Alcobuds.com - Site Critique Please!

buddy

Hello folks,

I've just taken this site over in the last 2 months and have done a complete overhaul on its look and sections - the new site is up barely a week - I'd like feedback from Webmasters on the work (good, bad & ugly) - let me know what you think.

buddy.

www.alcobuds.com

MiCr0

first though

too dark - the blue links on a black background are hard to read

buddy

OK, I'll take that on board, I thought the blue used worked well but will consider changing the shade.

dynamic.ie

I like the modifications you did to phpBB. Is it a template or you do the graphics yourself?

The Forum look 100%. Very impressive. I agree about the rest being too dark. You could lighten the blue to stand out more.

Regards,

Dave

buddy

The previous owner had a Template designed for the site which I am keeping - it works well

If the shade of blue for the links is the only bad thing, I'm doing well.

Thanks guys.

jesus_thats_gre

Its a decent looking site, but what the heck is the point of it? I have seen some weird stuff on the net, but thats just confusing the bollox out of me lol

peterd

I thought the "old" design was much better Don't know why you changed it.

BLITZ_Molloy

The banner on the top isn't very attractive. Too distorted by jpeg compression and rather plain to start with.

There isn't enough cellpadding on the news boxes. The text is a bit too crowded on the borders.

It's a bit slow to load, which is strange considering the simplicity of the site. I think Amazon adverts are a bit of a bastard for doing that though. The whole page has to load before it'll display anything.

Otherwise, great stuff. I just thought I'd list the negatives.

GoneShootin

i find the site too hard on the eyes

Webmonkey

Originally posted by BLITZ_Molloy
Too distorted by jpeg compression and rather plain to start with

Yeah i agree, tho this probably cannot be seen on most CRT screens. - oh the wonders of LCD Technology

Kai

i think its grand to, the banner at the top is a bit ugly, the on on the top of the forum is neater looking, what about using that instead.
The forum is quite nice and easy on the eye. the Navigation areas on the side of the main page could do with a bit of improving, maybe try changing the dark blue at the top of each to a graphic of somesort, perhaps blend it in with the banner again. i think that would improve the main page a huge amount.

Nice site all the same.

Figment

Home page is UUUgly! Too many reasons. You need a graphic designer.
Forums look nice though.

mneylon

You really need a strong logo on which to base your site's identity.
The content is probably very good, but you have to dig a lot and it isn't very clear what the site is meant to offer.

The colour scheme could do with some work, but having a good logo would help with that

buddy

Originally posted by jesus_thats_gre
Its a decent looking site, but what the heck is the point of it? I have seen some weird stuff on the net, but thats just confusing the bollox out of me lol

It's a site dedicated to all things Alcohol, Drinking Games, Drink Recipes, Drunken Escapades etc with some nice galleries thrown in also.

buddy

Originally posted by peterd
I thought the "old" design was much better Don't know why you changed it.

I took it over, there was lots of broken links and I felt it was'nt very well organised.

buddy

Originally posted by BLITZ_Molloy
The banner on the top isn't very attractive. Too distorted by jpeg compression and rather plain to start with.

There isn't enough cellpadding on the news boxes. The text is a bit too crowded on the borders.

It's a bit slow to load, which is strange considering the simplicity of the site. I think Amazon adverts are a bit of a bastard for doing that though. The whole page has to load before it'll display anything.

Otherwise, great stuff. I just thought I'd list the negatives.

The banner is just something simple I made up as my graphic designer guy is unavailable - I will be changing the logo.

I could increase the cell padding to correct that, but after taking another look, I'm happy with it.

Amazon adverts??? I have a logo for them to click through but no Ad's - that would'nt slow it - and the page is simplistic to ease faster loading - strange how you found it slow.

Thanks for the feedback

buddy

Originally posted by Frugu
i think its grand to, the banner at the top is a bit ugly, the on on the top of the forum is neater looking, what about using that instead.
The forum is quite nice and easy on the eye. the Navigation areas on the side of the main page could do with a bit of improving, maybe try changing the dark blue at the top of each to a graphic of somesort, perhaps blend it in with the banner again. i think that would improve the main page a huge amount.

