Critique Request

I am having all the cards professionally photographed on this website
and the existing images will be replaced tomorrow or day after. I'd
like feedback on it though. http://www.littleworksusa.com. Thanks.

On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 22:05:24 -0700, LH wrote:

I am having all the cards professionally photographed on this website
and the existing images will be replaced tomorrow or day after. I'd
like feedback on it though. http://www.littleworksusa.com. Thanks.

Appearance:

* The website is too dark. Shop fronts are typically light and uncluttered.

* Your identity is not prominent. Get a logo made. Make it prominent. Get
remembered.

* Text is centred, resulting in messy edges. Just leave it left-aligned.
Further, you should think about dropping the fixed-width 3-column layout
to give the text more space.

* The colour of the links have low contrast against the background. Some
people may have trouble reading it, and most would have trouble quickly
scanning the text.

Functionality:

* Links to the current page are not disabled. Activating a link to the
same page is frustrating and confusing.

* Previously visited links are not marked. Users will go round in
circles, getting frustrated. Users leave at the first sign of frustration.

* External links are not indicated. Nobody likes the surprise of being
thrown onto another site.

* Navigation is split between the panel on the left and the bar below.
This is confusing. Draw a site-map on a piece of paper. Simplify.
Implement. Put it together on your site.

* No contact form. You should offer a contact form in addition to an email
link.

* PDF catalogue. The catalogue should be clearly available as navigable
HTML, with PDF offered as a print alternative. (The PDF needs some work
to look professional - think brochure.)

Code:

* HTML is presentational and non-standard. Using standards-compliant HTML
with CSS to specify presentation promotes better accessibility.

* Fixed-width tables-for-layout. It may look good on your
1024x768 screen but for everyone else it looks too small or too wide.

--
Ben Measures
$email =~ s/is@silly/@/

LH wrote:

I am having all the cards professionally photographed on this website
and the existing images will be replaced tomorrow or day after. I'd
like feedback on it though. http://www.littleworksusa.com. Thanks.

This will get you no points:

<META name="description" content="Handmade African Cards Handmade
African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade
African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade
African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade
African Cards Handmade African Cards">

"Home" links on the interior pages take you back to the splash page,
which is unnecessary to begin with. Make your Home page a full page.

Learn how to do floating design using CSS and drop the tables. Here's a
nice sample of a three-column layout.
http://benmeadowcroft.com/webdev/css.../3-column.html

Parts of the site don't work if/when JavaScript is disabled.

--
-bts
-Warning: I brake for lawn deer

Thank you for your comments and the CSS 3-column layout example.
Any advise on Meta information? Getting up the ranks with Google?
Thanks again.

Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:

LH wrote:

I am having all the cards professionally photographed on this website
and the existing images will be replaced tomorrow or day after. I'd
like feedback on it though. http://www.littleworksusa.com. Thanks.

This will get you no points:

META name="description" content="Handmade African Cards Handmade
African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade
African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade
African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade African Cards Handmade
African Cards Handmade African Cards"

"Home" links on the interior pages take you back to the splash page,
which is unnecessary to begin with. Make your Home page a full page.

Learn how to do floating design using CSS and drop the tables. Here's a
nice sample of a three-column layout.
http://benmeadowcroft.com/webdev/css.../3-column.html

Parts of the site don't work if/when JavaScript is disabled.

--
-bts
-Warning: I brake for lawn deer

LH wrote:

Thank you for your comments and the CSS 3-column layout example.
Any advise on Meta information? Getting up the ranks with Google?

Most search engines ignore meta keywords, due to past abuse, so it
really isn't necessary to use it at all. If you wish, just put the three
words *once*. That would incur no penalty.

You will get "ranked" if you have meaningful, perhaps unique, content,
along with good semantic markup. For example, I don't see any headings
on any of the pages: <h1>, <h2> ... Each page should have one <h1>,
its major heading.

