.vendel.info/tabletut/

"1) It seems as if you've got numerous overlapping tags, tags that aren't
closed, etc."

Hmmmm... that's weird; I had the page validated. Maybe I introduced some errors while fiddling with it afterwards. I haven't quite got a handle on some of the mechanisms in this page design, which sometimes does some weird things.

"4) That blue/white/red floating menu *is* a PITA, IMO. I didn't have a clue that it could be moved, and expecting visitors to guess riddles is not the best usability approach. And when I tried, I couldn't move it at all (Safari, Mac)."

I guess I'll have to find a better scrolling menu. There is an IE hack that makes this work with IE, but it caused other problems. I've also been told about a commercial version from Flevooware, or something like that, though it seems to move with a jerky motion.

"5) If you like to make some statement against IE, go ahead. But your links to "download Mozilla" and "Why" isn't working on Safari or IE on Mac. So I assume people need Mozilla to download Mozilla or learn why. Isn't that a bit awkward?"

None of the links are working yet; this is just a dummy page.

Thanks for the tips; I'll get it squared away yet!



http://www.geobop.com/, GeoBearATgeobop.com (Replace AT with @)
Interests: Web Design, Linux &amp; Political Reform