24 replies to this topic

[dcskataboy]

I need people to review the website i made for my dad. It was my dad's business's website. Tell me what you all think about it. Ive only been programming for a year so i think its good for only a year, but my opinion doesn't matter. So tell me what ya think.
LINK

[jlhaslip]

Nice, clean site. Pretty good job. A couple of small pointers, though.

Because you have used an xhtml Doctype, the <br> tags need to be 'self-closing' like this : <br />.
The space and the slash close the tag properly in xhtml.
Also, there is one div tag missing the closing angled bracket.

None of these issues are affecting the display at all, so the site will work fine without these fixes.
Overall, if you could add a nice colourful image or banner to the page, that might be good.

[midnightvamp]

Yep, like jlhaslip said, you've got a nice and clean looking site! Just one thing - the contrast of the white background and the black 'dividing' lines on your homepage are kind of wigging my eyes out the more that I look at it. But it could just be my tired eyes talking there. Maybe I need to get some more sleep. I barely got any last night and am yawning as I type

Anyway, I think it looks good, and was impressed by all the images you have of the doors and other products that are available. I had no idea that there would be so many to choose from, and to have all that information easily accessed on the website is nice and helpful!

[serverph]

the site is functional, with the proper distribution of content and a utilitarian menu, which is what is important first and foremost in an online presence. the framework (or layout) is good and your site users will not get lost.

however, as a website establishing business presence online, i think the site needs some spicing up to make it palatable and inviting to your business prospects. work on incorporating a nice interface using graphics, especially the index page which is the first page interested parties will come in contact with most of the time. as jlhaslip suggests, a banner image will enhance your site better. you can do better than just a banner of course. get inspiration from other business sites, especially your competition. if competitors' sites do not inspire you, at least you will get an idea what you don't want your site to look like, and learn also on how you can up the ante, design-wise, by doing your own critique on their sites -- throwing away what you can't use, and incorporating what you must have.

i have also a little bit of apprehension on your use of Arial on the site as the first one in your font-family in your main.css file. my qualm is that Arial is too thin and awkward to read. add Verdana first, before Arial, to see if you will like the difference better when your page is viewed on a browser.

manage your pages also so that ALL will have a standard width, using a single template... you can use your index page as your template. as it is at the moment, when you click on links going to other pages, you get a graphics embedded on the page, with no semblance whatsoever to the layout you established in the first place. and it requires horizontal scrolling too which could be irksome for some users. if you want it that way, you can perhaps code those graphics pages to pop-up instead --- like those you see in image galleries on news websites like CNN, BBC, etc.

you can also chop down the graphics into bits and pieces so you can show more detail, if you think it's necessary. this could be very helpful indeed in case you want to gallerize your images instead. and speaking of your images, it will need a little cleaning up so that it will erase any traces of scanning, like black edges, etc.

anyway, you have a good start already. just build on it some more.

[varalu]

The site is simple and good.

FEw stuffs
1. Take care of titles in the pages - make sure it reflects the contents in the page.. That is one of the first things i noticed...
2. Few related banners/images will help you spread the word...
3. YOu can also consider loading a small image first, then if that is clicked you can load the larger image... You can have this options.. but i am just letting you know that this can be done...

[hitmanblood]

I am sorry to say that I don't like it there could be some serious improvement. So what would I suggest take let's say JOOMLA and work from there find yourself some nice framework that is template and make it in your best way. You need to have it doe thoroughly since I assume this is information for the company or some production line you need to present your content in nice way I am not say that you bomb your visitors with content however. The point is notto just display pictures with links following you could insert some (I am reffering in case you use joomla) some gallery which would present all your informations in neat and concise way. The point also is to produce contact forms and some other pictures you've already worked with.

On the other hand it would be good to have some disclamers and copyrights notifications.

One more thing that certainly needs attending is titles of the pages since this makes site more google friendly.

I don't have any more suggestions at this time however if you work on the site more I might have some suggestions for you.

Good luck

[etycto]

first of all the domain name is super extra long i like that it's cool.
at first sight the site it self is like extra simple the basic black and white witch i guess leaves little rooms for mistakes. when i stated web desighning i always tried to make my stuff look great wich i guess left some room for some mistakes but that's how you learn. the simpleness would seem good to some but the look is not my fevorite look of choice but it's not too bad.
i also think that the way the diferent doors and locks and products are view could be better. because people with realy lagging computers could have lots of problems since it's a giant image file. you should get an php image galery or just a very simple javascript one like this :HERE: so you'de have to seperate the different images to make it work (with an image editor (it's very simple)).
there's not much that needs to be improve except for those (witch i guess is a lot since the site is not very big) but it's a very good first try keep up the good work.

[thrillerboy]

Your site seems very minimal. Its an ethic that business sites should be kept simple. But, Some little bits of attractiveness could to added to site. I don't see any drop shadows there. This is the first site I've ever seen without a drop shadow I guess(No offense).

The links too has only images. You could cut down images and make the text parts really text. It will help you in many purposes. Text in images are no crawled by search engines. This is one huge drawback for using all images.

I'm not a web designer yet. Just started web studies. May be i cud be wrong

[Aerrow]

1. You should make a banner instead of heading the page with big text.

2. Change the domain(if possible), long domains are hard to remember.

3. When I put my mouse over your DGclock it changes my window status for the session, even when I close the tab with your site.

4. Change the contrast between black and white between the 'sections' of your page, it strains people's eyes.

Other than that your site looks fine.

[dwolters]

Ok, lets be honest. That site is BOOORING. You put it together pretty well, but i would go for some more color personally. Add a simple background, like a fading color or something. Also the menu could use alot of work. Try using buttons or at least put the links in bold! The title banner leaves alot to be desired. Go to a free banner maker (search for "free online banner maker" on your favorite search engine) and spice it up.
Another thing: With so many doors to choose from, I personally would like a little more information on them before buying. Such as what they are made of, dimensions, etc.

You did a good job. But my recommendation would be to work on it a little each day. Find something every day to make it better. Whether it be submitting it to search engines, or just sprucing it up. Keep in mind that when search engines crawl your site, they notice whether or not anything has changed. If you change or add content on a regular basis, your site will get crawled more by the search engines.

Also, the comment about search engines not crawling pics is totally false. Have you ever searched for an image in google? I rest my case.

Just keep it up, and by the time you actually get ranked and start getting traffic I'm sure you'll have a stellar site.