Please review my redesign

[john-formby]

Hi,

I have just bought a new hosting account, domain name and completely redesigned my site. It is a very simple design and only uses one main image which makes it fast to load. It now runs via a mysql backend which makes it a lot easier to update. It will have a lot more content added over the coming months including a script and tutorials section.

I would just like some feedback about what you think of it so far. You can see the site at:

http://www.designers-paradise.net/


Thanks

John

[Allen]

hum - where is the HTMLCenter link under HTML?

[john-formby]

Don't worry, it is under Web Design -> Advice Forums

What do you think of the site?

[Leprakawn]

Would it be possible to make it work with frames or an iframe? I'm not diggin' the "black page" transition.

hehe, I just tested your contact form.

What about http://codewalkers.com?

Where are you going to get your content for graphics tutorials? Will ppl be able to submit their stuff to you?

[john-formby]

I know what you mean about the page transition. I don't want to use frames so I am going to have to come up with a way of delaying the page transition until the next page is fully loaded. That way it should be seamless

Never seen codewalkers before, but looks like a pretty similar site. My site isn't just for other people to use though, it is mainly for me. I find myself writing links down on scraps of paper and losing them. This is a nice directory which helps me when I need to look for something

Just got your email

I am writing a form at the moment which will allow people to send me their stuff. I was thinking about allowing people to upload directly to the database but I think I would prefer to moderate it first.

Thanks for your reply,

John

[Leprakawn]

Making it seamless would be awesome. Is there a way to preload the site like Flash?

lol! You know, instead of writing URLs down and losing the scraps of paper... there is that thing in all browsers called "Favourites!!"

I agree that moderating the tutorials would be better because there is no telling what kind of junk someone might upload.

I bet your site will become a useful resource for many ppl... and potential competition for HTML Center!

[Allen]

more misc comments:

-- no finger on left menu when you cant click on it - bad usability
-- change submit link button to "submit"

[john-formby]

Originally Posted by Leprakawn

Making it seamless would be awesome. Is there a way to preload the site like Flash?

I think there must be. I seem to remember seeing something like this a while ago. I just have to try and find it

Originally Posted by Leprakawn

lol! You know, instead of writing URLs down and losing the scraps of paper... there is that thing in all browsers called "Favourites!!"

I do at home, but I spend a lot of time at Uni so it is just easier. I know that I could save them to my flash drive and bring them home, but it seems quicker at the time to just write them down.

Originally Posted by Allen

no finger on left menu when you cant click on it - bad usability

I am probably just being thick but can you explain what that means. Thanks

John

[Leprakawn]

Maybe he is talking about the "Search" and "Suggest Link" buttons. The cursor does not change upon mouseover or upon click. Also, the cursor switches to default for a moment when dealing with the nav items, but I experience it upon the initial interaction with them. After clicking them, the cursor does not change back to default.

PS: Before Allen's House of English kicks in, it should be Designers' (that's plural) Paradise.

[Allen]

Leppy - please note that the House of English is a ® of HTMLCenter, Inc. Using it is a violation and any violations you find, you can order the person to 1 year frontpage use only.

Now on to my comment...

The finger refers to the left menu - when I get a finger, I expect to be able to click on that item and go somewhere... but alas, on your web site I only get more popup menus to navigate - the finger should be an arrow.

So in summary

Finger = clickable link

[Leprakawn]

Whoa man, somebody hacked my account!!

[Allen]

Originally Posted by Leprakawn

Whoa man, somebody hacked my account!!

urm?

[john-formby]

I just had a redesign again I get bored very easily and also the original site was coded using tables (which I hate). I spent last night redoing the whole thing with CSS layers. It seems to have solved the problem of the black background showing between page transitions (or it does on my computer). Next I am going to tackle the issue of the navigation menu. I am going to link it to the database which will make everything so much easier to update.

Have a look at the new colour scheme and let me know what you think

EDIT: Also all the code validates to XHTML 1.0 Strict

John

[Allen]

i think it looks nice but you have not fixed my finger issue

[curtiss]

To attempt to translate what Allen's saying, I believe he's asking you to, in some way highlight which menu item you're currently viewing. I may be wrong, but I think that's what he's saying.

Oh well. Anyway - my single bit of criticism (it's not really constructive, as I don't have a better method to offer currently) - the multi-layered menus are somewhat annoying. It's very annoying to mouseover a menu item, only to find that it leads to yet another menu, which leads to yet another menu, which leads to yet another menu. You begin to wonder if you're ever going to find a menu item to click on that will take you somewhere.

In addition, it would be nice if the arrow that points to the next sub-menu was a color that showed up on the white menu background. I'm really never sure which menu item I am going to be able to click on, and which menu item leads to another menu.