I just uploaded the new layout for our website a few days ago. I’m not sure it works well on all browsers/settings though, so if all of you could give it a try and tell me if anything weird happens, that’d be awesome.
(By the way - if any of you use my FIRST Team Search, looks like FIRST doesn’t have all the data up on their pages yet, so I haven’t been able to update yet, but it looks like theres 1816teams registered at the moment).
It looks fine on IE for windows. I it looks like it might be hard to see much without scrolling a lot on lower resolutions.
I would suggest a couple minor things. The images at the top take up too much vertical space, so they could be made a little smaller. The copyright info is a little hard to read with the lighter background on the left. Also, if the window isn’t wide enough, the images get pushed down below the menu.
It doesn’t look different from the general shape you posted above.
Thanks, I’m trying to figure out what to do with the copyright info, putting a graybox behind it is the easiest thing to do, but it doesn’t look too nice.
I learned in one of my website aesthetic design classes that from a marketing perspective, it is best not to underline anything except links. Users naturally tend to wonder if the underlined text is a link and want to click it or move the mouse over it to see. This disrupts the flow of reading the text and gives a less professional feel. Instead of underlining things, try using other methods of seperating headings, such as using different font sizes, colors, and letter spacing/italics. This will give a more professional look and make it easier to read without being distracted by underlined text.
Again, hyperlinks are exceptions. The underlining can be used to show what text is a link. Another exception might be in menus, such as your menu to the left. I would suggest trying to make those menu items look more unique from other websites. Underlining of links is not needed in a menu because it is assumed that text in menus are links. Your upcoming events list is an example of where underlining is not needed.
Hope this tip helps. Also, I think forum should have an “s” at the end in the left menu, but I could be wrong.
Thanks, but I don’t really agree. Menu text is not assumed to be links, and under lining doesn’t necessarily mean links - different colors are assumed to be links.
What do you mean by making it look more “unique”?
It depends if you consider your message board as multiply “forums” for discussion or one unified “forum” for discussion, so I’ve seen it both ways.
What I meant about your links is that they look like they use all default settings (except color). Try making the font size for links slightly smaller. Also, see if it looks good having the underlining disappear when the mouse moves over them. See if any of that makes it look even better.
Most of my comments come from books and classes where they always say that all tips are general guidelines. Every situation is different and every guideline has many exceptions, so you may not agree, but in a different context you might. Anyways, hope this helps, but I just think the one thing least unique about your site is the look of the links; that’s my opinion.
I thought it would be obvious enough that they are in a pane by themself that they are navigation links. I’ll try to think of another way to make them ‘unique.’ I’ll have to see what I can do with them. Though the upcoming events page I did notice I overused underlining…but I haven’t had a chance to fix it yet.
I tend not to trust books on advice like that - I look at other sites to see what looks nice or just use my personal opinion. There are just too many variables that go into the overall view of a site.
