Website Debut - Constructive Feedback Welcome

Hello,

Please review and make recommendations. I'm a newbiew with respects to java so if you have function suggestions, please post the code as well (or show me where I can get to those functions). Thanks.

www.100blkwomen-detroit.org

Problems: TITLE IN CAPS LOCK
All to the left of my browser, leaving the right bare
Horrid Code: No Doctype
Tags and attributes all uppercase
Out of date: <script language="JavaScript">

Marquees. :eek:
Font tags. :(
No Doctype. :mad:
I think I've made my point...

Problems: TITLE IN CAPS LOCK
All to the left of my browser, leaving the right bare
Horrid Code: No Doctype
Tags and attributes all uppercase
Out of date: <script language="JavaScript">


Give him some recommendations of where to look and where to find this information at least -- it's good to criticize, but ya' might want to give him outlets to find this info:) :thumbsup:

Give him some recommendations of where to look and where to find this information at least -- it's good to criticize, but ya' might want to give him outlets to find this info:) :thumbsup:

OK then brady...

W3Schools - Very good (X)HTML and CSS tutorials (http://w3schools.com)


Also, make sure your site validates (see my sig)...

Hi guys,

Thanks for the quick responses. I guess I should have mentioned that I am using a fixed format editor, so some of the changes you've suggested I can't make (or I just don't know how). I can get rid of the all caps titles.

The doctype and tags, are you actually seeing the code or do you know what is being used based on what you do see?

Error404, could you give me an example of the all capped items?

We are seeing the code that the browser gets from the server. As for the capped items, that's your title: NCBW RENAISSANCE CHAPTER OF SOUTHEASTERN MICHIGAN

Error404,

You're referring to the code that is listed when you right click and select "view source" right?

Or goto View>View Source, Yeah, I am.

jnldet,
other than technical stuff mentioned above, the site is very good and right to the point. i usually like to know what the site is about on frontpage and you have conveyed it well. but you need MENU. you have links to your "membership", "contact" and so on at the end of the page and that's terrible. i thought those were links or ads.

Hi Speedracer,

The editor I'm using is set up to place the menu links at the bottom of the page. It has it's own menu but it isn't static and covers up the graphic. Is there anyway around that?

So basically everyone hates the scolling headers, yes?

The Left Justify problem, any suggestions on how to center the site on the screen (even though it looks full to me)?

scrolling message is bad as a header.
scrolling message for short news flash might work, however annoying it might be. you just have to use scrolling message in the right situations.

change editor or write your own page, so that you have a menu on top or on the side.

Welcome to the forums! There're a lot of knowledgable people here, so you've come to the right place!

Looking at the code, I wonder why all that javascript is there. There are no image swaps and no pop-up windows, yet there is code for all of that.

The second marquee on the home page (We are not a social club...) is out of place. The marquee at the top is bad enough (bad as in not looked upon favorably anymore), but to have a second one further down is distracting and unnecessary.

I agree about those bottom links; they look like ads, not a menu.

Speaking of menu, be consistent with where the menu is and the items that are available. The menu is on the left in a sneaky rollover on most pages, but one page has the menu available only by right click. What about Mac users? They have to reach to the keyboard every time they want to get around? THe right-click menu is interesting, but I would advise against it. The sneaky rollover menu is also nice, but not very inviting. That menu should be visible at all times and should be easy to find. Look at some other sites (http://validator.w3.org/ comes to mind; I love that menu, but there are others) and see how their menus work. THe most effective ones are consistent in placement on every page and they are consistent in content on every page. An easy menu makes a site more inviting, which is what you want.

Now, I like the information. I do like that the site is clear in its intent. The design is layout is fine, though I don't care for the repeating image on the left sidebar area. I think it would be stronger if that image was only there once, as a kind of logo.

Just my thoughts. As you make changes to your site, let us know so we can look again!
-ts

Hi all,

Thanks for your comments. I've tunred off the marquee on the page headlines. I'm also trying to find menus that everyone can see. I can't do anything about the bad code, it's generated by the editor.

I've built a function page that has a menu I'd like you to review.
http://www.100blkwomen-detroit.org/functionpage.html/. Please tell me if you are able to see the menu.

Can everyone see the current menus that are on the pages? There isn't one on the home page, and the primary application page has a right click menu.

Tell me which you prefer? For those of you who are unable to see any of the menus, which browsers are you using?

Thanks for helping me improve the site.

Bad link. I get a 404 error with that link. HOWEVER, removing the ending slash fixes the problem.

I like that dropdown menu much more. The right-click menu is not something I favor because it just isn't expected. The trouble is that the menu moves down the page as you scroll. You want that menu fixed to the top of the screen. I'm not sure why it's moving down the page, but it is... IE6/pc and NS7.1/pc.

And about your editor generating bad code, get a new editor or just edit the code yourself if you can. Is there something stopping you from doing that?
-ts

Hi Tsguitar,

Can't get a new editor, it's been paid for already. I don't know html enough to try to load my own pages.

Did stop the menu from moving, though, I still can't get it to show up on the home page.

The news annoucements page at http://www.100blkwomen-detroit.org/ncbwnews.html...any recomendations on layout? It is boring. I would love to use a news scroller but I can't figure out how to duplicate the code so two will run on the same page.

Again, a bad link. I checked out the menu though, and that looks much better. Remove the old links at the bottom of the pages, though. They still look like ads, not menu items.

I'd also suggest making the menu items aligned to the left, not centered as you have them now. They look out of place centered.

I got to the announcements page from the menu. I'd say that more details about the events would make the page look nicer. We can't tell those are links there; they look like static text. Why aren't they underlined or a special color or anything?

The styling you've placed on the header tags (<h1>, <h2>, etc.) isn't showing up, so those headers don't call attention to themselves as real headers for the following content. If you want a background color of white on that <h3>, try

<h3 style="background: #fff;">

That should work for you. See if any of this helps! And post back again! It's looking better!
-ts

The only advice I would give is learn to write your own code. God knows, I'm a complete newbie when it comes to writing code myself, but I have learnt a lot in a very short space of time. My site is still far from perfect content wise, but it has clean validated code.

The web is full of great tutorials for (X)HTML and CSS, just do a search for tutorials and you'll find more information than you could ever read. Also I have been told to forget Javascript and learn PHP instead. Don't know if that's a good idea or not, but it's what I'm doing.

Miggsy007