I need some opinions on a web site

Sulli · Post by **Sulli** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:38 pm

I would like peeps to have a look at the home page for our local hero HEMIDUTY.
I have never done this before so i would like some feed back on the home page which i will host for the next 48 hrs before taking it down and developing the rest of the site.
The ultimate aim is to gain him some sponsorship so if some one in the know can give some tips it helps anyway have a look at the home page and provide some feed back none of the links work atm Q: is the page enticing? does it want you to look futher ?? Q:what do you want to look for on the page any way click on the link http://users.tpg.com.au/bhhj4578/hemi.2.2home.html and decide foryourself and provide some feed back both positive and negative
thanks

mrmina · Post by **mrmina** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 7:56 pm

tank slapper racing .... i like it

Post by **dave#3** » Sun Jun 25, 2006 10:03 pm

Sulli,

It's great to see you putting something together for veggie-slapper, I understand he needs all the financial help he can get and I think it's a credit to you to be doing something like this to help him out.

Having said that, though, the website looks pretty amateur and very 90's (probably early 90's). I'm far from convinced that flash and graphic intensive websites are all they're cracked up to be but I think it's important to at least look modern and slick.

Some examples of better racer websites (IMO, bring on the flames

) are:
http://www.caseystoner.com.au/
http://www.chrisvermeulen.com/about.html

Also, I notice the site looks much better in IE than in Firefox; you should check the site in as many browsers as possible, especially considering you are using M$ Frontpage to develop it.

Sorry to be negative

RG · Post by RG » Sun Jun 25, 2006 11:42 pm

Sulli, it is very nice of you to do that and I think you deserve a round of applause (and a beer on Hemi)

I agree with dave#3,

It is very 90s, something more 'modern' will be better.

Personally I prefer Stoner's website as it appears to be more inviting. Vermeulen's front page has got too much text, I won't want to read all that stuff on a front page, it'll be better off in a sub-section on it's own. Notice Stoner's page hasn't got much colour(except for the pic of course), it's mainly black and white. That pic caught my attention immediately, and if you want to head that way, we'll need a good pic of Hemi in that similiar fashion.

Hemi's page is not a 'bad' page, but there is definately room for improvement. This is going to take time, don't rush into it.
I believe there are a few professional web/IT people here to help.

Kepp it up Sulli!

Stereo · Post by **Stereo** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:00 am

Hi.... I have done some web design, a good idea is to start from a template.... PM me and I will send you some great templates

Have a look at one of my designs here http://www.melbikes.com

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:07 am

Stereo wrote:
Have a look at one of my designs here http://www.melbikes.com

Stereo
that page is blank
dns issue? what browsers it supoort?

edit[dns issue I reckon ..it now comes up

]

cheers

greenmeanie · Post by **greenmeanie** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:08 am

Poor bugger needs a banana & tyre supplier. The banana's are pretty pricey at the moment nearly as much as the tyres!

Sulli full credit to you for trying to help drim out in this way.

greenmeanie · Post by **greenmeanie** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:10 am

Smitty wrote:
Stereo wrote:
Have a look at one of my designs here http://www.melbikes.com
Stereo
that page is blank
dns issue? what browsers it supoort?

cheers

Works for me smitty on firefox.

Smitty · Post by **Smitty** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 8:23 am

greenmeanie wrote: Works for me smitty on firefox.

thanks Glen..its a working for me now too see above
(btw I am on Firefox too)

cheers

photomike666 · Post by **photomike666** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:11 am

Firstly, I am in agreement with most of the above comments, and think it's a great idea. To get sponsors the page needs to look corporate. Flash sites are usually the go, although old school java script can be good.

You have used a couple if images that are not of Hemi, particularly the bike in the top right pane. Where did you get that from? Do you own copyright to it? In a corporate world you cannot get away with using something without paying for it. The same may apply to the rotating symbol top centre.

To an extent, web design is fairly subjective. There are many designs, trends and accepted styles in use (or frowned upon), but personal preference as to what is best plays a large part. My preference is to have the first page with just enough info to entice people in, load quickly and not require any scrolling. Once inside the site, more information can then be gained from an easy to follow navigation that is always available.

Content is just as important. Who is the site aimed at, fans or sponsors? This will make a huge difference to the site design and what is contained within.

Tankslapper racing is very funny to fellow bikers, but what does it portray to sponsors? Would they feel that it suggests the bike is unprofessionally set-up?

hth

Mike

Sulli · Post by **Sulli** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 3:29 pm

greenmeanie wrote:Poor bugger needs a banana & tyre supplier. The banana's are pretty pricey at the moment nearly as much as the tyres!

Sorry can't do anything about the bananas

stereo wrote:Hi.... I have done some web design, a good idea is to start from a template.... PM me and I will send you some great templates

Am sending pm thanks for the help

had a look better than I can do ATM

Photomike wrote:You have used a couple if images that are not of Hemi, particularly the bike in the top right pane. Where did you get that from? Do you own copyright to it? In a corporate world you cannot get away with using something without paying for it. The same may apply to the rotating symbol top centre.

I understand my mistake

also using the copyright pic"s do I have to request permission or provide some link back to the owners site for free use

dave#3 wrote:Having said that, though, the website looks pretty amateur and very 90's (probably early 90's).

Yes I'm an amateur

it is my first attempt to do something like this

and being closer to 50 than 40 I'm a 90"s kind of guy LOL but am willing to learn through trial and error

Thanks for the replies and the leads will keep you all posted

smek · Post by **smek** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 6:08 pm

Bad Points.
too colourfull. too many borders. and I'd get rid of the animating gifs.
Also the heading should probably be the same width as the main table. You may want to make them both 100% width so they'll scale to the browser window.
Images are too large. With the thumbnails I'd be aiming for around 20k max.
I assume you won't be using those big images either, since they're copyrighted.

Good points. The layout is quite good. I do find it inviting.

My suggestions.
Ok well it's your first site so i won't get too technical.
Cut down the colours. create a palette of maybe 6 colours that complement each other and pick them all from that.
Get some decent image manipulation software. ie photoshop. then remake all the graphics so they don't look like they've been made in ms paint.
Nice title is very important.
go for a minimalist look (get rid of all those table borders) and find another way to seperate the sections.
Nothing ground breaking there but it'll make the site look a hell of a lot better.

ozx6r · Post by **ozx6r** » Mon Jun 26, 2006 9:50 pm

table are great for arranging pages

but try setting the border to 0 for a better look

HemiDuty · Post by **HemiDuty** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 9:40 am

Good one Sulli and thanks for going to the effort of making that.

As for being the local hero, I think that title would probably go to Stretchy, he is faster than me ATM and will be racing at the national meeting in a couple of weeks. And there are quite a few of us racing now, but yeah I am still the only one with cool trendy long hair.

But anyway there are actually a couple of possibilities in the works right now, so it may be best to put it all on hold till I know what is happening. Nothing to get too excited about or anything, but still it may negate the point of a site like the one you have designed. Will keep you posted of any developments.

Thanks also to everyone's constructive opinions, at least Sulli now understands that he is living in the past.....

photomike666 · Post by **photomike666** » Tue Jun 27, 2006 11:53 am

It would still be good to have a site to keep us all updated on your racing career, sponsored or not