Feedback for my site

Jovian9 · Dec 31, 2005

Hello all. My wife and I just finished my website. She has done a few basic sites in the past, but nothing with lots of media on it.....and since we are both unemployed and bored we decided to build me a website this past week. We completed it the other day. I did all the design and she did all the work. Feedback (negative and positive) would be great b/c we will probably revise it within the next month. Thanks!
The website is:
http://www.secretphaedon.com

.....or link to it in my signature.......

Jovian9 · Jan 1, 2006

Please

Some costructive criticism would be great. Thanks!

reh · Jan 1, 2006

I would go straight to the style used on the pages with content. As it is now, it takes two clicks just to see anything. Other than that, I think it's a pretty neat layout.

rozwell · Jan 1, 2006

...visuals
im not diggin the font at all. scripty fonts are for wedding paraphernalia... invites and what not. over all the site lacks color. the main page has CMY and some crazy green rollovers but beyond that its black and white which can work only if you stick it out all the way and rely on something else to interest the user (graphical elements or the content itself). photoshop is a great tool, but when you can tell you used a specific photoshop filter within 2 seconds of seeing the image, its not necessarily a good thing

...content
You will need QuickTime and Flash installed on your computer in order to be able to run this site to full potential. is on the about page... maybe it should be on your splash page or your home page. it could help users figure out why your site may not be appearing correctly. seems like a few sections have nothing in them at all... dont even give the user that choice if the content isnt available or created yet.

Jovian9 · Jan 1, 2006

The font was definitely something we knew was not going to last through the next revision. I tried to keep a theme with the pictures to show the stages that particular pic went through while using Photoshop. The picture/theme will definitely change with the next revision. Your point is well understood.

Good point on the flash/quicktime, we will most likely add that information to the opening page for any visitors to the site.

Thanks!

rozwell said:
...visuals
im not diggin the font at all. scripty fonts are for wedding paraphernalia... invites and what not. over all the site lacks color. the main page has CMY and some crazy green rollovers but beyond that its black and white which can work only if you stick it out all the way and rely on something else to interest the user (graphical elements or the content itself). photoshop is a great tool, but when you can tell you used a specific photoshop filter within 2 seconds of seeing the image, its not necessarily a good thing

...content
You will need QuickTime and Flash installed on your computer in order to be able to run this site to full potential. is on the about page... maybe it should be on your splash page or your home page. it could help users figure out why your site may not be appearing correctly. seems like a few sections have nothing in them at all... dont even give the user that choice if the content isnt available or created yet.

Jovian9 · Jan 1, 2006

reh said:
I would go straight to the style used on the pages with content. As it is now, it takes two clicks just to see anything. Other than that, I think it's a pretty neat layout.

My wife agreed with you too, but I pushed for that initial link-page to load up after the flash intro. So we'll probably eliminate that too.

Thanks!

FocusAndEarnIt · Jan 1, 2006

Site is ok, graphics are ok, font =

Sorry, but, what's the point of the website. I'm not grasping onto it. My website doesn't really have a point - does yours?

Jovian9 · Jan 1, 2006

lilstewart92 said:
Sorry, but, what's the point of the website. I'm not grasping onto it. My website doesn't really have a point - does yours?

In the about section I give a quick reason for the website......it's nothing business related or anything. Just a means for putting media/arts stuff on the web for myself and some friends and trying to do it by ourselves with only our content (no templates/pictures/art by anyone else unless it's a link to their website) so that we can learn how to do it all. It's the first website I've ever worked on so that is why I want feedback....so in the future I can streamline it and make it a better site.

Thanks!

FocusAndEarnIt · Jan 1, 2006

Jovian9 said:
In the about section I give a quick reason for the website......it's nothing business related or anything. Just a means for putting media/arts stuff on the web for myself and some friends and trying to do it by ourselves with only our content (no templates/pictures/art by anyone else unless it's a link to their website). It's the first website I've ever worked on so that is why I want feedback. So in the future I can streamline it and make it a better site.

Oh. Ok. cool!

It's actually a pretty good site!

Jovian9 · Jan 1, 2006

Some revisions made (and others still being worked on) based upon some of the feedback everyone has given me and some of the things we wanted to change.

Daveway · Jan 1, 2006

I like the revision made, the site is much cleaner now.

