Some Feedback please!

skelliser

Hey!

Could ye please provide me with some feedback on the following site http://www.nualanolan.com

This is my first attempt at a site!
Any pointers would be greatly appreiciated!

The css validates which im happy with but i do have a few issues:
its not showing correctly in IE and because of some custom tags(hr and hrs tags) the html wont validate.

Thanks

Evil Phil

I hate to sound critical but its constructive so forgive me. The labour party logo is quite pixilated. The vertical navbar contains links to external sites which is counter intuative, you could put these in a links page.

Maybe have a initiatives page or something: highlight what Nuala is currently working on and towards.

p

Overall, it's a good attempt at a first site. I'm not sure a first attempt is what someone running for election should be using, but that's another question.

Sort out the pixellation issue + get a better photo of Nuala. It's badly lit and has poor contrast. Also teh typography ain't great, bevels are a bad sign, they look cheap and tacky. The links on the left hand side aren't listed as links, it'd be good to have that header.

Also, if the candidate has time, then I'd suggest adding a blog to it.

Mike...

get photoshop and flash will greatly improve the site,
nice for a first timer..

p

*mono* wrote: »

get photoshop and flash will greatly improve the site

No it won't. Experience, education and design skills will. Photoshop & Flash won't make your a good designer, all it does is give you the opportunity to use more crutches.

skelliser

Cheers for the replies.
Im goin to make a few changes, try and clean up the pixelation issue and hopefully get a new photo.
Also il add a links page and change/edit the left bar links.

I would like some suggestions on trying to get the html validated, is there anyway around the custom tags iv built, cause they're the major issue stopping the validation.

p

Doesn't look like there's too many validation errors. The main one is that you're using the id="link" wrong. You need to understand the difference between and id and a class. You can only use an id once on a page, so it's suitable for a header or footer maybe. A class is something reused so could be for something like a thumbnail. Also, if you're using XHTML, so you have to 'close' every tag.

With a h1 you have a start <h1> and an end </h1>
With tags like img and hr, you don't so you do it like this: <hr /> or <img src="ball.gif' /> fix that in your site.

Also, read these tips too:
http://www.search-this.com/2007/03/26/10-quick-tips-for-an-easier-css-life/
http://www.maxdesign.com.au/presentation/workshop/index.htm
http://snook.ca/archives/html_and_css/six_keys_to_understanding_css_layouts/

loloray

Put the external links in a 'External Links' menu. The first thing I clicked on navigated me away from the website - a big no no when it comes to web design.

DublinWriter

skelliser wrote: »

This is my first attempt at a site!

Good work - does what it says on the tin.

What software, if any, did you use?

flanree

The photo colours are too saturated, her skin looks too red. Definitely fix the distorted labour logo. The link to the main labour site just shows up this one. What's the "Galway" alone at the bottom of education all about?

IrishBusiness

how about putting the external links at the bottom of the page, not so prominently exposed to lead the user out of the site. Visually maybe some more pics - Nuala out on the campaign trail, etc

skelliser

once again thanks, im away tho so wont get back to change stuff till after the weekend.

@ P: cheers for the advice and the links
@dublinwriter: I only used photoshop and good old notepad and firebug is a godsend for css!

Im a grad of a h.dip in sw design and dev and havent found any work as yet!!
The course was a conversion course so it was was pretty basic, i.e all we did in html was frames!! no css and basic javascript and php.

so my main aim is to build up a portfolio to show prospective employers so il be back over the next few weeks with new sites, hopefully improving my skills along the way.
I really should have started this months ago tho!!

The final objective is a fully dynamic php lead site, encorporating everything iv learned up to now. I dont wanna use any opensource cms stuff, wanna actually hard code the lot, i dont believe in starting out with say an opensource cms like drupel as i feel ya dont really great a good grasp of the fundamentals.
Anyway rant over!

p

Ditch Notepad now! Notepad++ is pretty good, but i'd really recommend using something like Dreamweaver as a code editor, which is a nice integrated tool.

Good luck with the journey!