Lose the old 1996 3.2 style HTML.
Use a DOCTYPE: 4.01 Strict
<blockquote> is for .. blocking quotes .. not indenting text.
Learn CSS.
Validate:
http://validator.w3.org/
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator-uri.html
Why is the link for one.org prominently shown at the top of your splash
page?
"Canada" is a link to the same page.
Keep pages consistent. postcards.html is totally different.

--
-bts
-Warning: I brake for lawn deer

One more question regarding the CSS example you sent me.
I've have searched and searched -- how do you eliminate the black
border around the left nav and right nav columns? I definitely have
become rusty and should invest in a book!
Any suggestions?
Many thanks!

Beauregard T. Shagnasty wrote:

LH wrote:

Thank you for your comments and the CSS 3-column layout example.
Any advise on Meta information? Getting up the ranks with Google?

Most search engines ignore meta keywords, due to past abuse, so it
really isn't necessary to use it at all. If you wish, just put the three
words *once*. That would incur no penalty.

You will get "ranked" if you have meaningful, perhaps unique, content,
along with good semantic markup. For example, I don't see any headings
on any of the pages: <h1>, <h2> ... Each page should have one <h1>,
its major heading.

Lose the old 1996 3.2 style HTML.
Use a DOCTYPE: 4.01 Strict
blockquote> is for .. blocking quotes .. not indenting text.
Learn CSS.
Validate:
http://validator.w3.org/
http://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validator-uri.html
Why is the link for one.org prominently shown at the top of your splash
page?
"Canada" is a link to the same page.
Keep pages consistent. postcards.html is totally different.

--
-bts
-Warning: I brake for lawn deer

LH wrote:

One more question regarding the CSS example you sent me.
I've have searched and searched -- how do you eliminate the black
border around the left nav and right nav columns?

In style.css, it is the border: thin. Change that to thick and see what
happens. (There's one for each sidebar.)

..menu
{
text-align : center;
background-image : url(images/yellowfilter.gif);
border : thin solid rgb(0,0,0); <--- this
font-weight : bold;
}

I definitely have become rusty and should invest in a book!

Sometimes books are good... though most I've personally looked at
espouse older ideas. There may be something newer. <g>

--
-bts
-Warning: I brake for lawn deer

Ben,
Thanks for your feedback. I have been implementing some of your
suggestions as well as the others that I received.

The feedback is appreciated!

Ben Measures wrote:

On Wed, 07 Jun 2006 22:05:24 -0700, LH wrote:

I am having all the cards professionally photographed on this website
and the existing images will be replaced tomorrow or day after. I'd
like feedback on it though. http://www.littleworksusa.com. Thanks.

Appearance:

* The website is too dark. Shop fronts are typically light and uncluttered.

* Your identity is not prominent. Get a logo made. Make it prominent. Get
remembered.

* Text is centred, resulting in messy edges. Just leave it left-aligned.
Further, you should think about dropping the fixed-width 3-column layout
to give the text more space.

* The colour of the links have low contrast against the background. Some
people may have trouble reading it, and most would have trouble quickly
scanning the text.

Functionality:

* Links to the current page are not disabled. Activating a link to the
same page is frustrating and confusing.

* Previously visited links are not marked. Users will go round in
circles, getting frustrated. Users leave at the first sign of frustration.

* External links are not indicated. Nobody likes the surprise of being
thrown onto another site.

* Navigation is split between the panel on the left and the bar below.
This is confusing. Draw a site-map on a piece of paper. Simplify.
Implement. Put it together on your site.

* No contact form. You should offer a contact form in addition to an email
link.

* PDF catalogue. The catalogue should be clearly available as navigable
HTML, with PDF offered as a print alternative. (The PDF needs some work
to look professional - think brochure.)

Code:

* HTML is presentational and non-standard. Using standards-compliant HTML
with CSS to specify presentation promotes better accessibility.

* Fixed-width tables-for-layout. It may look good on your
1024x768 screen but for everyone else it looks too small or too wide.

--
Ben Measures
$email =~ s/is@silly/@/