taglehomes.awardspace.com

hey webforumz people!

i've just redesigned this site, and i was hoping i could get some feedback here about the changes i've made. i'd be really grateful for comments on the markup, load times, browser compatibility, usability, accessibility, on page SEO and general feel.

also if there is anything wrong like broken links that i've missed, typos, layout errors etc i'd appreciate it if you let me know!

thank you!

old design >> http://taglehomesold.awardspace.com/index.htm
new design >> http://taglehomes.awardspace.com

PS does anybody know of any good image compression software? (for the banner) that would be great! thanks!

just had a quick look around the site, and I'm not a pro but here's some things I noticed

-I think the look is nice, neutral and cosy (I dont know how it's written)
-I'm not real happy about the menu, because there are 3 different places with menu items, like in the banner, underneath it, and on the left side as well. I always try to get the navigation in one place to be as abvious as possible. Besides that, the menu items react in different ways on the cursor as well, maybe try to make that the same for all.
-I thought the text in the main content areas was a bit large, so it didnt read very nicely. I know I can change the text size in my browser, but there are still a lot of people that don't know this.
-to compress images I always use Photoshop, I think thats about as good as it gets when working on images and photos. Fireworks is another program.

Well thats it, not much but I hope it helps.

Thomas

I've had a look at your site and it is an improvement on the older version. The only thing I prefer on the older one and agree with mrdebos about is the menu, which I think should generally be in one line like at the older site.

Nice markup. The only thing you shouldn't do is have line breaks in the paragraphs. It may look nicer tabbed properly instead of crude wraps, but that's not how source should be.

Instead of using span for the dropcap, you might want to use the p:first-letter pseudo-class. It's not universal (I believe IE 5 and/or 6 don't support it), but it's handled better among the browsers that do support it. A quick JS script would add support to IE at any rate.

I don't particularly like the header that much. The Western typewriter font with the outer glow is too unnatural. Try something new with that. I also agree about the menu. Stick all of it in one place using the same styles and hover pseudo-classes.

Design: 4 out of 5
Code: 4 out of 5
Functionality: 2 out of 5

Remove the line breaks and follow proper order for the headers (h1 then h2 then h3, not h1 then h4 then h5) and you'll receive a 5 out of 5 for code. Beautiful use of divs and tables though. Group the navigation in a nicer way with similar hovers and you'll get a 5 out of 5 for functionality too.

hello! thanks for all the constructive criticism!

i've unified the main navigation, i added a bit of extra padding to seperate them, do you think its ok or should i add a border on one side to seperate them better visually?

i've also made the body text a bit smaller, i'll have to adjust the dropcap slightly to make it fit properly. i originally used the p:first-letter pseudo-class but i read about compatibility issues so i opted for the span method for the meantime.

about the line breaks in the paragraphs, i did that just so it was easier to type and see everything together. i'll probably remove the line breaks when i get time.

the header... im not great with graphics. as you can see. i've changed the font to a script for now, can you suggest how i can improve it? i'm also working on a footer image so it doesnt look... unfinished?

and the headers, why did i do it that way again...? oh yeah, coz i have h2's and h3's in the content then the sidebars headings would start with h4 then h5. but it doesn't make sense on pages without h2 and h3 huh? i'll see what i can do.

thanks for all the comments! very helpful!

if there's anything else i can improve on, let me know! thanks again!

two words

very nice

i like it alot, 10/10 from me

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ver, very nice. good job.

I agree about the menus, keep the navigation on the tip bar, and provide aditional links on the main body of the page.

code is spotless...

SEO:
Your home page is http://taglehomes.awardspace.com/
http://taglehomes.awardspace.com/index.htm is a diferrent page to search engines.
8/10.

Don't use headers to style content, use them to organize it. Add classes if there is a need to style them differently across the pages.

The header and navigation is much nicer. I don't want to sound like I'm nitpicking, because you've truly done a fantastic job and I love to see it when people actually take the advice here and use it. I still have a slight issue with the outer glow on the black script. It looks infinitely better than the previous typeface you used, but those Photoshop outer glows have always seemed cheesy to me. Have you thought about putting a black stripe across the page with the text in white inside it?

Yes, a footer would be nice, but it's not entirely necessary. I would just add a stripe of the same image in your header about 40 pixels high at the bottom. No rounded corners or anything, just the border that wraps around it like the rest of the page.

Design: 4 3/4 out of 5 (sorry! I want to give you the 5!)
Code: 4 out of 5
Functionality: 5 out of 5

thank you for all the encouraging comments!

the things i have for h4's and h5's used to spans with class names "sideTitle". but then i thought, well they are headers aren't they? then again, they're not part of the main content and don't really add structure to it. so i changed it back. took me less than 5 minutes, now that i'm using SSI,

i've changed the header again, a western font with a drop shadow and a light yellow color, i think the black and white looked so out of place coz i dont use black anywhere else in the website. i think it looks a little better now but i can work on it.

i've added a little more padding on the main body area, it looked too close to the border. and that's about it. i think i'll work more on the content now and maybe get around to that footer.

thanks again for the constructive criticism! don't worry about giving the 5/5 for design, there should always be room for improvement, i'm happy to even get more than 3.

Very, very nice markup! - Good effort!

THe only thing I would say about your code is try and make better use of your <h*> tags. They provide structure to your document and make for better SEO and accessiblity (structure is well maintained if you turn off CSS.)

The thing I'm not so keen on is the colour scheme and look. It's very 70s... and not in a cool kitch way either. I get the image if a 70s furnature salesman in a brown suit and beige shirt...

