my new website..wethinkalike.com

It doesn't matter if you do all the error checking in the world, or if you have the most beautiful graphics, if your site or application design isn't usable, it's not going to do well. Get input and advice on usability and user interface issues here.

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kbrown3074
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my new website..wethinkalike.com

Post by kbrown3074 »

Hey guys..how's it going? It's been some time since I have posted on the boards. I am in the middle of creating a website and would like to get some feedback from the experts. I have a forum, gallery and chat on the site so far. Feel free to check it out and give me feedback..yes bad feedback is good too. Before I get the 'it looks like crap' remarks..it is very,very simplistic at this point

http://www.wethinkalike.com/index.php
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John Cartwright
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Post by John Cartwright »

Moved to UI Design/Usability.
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Burrito
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Post by Burrito »

500
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kbrown3074
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Post by kbrown3074 »

Yea I just found out that I deleted the main friggin directory..lack of sleep I guess caused it. It has since been fixed.
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Luke
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Post by Luke »

It is very simplistic... I'll agree with that.

First of all, it's invalid HTML. Much of these errors could be fixed if you fixed your title tag

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<head><title>Wethinkalike.com - Currently Under Construction<title/>
Also, there is no attribute "description" for meta tags. I think you're looking for "content" (and always quote your attributes)

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<meta name=keywords description="Wethinkalike.com is a place for people of similiar interests to gather and discuss topics they can relate to.">
Your html open tag is written for XHTML, but you're using an HTML doctype :? Lose the xml:lang and xmls attributes or switch to xhtml

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# <html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en">
On your link tag, you do not need to close it. HTML does this internally. You only need to do that in XHTML. It should also be in between your head tags.

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<link rel="stylesheet" href="style.css"/>
It would be more semantically correct if you used an h1 tag here instead of a div:

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<div id="header">
Wethinkalike.com
</div>
And then H2 for this one

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<div id="subhead">
Where you go to meet others with similiar interests
</div>
And then a p tag here

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<div id="subhead2">
SITE IS CURRENTLY UNDER CONSTRUCTION...PLEASE COME BACK SOON
</div>
Your CSS doesn't validate either.

Offwhite (at least in my browser) is not a color. What browser do you use? If you use firefox, you can easily choose a hex color with the colorzilla extension. It allows you to select a color on anything you can open in the browser (like the eyedropper in photoshop). Then you simply paste it's hex code into your CSS file. It's a lot more reliable than depending on the browser to choose the right color when you tell it "color: brown". The brown my browser is showing looks more like dark red to me.

This is not correct

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#leftref a { .align:left; .active background:white; color:gold; .link background:white; color:brown; .hover background:brown; color:white; }
This is how it should be written :)

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#leftref a { text-align: left; }
#leftref a:link, #leftref a:visited { background:white; color:brown; }
#leftref a:hover { background:brown; color:white; }
#leftref a:active { background:white; color:gold; }
OK, now that all the validation stuff is out of the way...

The design leaves a lot to be desired. There isn't a whole lot of visual interest. I realize it's under construction, but why do you even provide links if the pages are under construction? Just comment those out until there's content there.

On a positive note. I love the little guy with nails through him! :D :lol:
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kbrown3074
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Post by kbrown3074 »

wow..umm..thanks?

yea I know it has a very,very long way to get to be something..I appreciate the help as this is my first step in creating a website
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superdezign
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Post by superdezign »

Please, don't use the target attribute. When people want to open something in a new tab/window, they'll do so.

The attribute will be deprecated by HTML 5.0.
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Luke
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Post by Luke »

While the target attribute is deprecated, I can make an argument for it. Clients do not understand why it is deprecated. They also don't care. They just don't want people clicking on a link for an ad (or any other external link) and having their user taken away from their site. We know how to open a link in a new window, but most people don't. Most people still think they have to double click links :roll: When you're building a website for a client, sometimes you have to bite your lip and just do what they want.

Also, the target attribute is still available in both transitional and frameset doctypes if I recall correctly. So, if you need it, simply use a less restrictive doctype. That's what they're there for. If you MUST use a strict doctype, you can still open a link in a new window like so:

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<a href="#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">Some link</a>
But in your case, kbrown... there is really no good reason to open your forums in a new window. Just because it's a forum doesn't mean it's not part of your site. I'd open it in the same window. I'm always annoyed when websites do that.

(jeeze, what has this community turned me into... :lol: )
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Luke
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Post by Luke »

yea I know it has a very,very long way to get to be something..I appreciate the help as this is my first step in creating a website
Don't worry kbrown, you're doing great! :) I'm glad you can take criticism as it's meant to be taken. If you have any questions at all about any of the things I pointed out, feel free to ask. Don't be shy. :D
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superdezign
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Post by superdezign »

The Ninja Space Goat wrote:Most people still think they have to double click links :roll: When you're building a website for a client, sometimes you have to bite your lip and just do what they want.
:lol: :lol: I wouldn't necessarily say most, but you're right, it's a lot. :D
The Ninja Space Goat wrote:

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<a href="#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">Some link</a>
Yeah, I assumed they deprecated the attribute to be replaced with JavaScript, so users who disabled JavaScript wouldn't have to deal with it if they didn't want to.

BTW kbrown, cool domain name. :-p
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kbrown3074
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Post by kbrown3074 »

Thanks guys..I appreciate the help AND criticism! BTW...I just added a phpizabi to my page. Next task is to modify that to make it my own!!

If anyone is a graphic designer that could create me a graphic to put on my page it would be great. I wouldn't be able to pay ya but I would give you props on the site for creating it!
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superdezign
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Post by superdezign »

Lol. You had me up to the "wouldn't be able to pay ya." :lol:

If I come up with something, I'll hit you up anyway.
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kbrown3074
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Post by kbrown3074 »

I can work on a graphic myself..but I pretty suck at graphics.

Im gonna dig thru the phpizabi and see what kind of tweaks I can do with it. From the looks of it, its pretty customizable.
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Luke
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Post by Luke »

I've never even heard of it.
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kbrown3074
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Post by kbrown3074 »

phpizabi is a community app. The install of it was a pain in the butt. Still trying to figure out what the heck to do with it.
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