site review plze

ConsultClifford

Hi

just put a site online (previsionally this morn)
and would welcome some feedback and in particular i have heard it is not compatible on MAC


www.thecourtyard.ie


Is there anyone out there that can view this in mac please?

Tnx
Sean

Seth Brundle

On my poxy work screen (800*600) I couldn't see how to enter the site until I thought of scrolling down.
When i hover over a link the buttons to the right of it jump which is distracting.
I like the look though.
Should the 3 pics at the bottom be linkys? (Possibly not - just checking)

tammy

Hi, looks good overall, clean and simple.
A few minor things, the curved background images look a bit ragged, try applying anti-alias to them if you can to sharpen them up. Personally I'd scrap a) the text effects or at least stop them looping and b) the splash page; but that's just me. Might add a bit more padding to the left of the main content. Good job though

Mr. Presentable

Kudos! I like it. But: If I didn't already know where Bishopstown is I wouldn't know from the site! Also, a small map would help in "Finding us".

GoneShootin

As said above ^^ If I wasnt from Cork I couldnt tell you where Bishopstown was. You need to include better location information and proper directions for those living outside the PROC. Very nice design though.

I dunno about the spashscreen. Try using a background colour instead of white on the spashscreen. Change the font of the ENTER text aswell, stands out like a sore thumb.

Sleepy

Looking at it in Firefox, 1024 * 768. Looks good overal, nice clean design, though a few things I think you should take a look at:

• Your meta tags need looking at, they're about 'Joomla' at the moment instead of the courtyard, no point in having a gorgeous site if no-one can find it...
• I'd try to reduce the height of the two boxes, it should be possible to include the full site in a single screen to avoid scrolling
• As already mentioned, the nav bar is a bit jumpy.
• Again, I'd use anti-aliasing on the rounded corners and I'd use a quarter circle for the curve itself.

ConsultClifford

Kudos! I like it. But: If I didn't already know where Bishopstown is I wouldn't know from the site! Also, a small map would help in "Finding us".

ya defo - waiting on client here for that

Personally I'd scrap a) the text effects or at least stop them looping and b) the splash page; but that's just me.

ya - clients request - i may stop the looping though

Your meta tags need looking at, they're about 'Joomla' at the moment instead of the courtyard, no point in having a gorgeous site if no-one can find it...

yip im on that this afternoon - just wanted to get compatibality issues out of the way - joomla is the cms!

On my poxy work screen (800*600) I couldn't see how to enter the site until I thought of scrolling down.

that should be sorted


Anyone with a MAC there? please?

Serbian

You can stop the links jumping around if you change the a.mainlevel:link, a.mainlevel:visited class to this:

a.mainlevel:link, 
a.mainlevel:visited {
   display: block;
   vertical-align: bottom;
   font-size: 11px;
   font-weight: bold;
   color: #000000;
   margin-top:5px;
   text-align: center;
   height: 20px !important;
   height: 20px;
   width: 100px;
   border: 1px solid #ffffff;
   [b]border-bottom:  1px solid #827E4F;[/b]
   text-decoration: none;
}

It just adds the border so that the height and width of the box doesn't change when someone mouses over.

impr0v

Nav bar jumpy, scrap the text effects, they don't add much if anything, and the Enter text, if not the whole splash page needs to be re-examined.

While it's more of a scatter-gun critique rather than being especially relevent to your site, I have a pet peeve about all these development type affairs, they try to market some sense of lifestyle instead of the actual product they are selling, i.e. they are all big on the pictures of the idyllic clutter free living space and muted pastel colours so that one can imagine the post-mortgage peace of mind to be found within the four walls, but there is no picture of the actual properties. Surely if the pictures of armchairs and lone flower in glass apply to the development then there must be at least a show house constructed, though i suspect the development is at present a muddy zoned field.

EDIT: posted before you responded to most of the issues in my first sentence above.

ConsultClifford

impr0v wrote:

Nav bar jumpy, scrap the text effects, they don't add much if anything, and the Enter text, if not the whole splash page needs to be re-examined.

