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Aardy54

Can I get a test please?

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Just started going through my website and updating / adjusting / rearranging ...

Can someone go through it and test the functions, make sure everything is showing up like it should, the submission form is working ...

(btw - there's a second secret sub-site link on there as well, if anyone finds it let me know ;) )

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OK, I don't mean to be harsh here, just telling you my experience.  This is your business and probably the first and maybe the only contact you will have with a lot of clients so, I suspect you would rather hear the truth than have everyone just tell you it looks awesome.  You have a good start.

First thing I notice is the link bar across the top are off the page.  At 1024x768 I only see the "Co" in Contact.  there isn't a vertical scroll bar to move the page over to see the rest.  Vertical scroll bars are really bad design but it is worse to not have it and need it.

I don't like frames either but that is a personal opinion, others may love them.

I like your logo design but it looks a bit jagged, like it needs to be resampled after you resized it.

Products and services aren't linked to anything, but you probably know that.

Gallery page is again off the page to the right but at least there is a vertical scroll bar on this page

I guess the hidden link is the skull in the jester cap?... I like that logo a lot.

I have mixed feelings about the watermark background on the pages.  It's ok but a little distracting to me and again a bit jagged.

On your form:

you might want to specify what type of file you need to be uploaded, you will get all kinds of garbage if you don't.

Style?  I didn't know what that was supposed to be.

The image at the bottom of the form is missing, it just says home with the broken image symbol

Form page has a vertical scroll bar that doesn't appear to be necessary if you adjusted some of your tables.

Submitted the form and got this:

Not Found

The requested URL /cgi-bin/FormMail.cgi was not found on this server.

Apache Server at www.aardvarkengineering.com Port 80

I am using Firefox browser, 1024x768 resolution for your records.  IE might get different results but you need your site to support every browser as much as possible.

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Using Frontpage to build, SmartFTP to upload and manage - actually working on the site as I type this (the nice thing about an big L shaped desk & 2 computers  side by side with diff internet connections LOL)

Looks like I'm having problem with auto size adjusting the pages - It looks fine on my 22" wide screen flat panel, but too big on my wife's 19 flatpanel and sorta bizzarely out of center on my laptop 15.1" screen ... though Frontpage had a spot to adjust the size of the page but cant seem to remember where it is.

I actually have been considering ditching the watermark background for something a bit more subtle like the 1 waterdrop fill I have for digi print ...

Time to go fix a few broken / un-tied links and redirects I see LOL - guess it's like someone in another site thread said "a website is a continuous work in progress"

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Looks good to me,I'm seeing everything as it should be in Opera browser

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My take on it... I too am not a fan of frames, especially those that look like the scroll bar is available but aren't.

The blue font color isn't really visible against the black background. Kudos on making the text scalable and not forced.

Unofficially, serif fonts (fonts with the little "feet") are for printed material (i.e. magazines, newspapers, etc.), and sans-serif (no feet) are usually easier to view electronically.

galleries: If you haven't already, you might want to get rid of the extra empty cells. Because you have a decent amount of images to you, you might want to convert them to thumbnail and link them to a full size pic. That way you can get continuity in size of the thumbnail, and can control how fast (or show) a page will load.

The "HOME" button on the submit page isn't loaded.

Definitely re-sample your two graphic in the left bar when you finalize the graphic size.

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Using Frontpage to build...

Front page will have an option so that you can force the size of your workspace. As a rule of thumb, set it to no wider than 1024 (the old standard was 800). I'm okay with the diamond plate background. I don't find it distracting.

You're on the right track ... keep plugging away at it. I started out in FrontPage, now I only design in Dreamweaver. Much easier now that I know how to get it to behave the way I want it to  ;)

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I'm no expert, but here's my two cents...

I'd personally, remove the frames. If you don't... I would atleast make it to where whoever is looking at the site can't move them. Again... if you keep the frames, I would suggest to delete the bottom one, cause it's the same stuff you have at the top. On the photo page... I would suggest to make all of those linkage thumbnails, so customers/visitors can see the full sized image. I like the water mark... but think the image needs to be cleaned up/sharpened a bit.

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haumana.. what browser are you using?

I get about the same results that I posted above with IE but there is a vertical scroll bar for the link bar using IE.

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I still try to keep my workspace at 800px wide or a little less.  It is amazing how many people still use 800x600 or even less.

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I agree as a web designer frames are a no no.

Everyone has covered most of what there is to say.

I think your site is selling your business short.

Looks from what we made in the 90's. No offence.

Here's something I through together to give you an idea of what you may want to shoot for.

Just my .02

54design.jpg

post-2063-12986517009354_thumb.jpg

post-2063-12986517048165_thumb.jpg

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oyvay - after 20 mins of code searching, found a redirect problem with one of the HOME & submit buttons ... a singual little "-" that shouldn't have been there.

