Hey all! Once again I come to you for a little feedback on the Fleech Media site. I have recently finished the core coding work for the site and just need to put in some text to replace some of the place holder content. The website is coded to provide ease to those that would be putting content on it (my employees) so it does use quite a bit of includes on each page. Furthermore, the site also gives the feeling that there is a large number of javascript used on it. However, I only used no more than 3 (in addition to a few libraries): scroll-to-top, portfolio filer and prettyphoto.

 

I would appreciate some comments and criticism on this project as I did spend quite a bit of time getting it the way I wanted (general idea of what I wanted). The contact form does not work and few of the in-content links will not open, but the general pages are complete. The 403, 404 and 500 page is in the works and will be displayed using some inbuilt cPanel functions.

 

You can view it at: http://www.fleechmedia.com/

 

Thanks in advance!

 

//EDIT

Does anyone know of any simple get recent twits script? The one I'm using now worked at first but now turned into a failure (even though I did not make any changes to the code).

Edited June 5, 201115 yr by Sazzad

"pixel perfect... everytime" ? really? i wouldn't have though that was possible across browsers, platforms, resolutions...

 

you have more ine height in the main content, even the line length is only say 10% longer - also that fully justified text doesn't work very well

 

increase text size a notch or two and it falls out its container

 

"populize " where's this from? sounds a bit daft

 

top ribbon should point up - the cutout makes it seem like it's moving down

 

otherwise, good job!

Mike posted a twit fix found it here

@mteam I actually did something very similar, only difference was that it grabbed multiple posts instead of one and styles it too. But I'll try to use this and modify it to display multiple posts.

 

@dap Here it goes:

1. We had a long discussion regarding pixel perfect. In short, it's already been printed and our sponsors will not let us change it now. Might in the future but for now we're stuck with it. A down side of having sponsors.

 

2. Yes the justified text will change. The font for main body content will change as well. It will be a pain to change the font on the blurbs but is do-able and I might work on after I finish some other task needed for that project.

The text size mods is an issue only for the home page and that is because of the "blurbs" section. Which I will work on.

 

3. I do explain what populize is. We typically use it on another forum I am part of and decided to honor them by using that term. I am considering having a small glossary at the bottom of the about us page just to make it even more clear.

 

4. I'm not sure which other way a ribbon is supposed to face. Do you mind clarifying it a bit?

 

5. Thanks for the review/criticism! Greatly appreciate it.

Edited June 5, 201115 yr by Sazzad

Browser Requirements

 

We use a large number of Javascript on our website to allow certain functionality required to access our servers. Please enable Javascript and popups on your browsers to experience our services to the fullest.

 

It's considered rude by many to tell users how to use your website. If I don't want to use js and I come across your site, I'll simply click away. It would be much better to build your site in a way that is only enhanced by js, leaving all the core functions in place whether its there or not.

Your graphics are beautiful, I think maybe the grammar etc needs a bit of work in places.

Actually more about the graphics - sometimes I feel the graphics are drawn together from different styles on the site, if I had to make a criticism. They seem like the graphics from about 3 or 4 sites kind of rolled into one. Do you see what I mean? For example the browser icons on the services page are a bit glossy compared to the other icons.

Edit - there seem to be a mixture of serif and sans serif fonts in the copy as well. I prefer the sans serif one.

Edited June 5, 201115 yr by Gibson

It's considered rude by many to tell users how to use your website.

The issue here is not that we're trying to be rude, we just want to have our viewers get the best experience. For example, we use a featured slider. If javascript is disabled, all contents will be layered; thus destroying the structure. We do not want any of our clients to experience that.

 

there seem to be a mixture of serif and sans serif fonts

My intention was to use one serif style but I do see what you mean. The font callout in the body is completely useless, as I do re-define the font style for each tag. I noticed that for the portfolio area, I do use a different font style, which was not intended. I'm constantly working on more than one project or helping my employee with theirs, so I probably got mixed up. I will put that on the things to double check.

 

They seem like the graphics from about 3 or 4 sites kind of rolled into one.

The reason behind that is because I made 3 other designs before this and I got feedback from people stating that they liked "this, this and that" from those. So I took the best of those and combined them into one. I think they play quite well in this case as an element is not used only once in the layout. For example, those buttons contain the same gloss/light effect as the header. The burb (homepage) red is the same red as the navigational hover. The logo color is the same as the heading colors, etc.

 

Your graphics are beautiful, I think maybe the grammar etc needs a bit of work in places.

Thank you for the compliment. The content, as stated in the starting post, is mostly placeholder. The only actual, approved, content is on the home page (except featured slider) and the about us page. A professor from NYU, RIT and a language specialist have looked over those two pages (yeay for connections!). All others will be worked on and reviewed later this week.

The issue here is not that we're trying to be rude, we just want to have our viewers get the best experience. For example, we use a featured slider. If javascript is disabled, all contents will be layered; thus destroying the structure. We do not want any of our clients to experience that.

I understand what you're saying, but I think you're missing the point. What makes your message different from the old 'best viewed in Internet Explorer 6.5'?

 

You're still telling users how to use their browsers rather than catering for everyone, and enhancing the experience for js users.

I take it the cityscape shadow is supposed to be pointing perpendicular to the rest of the shadow directions? I personally think it looks out of place, and consequently distracting.

 

On the about page (and others using this layout), your left column is slightly too wide, and there's not enough space between the two columns, perhaps align the right border of the left column with the left of the the building in the cityscape above it.

