WWW.OCCASIONS-BIGGINHILL.COM

 

I posted this website quite a while back, and many people had alot to say about it, I havent changed the site majorly, only the most obvious mistakes and areas which recieved the most negative feedback such as the vertical navigation menu. This has been changed now.

 

I would now like just some general feedback on the site overall, not all of the CONTENT is uploaded but the general design is pretty much completed, keep in mind, design wise I didnt want the site looking too fancy or too simple. I like white space, but not alot of it, therefore I dont go for the most modern simplistic look when designing a site.

 

Also keep in mind I am in no way shape or form a professional web designer, so no harsh comments about some of the design aspects.

 

If you feel any of the design does need a dramatic change or something looks awful to you, then please by all means mention it!

 

I would like as much feedback as possible so that I can get the website fully up and running.

 

Thank you.

I think it looks how i would expect a card shops website to look. you have a few XHTML errors tho, about 50 on each page and an error or 2 in your css.

 

I can read occasions but i cant read the rest of the title.

 

will the site eventually be an ecommerce site?

Hi

 

It looks a picture to me, regardless of whether it can be improved or not.

Hi,

 

I would like to suggest a few changes that will be easy to remedy and add quite a bit of impact .

 

 

The navigation could do with some space between each section . If you add some padding you let the navigation breathe a bit. Not so cluttered this way :

 

.sidemenu ul li {

background:#C1DDEF none repeat scroll 0 0;

color:#000000;

display:block;

margin:0;

padding-left:0;

padding-top:5px;

}

 

 

I would also consider altering the background colour to achieve some vibrancy. Maybe try different textures from the products you have.

 

The header text is also a bit close together . Bring them out from the edges a bit to add focus and readability. You need to add space between the letters.

 

If you have more time add streamers etc to the header pic.

 

Some of your pictures have the text very close to them. You can add some margin to the images to create some space around them.

 

If you have the time check out some web galleries. This will quickly verse you in trends, styling and the aesthetic of web design.

 

 

These are the areas I would focus on first.

 

I think you've done really well if you haven't been doing this long. Just needs some fine tuning.

Visually, the side menu definitely needs a little space as already mentioned. I also think the header is a little hard to read with that font, and I think the text is a little squashed next to the nav bar - maybe move it up a little?

On your about us page, the header text has a different colour background to the content area - it looks like they should be the same colour, same on the contact page.

On the plus side, I do think your content area is looking nice, and your typography is nicely spaced and easy to read.

 

Code wise, there are a lot of errors there - you have used the strict doctype, but your code looks like it may fare better as transitional.

 

Plenty of good foundations to work on, little adjustments and work on the code will make a lot of difference.

I really like the site you have a good eye for layout and colour. I agree with the comments already made and would ditch the use of images for the page headings, simple styled text would look just as good.

 

For someone without much experience its a cracking little site.

 

Tracy

Thank you very much for the comments guys very helpful! Will definately work on fine tuning it. Alot of the things pointed out I am aware of, such as the different background colours for header texts, this is simply because I slightly lightened the content background colour and havn't changed the images yet.

 

Also I do agree about spacing out the navbar a bit, I am guessing most of you are using firefox as I am. However take a look at the navbar in IE, the buttons automatically seem to be spaced out, which I believe looks quite nice. Would you say I should actually code the navbar to look as it does now in IE?

 

Thank you for the feedback so far!

I have changed the site slightly to suit a christmas theme, I have spaced out the navbar as suggested before, and made the logo text a bit bigger, it may be a bit difficult to read with the snow on it now, but still it looks christmas-like i think.

 

What would you say? Do you think the site looks ok visually? Is there any bad contrasts on there or something which looks awful and needs an immediate change?

 

Please do tell me now!!

 

Thank you!

Hi,

 

 

there's a colour clash between the blues used in the body background a] and the blue used as the page bg b] and horizontal menu bg c].

 

 

a] is a blue with some red in it, i.e. a purply blue

b] and c] is a blue with green in it

 

make b] and c] similar in hue to a].

 

This will have the effect of unifying and relaxing the page, especially if all the blues are slightly purple.

you really need to add a payment option, "contact us" just isnt enough, would you rather contact and be on the phone or click 3 times to make a payment..... i think most sites like yours offer the payment method online so your trying to compete with a disadvantage.

Hi

 

The website is excellent and you must be very pleased.

 

There is nothing amiss, because it is simply a colorful front for a glittering Store.

 

Every link shows exactly what the searching eye would be wishing to see.

 

You cannot ask for more than that.

 

That’s my humble opinion.

Hi

 

The website is excellent and you must be very pleased.

 

There is nothing amiss, because it is simply a colorful front for a glittering Store.

 

Every link shows exactly what the searching eye would be wishing to see.

 

You cannot ask for more than that.

 

That’s my humble opinion.

 

Thank you very much for that positive feedback Peter000. That is much appreciated, I am glad you like the site.

 

Just to inform people, the site does not yet support online payments or transactions, but its purpose at this time is to simply advertise the products and deals which we are offering to local people and others. We aim to attract more people from the local area and perhaps some surrounding areas to come and visit our shop. However in the future we will be looking into e-commerce and online payment options.

how about linking it up with a facebook group?

Hi

 

Those who have commented have given you a great feedback.

 

It is a massive help when others with such degrees of experience can do so.

 

Just minor tips from such people can make a major difference.