Hi, This site has been reviewed on WF before, so hope this does not bore you! my user name is Oak there.

Aside from any points you would like to make, please can you give your thoughts on the following

Navigation:
Do you think there is too many or repeated Nav page links causing confusion? Do the hover links work well? or should I make them (sorry dont no the correct term) normal links?

Home Page:
Am I displaying the information well? I am finding it difficult to display important announcements e.g. Up Coming Events. I wanted to have everything in view without having to scroll down but maybe I should forget that idea?

Image roll overs:

I am not sure about these, I think I prefer to have images and text laid out together so they compliment each other.

Any suggestions??

Thanks for your time!

Jacob
Visit My Website

This post has been edited by Jacob.R: May 30 2008, 05:22 AM

please can we have a link to look at?

have edited adding link.

Hi Jacob.

The hover links are okay. They reset the nav position when you mouseOver one of the image-zooms, however!

Personally I would remove them and use ordinary links instead. People are more familiar with a simple link than a hover mechanism, so using simple links should increase usability of this site. I don't like users to require "training" to use my site.

The on-hover bold state is problematic because the text jumps around. In one case, it clips past the outer container edge (just slightly)! The right-justification is bad for usability; left-justified text is much easier to scan.

I wouldn't worry about a little vertical scrolling. As long as you have enough information "above the fold" to orient users, there's no problem with scrolling.

I'm still not keen on your gradient background. Using the gradient in the header image is fine, although it's too dithered. But using a sideways gradient on a content panel is a little nasty. It looks as though you couldn't think of anything else to spice up the design.

Your image rollovers are quite neat, but they cause the original shrunken images to look more pixellated. Always match <img> dimensions to the actual file size; create proper thumbnails, rather than just using the <img> dimensions to squash the image. All these images add up; your webpage file sizes are bordering on "too large".

Hi Mike!

Some great points made..

I think I will change the hover links to normal ones.



You are so right!

I have just tried some plain bck grd colours and I can see a VAST IMPROVMENT, though I am not confident to do anything more fancy than that.. well I could have a go.. suggestions?

Thanks for pointing out the poor quality of the main banner I will have a go at reprojucing it fresh myself.

Will create the thumbs.

Thanks

This post has been edited by Jacob.R: May 30 2008, 07:59 AM

Alrighty ... I'll give it a go.

Navigation: The hover thing is a bit weird ... nicely done but when not something users are used too. I would just go with regular links if I were you.

Home page: I know how you feel about wanting all the info THERE! It's not easy. One thing you could do to promote the upcoming event is to create a nice little UPCOMING box under those links on the side and just put the title and a link to more info?! There are a million ways to do a stand out home page, you just have to figure yours out

Image rollovers: Those are the ones at the bottom on the homepage right? That's a neat effect. I don't see a problem with those. The ones I have a problem with are the ones on the Images page. Most of the images are distorted. Like Mike said, create some thumbnails instead ... it'll look 100% better.

Other: Yeah ... that gradient's gotta go. Plain white might be too plain but I think a green background would be just too much green.

Also, on your History page, you talk about a book that people can read for more history on Capoeira so why not link them to either the book page on the authors site (if he has one) or to amazon. That would simplify the whole thing and users wouldn't have to "look" for it

Will see how an upcoming box looks.

So the bck grd graddient is changed... it's not perfect, but it will do for now.

Have added link to Author and Publisher.



I thought Mike was reffering to the rollovers on the Homepage.. I know one of the images is distorted on the Images page but the rest where made into thumbnails using a flash slide maker. I was gong to do the same for the rollovers. Maybe I need to have a lok at how I have applied them?

Thanks Karinne!

This post has been edited by Jacob.R: May 30 2008, 09:51 AM

That's too dark IMO.


You're right ... it's only the first one that's distorted. My bad. I thought there was another one (2nd row, 4th pic and 3rd row, last pic) but it's just because of the crowd angle

Hey Jacob!
For your content background, how about a lighter shade of green such as the one in your logo. A light apple green gradient might add a little color contrast. What you have now is not bad, however I'm just making a suggestion.

On all the pages you have the left column with additional links.
They are styled blue at this time.
Well, after clicking on about the 5th page, I realized those links actually had more information for the page I was on.
I think that column could use a title that says something like: "More info", "Additional Info", or something.
I can't be the only one that is confused by that.

If that is not an option, then I would suggest doing away with those and have drop down boxes on your navigation.

Otherwise, I don't see much that I would think needs attention. Overall good job! Very nice site.

I tried using the colour in my logo but it comes out too dark IMO.. have attached a few scr shts, opinions?



The hover nav has become less clear since changing the bck grd col, which meant I had to remove a Navigational graphic, it's back now as a small arrow.. I can see it still not that clear.

Thanks, I will try something.



Thank you, I should add that aso186 did a wee tidy up job on the CSS for me.. and the cite was an adaption from the original design.

[quote name='karinne' date='May 30 2008, 04:03 PM' post='14172']
That's too dark IMO.


Yes, and a bit gloomy, have replaced it.

Jacob the second example you put up is exactly what I had in mind. Great job "reading my mind" since I was apparently not very clear.

I'm sort of like the 3rd example too... but I'm leaning towards #2.

I like the 3rd one ... but maybe in a light shade? I think it's a nice contrast and a nice change from the green you have everywhere.

Hi Jocob,

Nice site. The one thing that caught my eye was the images at the bottom of the home page. I think they are cool

Wal

Hi Wal

Thanks for the positive feed back, I like the thumbs, but was considering changing them as I felt they upset the balance of the layout.. So important to hear that they are seen as a noticble feature of the page!!

- Linda/Karine

I am pretty indiscisive, though I like the contrast made by no 3, no 2 brings out the colour in my logo... hmm, I am also liking the Current look ? for me it's between no 3 and current.. but I am not an expert on geting the colour right! ha.