RMR662 Website!

[zim2411]

Originally Posted by RaviG

We have made quite some progress on our site. Any feedback would be welcome.
Three questions:
1. Is it OK to submit a url that goes to a website description page (i.e. explaining what went into the site, etc...)
2. How important is validation. It won't be possible to fix ~23 errors due to the framework used (Drupal).
3. How do judges check custom code? We do use drupal, but we did quite a bit on the back end php structure, as well as css and html.

Could someone verify if the videos work in IE? I checked and it does not work, I want to see if its something I need to fix. They are HTML5.

1. Submit your main URL - http://www.rockymountainrobotics.com/
2. It's on the rubric, but it's not terribly important. Validation is nice, but it doesn't actually mean a site will be cross browser compatible. More often than not, you have to break validation in order to get something to work on some browser.
3. If you'd like to highlight your custom code, you can have an "About this Website" section, and detail what you've done. Some judges will have web dev experience, others won't.

Some feedback:

• Blogs have "You are not allowed to post a new blog entry." at the top
• The Public Relations blog is empty
• Remove the read more links, by setting Drupal to show the full blog posts. Most are short, and the "Read more" link implies that there is more when there isn't.
• The Departments block disappears on the QA and Website blogs.
• Throw a FIRST logo + link in the footer
• In the footer, move the resources to the right. They are almost all off site links, so you should group them together with the other offsite set (Sponsors).

Your site has a LOT of activity and it's shaping up nicely.

[RaviG]

Hey,
Thank you for the comprehensive look through! I came across your presentation you posted (https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&p...TA3ZmRiO WJl).
Wish I came across it earlier, but it looks like I hit most of the points by chance

I made a lot of the changes you suggested, my team is working on sprucing it up. Looking at your presentation, I think I will put yoxview back in (like lightbox). Three questions:
1. Do you guys grade across browser compatibility? I am having serious issues getting Flash videos to work, and HTML5 seems to fail on IE. I may be able to pull it off before thursday.
2. Would you consider the content on this site geared toward everyone, or just our team? I personally see it as widespread, but I could see the argument for the latter.
3. Are websites graded at the deadline (16th) or at regionals?

Again, Thank you!

[zim2411]

Originally Posted by RaviG

1. Do you guys grade across browser compatibility? I am having serious issues getting Flash videos to work, and HTML5 seems to fail on IE. I may be able to pull it off before thursday.

Yes, but pixel perfection isn't terribly important. Content should be accessible on anything. As for HTML5 video... that's still a hot mess these days. Chrome 16 doesn't have full screen playback available, and you're right about IE9 failing. (And Firefox 10) It might be that you're using the .MOV container. .MP4 is more compatible I believe, and works with Flash players as well.

Check out this article: http://dev.opera.com/articles/view/s...stom-controls/

If you want to be totally sure, switch to Flash for desktops. HTML5 video playback is really only good on mobile devices right now.

Originally Posted by RaviG

2. Would you consider the content on this site geared toward everyone, or just our team? I personally see it as widespread, but I could see the argument for the latter.

It's for everyone. You can (and should) have team oriented content, but it should not be the predominant focus. Your home page should be welcoming and understandable to someone completely new to FIRST, and it shouldn't alienate them.

Originally Posted by RaviG

3. Are websites graded at the deadline (16th) or at regionals?

Grading can start at the deadline. Grades must be in the Monday before a regional starts. Your site could be graded at any point between then. It's graded live, there's no snapshot or whatever. You can (and should) continue working on your site and posting updates.

One of the biggest faults a team can make is doing something like going to a week 1 regional, and posting nothing on their site about how they did by the time they go to their second week 4 or 5 regional.