Design help

[friesiancrazy]

Hi, I'm an amateur web-designer. Pretty green in fact. My knowledge pretty much extends to low level CSS. I'm self-taught and own no web-design programs, so I'm sure I have some pretty big gaps in my knowledge.

My website is www.friesiancrazy.cjb.net

I'd love some feedback, I've been looking for a good forum to get some advice, and this is the first I've found. My site is not impressive by a design standpoint, but any suggestions would be great. At the moment, I've been working with zero feedback from my viewers, who apparently have no opinion on the design aspects of the site. I also have some specific questions on how to fix some of the problems I'm having with some features, so if I get any response, I'll ask about those.

Thanks very much!!

[Pennimus]

Here's one very important piece of advice : get a decent host.

Your site causes multiple instances of adverts for 'winfixer' to popup - the particularly annoying type that attempt to install programs even when you hit cancel or the little X.

In this day and age when advert free hosting costs just a couple of quid/dollars per month I'm astounded that anyone still uses services like this one.

Anyway, when your host stops trying to screw my computer over I'll give you a site review.

[friesiancrazy]

Actually, I think that's my redirection service. The pop-ups don't show up on my computor, so I often forget about it. I'll have to purchase a real domain name at some point I suppose.

Check it out here..

http://friesian-crazy.tripod.com/

That should be better.

[bpeh]

interesting content. some text are centered, doesnt look good. thought the graphics could be improved.

[brett7481]

Not too bad. I can tell what it's about at first glance, so that's good. It looks pretty good in Opera, but I get a huge horizontal scroll bar for no apparent reason... there's no content to see when I scroll.

I would recommend that since you are trying to learn, that you validate your code at The W3C Validator (http://validator.w3.org/). Right now you have 124 errors within your code.

It's a good starting design, definatly not the best... but it is good for starting. You don't need any fancy tools to design a good site. All I use is Windows Notepad and The Gimp, both are free.

Keep at it, and you'll be a pro in no time.

[Mhtml]

I agree, you've done well for a start!

I don't like overly dark backgrounds behind light text myself, I prefer the inverse.. But that's just me.

PS: Nice breed, never heard of it myself. We own an American Saddlebred stud.

[evo]

For a starter very well done. For someone who has no web authoring apps, really good.

Got a long way to go, but just keep workin at it. And damn, that horse looks amazing! I want one!

[friesiancrazy]

Thanks for the validator link.. that is -very- useful. Now I won't have to comb through the code line by line...which I apparently wasn't doing very well anyway!

One problem I have is the little "What's New" table on the front page. When I aligned it so it fit perfectly in my Mac on Safari, it was way off (too high) in IE on Windows. Right now I have it kind of on the middle ground, so that the text is visible for both...but not aligned really correctly in either. Is there a way to fix this so it is aligned for both?

Also, about the graphics... what suggestions do you have for changes? I don't want to overdo them, so that the load time is reasonable for slower computors, but I want it to be attractive and to the theme.

Another question:
For my type of site..which is very heavy with writing and information..what would the best layout style be in your opinions?

I'm glad you like the Friesian...whether I impress anyone visually with my site or not.. I'm happy as long as you appreciate the horses! ;o)