Team 2973 Website

[shgshgshgshg]

Team 2973's entry into the championship website competition. Any suggestions on how to improve it for next year? Thanks
www.rockers2973.com

[Zholl]

You've got a pretty nice website there. I didn't see much that I thought needed improving, really. My only complaint, and this is just a personal preference more than anything, is that the rest of the site didn't really match your homepage. I personally prefer there to be a bit more of a common theme there, but that's just my opinion. All in all, though, it is a very nicely done site.

[ScottOliveira]

The site is very nice, but there are a couple of things that stick out to me.

Your homepage currently has no real title! It shows up as 'Untitled Document'. You need to change the content of your <title> tag, which is a simple fix, but an important one.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of that extensive use of flash as you have on the homepage, and prefer using html, php, javascript etc. However, your flash does look very nice so it's not something you necessarily need to change. But consider that people can't navigate beyond your homepage if they don't have flash. This isn't a problem for most people, but always consider that not everybody has flash, or at least not a recent version. I would definitely consider making some of the page (at least the navigation buttons and possibly the header from html/php, so that there is always at least something that shows up.

You should consider making a consistent theme for all of your pages. While both your homepage and the rest of your site look very nice, they are dramatically different from each other. I wouldn't make the entire site flash, but at least giving a consistent look (maybe keeping the header/navigation bar/background the same?) would make the entire site more cohesive. Another possibility would be to bring the color scheme from your content pages over to your homepage. I personally prefer the somewhat lighter look that your content pages have, but that doesn't mean that it's better.

I also think it might look nice to vary the background a little on your pages. Currently you have a solid black on the homepage and solid grey on the other pages. Try experimenting with some simple fades, it might help it look a little nicer. This is just an idea, try some things out and if you like it, use it, but it looks good as is.

On your Search page, when you first browse there it says '0 results found' even though no search has been made, I would highly recommend removing that until a search is made.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

[likzuz]

Originally Posted by ScottOliveira

The site is very nice, but there are a couple of things that stick out to me.

Your homepage currently has no real title! It shows up as 'Untitled Document'. You need to change the content of your <title> tag, which is a simple fix, but an important one.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of that extensive use of flash as you have on the homepage, and prefer using html, php, javascript etc. However, your flash does look very nice so it's not something you necessarily need to change. But consider that people can't navigate beyond your homepage if they don't have flash. This isn't a problem for most people, but always consider that not everybody has flash, or at least not a recent version. I would definitely consider making some of the page (at least the navigation buttons and possibly the header from html/php, so that there is always at least something that shows up.

You should consider making a consistent theme for all of your pages. While both your homepage and the rest of your site look very nice, they are dramatically different from each other. I wouldn't make the entire site flash, but at least giving a consistent look (maybe keeping the header/navigation bar/background the same?) would make the entire site more cohesive. Another possibility would be to bring the color scheme from your content pages over to your homepage. I personally prefer the somewhat lighter look that your content pages have, but that doesn't mean that it's better.

I also think it might look nice to vary the background a little on your pages. Currently you have a solid black on the homepage and solid grey on the other pages. Try experimenting with some simple fades, it might help it look a little nicer. This is just an idea, try some things out and if you like it, use it, but it looks good as is.

On your Search page, when you first browse there it says '0 results found' even though no search has been made, I would highly recommend removing that until a search is made.

If I think of anything else I'll let you know.

While you are adding the title tag it wouldn't be a bad idea to add a Favicon (the little icon next to the <title> like Delphi's has 47 in their common orange and black).

Another thing you can do is change the color of the text on the word "resources" it's tough to read and if the theme is matching the border it looks a little dark. Sticking it in photoshop, the outside gave me a (#22C917) whilst the text gave me a (#138B09). I don't use flash so I don't know how tough it would be to change, it's just something to keep in mind

A few more =P, in your header the text that states where you are from is really hard to read. I believe it says Madison, Alabama. I'm not 100% though just something you might consider. Also while looking at it again, why is the front page version red and the main page black?

On the Team News page it wouldn't be bad to make the dates <h1>'s and add a few titles.

Overall though I'm not a fan a flash, usually, yours manages to load fast and look great. Then again design is a small part of the award, it is mostly content and you have tons of that.

[shgshgshgshg]

The original frontpage of the site was like the other pages in the site, but then we had a very talented member of the team create the homepage in photoshop, and flash. We plan on hopefully making all the pages like the homepage...