My Site

kjtfs

Guppy
Well I could resist being the first one to post in this new forum. So I guess I have to anty up my site for review.

www.kjtfs.com

Let me know what you all think, I am not finished with it (are we ever really done though?????) but this is the main functionality of it. So enjoy (I hope).

KJTFS
 
It looks good. But it can look much better if you put a little more time in it. :)

Where did you get those flash buttons from? I've seen them somewhere before and would like to use them too :D
 
FreeWilly said:
Where did you get those flash buttons from? I've seen them somewhere before and would like to use them too :D

I believe you can get them from Guistuff.com
 
FreeWilly said:
Where did you get those flash buttons from? I've seen them somewhere before and would like to use them too :D

How about
http://jodohost.webmastertoolkit.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=GUIstuff&file=flashnav

That is the direct link but just go to the jodohost main page and click webmaster tools down the bottom of the page and they have all types of good stuff.

I know I need more time in graphic layout and stuff like that. It is a learning process, plus right now I am more worried with my ASP.NET stuff.

KJTFS
 
Drew said:
Just like i thought, Guistuff.com generator :)

Yup you were correct. That Guistuff.com generator is pretty nice. Really helps those of use not to good at making graphics.

KJTFS
 
kjtfs said:
I know I need more time in graphic layout and stuff like that. It is a learning process, plus right now I am more worried with my ASP.NET stuff.

KJTFS

Your site looks real good. It's layed out nicely and everything is stated clearly.

However, I do have a recomendation. I would avoid using GridLayout and absolute positioning. On my display, many of the text items on your pages overlap one another and are overlaying other items, like input boxes. My display is set up to use large fonts, which is why your pages look very different on my screen than they do yours. It's the whole screen resolution and font size thing that makes it nearly impossible to predict exactly how your pages will look to every single visitor (short of doing everything as an image, which is a dumb idea).

I always use FlowLayout and never (well, rarely) use absolute positioning. By doing so, things never overlay one another. But the real trick behind do this, is to layout the pages so they will look reasonably good no matter how the visitor's display is set. The practice is a pain in the a**, but it's worth it.
 
My two cents worth;

I find the background pretty distracting. It makes the text difficult to read. If you're really married to the idea of using a graphic background like that, my suggestion would be to really fade it more so there is more contrast with the text. My preference, from a user point of view, would be to use it maybe only as a background for the header, or possibly as well as decoration in other, less obtrusive, areas.

I think it's overkill to use a money graphic for the KJTFS logo in addition to a money background. It's rather busy looking.

The DESC buttons on your download page. Would be much nicer if the descriptions just displayed (without a screen refresh) when the user rolled their mouse over the buttons. Some layers ought to work quite nicely for that.

The horizontal bars in the header are a bit hard on the eyes, almost wavy when you look at them. Possibly because they're fighting with the background, or because of their thickness. You may want to try different line thickness, starting with halving them.

Also, your logo might look kind of large and too imposing on a lower resolution monitor (I'm thinking 800 x 600). I can't remember the usual number given for browser space, excluding the toolbars, menus, address bar, etc. But I think your logo is taking up about 25% of the screen real estate. I realize people can and do scroll. But sometimes a little subtlety is more impressive.

Although it has nothing really to do with the site per se, and I doubt you're going to change it, I thought I'd make a comment about the name; KJTFS. That's a lot of letters to remember! And they're not even particularly easy letters - i.e. they don't exactly roll off the tongue. There's a reason you rarely, if ever, see a company (or web site) name with more than 3 letters.

Anyway, none of this is meant as criticism, just my opinion, since you asked. I hope at least some of it was useful to you.
 
riley, Thank you for the advice on the GridLayout. I am only recently finding this to be a problem for viewers and infact even a feature that VS.NET uses, my next change to the site will be to drop damn gridlayout. IMO it is a sort of stupid feature, wish I knew VS.NET used it before hand.