Of note. I noticed that you are using 2 images to create the underline on your navigation words. This can actually be done using regular text, which is better, and the a: hover CSS tag with an underline for text decoration.

This is much easier to do than I'm probably making it sound and it also cuts down on bandwidth/image loads on your site.

Also, I may be criticized for this...but splash pages seem quite useless, very 1990s, and just makes the process of getting to the material much more cumbersome.

Jovian9 · Jan 2, 2006

Thanks for the tips. I checked out your page and liked it......nice and simple to navigate thru.

Daveway said:
I like the revision made, the site is much cleaner now.

Of note. I noticed that you are using 2 images to create the underline on your navigation words. This can actually be done using regular text, which is better, and the a: hover CSS tag with an underline for text decoration.

This is much easier to do than I'm probably making it sound and it also cuts down on bandwidth/image loads on your site.

Also, I may be criticized for this...but splash pages seem quite useless, very 1990s, and just makes the process of getting to the material much more cumbersome.

Jovian9 · Feb 5, 2006

Updated my site tonight. New pics, music, and the writing section is now up and running. Please check it out and give me any feedback that you may have.

Daveway said:
Of note. I noticed that you are using 2 images to create the underline on your navigation words. This can actually be done using regular text, which is better, and the a: hover CSS tag with an underline for text decoration.

This is much easier to do than I'm probably making it sound and it also cuts down on bandwidth/image loads on your site.

Working on this right now....trying to iron out the kinks to get it exactly as I'd like it to be. Thanks for the tip!

MacEffects · Feb 5, 2006

Your site is great, simple and easy to use... But I'd add some more colors and things to give it a GUI (Non 90s website) look... Well, good luck!

BTW: Did you do think from just basic HTML or did you add some PHP? It'd be a pain from just HTML.

macEfan · Feb 5, 2006

nice site, easy to navigate. BTW where did you get the made on a mac icon?

Jovian9 · Feb 5, 2006

macEfan said:
nice site, easy to navigate. BTW where did you get the made on a mac icon?

Not sure where I found that particular Mac icon....here are the links I have (which is probably where I found it):

http://www.the-mac-lady.com/advocacy/mac3.html

http://www.apple.com/about/webbadges/

http://www.theapplecollection.com/various/MacMade/AppleWebBadgesMadeOn.html

http://www.macosr.com/php/query/files/index.php3?cat=mm

http://www.theapplecollection.com/various/MacMade/madeanim.html

http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Ridge/1217/MacGalleryIndex.html

Jovian9 · Feb 5, 2006

MacEffects said:
BTW: Did you do think from just basic HTML or did you add some PHP? It'd be a pain from just HTML.

HTML was done by my wife. I am learning the coding aspect of this.....slowly. I do a majority of the design/content/media (some friends too) and she does the coding. She said she did not use PHP b/c she's not very good at it.

Jovian9 · Feb 6, 2006

Daveway said:
Of note. I noticed that you are using 2 images to create the underline on your navigation words. This can actually be done using regular text, which is better, and the a: hover CSS tag with an underline for text decoration.

This is much easier to do than I'm probably making it sound and it also cuts down on bandwidth/image loads on your site.

This is done now. Thanks for the advice. This helps a lot!

munkle · Feb 6, 2006

Overall nice site but I'm not such a fan of the rotating PowerMac gif...reminds me too much of the early websites with bright neon colours, music and lots of animated gifs!

kretzy · Feb 6, 2006

Nice site, the content is really cool. I agree with others that maybe you should change to a different font. I wouldn't mind seeing a bit more colour on the page. Just a few subtle shades of maybe just one colour to break up the black & whiteness of it. Or if you want to keep it B&W, then perhaps some like shading/gradients, again just to add to the visual experience.

PS I'm with munkle on the PM gif

Jovian9 · Feb 6, 2006

munkle said:
Overall nice site but I'm not such a fan of the rotating PowerMac gif...reminds me too much of the early websites with bright neon colours, music and lots of animated gifs!

max_altitude said:
PS I'm with munkle on the PM gif

I can't bring myself to get rid of the rotating PowerMac. My wife and I like it and it's only on the 'About' Page.....so we're probably going to stick with that for now.

We're trying to work on some shading, but not trying to make it too overbearing. That will probably be in the next major revision.

Thanks for the suggestions!

Feedback for my site

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