 

I like the idea for filtering the portfolio items, the transition is a bit crazy though, I'd suggest just a linear fade-out-in.

 

Services page, again, the content is too wide and negatively affects readability, could also benefit from some paragraphing!

 

Just a couple of smaller points, with smooth anchor transitions, I like to have the ability to cancel the movement if the scroll wheel is moved.

And, your resume (PDF's aren't generally very appealling) has 2 headings "what we use...".

And, the tabs you have for on the services page, it waits for the fade-in animation to finish before registering clicks to go to a different tab, and bugs out if you click on multiple ones before it finishes the animation.

 

Most of the above you probably won't need to worry about too much, it's a fab design all round, just feeling rather critical right now!

Edited June 6, 201115 yr by Dove

You're still telling users how to use their browsers rather than catering for everyone, and enhancing the experience for js users.

So use this instead? We use a large number of Javascript on our website to allow certain functionality required to access our servers. To get the best out of our website, it is recommended that you enable Javascript and popups on your browser.

 

 

I take it the cityscape shadow is supposed to be pointing perpendicular to the rest of the shadow directions? I personally think it looks out of place, and consequently distracting.

The idea behind the shadow of the city line was the draw the viewers/visitors to the navigation and/or content. After looking at the city for a few seconds, what our research showed was that most went on to read the content right below or above it. So that shadow and thickness of the shadow was deliberately placed/used.

 

On the about page (and others using this layout), your left column is slightly too wide, and there's not enough space between the two columns, perhaps align the right border of the left column with the left of the the building in the cityscape above it.

We are taking advantage of the 960gs there. So we can't really control nor change the spacing without violating the 960gs rule/css.

 

I like the idea for filtering the portfolio items, the transition is a bit crazy though, I'd suggest just a linear fade-out-in.

Yes that transition is odd mostly because of the margins. I am working on alternate options, but fade is on the top of the list.

 

Services page, again, the content is too wide and negatively affects readability, could also benefit from some paragraphing!

As stated above, I can't really change it unless I make the sidebar bigger than the other. But what I do plan on doing is adding images and other content to the side to make it look more like a services page. The fonts/text style will also change a little (while staying true to serif).

 

Just a couple of smaller points, with smooth anchor transitions, I like to have the ability to cancel the movement if the scroll wheel is moved.

We'll take this into consideration on the next update.

And, your resume (PDF's aren't generally very appealling) has 2 headings "what we use...".

The resume is still in the works. We made several versions of the resume and we have a little vote between the staff, the sponsors and several forum members. This was the selected design because of its simplicity. The content is still in the works.

And, the tabs you have for on the services page, it waits for the fade-in animation to finish before registering clicks to go to a different tab, and bugs out if you click on multiple ones before it finishes the animation.

I quite like that about the slider. If you click one item and then another right away, it will not move on to the next until your first click is registered. It keeps the slide more consistent and smooth.

Most of the above you probably won't need to worry about too much, it's a fab design all round, just feeling rather critical right now!

It only shows that you care to help someone out. Being critical at times is a good thing

Edited June 7, 201115 yr by Sazzad

So use this instead? We use a large number of Javascript on our website to allow certain functionality required to access our servers. To get the best out of our website, it is recommended that you enable Javascript and popups on your browser.

Still not what I'm getting at. Instead of having a message there at all, I'm suggesting that you build your site to run with javascript disabled, and then add javascript to enhance it so that it doesn't break if non js users visit.

That is such a nice design! Very simple, and very sleek.

 

Oh, and here's a small code to fetch the latest tweet:

		$(function(){
		$.ajax({
			url: 'http://api.twitter.com/1/users/show.json',
			data: {screen_name: 'USERNAME'},
			dataType: 'jsonp',
			success: function(data) {
				$('#followers').html(data.followers_count);
			}
		});
	});

Still not what I'm getting at. Instead of having a message there at all, I'm suggesting that you build your site to run with javascript disabled, and then add javascript to enhance it so that it doesn't break if non js users visit.

 

I'd agree with this.

Sazzad - If you must keep the message, why not only display it if javascript is turned off? Then, only 5 - 10% of users would actually see it. No need to have it there if they've got js switched on, is there?

Your graphics are beautiful, I think maybe the grammar etc needs a bit of work in places.

 

I agree. The level of grammar is not very appealing to a customer with English as their first language

 

I understand what you're saying, but I think you're missing the point. What makes your message different from the old 'best viewed in Internet Explorer 6.5'?

 

You're still telling users how to use their browsers rather than catering for everyone, and enhancing the experience for js users.

 

I also agree with this. Javascript is intended to enhance the user's experience. It may be a small percentage of users that browse with javasript disabled but it is good practice if nothing else to have a site degrade gracefully.

Edited June 7, 201115 yr by greyhat

Sorry all. Was away on business trip last few days. Only had 3G access on phone and it wasn't great.

 

I will remove the javascript message and just place a small welcome there. As stated on the first post, we are not (no where near) finishing the content so I know the grammar is not great. It will be reviewed by a friend/professor at NYU and RIT in the coming days.

Cheers to mteam for posting the fetch latest tweet code that I'd posted before. Saved me having to find it again

Cheers to mteam for posting the fetch latest tweet code that I'd posted before. Saved me having to find it again

He PM'd me his own version of the code as well. So cheers mate!

 

I made a small update to the portfolio page as well. The text has been sent over, now I'm just waiting to hear back from the professors. Hopefully I get them back soon.