Team 2823 Website - Bootstrap & Wordpress

mprasolov · #1 06-01-2014, 17:23

During the beginning of pre-season, we were using a Google Site.

For the past month or so, we've created a MUCH better website that's Self-Hosted, uses WordPress so everybody can post to it, and uses Bootstrap which is an AMAZING framework!

We have a git for ours too, if you want to look at code: https://github.com/Team-2823/Team-2823-Website

And the website is at:
http://highland-2823.com

I would be delighted if you would leave some feedback, either design or content wise!

Thanks!

bvisness · #2 06-01-2014, 17:31

I think it needs more pictures.

The only picture I saw on your site was the blurry background on the home page.

I would recommend adding a team logo, pictures of your team, pictures of robots you've designed, pictures of team members, etc. They will make your site much more interesting and give it a stronger team identity.

Also, it seems silly to have such a prominent "Log In" button when (I assume) the login function is just for team members.

mprasolov · #3 06-01-2014, 17:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by bvisness

I think it needs more pictures.

The only picture I saw on your site was the blurry background on the home page.

Do you mean something like viewing a featured image for each news post on the homepage?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bvisness

I would recommend adding a team logo, pictures of your team, pictures of robots you've designed, pictures of team members, etc. They will make your site much more interesting and give it a stronger team identity.

I was thinking of having the logo in the navbar in a similar fashion to thebluealliance.com. We already have pictures of the team in the Photos section and the Robot section has a few pictures of our past two robots along with stats from TBA. I'm guessing it was hard to find the pages because of the way the navbar is organized. Do you have any suggestions on how it should be as far as grouping goes?

Quote:

Originally Posted by bvisness

Also, it seems silly to have such a prominent "Log In" button when (I assume) the login function is just for team members.

Yes, the Log In button is mainly for team members, however anyone can register and if anyone else registers, they become a subscriber and get E-Mail updates. Since there is already a Log In link in the footer, do you still think the navbar button should be removed?

Thanks for the suggestions! It helps to have a fresh pair of eyes look at the website!

Dustin Shadbolt · #4 06-01-2014, 23:14

I sat like two minutes hovering over your menu bar waiting for the menus to appear. I finally clicked them ha.

It's missing your team identity. Don't get me wrong it's a great site. I love bootstrap personally and love how clean it looks. But you need to make it yours. Add your team colors, team logos, and stuff like that.

mprasolov · #5 06-01-2014, 23:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dustin Shadbolt

I sat like two minutes hovering over your menu bar waiting for the menus to appear. I finally clicked them ha.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dustin Shadbolt

It's missing your team identity. Don't get me wrong it's a great site. I love bootstrap personally and love how clean it looks. But you need to make it yours. Add your team colors, team logos, and stuff like that.

This is why I need other people to look at the site! I am probably the least creative person, so I need actual people to look at the site

Thanks for the suggestions!

Dustin Shadbolt · #6 10-01-2014, 23:40

Quote:

Originally Posted by mprasolov

This is why I need other people to look at the site! I am probably the least creative person, so I need actual people to look at the site

Thanks for the suggestions!

Haha yes you need fresh eyes after awhile. I ended up designing my team's website. After a week, I just needed someone new to check it. But seriously great site!

yash101 · #7 11-01-2014, 00:20

There's an errant smiley at the bottom-left corner of the page. You may want to take a look at it

but let it stay there, cause I like it

astronomical · #8 11-01-2014, 04:30

I really admire your aim for simplicity and your lightbox is pretty awesome, but I definitely agree with the others in how it's missing your identity and it feels empty without images especially at the top of the pages.

Here are a few things I would suggest:
- Make the menu fly in right away instead of a delay (or remove it all together)
- Try enabling featured images for pages and setting them as background header images
- Add thumbnails to the members page (people would like to see faces instead of just names
- Turn .btn-primary, @brand-primary, and links red.*

*I also suggest that you look into a LESS compiler if you're planning to recolor and expand Bootstrap. It's going the best decision you'll ever make as a developer and you'll definitely save a bunch of time in the long term.

I've also built a site with Bootstrap 2 and WordPress for my team if you need some inspiration: http://iliterobotics.org/

mprasolov · #9 12-01-2014, 01:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by yash101

There's an errant smiley at the bottom-left corner of the page. You may want to take a look at it

but let it stay there, cause I like it

It only shows up on mobile for me but I honestly don't know where it's coming from!

At least I know for sure that my code is haunted.

mprasolov · #10 12-01-2014, 02:03

Quote: