[iMacfan]

Hello,

After a great deal of advice and reading this forum, I've finally set up my first website for years, and this time I've done it manually with XHTML and CSS, because it seems to be the cheapest and most elegant solution.

As for the content - it's all about Windows Mobile/ PocketPC compatability with the Mac. I just didn't see anything else with useful how-tos.

Here it is: http://www.ppconmac.com

I know it's far from perfect - does anyone have any opinions and suggestions, particularly with the layout?

Thanks in advance,

David.

[SirCastor]

I'm viewing on Firefox. Here are my suggestions:

Round the corners
More cushion between the elements (your paragraphs are too close to your edges.
Use a Sans-Serif font on everything. Better yet, pick one font and stick to it throughout the site.
Get a prettier looking title up top. Use a graphics program and draw up a banner or something.
If you're going to have a search up there, make sure it's searching your site, and not just the internet. People have plenty of ways to search off of your site. You're trying to keep people in.

[iMacfan]

Thanks for the advice - I definitely agree with the cushoning and the search, which will be corrected soon.

I'm not sure how I could round the corners using normal css - is there an easy way?

Also, I quite like the contrast between a sans-serif font for the headers and times for the main text - is there a reason why this is a bad idea?

Once again, thanks for the advice, and if anyone else has an opinion - please be as honest as possible!

David.

[SirCastor]

I don't know anyway to make round edges using pure CSS

Two reasons for using Sans Serif all the way around:
1) It looks nicer. I think Sans Serif is easier on the eye, and more pleasant to look at.
2) Times is a default. It looks like you put effort into the headers and just got lazy when it came to paragraphs. I think the contrast is ugly. (I'm not a Graphic Designer, I'm just learning the ropes there.)

[mania]

yeah it just seems like it needs a logo or image or something. clean tho.

[rogueToe]

Here are a couple of resources that could help you spice up the appearance:

Colour Lovers They have tons of color schemes you can go through to find something that works.

Open Source Web Design A plethora of free templates to choose from and tweak.

HTH

[skyman]

I am sure you already know this but content is king. As long as you offer your visitors informative and useful content it really does not matter what your site looks like.

Sure, you don't want it to look like crap but if you have the content then you will have return visitors.

Good Luck !

[SirCastor]

I disagree. Your site has to be somewhat visually appealing, and defiantly visually organized. Otherwise a person will just give up. In our day and age, people need to be able to access information quickly and conviently. Otherwise they give up. People don't have patience any more.

[skyman]

My choice of words "does not matter what your site looks like" was an over statement. Yes, a site does need to be well organized and visually appealing. But, content is still king?

[SirCastor]

of course, without content a website's worthless.

[skalie]

Originally Posted by SirCastor

of course, without content a website's worthless.

That's why Latin was invented.

[Oisín]

Originally Posted by iMacfan

Also, I quite like the contrast between a sans-serif font for the headers and times for the main text - is there a reason why this is a bad idea?

If you like the contrast between a serif and a sans-serif font, here would be my advice: switch them around.

Serif fonts are easier to read on paper, but harder to read on a computer screen, and therefore not a good choice as paragraph fonts.

Also, as SirCastor said, Times (New Roman) is a default font. It’s also ugly as all hell, if you ask me—it gives me spasms and makes the little hairs on my neck stand up. Switch it for another font—there are plenty to choose from. I personally rather like the use of Georgia as a website font: it’s nearly universal (only very old machines might not have it), and it’s fairly elegant-looking. Use that for the headers, then.

For the paragraphs, you can either stay with Verdana/Tahoma (didn’t bother to check which one you were using), or you can change it for another sans-serif font. I personally find that both Verdana/Tahoma and Lucida Grande play very nicely with Georgia.



As for the general layout... it looks very confusing and complex, despite its actual simplicity. I’d move the Google ads (and make them horizontal!) if possible. They seem to be taking up a very large part of the page in current location in the menu.

I’d also extend the top ‘bar’ all the way across the top of the page, to bring the the page ‘under control’ and keep it from ‘running away’ at the top.

Finally, I’d try to separate the menu on the left more visibly from the main text. Make the links stand out more as not simply text, but a navigation menu—creating a sense of a container (whether explicit or not) that they all adhere to and are justified inside, rather than having them just as centered pieces of loose text, is a good place to start.

That's why Latin was invented.

I think there might be a few proto-Italic peoples that would disagree with you on that one

[iMacfan]

Thanks once again for the replies and constructive criticism - It's exactly what I need. I've just updated it, and have taken the advice to swap the sans and serif fonts, and I agree that it is better.

Anyone think moving the title to the left is a bad idea?

As for any serious redesign - I think that will have to wait as I really want to add some content. Does anyone see any barrier to even doing that with the basic design I have at the moment?

Thanks,

David.

