Aureole Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I'd like some constructive criticism on my Website, which can be found here. Just so you know if you have Javascript disabled (I haven't checked yet but) it will most likely look a total mess, but I didn't design it with Javascript-less people in mind, so. Also if when you get there, you can't see any content in the left column you will need to click one of the links below "News". Has been tested and displays correctly (for me in 1280x1024 resolution) in IE, Firefox, Opera, Safari, Avant on Windows XP. Is valid CSS and xHTML (apart from one tiny error =P). It's my first Website and my first design, everything except the Javascript is made from scratch all by me. Anyway it's a fan-site for Bungie Studios and all their games, it is far from done but I'm just wondering what people think so far. Also if you notice anything that looks out of place please could you take a screenshot and tell me your user agent and operating system, thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keeB Posted July 25, 2007 Share Posted July 25, 2007 I think it looks great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Thanks, anyone have anything more to say? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moberemk Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Nice. It's dark, but there's enough contrast that you can still tell what everything says. The exclusion of sub-800*600 browser resolutions is usually a mistake, but I'll assume that your audience will mostly include power users and gamers. I like the idea of your little news header that changes, but you should really add a way to go back after it changes for slower readers. I like the look of your headers, but maybe for the important ones you should use a different color, so that they are differentiated from the rest of the page. Finally, you should just hide the admin options unless you actually are an admin-clicking an icon and seeing a "Permission Denied" option is useless to the average user, as is clicking a link to an external news article, getting a pop-up AND a way to edit the article. For an admin, it is a nice touch though. As for the forums, three major points: the category-specific icons are used in most of the forums but not all of them. While it's a good idea, it makes the forums without pictures stand out. Another thing: frankly, I find the hover effect on the forums fairly annoying. Having the background lighten subtly it's a bad idea, but the border and jumping text is overkill. Finally, at the top of every page you have a breadcrumb trail, a trail that you have left out of your forums-maybe you should look into working on unifying the breadcrumb location so that it doesn't change from page to page. Aside from that, you've done a good job on the design and code. The "Beta" tag was a nice Web 2.0 touch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFilmGod Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Okay. I think it looks good. But the way you coded is wrong. If you look at the homepage the comments go all the way down, past the footer. 1280 resolution. You have to code it, so that only a limited amout of comments can be shown at a time. Plus, when there is more content added than normally, it would stretch the div down! You got to rip this xhtml up and blow it up! Its needs to work well dynamically. Not like static website!! Overall, GOOD. but, as a user I'd leave. Because that shows you didn't put enough time into it! *** Edit: This only happens when javascript is turned off. This should be done by php and not javascript!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 The exclusion of sub-800*600 browser resolutions is usually a mistake, but I'll assume that your audience will mostly include power users and gamers. You are correct about 800x600, it won't really work but this is 2007, anyone using 800x600 needs to get with the times. It looks fine for anyone using 1024x768 or higher though. I like the idea of your little news header that changes, but you should really add a way to go back after it changes for slower readers. About that, I really would like to have some sort of previous/next but I haven't worked out to do it thus far. I'll keep thinking though. Finally, you should just hide the admin options unless you actually are an admin-clicking an icon and seeing a "Permission Denied" option is useless to the average user, as is clicking a link to an external news article, getting a pop-up AND a way to edit the article. For an admin, it is a nice touch though. You are correct, I am going to change it now so that only administrators see the "Add" and "Manage" buttons. About the Edit thing, I haven't found a way to hide the "~ Edit" unless you are an administrator but just so you know if you try edit it and you aren't an admin then the database won't be updated. That is the primary way that content will be updated all over the site anyway. As for the forums, three major points: the category-specific icons are used in most of the forums but not all of them. While it's a good idea, it makes the forums without pictures stand out. Once I have finished the Forums I will move on to finishing the Forums and every category will eventually have it's own icon. I find the hover effect on the forums fairly annoying. Having the background lighten subtly it's a bad idea, but the border and jumping text is overkill. You have a point, I kind of like it though. When you say jumping text however...I am not aware of any jumping text, looks like you've found the first bug...could you get me a screenshot? Finally, at the top of every page you have a breadcrumb trail, a trail that you have left out of your forums-maybe you should look into working on unifying the breadcrumb location so that it doesn't change from page to page. Yes I started the Forums first but then I stopped and moved onto the site. Once I've finished the Website I will go back to finishing the Forums and I will update the breadcrumb trail. Aside from that, you've done a good job on the design and code. The "Beta" tag was a nice Web 2.0 touch. Thanks a lot, I'm actually quite proud of it to say it's my first site. I've had plenty of Forums before but I've never made a site from scratch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Okay. I think it looks good. But the way you coded is wrong. If you look at the homepage the comments go all the way down, past the footer. 