Never played with Dreamweaver, but have heard enough talk about throughout the different forums I'm on that it looks like a trip to ebay to grab a copy is on the to do list ...

Figured out the res problem with the logo is ... I exported from Flexi to a jpeg - I swear Flexi has a crappy export LOL, but I love the rest of it, guess I'll have to pull it into Corel or photoshop and do some cleaning.

The frames issue - I just dont like the idea of not having those nav points at the top always no matter what page the site is on ...The bot nav bar can go (see your points on that one)

Funny thing is, seems everyone I've talked to, all tell me the contact info they've gotten was either word of mouth or the biz card I handed them when doing a face to face intro - the one ones that have ever mentioned getting on my website is the racing guys - and they just bounce straight to the "secret" second sub-site - "JesterHead"

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I try to keep my pages short and put links on top and bottom.  That way one of the menu's are usually visible or you are never far from one.  No one wants to scroll through a long page.  Some sites I put links down the side.  I never use frames.  I started with frontpage, I have Dream Weaver now but haven't really had time to learn it yet.  To me, it looks more difficult than frontpage but that was just my first impression, I haven't really studied it yet.

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It's not to bad of a change over.

We had to dump FP all together due to hosts dropping FP support/extensions.

Eric

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well, to update looks like more than a 30min deal, so guess I'll have to come back at it once I'm a bit more awake and focused.

Thanks for the ideas, suggestions - many will be top on list to work on.  If the bkgnd color wasn't so dark, I might be more able to sink my teeth on that sample dbt.

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I'm usually in FireFox for personal browsing, but depending on which clients' office I'm at, I can be on Internet Explorer and Opera too.

I know that there are still users using 800x600 resolution, but it's really, really hard to design for that narrow of a site - especially if the customer is wanting bigger and better pictures, dynamic content, etc.

Geez Eric ... now everyone is going to come to you to mock-up website  :)

Care to do a mock-up for me  ;)

DG - which version of DW do you have? The jump wasn't as bad (or hard) as I thought it would be. I just had to exercise some patience with myself. Once I figured out where all the cool tools were, it got a lot easier. After that I made the jump from PS to FW. It's easier to work with them when I need to tweak graphics in mid-design.

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well, to update looks like more than a 30min deal, so guess I'll have to come back at it once I'm a bit more awake and focused.

Thanks for the ideas, suggestions - many will be top on list to work on.  If the bkgnd color wasn't so dark, I might be more able to sink my teeth on that sample dbt.

Just an example.

A dark background looks best to me, design wise with your logo, as far as the logo stands right now color wise.

But at any rate you can have it any way you want (the logo) so it matches any BG.

Best of luck with your site ;)

Eric

P.S. Images look best against black as it brings all the colors out and keeps from wash out of color to your optics like white and other no no colors.

Ever noticed how images seems to look best in a black frame or with a black backgound. Hence why most design image rich websites are in black/dark.

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I know that there are still users using 800x600 resolution, but it's really, really hard to design for that narrow of a site - especially if the customer is wanting bigger and better pictures, dynamic content, etc.

Geez Eric ... now everyone is going to come to you to mock-up website  ;D

Care to do a mock-up for me  ;)

I agree, 800 x 600 is a pain, using a dynamic web design is the only way around it but there is still many catches.

Mock-ups... bring-em-on!  ;D

Eric

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Eric - wasn't anything negative about it - just everyone around here (businesses) seem to have this major thing for light ganite, white marble, light grey stone, etc.. thinking maybe if I can tap into that preference of them with some type of stone background, well people are drawn to what they like so -

I'll give a darker grey/black fade fill a try. Lord knows I'll probably have to completely redesign and start from scratch, so might as well make a couple different versions.

Might just wait until I get dreamweaver

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Eric - wasn't anything negative about it - just everyone around here (businesses) seem to have this major thing for light ganite, white marble, light grey stone, etc.. thinking maybe if I can tap into that preference of them with some type of stone background, well people are drawn to what they like so -

I'll give a darker grey/black fade fill a try. Lord knows I'll probably have to completely redesign and start from scratch, so might as well make a couple different versions.

Might just wait until I get dreamweaver

Definitely tap into the trends that are happening around you ... or do something so radically different. This is your site, so build what you think your customers need to see. The only rock solid advice is to make the site easy to navigate. You're always going to have critics out there who are partial to white backgrounds, or dark background, serif vs. non-serif, etc.

I still say you're on the right track! You're giving it a go, learning cool stuff in the process, and get lots of free helpful (and some not so helpful) advice from the forum ... that's a good thing, right?? hahahaha.  ;)

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