# Opinions?



## Da_iMac_Daddy (May 22, 2003)

OK just finished my first few pages on my contest site. The only pages that are done are the front page and the Dewey link. 
www.dekster.com/beaches

please let me know what you think


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## mr. k (May 22, 2003)

its a nice site with good design... i like it.  the only thing i think needs to change is that the first picture is a beautiful beach with tire tracsk all over it!  tire tracks!  you should airbrush them or something, at least get a cleaner picture...


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## Da_iMac_Daddy (May 22, 2003)

I don't have anymore  I used a disposable camera, and I live an hour away (until I move into my beach house tomorrow). The project is due tomorrow


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## Da_iMac_Daddy (May 22, 2003)

OOH! check it out again it's finished  
www.dekster.com/beaches


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## toast (May 22, 2003)

It seems you have an extra line on your menu <div>. Look closely: it's a 2px bar you have on top of it.

Here's your code:


```
div.menu {
	width:125px;
	background:#DED883;
	padding:0;
	margin:1em;
	border:1px solid #000;
        position: absolute;
        top: 60px;
        right: 14px;
        z-index: 1;
         }

div.menu a {
	display:block;
	margin:0;
	width:100%;
	padding:0.3em;
	font-weight:bold;
	border-top:1px solid #000;
	color:#217DC7;
	text-decoration:none;
           }

div.menu a.current:hover {
        color: white; 
        background: #97afd7;
	display:block;
	margin:0;
	padding:0.3em;
	font-weight:bold;
        text-decoration:none;        
        }

div.menu a.current {
        color: white; 
        background: #97afd7;
	display:block;
	margin:0;
	padding:0.3em;
	font-weight:bold;
        text-decoration:none;      
        }
```

I think you're declaring two border lines where there should be only one. I may be wrong, I haven't checked that at home.


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## Arden (May 22, 2003)

I don't see a problem...

I think you could improve layout a little bit by filling in the whiteum, yellowspace next to each of the main pictures with the page's text.  Simply align each pic to "left" and watch the text reflow.  I like the changing images; it's kinda weird for the whole page to reflow, but kinda nifty.

All in all, you have a nice design here, good layout and good color scheme.  Simply realign your text and images and it will look fantastic.


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## Da_iMac_Daddy (May 22, 2003)

realign what do you mean?


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## mr. k (May 22, 2003)

i think that it would look very cramped up if you realigned the text and pictures according to arden...  there wouldn't be much more then one word per line, and the whole page would look cramped up.  white \yellow...\ space is a good thing in a design, it can direct the focus to one thing or another...
the only real beef i have with the site is that the pictures seem oddly positioned a little too far to the left, i haven't looked at your code but did you use pure css for positioning?  i would throw those pictures 50 pix to the right and it would look a lot better (in my eyes...)
oh and photoshop those tire tracks
don't you just love frolicing on a beach with roaring pickup trucks? ahhh beauty... \sarcasm\


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## TommyWillB (May 22, 2003)

1) The light blue is a bit hard to read on the yellow... I'd opt for something with a bit more contrast

2) "Please use the menu on the right to navigate through my site." If you have to say this, then the site fails the first test of usability. In Western countries people generally read from top to bottom and left to right, which is why 99% of the sites have the main navigation either on top or on the left.

3) I'm not sure how many beaches there are in deleware (cerainly fewer than here in Califorrnia), but if there are more than 20 then your navigational system will soon become overloaded... and what about folks who know the georgraphical area of the beach and not the name?


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## TommyWillB (May 22, 2003)

Searching on Google is looks like several sites are way ahead of you.

You need to figure out what makes your site different/better than the ones that already exist if you want people to visit your site.


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## Da_iMac_Daddy (May 23, 2003)

This is a site for a contest and a final project to my web design class. I can only have 5 pages on my site per the contest rules. I can't use photoshop for some reason (cause I borrowed it and after I reinstalled Mac OS x.2 it doesn't work). 50 pixels to the right? You mean like center them above the text?

All good suggestions thanx and keep em comin'!


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## mr. k (May 23, 2003)

yeah daddy... i think that would look lot's better


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## TommyWillB (May 23, 2003)

Not sure if you care how this looks on a 640x480 monitor, but it's not so great:


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## Da_iMac_Daddy (May 24, 2003)

640x480? do people really use that resolution?


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## TommyWillB (May 24, 2003)

Yes... but not very many... I know a few senior citizens who use low resolutions to make everything on the screen bigger and more readable.

Also WebTV and those stupid hotel TV Web browsers use the TV resolution of 524 (something like that) and there are millions of hotel rooms.

I only mentioned it just in case it might be a requirement for your class. I'm not sure if your teacher will test it at that resolution, but I thought you should see it before the teacher does.



...of course my own site also looks terrible @ 640x480, but I'm not out to win any awards.


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## Dris (May 25, 2003)

Not too shabby!  I kinda actually like the way the menu overlaps the image in the 640x480 image, but other complications would arise if you tried to implement that, so whatever.

I agree that you should let users know how to navigate your site.  If it's not self-explanatory, it's *probably* not a good idea.  In your case, it's self-explanatory, so the instructions are unnecessary.

Good job using CSS.  I'm glad your web design class teaches that.  Ours sucks.  Teaches that tables are the Holy Grail of the web.  Idiots.  Way to train our young to ruin the future web.  Just like Hitler.  

Anyways, pretty nice job.  I like the hover effect on the thumbnails.  Pretty basic, easy-to-use page navigation.  I would consider moving the thumbnails to the top of the page.  Your choice, really.


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## Da_iMac_Daddy (May 26, 2003)

HAHAHAHA my class doesn't teach ANYTHING! It's like do it yourself or you're screwed type of teaching. Anything I ever have learned I have learned on my own. The teachers that teach my class have very little training in html or anything like that. I learn this stuff for my own edification.

If you check the pages on our website (see sig) you'll see that most of my class has no talent what so ever. 

Anyway thanx for the comments.


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