Please review my new website - done right!

[Grant Palin]

I've got a new website online. It was a learning experience since I created it using PHP and MySQL, which was a first for me - first time I'd ever used them. I think it worked out rather well.

I would point out that right from the beginning, I did this site the right way. That means no table layouts - I used divs and CSS. It also meant to use styles for all presentational aspects of the site. And, I have all the styles (except some occasional inline styles) in a master style sheet, so I can change the look of the site just by editing one file! I'm starting to really appreciate the power of good design combined with PHP and MySQL! It sure beats writing code over and over, and presentational code at that!

Anyway, please have a look, and let me know what you think.

I did this site on windows XP Pro, at 1024 by whatever the other number is, tested and working fine in Internet Explorer 6 and Mozilla 4.

Here's the address: http://www.hommworld.net/Homm4/index.php

[Paul Jr]

Nice work.

[Len Whistler]

Nice site....almost similiar in layout to my re-designed site.

I also formatted my site as much as I could in an external CSS file, and used header, footer, and navagation php files. I used tables for the images because I don't think divisions is a good way to go (for images). My next upgrade will be an image gallery php script that I will work on when I get the time.

I can see once you get a hang of HTML, CSS, PHP all you need is Notepad. You can just reuse your code over and over.


Leonard Whistler

http://www.stubby.ca

[Grant Palin]

Originally posted by Len Whistler
...used header, footer, and navagation php files...

Just what I did!

Like I said, it sure beats typing the same code over and over!

[Eskimo]

I remember viewing your old site here a long time ago, the one you have up now is lightyears better.

Great job!

[mindlessLemming]

One comment I must make is that the black background is a little hard on the eyes. Perhaps tone it down to more of a dark charcoal, something like #2a2a2a.

[super kobs]

Looks good

[Grant Palin]

Originally posted by Eskimo
I remember viewing your old site here a long time ago, the one you have up now is lightyears better.

Great job!

This is an all-new site, though. Not a redesign or rebuild. Although I have been working on improving those other sites as well. Mainly getting them to comply with XHTML standards.

[Grant Palin]

Originally posted by mindlessLemming
One comment I must make is that the black background is a little hard on the eyes. Perhaps tone it down to more of a dark charcoal, something like #2a2a2a.

Done. How is it now?

Although with that background change, I'm going to have to go back and make some images tarnsparent GIFs, since I made them originally as JPEGs with black backgrounds!

Plus, I just finished validating the ENTIRE site as XHTML strict!

[Grant Palin]

Does anyone have any problems with the site? Does the content div on the right ever pop down under the left navigation div? Things like that. That's the downside of using styles divs for layout: they're cleaner and more semantically correct, but sometimes tend to drop under the left div.

[Len Whistler]

Yes the content does slide under the navigation. It would be better to have the browser scroll left/right to view the content in a small window. Check out my site in a small window and you will see what I mean http://www.stubby.ca

Also you have used 4 colors on your site (background, navigation, site title, page title) I think it would look nicer with 2 or 3 colors max. Combine the page title and the site title maybe? Just my opinion, I am weak when it comes to colors and design.

Leonard Whistler

http://www.stubby.ca

[Grant Palin]

Originally posted by Len Whistler
Yes the content does slide under the navigation. It would be better to have the browser scroll left/right to view the content in a small window. Check out my site in a small window and you will see what I mean http://www.stubby.ca

Thanks. What pages does that happen on? How does your site layout stay normal with a smaller window?

[Len Whistler]

In my external CSS file the width is set at 500px. If you set up your CSS properly all pages will react the same.

#layer_images {
position: absolute; top: 10px; left: 225px;
width: 500px;
height: 100%;
}




Leonard Whistler

http://www.stubby.ca

[bcarl314]

Looks good, only thing you might want to consider is this bit of code:

      <h3>Requirements</h3>
      <strong>Operating System:</strong> Windows 95/98/Me/2000/XP<br />

      <strong>CPU:</strong> Pentium II 300Mhz (450Mhz recommended)<br />
      <strong>Free Hard Disk Space:</strong> 750MB<br />
      <strong>Memory:</strong> 128MB RAM (256MB recommended)<br />
      <strong>CD-ROM Drive:</strong> 4X Speed<br />

      <strong>Video Card:</strong> 4MB SVGA DirectX 8.0 compatible capable of 800x600 resolution<br />
      <strong>Sound Card:</strong> All major DirectX 8.0 compatible sound cards<br />
      <strong>Peripherals:</strong> Keyboard and mouse

Could that be a list? Maybe even a table? I try to avoid <br />s as much as possible.

Otherwise, from a coding perspective, very nice work!

[jakenoble]

Nice work. Displays fine on my PC.

XP, IE 6, 1024x768.

I am not sure about the Orange on Black though.