I suppose the style you go for needs to reflect the stle of the townhouses you're selling. I don't however, think that they are decorated in sketchy 70s decor...

Check out your competition and see what they're doing in terms of colour.

Verdict: Very nice coding.... Sketchy design and colour scheme. 6/10

Yes, the h1-6 tags are meant for content organization. You really should use them, they just HAVE to be used in order. It's an HTML thing, not a preference. It's good practice to make your page in just HTML with only headers and paragraphs, then add the styling. This is a screenshot of what my articles page looks like without any CSS. I use headers 1-4 without skipping any numbers.

http://ryanfait.com/articles/
http://www.ryanfait.com/html.png

hello again! thanks for the follow up ryan! i'm not sure what to do now with those headings. coz this is the problem i have with them, should they be considered headings? i mean they're not part of the main content and dont add structure to that. so should i be enclosing them within <hn> tags? what im doing now is putting them in <span> elements with the class "sideTitle" and "section". which is proper semantic coding? thanks! (this is now nitpicking, )

EDIT: i'm viewing the site with css turned off, yes, headings would make more sense. i'll just add classes to them for styling.

and to minute44, is it the background color that bothers you? i'll try out some different things

It's the style in general... It just reeks of cheesy 70's furnature or used car salesman...Take more opinions than just mine though.

Here's another opinion that agrees with minute44. I'm not very keen at all on your colour scheme or overall look - it just lacks professionalism.

Your header looks quite pleasing and the positioning is nicely done, but the content area is lacking.

For a start - the navigation menu at the top does not stand out at all as such. You really need to give it more contrast to the rest of the site than just a different colour font - even a line or different background colour for that area would improve things.
While we're discussing navigation - I'd remove the description tool tips from it, they don't add anything to the site and links really shouldn't need them.

Individual Pages:

Home
The divided area on the left is terrible - its positioning puts more focus on the 'About' section than any of the others on the page. Your users eyes will naturally fall there first (especially as your heading title bar is not bold (which isn't too much of a problem normally)). After the users see the title 'about' they will automatically move focus away from it and may go to the section you want them to be on - the introduction that gives the purpose for the site.

Unfortunately this important section of the site is currently unappealing and seems very unimportant. I doubt many visitors will take the time to read even the first paragraph of your introduction at the moment.

So my advise after all that? Centre the heading text for the entire content area and move the about section to the right and the division line below the page heading.

You also need a gap between the content and the footer - at the moment "Explore each section now to find out more." Looks like a part of the footer - which again, is usually ignored by your average visitor. (I'd probably remove this line altogether anyway - if your navigation bar is clear enough then it's a little patronizing to explain this to them...)


The Townhouses
This page is very tricky to navigate - the "In this section" makes the links seem more like in-page-anchors than going to new areas of the site.

I would advise removing the left bar altogether and instead making the sub links look more like a part of the navigation bar.

Gallery
Same goes for the navigation in this as with town houses, and instead of 'gallery1' and 'gallery2' try 'Low-res Gallery' and 'High-Res Gallery', then they won't need a description and the gallery page will make much more sense.


The rest of the page seems okay if you ignore that bar on the left.


Best of luck,
Snow

hi snow! thank you for taking the time to write your comments.

about the look? i'm not really after an extremely professional look. im more after a cosy type of thing with a personal touch. i'm not developing a whole subdivision or a real estate company with thousands of listings. i own 6 finished townhouses and want to sell them. i want the people to feel comfortable as they view the site as they will be dealing directly with the owners. knowing that, how do you think it looks? how does it feel?

thanks for the comment on the header btw was working on it for a while, especially the style on the text.

i was looking at the site the other day and the main navigation does seem kinda unimportant doesnt it? im just thinking of how to make it stand out without breaking the design. and i kept the titles to make sure viewers know what they can find in each section, especially the townhouses.

so the weight of your review is on the left bar... i put it there for the navigation of the various sections and because the content is quite little at the moment, didnt want it to seem so empty and hard to read with long one line paragraphs. move it to the right? i just tried it, i don't know, i just dont like it that way. maybe its coz im used to it on the left?

can i get any more comments on this please? thanks!

I changed the names of the galleries, you're right, Low/High Resolution Gallery makes much more sense what Gallery 1/2 that needs a title to explain.

thanks snow for bringing those things to my attention!

id be very grateful for any further critiques so i can really improve the site now instead of thinking its ok and losing out on prospective buyers.

I know what it's like to design for a small cluster of homes. I designed http://faitnv.com for my dad about a year and a half ago. He built 5 custom homes in the Las Vegas area that finished a few months ago. Unfortunately they haven't sold yet because of the poor housing market in the US... If anyone wants one, let me know!! The site's design is a little outdated as far as my style goes today, but I know it's difficult designing for such a miniscule group of potential buyers.

The code is up to scratch, but if I were to redesign it today, I would most likely use colors similar to what you've used. They reflect the style of the houses and induce a feeling of warmness that always accompanies the word 'home'. I don't get the impression at all of "cheesy 70's furnature or used car salesman".

I'd like to see what you've done with the side bar, but I'm getting a 500 Internal Server Error when I try to view the site.

wait a sec, did i say "i"? whoah, im getting too used to speaking on behalf of my dad (e-mails and such) for the townhouses

hm, i was getting the same error earlier, my hosting service was doing some maintenance but its back up now. i've put the sidebar on the right for review, does it look better?? what if on the homepage i just move the about further down the page, like aligned with the first paragraph?

EDIT: ok i had to change it back, i dont know why, i just really dont like it on the right...

and what about making the navigation stand out? a line below it perhaps?