Nice site all the same.

I tried the banner logo with the new design, did'nt suit - I'll look again but will be changing the logo to soemthing else.

A background graphic instead of the blue - thats a good idea - I'll look at that.

buddy

Originally posted by blacknight
You really need a strong logo on which to base your site's identity.
The content is probably very good, but you have to dig a lot and it isn't very clear what the site is meant to offer.

The colour scheme could do with some work, but having a good logo would help with that

I will be getting a stronger logo when my designer becomes available again - I like the colour scheme as it is & know that not everyone will agree.

How do I clear up the problem about what the site is about? A page - an box at the top where the news boxes are?

JOOROWNED

Originally posted by buddy
I took it over, there was lots of broken links and I felt it was'nt very well organised.

OH REALLY !!! thats very interesting to read ....

mneylon

Originally posted by buddy
I will be getting a stronger logo when my designer becomes available again - I like the colour scheme as it is & know that not everyone will agree.

How do I clear up the problem about what the site is about? A page - an box at the top where the news boxes are?

You should have a look at other sites. See how they establish a clear identity etc.

buddy

I think we've established a good identity, but do we need an About Us page?

Figment

My first thought was that it was another gamer clan site (I don't play games so its not like my brain automaticly thinks like that) then after reading for 5 mins I hadn't a clue what the site was about. It looks cheep, confused and amateurish. That's not a good identity. The about us page is the very least you can do.
I don't mean to be too harsh (you did ask) but if you want the site to succeed you should not dismiss this. You seem to do a lot of work on the content, it would be a shame if it got dismissed out of hand by confused visitors to the site.

buddy

Originally posted by Figment
My first thought was that it was another gamer clan site (I don't play games so its not like my brain automaticly thinks like that) then after reading for 5 mins I hadn't a clue what the site was about. It looks cheep, confused and amateurish. That's not a good identity. The about us page is the very least you can do.
I don't mean to be too harsh (you did ask) but if you want the site to succeed you should not dismiss this. You seem to do a lot of work on the content, it would be a shame if it got dismissed out of hand by confused visitors to the site.

"cheep, confused and amateurish"

Wow, I did'nt think it look cheap/amateurish - the confused part people are saying it needs something to bring it together, to say what the site is about etc which I'll work on.

Regarding cheap/amateurish I'd love to know what specifically those remarks regard.

mneylon

It looks like so many other sites out there... It isn't clear what it's meant to be, so of course everybody is confused

buddy

Originally posted by blacknight
It looks like so many other sites out there... It isn't clear what it's meant to be, so of course everybody is confused

So many sites use that layout as it's an easy way to put in the content, which is why I chose it anyway.

I have'nt denied the "confusion", I've acknowledged those comments and would value/appreicate suggestions on how to correct this.

manonthemoon

The first problem is that on inital inspection the viewer has no idea what this site is about. The design/ colors/ layout are secondary.

You should have a sentence which says.

This website ...........sells cats

................................glorifies drinking alcohol without showing its nastier side effects. (Why not show someone being hammered by a gand of drunken youths)

This website is a gallery of drunken people doing stupid things.

This is a website that is just dumb

I am pissed off with myself now for writing & wasting time on
a stupid website like this. Do yourseld Buddy and try and spend your time on something useful!

Just what the world needs another stupid website!

buddy

Originally posted by manonthemoon
You should have a sentence which says.

This website ...........sells cats

................................glorifies drinking alcohol without showing its nastier side effects. (Why not show someone being hammered by a gand of drunken youths)

I take this as the constructive part of your comment and I will use it - I'll put a nice box on top of the new boxes with what the site is about - it will illustrate what the site is about, what its not about (e.g. we want to promote the good side of enjoying drink and not the nastier things).

I thank you for your time and your interest in what is/is not a waste of my time