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Feedback on my website please

JackT06

JackT06

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jul 24, 2009
293
0
Hello,

I have recently put together this site for the Hampshire DofE Youth Forum, my main reason was because i was part of the Forum and i was the only one who had the knowledge to do it. Im also now using this site for my IT Diploma Project, and i need some feedback on it to put in my report.

Please could you give me some feedback?

I would also like to know if there is a way to make a page better using a diffrent coding language, please let me know as i would like to learn a new language.

My Website
 
My notes so far:

  • get onto a better webhost, this is just bound to have problems
  • I would recomend a content management system if you are not always going to be the person making changes, or, for that matter, even if you are always going to be the person making changes so that you can create dynamic events, ect. I would recommend Drupal in most cases
  • Your lightbox should as a general rule close with the "esc" button on your keyboard
  • I don't really like the scrolling text... as a general rule

This is all I can think of so far.

Aside from that, I think that the site looks amazing
 
I agree with janitorC7 except I thing the Host is fine and he can upgrade with that host as well however if he wants to change he could use godaddy
 
maril1111 said:
I agree with janitorC7 except I think the Host is fine and he can upgrade with that host as well however if he wants to change he could use godaddy
Click to expand...

This is a point that I must be adamant on. He is both redirecting and masking the web address. In short, when searching on a search engine it will not pull up the same web address. He will be lucky to have good search engine ranking at all. Also, try bookmarking any of the pages on the site. It does not work, any bookmark redirects back to the homepage.

Also, NEVER use godaddy hosting. It is just not a great experience. Assuming that as an IT Student you do not have the resources to host it from your own server I would stick with Media Temple. I have had ONLY positive experiences with them and I have yet to experience any downtime. Very Fast.
 
Hey, I live in Hampshire (although closer to Alresford)!

I don't think the language really matters. You can have a functional and beautiful site with WP templates, with RapidWeaver, Drupal or even with a NotePad with HTML/XHTML and CSS (adding JQuery for eye candies). In the end, what will make the biggest difference is probably the content and other elements of the site. For example, I find the name and the domain name very confusing, long and difficult-to-remember. You cannot expect your visitors to remember that address. With these names, it will take a while to gain decent search engine ranking.

Keep it simple and if you have other contributors, choose a platform/language that suits the CMS best and is able to support whatever you are planning to do with the site in the future.

EDIT: the site loads pretty slowly! There is nothing to suggest that it's the content, so it must be your host (my internet speed is crap too, but I notice slow-loading sites). First I even thought that it was an iWeb site, THAT'S how slow it was! :)
 
janitorC7 said:
My notes so far:

  • get onto a better webhost, this is just bound to have problems
  • I would recomend a content management system if you are not always going to be the person making changes, or, for that matter, even if you are always going to be the person making changes so that you can create dynamic events, ect. I would recommend Drupal in most cases
  • Your lightbox should as a general rule close with the "esc" button on your keyboard
  • I don't really like the scrolling text... as a general rule

This is all I can think of so far.

Aside from that, I think that the site looks amazing
Click to expand...

Thanks very much for your comments.

May i ask, why you wouldnt use the web host i am currently using? It's just i have used 00webhost for a year now, and i have only come accross one problem, and that was trying to use "Fantastico Autoinstaller". The main reason i use 00webhost is that its free and currently the Hampshire Youth Forum have no funding at all.

I have looked into using drupal but then decided not because i couldnt install it on 00webhost. I think drupal would be a good idea but i think the only 2 pages which are constaly being updated are the Blog page and the Documents.
 
janitorC7 said:
This is a point that I must be adamant on. He is both redirecting and masking the web address. In short, when searching on a search engine it will not pull up the same web address. He will be lucky to have good search engine ranking at all. Also, try bookmarking any of the pages on the site. It does not work, any bookmark redirects back to the homepage.

Also, NEVER use godaddy hosting. It is just not a great experience. Assuming that as an IT Student you do not have the resources to host it from your own server I would stick with Media Temple. I have had ONLY positive experiences with them and I have yet to experience any downtime. Very Fast.
Click to expand...

Oops sry I just noticed that you were right about the .tk. However I actually mostly positive feedback about Godaddy.... What about heart internet and blacknight? Are they good? They advertise in Macformat quite a lot
 
kernkraft said:
Hey, I live in Hampshire (although closer to Alresford)!

I don't think the language really matters. You can have a functional and beautiful site with WP templates, with RapidWeaver, Drupal or even with a NotePad with HTML/XHTML and CSS (adding JQuery for eye candies). In the end, what will make the biggest difference is probably the content and other elements of the site. For example, I find the name and the domain name very confusing, long and difficult-to-remember. You cannot expect your visitors to remember that address. With these names, it will take a while to gain decent search engine ranking.

Keep it simple and if you have other contributors, choose a platform/language that suits the CMS best and is able to support whatever you are planning to do with the site in the future.

EDIT: the site loads pretty slowly! There is nothing to suggest that it's the content, so it must be your host (my internet speed is crap too, but I notice slow-loading sites). First I even thought that it was an iWeb site, THAT'S how slow it was! :)
Click to expand...

Has anybody else noticed that the site loads pretty slowly? Just i have tried it on every computer in my house (10) and they all load pritty quick..

I do admit sometimes it can load abit slow, but what site dont?!
 
Loads fine. Looks fine.

Its just a WP blog. Nothing new. Nothing of note.

Make it your own, and then ask for a critique. Because honestly, the only thing genuine is your content.
 
JackT06 said:
Has anybody else noticed that the site loads pretty slowly? Just i have tried it on every computer in my house (10) and they all load pritty quick..

I do admit sometimes it can load abit slow, but what site dont?!
Click to expand...

If you visit the site from the same computer, you don't have the same experience because of the computer caching some data.

Anyway, good luck with the site and think about the domain name, it's not just the matter of the .tk tag.
 
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