Thoughts on AdamBots.com

[RyanCesiel]

Most people already know that I redesigned our website (http://adambots.com) in preparation for FIRST a month or so ago and the new theme was put up on the day of the kickoff. However, I really haven't gotten any input back on it. If you could check my site and basically look for the things that the FIRST requires for the website award. Here are the things that I would like looked at from an outside perspective:

Navigaton - Is it easy to get around? How does the sliding menu work? Can you find what your looking for?
FIRST Content - Does it explain what FIRST is? Does it explain it's vision well? Do you feel there are resources for other teams?
Visual Aids - Are their images that help you understand the content?
Copyright - Does content sound familiar or have you seen it somewhere else?
FIRST Logo - Is it prominent?
Hover Over Tips - Are they helpful, or obnoxious? Do they work?

Keep in mind that I realize that we're lacking a big part of our site right now which is Team History/Team Story.

Once again, the URL to our site is: http://adambots.com

[RyanCesiel]

Another Question: Does the Visitor Portal (http://adambots.com/index.php?title=Visitor_Portal) do it's job?

[RyanCesiel]

Sorry for bumping, but is it possible to get any input? I don't need an answer to every question, if you have some criticism, please post it. :)

[addictedMax]

Talk to Quentin Sheets and get him to show you the IRC room. We'll love to help.

[Blad3101]

I like the site, it seems simple enough to navigate with a graphically pleasing and professional look. Content looks to be full and informative overall, and while I have seen designs done this way (generally) before it is still refreshing and unique in its own. Is there anyway to contact you through an email form? :)

[Uberbots]

I like your usage of mediawiki- it makes it insanely easy to add things to the site.

Thats one helluva navigation thing on the side. very innovative, but kinda unclear as to how it functions at first. still, its pulled off nicely

i couldnt find a link back to first on the home page )=

The site does, once you find the link, demonstrate what FIRST is. however, there is no way to view the previous year's games )=

Hover tips are very annoying.

[Blad3101]

Hover tips may appear to be a obtrusive in some cases, but doesn't FIRST require that alt and/or title attributes be placed within image tags; not to mention the w3c's standards which FIRST looks for. :yikes:

[AndyB]

Very smooth running website. I like it a lot. Good work.

[RyanCesiel]

I like your usage of mediawiki- it makes it insanely easy to add things to the site.

Thats one helluva navigation thing on the side. very innovative, but kinda unclear as to how it functions at first. still, its pulled off nicely

i couldnt find a link back to first on the home page )=

The site does, once you find the link, demonstrate what FIRST is. however, there is no way to view the previous year's games )=

Hover tips are very annoying.
Thanks, I'm thinking of ditching the hover tips. As far as previous years go, about half of the FIRST page is dedicated to linking to previous year's games.

http://adambots.com/index.php?title=FIRST_Robotics#History_of_FIRST

Did anyone else have a problem finding previous year's games?

[RyanCesiel]

What do you guys think of the new menu? I've also added tons of new content, what are your opinions on that (mainly the About the AdamBots section).

[vivek16]

www.nonnebots.com/chat

great place for help

same that addictedmax talked about.

-Vivek

[octothorpe]

Very nice site! I don't have time to look at the content in depth, but my first impression is a definite good one. I like the unified design and color scheme, and I found the navigation very easy to use and understand – the javascript disclosure effects are especially slick. Everything seems easy to read and pretty well-organized. In general the design seems pretty classy compared to many FIRST websites (my own team's included) and obviously you've put a lot of work into the content. The hover tips for the links are probably a bit unnecessary, but I don't mind them on the images. Overall, I really like the site and didn't notice anything that I would change. Besides, definite bonus points for using MediaWiki and for all those rounded corners – having done web design myself I know that's tougher than it looks. Great job, and thanks for the ship date countdown reminder – it's hard to believe there's only 15 days left!

[RyanCesiel]

www.nonnebots.com/chat

great place for help

same that addictedmax talked about.

-Vivek
ChiefDelphi reaches a larger audience and I've noticed that more actual webmasters and judges are on ChiefDelphi as well.

Thank you octothorpe for your comments.

[swaknight]

I hate to seem completely ocd, but i noticed that on the main/home page, you have a team picture with white lights at the top. It could just be me, but the lights seem to merge in with the background of the page making it look like a wierd dimension issue.

like i said, it could be a little ocd, but i thought that it was worth pointing out.

Other than that, I love the site layout and design, and the nav bar on the side. And I like the glossy images, it adds a nice touch

[RyanCesiel]

I hate to seem completely ocd, but i noticed that on the main/home page, you have a team picture with white lights at the top. It could just be me, but the lights seem to merge in with the background of the page making it look like a wierd dimension issue.

like i said, it could be a little ocd, but i thought that it was worth pointing out.

Other than that, I love the site layout and design, and the nav bar on the side. And I like the glossy images, it adds a nice touch
The team picture will be changed in about two weeks with the FIRST 2008 team picture, so that doesn't concern me much.

Thanks for the feedback!

[flyingcrayons]

good site with a lot of yellow. it is kinda similiar to ours (www.mercury1089.com/main)

[RyanCesiel]

good site with a lot of yellow. it is kinda similiar to ours (www.mercury1089.com/main)
Not quite sure where the similarities are, it'd also be nice to have a little more input (make your post a little more valuble).

Thanks for the compliment though!

[flyingcrayons]

Navigaton - it is easy to get around, i could find everything easy
FIRST Content - the first content is ok. i couldn't find anything about gracious professionalism! that is FIRST's main idea
Visual Aids - where are they? i could only find a couple. in the team history section, i found some. maybe i'm not looking hard enough??
Copyright - it seems to be very original. but i'm pretty new, so i probably wouldn't have seen it anywhere
FIRST Logo - the first logo is displayed prominently.

now i can say good site!! :)

[RyanCesiel]

FIRST Content - the first content is ok. i couldn't find anything about gracious professionalism! that is FIRST's main idea
Visual Aids - where are they? i could only find a couple. in the team history
Thanks for the compliments, I'll probably add something about gracious professionalism in FIRST's Vision or something.

As far as visual aids go, I think I'm fine with that, if you take a look at pages like the Media Gallery (http://adambots.com/index.php?title=Media_Gallery), About the AdamBots (http://adambots.com/index.php?title=About_The_AdamBots), and Team Outreach (http://adambots.com/index.php?title=Team_Outreach), you'll find lots "visual aids".

[RyanCesiel]

I can, for once, say that our site has reached some sort of "finished" level. Anyone have criticism before the judges start grading it (if they haven't started already)?

By the way, I'm continuing to update stuff on our Build Season, I assume that's fine because it's kind of necessary, right?

[RyanCesiel]

Thanks for all the help! We just received Best Website @ Detroit!

[swaknight]

Congrats on best website. I knew you would get it, you deserved it. Good luck tomorrow and at your future regionals.

[HighLife]

Congrats on best website. I knew you would get it, you deserved it. Good luck tomorrow and at your future regionals.

Thank you.:)

See ya tmrw in Detroit.

[RyanCesiel]

Just wanted to let people know that all our videos are hosted on Vimeo, probably the best video sharing site out there (yes, over youtube). Our channel is http://www.vimeo.com/adambots - you can subscribe if you're a Vimeo user or get the RSS feed at the bottom.

Videos on our site can be located on this page - http://www.adambots.com/index.php?title=Videos

Right now we're finishing uploading videos from the Detroit Regional.

[RyanCesiel]

245 won the website award at Great Lakes this year as well!