suggestions please

miju

about a year ago I asked ya'all to give our site the once over and ya did

So it's all changed now so I'd like to ask your opinions again.

It's the Irish Music Network link in my siggie

Also, I am aware theres some errors on some guitar tab pages with regards to images and the CSS not working on em too so I'm on top of that

thanks

Webmonkey

Really Nice Mate

Keep up the good work.

./Webmonkey

tomED

All it needs now is a little bit of online marketing and search engine optimisation...

miju

OK thanks for the compliments guys TBH I was expecting a good bit of criticism but what they hey I'm glad it's passed the boards test so far

I just jinxed myself didnt I

dahamsta

Yes you did.

To be honest I don't like the look of the site, but that's prolly more of a personal thing than a comment on your skillz. I'm prolly just getting old is all. The reason I posted, though, is to mention that grey text on a black background is a Really Bad Idea, a usability no-no. My monitor's always been a bit iffy with contrast, but I actually can't read the text on the front page /at all/ without highlighting it.

Just said I'd mention it. Colours and fonts are always going to be a matter of personal preference, but usability is essential.

adam

nahdoic

Yeah definitely change the black text on the really dark background, it is very hard to read.

I wouldn't recommend using flash links at all. They sure do look pretty, but it would disable a lot of people from being able to use your site effectively.

when i move my mouse over them, i have no idea what page I am going to, i could be being re-directed to any site and I wouldn't know.

Your site won't be properly index by google that way either.

just always, always use <href> links, they are what the web is built on, getting rid of them is never a good idea.

miju

Originally posted by nahdoic
Yeah definitely change the black text on the really dark background, it is very hard to read.

I wouldn't recommend using flash links at all. They sure do look pretty, but it would disable a lot of people from being able to use your site effectively.

when i move my mouse over them, i have no idea what page I am going to, i could be being re-directed to any site and I wouldn't know.

Your site won't be properly index by google that way either.

just always, always use <href> links, they are what the web is built on, getting rid of them is never a good idea.

Thats fair enough but if you look at the text underneath each flash link you will also see a text <href> link saying click here

The color issue is one thats been bothering me I just never got around to changing it. thanks for the criticism ppl

miju

OK 2 more questions for you webbie type personages;

1: Is the text on the site more readable now? (if it's not can anyone suggest a color along with the hex code :-)
2: I've always wondered how much my site would cost if you were to pay a developer/designer to get it to the state it's at now so how much do you reckon my site is actually worth and please take all aspects into consideration.

NB: site gets around 7,000hits a week and **** all posts in my forum for some reason /end of rant.

the sites got around abouts 300 odd pages (at last count)

Can anyone please help me figure out why the text is normal when you view a post in my forum but when you go to post a message the text that appears in the text box in ****ing microscopic it's really effing annoyinh and it's prob why I get no posts

ye's are all little angels for your views so far bless all of your little cotton socks

peterd

Your style sheet...

input, select, option, textarea { font-family: Tahoma; [b]font-size: 7px;[/b] color: ffffff; ...

Also, the "Post Subtopic" is difficult to find on the page.

the Guru

Im going with the Others as well the Res problems

I would Suggest changing the colour of the scroll track to something brighter if possible as i couldnt see it when i tryed to scroll down But apart from that its Fine

miju

thanks guys I'll get onto those problems ASAP really apreciate the help

the Guru

So Much Better

miju

thanks guys I feel I'm starting to make some progress on the usability issues that my sight has and believe it or not it does have quite a few due to the extensive use of javascript the site uses

Jaeger

Good job. Seems well thought out & put together.

Logo:

Looks weird. The shaded part below Irish Music Network looks like a completely different picture for a bit. Will always look like a completely different (and out of place) picture to the peripheral vision. So you don't want their subconscious annoyed about the placement of a picture whilst you're trying to get them to engage with the content.

Plugboard:

Great idea. Needs sorting though. I'm guessing you copied/pasted the code because the fonts don't fit in with the rest of the site at all. The bright red outside the main text area isn't so bad because it contrasts well with the rest of the page, but reading text off it is a nightmare. Text background colours should be a lot easier on the eye.

The layout of it looks fired like there was no attention to it, again making it out of place with the rest of your work. People are obviously using it quite a lot so a) it'd be silly to ignore the bad points and b) make it look better and people will notice straight away.

Make it tie in more with the logo at the bottom too. Changing the colour to bright red won't make it match At least make the width the same.



For your Musicians Directory, even if you're only be getting started with web as a hobby or whatever, have a look at php/asp/sql/databasing. Would make it a lot easier to update than making html files for every single category you want. From there you could go on past alphabetical browsing to sort by rock/pop/punk etc etc. All that stuff is only if you plan on maintaining the site for years to come.

miju

again thanks for the input I'll have a go at your suggestions and update the site accorrdingly.

and in case anyone else wants to ask AGAIN the Irish Music Network will be around for years to come and then some

As an afterthought is there a VERY - EASY way I can integrate MS Frontpage or dreamweaver with MS Access for the aforementioned database idea?

miju

so anyone any clue as to how much the site is worth

and what do you think of the background colors of the plugboard now Jaeger?