Dundalk Online - Whatd'ya think?

Dundalk Online

Hi everyone! Could you guys and gals have a wee look at www.dundalkonline.net and tell me what you think... I know it has problems, and i have been told that the index page is "all over the place"!! Keep in mind, i have no experience in any of these fancy new CSS, PHP or MySQL languages....

A little about the site
Dundalk Online is a non-profit community and tourism website for Dundalk, Ireland. The most popular feature is the forum. The site has been online for almost 4 months. The site is very much a work in progress and we expect to be finished fully by Summer '06.

wheres me jumpa

I have actually been on this site a few times, have an interest in community sites, and I have managed to find it a few times.

The navigation is ugly. Seems to dominate the screen. The font used in the nav and some of the headers gives an untidy impression.

Theres alot of white space. Need to tackle that somehow, maybe use borders around certain areas.

I like the Food and Drink pages, very easy to read and you get all the info you need very quickly. But again the white space. If you put a border around each listing it could make a huge difference.

Or even seen as your using a table to alter the colour of the body or the table itself.

aidan_walsh

Keep in mind, i have no experience in any of these fancy new CSS, PHP or MySQL languages....

Design either, it would seem.

Like wheres me jumpa says, the navigation is ugly. Then again, so is the rest of the site. Lots of white space, which in itself isn't a bad thing if done right. Here, it isn't. Its cluttered, everything is way too big and, on the front page, squashed together - and thats at my resolution of 1280*1024. I don't dare lower it...

The news section is probably the best thing about it, but at that its generic, and the size comments still apply.

I like the Food and Drink pages, very easy to read and you get all the info you need very quickly.

I disagree. In general, apart from the larger, well known places, there is little to suggest either a menu style or price range. The "reviews" are questionable, as though the author went in, had a quick meal (or pint), took a quick glance around (or in through the window), and left. It might as well not be there at all.

Why are the events pages so uneven? Two of them bring you to a static HTML sheet, the other two to forum pages. Why?

As for the forums...

This forum is aimed at adults only. By proceeding past this notice you are acknowledging that you are at least 17 years old and are not offended by strong language and references to sex, drugs or alcohol.

This is not the kind of disclaimer I expect to find on a site that claims to be aimed in part at tourists.

Ill thought out, and badly executed. Frankly, I'd expect better than this out of a Web Design 101 class.

dangerman

Great work!

Have you done other sites or is this your first?

Have a look at other more established sites that you think look good and try and figure out why they look so good and then emulate [different to copying - don't do that!] the good ideas you see.

I'd work on the logo a bit, looks like you used a few photoshop/paint shop pro/fireworks or something filters on some Dundalk photos - i'd simplify it. The logo in the forum is far more effective because it's so much simpler!

One particular thing: It looks like once your in the forum you don't have a link back to the main page? Maybe throw that in at the top so people who just visit the forum can easily get back onto the main site.

Keep up the good work!

DonkeyStyle \o/

Well it's waaay better than Navan Online's site anyway. :eek:

The 'tourism toolbar' is a bit annoying... having to scroll down to see the rest of the categories really breaks my mojo.
There's a certain lack of consistancy there aswell, both visually and logically.

There needs to be an easy way to get back to the main site from the forums... the php_bb image IMO should link back to the main homepage, instead of offering functionality that I already have a few pixels below it. (ie. sending me to the forum root)

A preloader for the rollover menu would be nice.
It might look fine when you've got them all loaded, but clear your browser cache and you'll see the delay.

mail.html has broken/missing images. (email.gif/mailback.jpg/login.jpg) ... you could just replace them with text in the mean time... or at least alt-text. (<img src="email.gif" alt="wtf this button does maybe">)
Actually I went back to look at mail.html again, and I really wasn't sure how I got there at first... then I noticed the main nav bar changes when you click off the main page... email replaces tourism on the menu... except when you click on tourism.
God almighty... if your users think they're imagining things while navigating your site, it's a bad sign :eek:

The rating stars on the food page are a bit blurry... also they're scaled inconsistantly throughout the page (some appear horisontally squashed).
Some reviews have the ratings listed vertically, others horisontally... I'd say pick one and run with it.
Although where the rating categories are listed vertically (which I personally prefer), I think it'd look nicer if the stars were all left-aligned... easier on the brain IMO.

As a user, I'm a bit tired of being told how unfinished everything is... it seems distracting and unnesessary... maybe re-phrase it and have it as a footnote, instead of <h1><blink>OH MY GOOODDD THIS IS UNFINISHED</blink></h1> :v:

I'm not sure what to say about the design... though I'm not sure there is any kind of discernable theme across the pages apart from that nav bar and the big red lettering, so... <<shrug>>
Having said that, at least you haven't fallen into the generic monochrome CMS nightmare that is Navan Online ... better to have no strong theme than a bad one I say.
There's good content there anyway, it's a usefull site which is more important than a fancy designer look... at the very least it's lively.
The only other thing I'd say is keep an eye on the physical dimensions of your images... in places, they seem to be battling it out in a who can dwarf who contest.

Dundalk Online

Thanks for all the replies so far, i will change accordingly (not today, today is the day of chillaxin:D)

Keep 'em coming!

Gordon

I'm probably regurgitating what others have said but to me it looks like the css file hasn't loaded properly due to white space. Even just a hint of a rectangle behind the news section would be easier on the eyes. And as noted - the top navbar and header.jpg to be smaller. I like the font on the navbar.

Dundalk Online

Thanks to everyone, i'll make some changes tommorow night, Gordon... the font is "cheapskate fill" and the other one is "cheapskate outline"

If anyone else wants to make some comments, you are more than welcome to....