[LiquidGuy]

I don't know anyway to make round edges using pure CSS

Nifty Corners:
http://pro.html.it/esempio/nifty/

iMacfan, you need another color there. It seems so flat, lifeless. Choose a nice complementary color to spruce things up somewhat.

[megasad]

Originally Posted by iMacfan

I know it's far from perfect - does anyone have any opinions and suggestions, particularly with the layout?

The first thing that struck me is that you're using phrases such as "click here" to link to content. For example, instead of:

Next up is a simple guide to using a PocketPC handheld with your Airport Network.  Cheaper and quicker than your cellular connection - just click here!

I would have written:

Next up is a simple guide to using a PocketPC handheld with your Airport Network.  Cheaper and quicker than your cellular connection!

Here's some further reading on the subject.

The search feature needs some trimming down; at the moment it looks like something copy and pasted from somewhere. As SirCastor pointed out, you don't really need to provide an entire-interweb-searching facility; people already know how to do that. So, don't even offer the option; make it search just your site by trimming the fat to something like this:

Code:
<form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom">
  <input type="text" name="q" size="15" maxlength="255" value="" />
  <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" />
  <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="www.ppconmac.com" />
  <input type="hidden" name="sitesearch" value="www.ppconmac.com" />
  <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-2204664559573218" />
  <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" />
  <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="UTF-8" />
  <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="UTF-8" />
  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active" />
  <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" />
  <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" />
</form>

The adverts should be moved to the bottom of the page, made horizontal and be far less obtrusive. To put it bluntly, they make your site look like one of those domain-squatting pages. If you want them to be always visible (for the money-making, I guess?), consider putting them in a column on the right of the screen, white background rather than blue, so that they do not interfere with or distract from your navigation menu... Speaking of which:

Originally Posted by iMacfan

As for any serious redesign - I think that will have to wait as I really want to add some content. Does anyone see any barrier to even doing that with the basic design I have at the moment?

What Oisin said about your navigation menu is the most important thing you need to improve right now. I didn't even realise there was any navigation when I first glanced at your site! Just increase the font size a bit, align the options to the left, move those adverts a little further away... then you shall be mostly all set to fill your site up with that nice creamy content.

Originally Posted by iMacfan

Anyone think moving the title to the left is a bad idea?

Nope, it looks fine, works good on this site, which is what your design reminds me of a little. Maybe just increase the left margin a little bit. A simple graphic (of a PocketPC maybe?) would also fit in well, just a white outline on the blue you've already got.

PS - Sorry if I've been too harsh, I did not intend to be mean if it comes across that way.

[iMacfan]

Originally Posted by megasad

PS - Sorry if I've been too harsh, I did not intend to be mean if it comes across that way.

Nothing to apologise for - I don't think you can be harsh if you're polite and back up your ideas with reasoning. I'm really green to all this, and any advice is really helpful. I'll try to answer a few of the issues that have been raised:

1. Advertising

I agree that it is a bit intrusive at the moment (and, yes, that search box is cut and paste directly from Google, but I doubt that I'm allowed to change it much). I wanted some form of income from the site (even covering the $80 or so it'll cost per year to run would be good), and turned to Google as my first idea. I'm not so sure that it's the best one, as it does rely on someone clicking on the ad to make any money at all, and when you have so few visitors, clicks could be few and sporadic. In fact, noone has yet to click on an ad once! Anyone have any better suggestions, possibly including a pay per impression option? If I recommend any software, I can try to be an affiliate of a site selling it, so maybe in the end I can remove all obvious ads.

2. Links

I agree completely - I'll try to change them in time to become less like an afterthought.

3. Navigation menu

Once again, this could be improved. Are there any simple and cheap programs that can produce buttons and other small web graphics? I wouldn't know where to start with producing a graphic of a PocketPC, and would also be worried about copyright etc.

Thanks for the opinions - keep them coming!

David.

[Oisín]

Re: Buttons.

Don’t rely on (or introduce in the first place, really) fancy-looking image-based buttons. More often than not, they’ll simply destroy a design and look odd and out of place.

Using CSS to style the links the way you want them will usually give you a much sleeker, better-looking result. If you browse through some of the design/CSS articles at A List Apart, you’ll find plenty of resources on how best to style your links. Personally, I like the simple form of simply putting your links in <ul> list tags and styling them to appear as simple rectangles with text inside, altering either their background or border colour on mouse-over; but there are myriads of other approaches for you to peruse at your leisure.

[ercatli]

You've had heaps of good advice, but I don't think anyone's mentioned this. If you look at good professional print layout, they tend to make the fonts a little smaller than amateurs do, and wider line spacing, so there's a little more white space and the lines don't look crammed together - this also makes it easier to jump from the end of one line to the start of the next. I think the same works on the screen, so I'd suggest a wider line spacing and one size smaller font for all text.