Dave, you can go to hell. Just kidden, I took it as all critizism and I was thinking about some of those topics. The background is something I need to address, I have found it to be a love/hate thing and I was playing with the idea of just a Header. As for the money graphic and HR bars, well I am not that good with graphics and unill I become more creative (or find something cool somewhere and "borrow" it) I think those might be staying. I like your idea for the roll over desc, I haven't played with layers before so it will be a new project for me. Yes there is a problem with 600X800 and I decided to throw a warning if they are using that monitor size and let them know, as for that, well I can't please anyone and well from above it looks like the logo is staying a little while. And for the name of the company, that is my personal thing and I like it, I am not really trying to market my site in anyway nor do I really plan to, IMO if my site for some reason ever does become big enough then people will be forced to remember I guess..... Plus trying to find a name for a company nowadays is pretty damn hard, almost every damn name is taken. Oh Well


Thank you both for the comments.
KJTFS
 
Well I updated my site layout. I think it is much better designed now. I took the advice that I have gotten from some members here and just searched around the web and looked at the "big" sites and took some ideas from them. I still havent updated the method for showing my desc on the download sheets. That is in the works but on the back burner for the next few days. I am hoping for a solution by the weekend. So again please comment on the new site design, wether I took a step in the right or wrong direction.

www.kjtfs.com

Many thanks again to Dave
 
Hi Keith,

I think the new design is much cleaner and also much easier on the eyes. I like the flying money symbols. Pretty snappy!

A couple of typos I noticed. Where it says "Best viewed at 1024X780" should say "1024 x 768". Also (I'm assuming this is a typo) you have "< >" on the last line of your update list on the Home page.

Your new logo looks good, too.

One thing I would suggest, and I think it was the same way in your old layout but I didn't think to mention it, is on your download page. I think the sort list would look better on the right side. The sort list is given more prominence that need be on the left, particularly since the list is small enough it probably isn't an important function at this time. Also, another suggestion would be to replace the current list with a dropdown list (that automatically changes the sort when changed), or at least make your list box smaller to match the number of items.

Overall it's much improved. Good job.
 
Thanks Dave, I created the graphics with fireworks and they came out pretty good IMO, thanks for letting me know about it. The best viewed at has been changed but the <> is due to the fact that I have the paging capabilities of the data grid turned on so when the database is bigger than 5 rows you will be able to click them and move the data. I like your ideas for the downloads site, I am going to switch the sort to a drop list and move it to the right, you are correct about it taking too big a role on the page. I know the downloads page still needs some work but it is going on the backburner for this moment, should get to it this weekend (hopefully). Thanks again for your help.

KJTFS
 
OK, Download page has been redesigned. It now uses a Dropdown box instead of the big listbox and everything is centered. I still need to have the page change without reloading it. :(

KJTFS
 
KJTFS,

I am not trying to be a player hater, but I think the menu items on the left side scream amatuer. I don't know. Most professional sites are links. You need to ask yourself what are you trying to sell. If you are selling information then you need to make sure that the focus is on the content and not on "how cool" your menu is. When I see your site and look at the links I get the vibe that you are selling web design with cool effects, but you are not.

Just my 2 cents....Good job getting it up and running, most people just quit after a couple of days.
 
shamrox said:
KJTFS,

I am not trying to be a player hater, but I think the menu items on the left side scream amatuer. I don't know. Most professional sites are links. You need to ask yourself what are you trying to sell. If you are selling information then you need to make sure that the focus is on the content and not on "how cool" your menu is. When I see your site and look at the links I get the vibe that you are selling web design with cool effects, but you are not.

Just my 2 cents....Good job getting it up and running, most people just quit after a couple of days.

I can sort of see where you are coming from but if I wanted to focus just on my programs and content it would be a text site and pretty damn borring. You have to do something to make the user remember the site. I don't think the buttons are too flashy or drive the eye away from content. IMO I think they add a nice little touch. Maybe I am an amatuer, web design isn't my thing I guess... All-in-all I like the buttons so they are staying sorry bro... If you would like to create me a link button that looks better (IMO) then I will give it a try.

KJTFS
 
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