Opinions please

PhilipMarlowe

Hi.

I'm doing a re-design of our site and would be grateful if some of ye could take a look and offer criticisms etc.

Some details:
1. Moving to css from tables.
2. Trying to organise the pages so that the main content is 'included' into a template (eventually) for easier editing etc.
3. Trying to make the content printable from the browser (and later via a printer friendly page which exists but isn't tweaked yet).
4. Trying to avoid javascript where possible.
5. Sticking to a fixed width at the moment - the page is still readable if font size is increased a bit but becomes the big mess if sized up too big...
6. Checked using IE6 on windows 2000 and Safari, Opera, Camino, Firefox, Mozilla & IE 5.2 on the Mac.
7. The css isn't quite finished yet with some carry-over from previous versions.
8. Your thoughts on having a top and a side nav?

Just check this first page - none of the child pages have the design applied.
I wanted some opinions before I worked any further.

Thanks and regards...

The link - http://www.hgc.ie/testing/bone.asp

aidan_walsh

Very, very purdy...

Looks great on Ff 0.9.

Regarding the top and side... Neither are too pushy, with the side acting as a shortcut panel for the top, IMHO. It works, but you'd be pressed to wonder why you'd use the top when the side gives you better range and instant access to what you want.

mike65

Nice! I'm using Opera 7.53 and hav'nt spotted any problems. The lack of java/flash etc is to be commended. The only thing I would change is to launch the forums into a fresh window. The design is clean and functional and therefore quick. The IOL weather link is dead for me.

Mike.

dahamsta

Lookin' well, however the ad blocker in Avant Browser (tabbed IE) doesn't like the use of "banner" in filenames of the logo and ad up top. Might be an idea to rename them.

adam

maxheadroom

Looks nice

Something you might want to consider is specifying a print stylesheet instead of using a "click here for the printable version" link. Then you can hide navigation, or even lay things out completely differently for your print version.

PhilipMarlowe

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

The page has a print style sheet which just prints the content... I made the print page first before I tackled the print style sheet... it doesn't have page breaks sorted because I will see where to put them depending on the type of pages I apply it to.
There is a wee 'print this' image button at the bottom and it has a help cursor and a title which kinda explains that the page can be printed directly but this doesn't show up in IE, only the alt text does... I suppose I'll include some kind of help page sometime.

Broken links I'm not to worried about as the whole content is getting an overhaul.

I guess I just wanted opinions on the design... I think it's simple and functional but since this isn't my day job, I wanted to know if it's too bland? As mike said, I like the lack of flash and javascript...

maxheadroom

Licksy wrote:

Thanks for the replies so far guys.

The page has a print style sheet which just prints the content... I made the print page first before I tackled the print style sheet... it doesn't have page breaks sorted because I will see where to put them depending on the type of pages I apply it to.
There is a wee 'print this' image button at the bottom and it has a help cursor and a title which kinda explains that the page can be printed directly but this doesn't show up in IE, only the alt text does... I suppose I'll include some kind of help page sometime.

Broken links I'm not to worried about as the whole content is getting an overhaul.

I guess I just wanted opinions on the design... I think it's simple and functional but since this isn't my day job, I wanted to know if it's too bland? As mike said, I like the lack of flash and javascript...

Just an FYI - your page crashed firefox 0.9.2 when you try print preview mode. While this is undoubtedly a bug in firefox, you might want to figure out what it is about your site that's trigegring the crash and avoid it

mneylon

It's nice and fast loading, which is always a plus in my mind

PhilipMarlowe

The firefox print preview should be sorted now.
I had checked it before but added another 'id'ed div and didn't reference it in the print style sheet so that must have been it. Once I set it to display: none; it seems to be ok (Ff 0.9.1 Mac).