1280 resolution. You have to code it, so that only a limited amout of comments can be shown at a time. Plus, when there is more content added than normally, it would stretch the div down! You got to rip this xhtml up and blow it up! Its needs to work well dynamically. Not like static website!! Overall, GOOD. I'm sorry when you say comments you are reffering to the news stories? I am using MYSQL to display the stories in each category and the LIMIT is 5, they shouldn't be overflowing the footer. Could you please tell me your Browser and get me a screenshot of the content overflowing the footer, thankyou. but, as a user I'd leave. Because that shows you didn't put enough time into it! 2 Months so far including the Forums? ??? I've put a lot of time into this and the content as far as I'm aware only overflows in Safari or if there is a LOT of content. I don't know how to fix it. But realisticaly a little error like that, which will be fixed asap anyway wouldn't cause most users to leave. Thanks anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 *** Edit: This only happens when javascript is turned off. This should be done by php and not javascript!! There is so much PHP on that site that you wouldn't even believe it if I showed you the source, of course you aren't going to see it by looking at the source because it is output to the Browser as HTML but it is PHP and MYSQL powered... Any ideas how I can fix it so that when javascript is turned off the content doesn't leak over the footer? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFilmGod Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 I've put a lot of time into this and the content as far as I'm aware only overflows in Safari or if there is a LOT of content. I don't know how to fix it. But realisticaly a little error like that, which will be fixed asap anyway wouldn't cause most users to leave. Thanks anyway. Didn't want to be hard on you. I can see the amount of effort you put in it. Firefox 1.5, windows service pack 1, javascript OFF. Screenshots: Image bottom. [attachment deleted by admin] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFilmGod Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Make sure the div tag is relative to the amout of content. More = it stretches out!! Make sure you limit the number of comments allowed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moberemk Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 The exclusion of sub-800*600 browser resolutions is usually a mistake, but I'll assume that your audience will mostly include power users and gamers. You are correct about 800x600, it won't really work but this is 2007, anyone using 800x600 needs to get with the times. It looks fine for anyone using 1024x768 or higher though. Well, much though designers would love that sort of thing to happen, it just won't. You just have to deal with them for a while to come. As for the jumping, I'm talking about when, when the border appears, all the text jumps a little to the right in FF2. Did you not notice? Also, triple-posting is generally bad forum etiquette. Just a friendly reminder Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Didn't want to be hard on you. I can see the amount of effort you put in it. No problem, I'm glad that you told me otherwise I wouldn't have known about the problem. Firefox 1.5, windows service pack 1, javascript OFF. I designed the site with people who have Javascript enabled in mind, though I just looked at it without Javascript and it doesn't look so bad apart from the content overflowing the footer. I'll try get it fixed so that people with Javascript disabled can still read things ok. Make sure the div tag is relative to the amout of content. More = it stretches out!! I don't understand what you are saying, could you elaborate? Make sure you limit the number of comments allowed I do. There are 3 categories which are shown / hidden with Javascript, if you have Javascript enabled then you will notice that only one category can be shown at any one time and only 5 news stories are shown in each Javascript. The problem is when you don't have Javascript enabled it's showing a maximum of 5 stories from each category all in a line plus the stuff for add news, manage news, news archive and news feeds. (Those 4 images). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Well, much though designers would love that sort of thing to happen, it just won't. You just have to deal with them for a while to come. Well I couldn't care less for anyone using 800x600 or less, if they want to see my site display correctly they're going to have to notch up the resolution aren't they. As for the jumping, I'm talking about when, when the border appears, all the text jumps a little to the right in FF2. Did you not notice? Ah I see what you mean now, I will sort that out when I get around to it. Also, triple-posting is generally bad forum etiquette. Just a friendly reminder I'm sorry and I know it's not good but I'm just trying to keep each reply to each post seperate to avoid confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zfred09 Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 What he is trying to say with the div tag is make it so that there is no defined height. So it stretches as more content is added. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 I'm sure the div is height:auto; I'll check, got to restart my PC first though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phpQuestioner Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Why don't you just set the div to a specific height and then set the overflow to auto or scroll (overflow-x:auto and overflow-y:scroll). Just a thought........ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Well I have a lot of divs...the basic structure would be like... <div id="leftcolumn"> <div id="leftcolumninternal"> <div id="leftcolumntitle">Below is come content!</div> <div id="leftcontent">I am content.</div> </div> </div> Currently leftcolumn, leftcolumninternal and leftcontent are set to height:auto. What does overflow do, which would I apply it to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moberemk Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Why would you even need to specify height: auto; anyhow? I've never seen a situation where that was needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 I'm not the CSS Master, I don't know everything. I just figured it was needed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
solinent Posted July 26, 2007 Share Posted July 26, 2007 Well I have a lot of divs...the basic structure would be like... <div id="leftcolumn"> <div id="leftcolumninternal"> <div id="leftcolumntitle">Below is come content!</div> <div id="leftcontent">I am content.</div> </div> </div> Currently leftcolumn, leftcolumninternal and leftcontent are set to height:auto. What does overflow do, which would I apply it to? Overflow basically makes a fixed height div have a scrollbar. So basically imagine an iframe, except the html contents are within the page. It's very versatile if you're using php. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 26, 2007 Author Share Posted July 26, 2007 Well I fixed it by changing a few of the heights from 100% to auto but thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devknob Posted July 27, 2007 Share Posted July 27, 2007 I like it, I think its damn good for your first once, however, I got this Runtime Error! Program C:\Program Files\Internet Explorer\IEXPLORE.EXE R6025 -pure virtual function call when I went to the site and then it closed all my IE windows, not sure why Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aureole Posted July 27, 2007 Author Share Posted July 27, 2007 Yeah.......umm what version of IE are you running. ??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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