While it's more of a scatter-gun critique rather than being especially relevent to your site, I have a pet peeve about all these development type affairs, they try to market some sense of lifestyle instead of the actual product they are selling, i.e. they are all big on the pictures of the idyllic clutter free living space and muted pastel colours so that one can imagine the post-mortgage peace of mind to be found within the four walls, but there is no picture of the actual properties. Surely if the pictures of armchairs and lone flower in glass apply to the development then there must be at least a show house constructed, though i suspect the development is at present a muddy zoned field.

EDIT: posted before you responded to most of the issues in my first sentence above.

sure

-but there is no picture of the actual properties. ..

there's no property there yet- phase 1 is outsoon and its off plan
dont worry the site will have photos of the property when we have them- but now as you say muddy fields won't sell very well.

ConsultClifford

Serbian wrote:

You can stop the links jumping around if you change the a.mainlevel:link, a.mainlevel:visited class to this:

a.mainlevel:link, 
a.mainlevel:visited {
   display: block;
   vertical-align: bottom;
   font-size: 11px;
   font-weight: bold;
   color: #000000;
   margin-top:5px;
   text-align: center;
   height: 20px !important;
   height: 20px;
   width: 100px;
   border: 1px solid #ffffff;
   [b]border-bottom:  1px solid #827E4F;[/b]
   text-decoration: none;
}

It just adds the border so that the height and width of the box doesn't change when someone mouses over.

Tnx !

cgarvey

Don't see the point of the splash screen.. the graphics are nice (but very similar to main site anyway), and the text (all of it) is very tacky looking, and out of place looking.

I like the rest of the site though, once you get in.. the text above the photo in the right still looks out of place, and the 3 images along the bottom of each page look very sparse or something.. I like the colours, graphics and layout though.

It works fine (layout is same, and hovers work) on FF, Safari, and IE on Mac.

.cg

leftofcentre

Yip the splash screen is pointless, I would bin it. Apart from that its dead on.

cgarvey

cgarvey wrote:

It works fine (layout is same, and hovers work) on FF, Safari, and IE on Mac.

Sorry, I spoke too soon .. IE v5.2.3 is off, FF & Safari are ok

Screenshot (250KB) up for a day or so on http://cgarvey.com/macie.png

.cg

canker

Cant find any faults with it. Very clean and simple (I like that) and the animation on the top of the pages are a great example of how flash can be used to add style to a site without giving any visitors a headache.

Im 1600x1200 screen using IE6 if thats any help. Tried it in FF too, no probs there.

ConsultClifford

i take all your points about the flash screen...

cgarvey wrote:

Sorry, I spoke too soon .. IE v5.2.3 is off, FF & Safari are ok

Screenshot (250KB) up for a day or so on http://cgarvey.com/macie.png

.cg

Thanks alots

is it just the middle section thats out of place (ie is the bottom bar in line with the top image/section)?

Mind checking one more time ive tryed something with the css..

other than that how do i go about fixing it (having access to only a windows machine!!!)..is there any software out there that lets me visualise in Mac?

Tnx

cgarvey

In fairness, I wouldn't be bothered.. it's market share being so low, with the advent of Safari (and FF/Camino to a lesser extent).. I don't have time to help fix it I'm afraid .. The screengrab shows the extent .. just under the menu, the remainder of the page jumps to the right.. I'll gladly do another few screen grabs for you , when i get a chance.

.cg

ConsultClifford

cgarvey wrote:

In fairness, I wouldn't be bothered.. it's market share being so low, with the advent of Safari (and FF/Camino to a lesser extent).. I don't have time to help fix it I'm afraid .. The screengrab shows the extent .. just under the menu, the remainder of the page jumps to the right.. I'll gladly do another few screen grabs for you , when i get a chance.

.cg

Tnx

Ill drop you a message later for another screen grab.... when ive done a little research...

Problem is the client works alot on Mac!! (unfortunately for me!) so i gotta sort it!

kjt

Very nice site. Lovely and clean.
Nice use of flash.

I like the welcome screen tbh.

rsynnott

Apart from the gratuitious flash, very nice

clearz

Nice site. One thing is im not mad about the way the text folds out at the top. Maybe a simple fade would work better.