Chief Delphi - AdamBots.com Feedback

Chief Delphi (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/index.php)

- Website Design/Showcase (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=64)

- - AdamBots.com Feedback (http://www.chiefdelphi.com/forums/showthread.php?t=76487)

Re: AdamBots.com Feedback

Quote:

Originally Posted by smurfgirl (Post 847217)

Also, I might recommend moving the menu bar to the left hand side, starting up at the top so that 1) you don't have to scroll down to read the whole thing, and 2) you don't have a big blank space under the center section.

It's a nice website as a whole, but as with any website, it's not quite perfect yet.

If you are using Internet Explorer, the navigation fully expands at will of the browser as the browser isn't standards compliant. There is not much we can do about that... Look at it in any other browser and it's 100% better.

Re: AdamBots.com Feedback

Quote:

Originally Posted by Q. Sheets (Post 849363)

I'm using Firefox.

Re: AdamBots.com Feedback

Quote:

Originally Posted by smurfgirl (Post 847217)

I went back and looked at the site again after I read this- I didn't even notice there was a quote there! The font is so dark on the dark background that I can barely read it. I think the picture adds to that effect.

Also, I might recommend moving the menu bar to the left hand side, starting up at the top so that 1) you don't have to scroll down to read the whole thing, and 2) you don't have a big blank space under the center section.

It's a nice website as a whole, but as with any website, it's not quite perfect yet.

Good points on the menu. This shouldn't be a problem for next year since I'm planning on using a horizontal dropdown.

Re: AdamBots.com Feedback

Quote:

Originally Posted by RyanCesiel (Post 849380)

Good points on the menu. This shouldn't be a problem for next year since I'm planning on using a horizontal dropdown.

That also sounds good. (:

Re: AdamBots.com Feedback

Something ive always found kindof irritating about your site is the navigation bar... it seems rather kludgy and adds an extra layer of complexity of getting to the rest of the site that the casual viewer probably wont put forth the effort to figure out. Some of the links in the accordion menu would probably be better off not inside a structure at all, but in a more easily accessible area.

I think you guys have gotten yourself into a pickle with your website; you have SO MUCH content and information but no good way to make it all available easily, but i think the fact that you are planning a new nav system is a good start.

The last con i think im able to squeeze out... i know this has been mentioned and you've denied it out the wazoo, but if you invert the color scheme and remove the dean kamen quote at the top of the page, you basically have the same website as last year (design wise). In particular, the accordion menu and the mediawiki backend strike me as very similar.

You guys had an insanely good website last year, and the judges noticed. Unfortunately, your site was only 1.1x better this year, and im guessing for the judges to notice an award-winning amount of change you would have needed to make it 2x better.

disclaimer: i wrote this on 2.5 hours of sleep, so sorry if it seems a bit grumpy, its not supposed to (:

Re: AdamBots.com Feedback

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uberbots (Post 849462)

Here are previous three site designs:

2007 Design (We didn't like this design and it never saw a FIRST season):
http://www.adambots.com/w/images/8/8d/AdambotsV2.png

2008 Design (Won Detroit and Great Lakes Regional Website Awards):
http://www.adambots.com/w/images/a/aa/AdambotsV3.png

2009 Design (Won Kettering District Competition):
http://www.adambots.com/w/images/0/01/AdambotsV4.png

The site is definitely different, but there are some similarities. We chose to keep the side navigation bar because we received so many compliments for it last year. The judges even sited it as one of the reasons for us winning last year. This year people don't like it, so were going to a horizontal navigation bar for our next design.

We also felt the the FIRST logo and the sponsor logos should stay in the same place because they are so important and should be one of the first things people see.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uberbots (Post 849462)

You guys had an insanely good website last year, and the judges noticed. Unfortunately, your site was only 1.1x better this year, and im guessing for the judges to notice an award-winning amount of change you would have needed to make it 2x better.

disclaimer: i wrote this on 2.5 hours of sleep, so sorry if it seems a bit grumpy, its not supposed to (:

I would be disappointed in judges were doing this. No where in the grading criteria do you get points for having a new site design. After all, it is the Best Website Award, not the Most Improved Website Award.

Re: AdamBots.com Feedback

Quote:

Originally Posted by HighLife (Post 849495)

v3 and v4 look and function very similarly. as i said, its the same color scheme inverted and with larger headers and nav buttons. (on a similar note, look how much of the navigation appears on the 2008 version vs the 2009 version)
i guess the reason they bear so much resemblance is because of the mediawiki engine.

personally, i think if you took the colors of 2009 and the layout/sizes of 2008, your site would look much better