New site for team 1103

[EHaskins]

The team webmaster asker me to post a link to the new team site he has been working on.


www.frc1103.org

The site isn't finished, but he wanted input from people outside of our team.

Thanks,
Eric Haskins

[Steve S.]

the page shows nothing...

<embed src=".\Website.swf" width="800" height="600">

the . before \Website.swf needs to be removed

also on the main page, the spelling is quite bad.."Ofiliated" should be "Affiliated" and "Menchoned" should be "Mentioned"

[EHaskins]

Thanks, I don't have that problem on my computer, but I'll tell the webmaster.

[Steve S.]

Originally Posted by EHaskins

Thanks, I don't have that problem on my computer, but I'll tell the webmaster.

hmm i was going to say it could just be my browser not displaying it but when i type in website.swf on my own the site comes up fine....and as mentioned about, the spelling really needs to be checked on all pages

[chris31]

I myself am not good with flash but I really dont like the site. Im trying to provide constructive critisism so dont view this as my bashing your hard work. I think it looks non-professional. The spelling needs to be checked also. Also, Im not sure i like the splash screen welcome page.

[fimmel]

flash is good but you should also have a regular html site for faster browsing and bookmarking
/forest

[EHaskins]

Thanks for the response. This was the first version of the site so hopefully we'll have something "good" before February.

[JamesBrown]

Sponsor is spelled wrong

Edit:

It is FIRST Robotics Competition not Challenge, there should be no .'s in FIRST, The little disclaimer in the corner has a couple of spelling errors, I havent read through the other stuff yet but you may want to have some one on the team proofread it.

[Michelle Celio]

It's a nice attempt at creating the site, and I give you all respect for trying, but here's some things to work on:

• Flash - Flash is nice, but an entire site made in flash is not a good idea.
  • The courser is a little weird, and only shows on the flash, try and keep things consistent and implement a code that will produce the same courser effect off of the flash
  • Try creating a mix of a HTML/CSS layout with the Flash. Make the lay out in HTML/CSS, and maybe make a flash header for the page.
• Spelling - Before launching your site to the CD community (again) run a spell check, I've been working on my teams site for months and have not done a full launch into the public yet becuase of the spelling.
  • Not using flash for the entire website is an easy way to ensure that spelling is correct, if typing the pages by hand in a browser window, try and acquire a browser that has a built in spell check.
• Back Button - It's really weird, maybe it's just for me but it doesn't bring me back to the last portion of the Flash I was last viewing.
  • If you do decided to move over to a HTML/CSS layout, there is a link/java script that you can use to ensure that the page the person just visited is displayed when they click the back button.
• Splash Page - They're cool at first, but for people who visit quite often, they can get annoying after a while
  • The hover robot is pretty neat, try moving it to a page where you can create more of these and turn it into a guessing game type of thing.

Keep in mind that a team website should NOT be created just to enter the website award. The site should be a resource for your team to use. When it comes to creating content, create what will help the team first and what will impress the judges later. What you have is a good start and it really needs some work.

Best of luck

[ThomasP]

Originally Posted by Michelle Celio

Keep in mind that a team website should NOT be created just to enter the website award. The site should be a resource for your team to use. When it comes to creating content, create what will help the team first and what will impress the judges later. What you have is a good start and it really needs some work.

That's good advice Michelle. It seems like all my team tries to work towards is the website award so I have to go back through and add all the functionality to the website -_-.

[EHaskins]

Thanks for all your feedback. I'll forward your suggestions to our web team, and hopefully we can have something better soon.

[Kristian Calhoun]

I agree with what the others have said about focusing less on the flash, and more on the html and content in order to make the site look more professional (something that it is lacking). The layout could also use some work.

Some things that bother me:

• The robot cursor - it's hard to distinguish what it actually is, as it looks more like a space shuttle. And once again, keeping a default cursor would make the site more professional.
• Not being able to use the 'Back' button in my browser, and having to click on the back button in the lower left corner.
• The time and date in top left corner. - The clock doesn't serve a specific purpose and isn't particularly helpful, as most, if not all, browsers have a visible clock somewhere in the taskbar tray/on the desktop. (A more appropriate use for the date would be to have it used for something like "Last updated on: ")
• The font on the body pages is a bit too big. Large fonts are good for headings and titles and such, but having size 4 or 5 font for an entire paragraph is plain annoying.
• Spelling, grammar, mechanics, etc. - Immediately upon entering the site, the word sponsors is spelled wrong. You may want to capitalize FIRST, as well as FRC and FLL. Avoid abbreviating words or using shorthand, such as "comp", and watch your capitalization. "A lot" is actually two words, and overall just check the content for grammatical, spelling, punctuation errors, etc. The sentence structure on the site could use some work too, and only publish information that is relevant to the topic at hand. Elaborate on your topics, and develop separate paragraphs for each new idea that is being introduced. (For example, the paragraph on the FRC page is not very coherent.)