Design help

[Le_Renard]

Hi all,
I have had this page for several months now. I have recently changed the design and would like some feedback. My main focus is for the design not the content. Just as a preview comment, this is aimed at those in the LDS church, but anyone can use it. The page is http://home.comcast.net/~davidcottam. I feel I have had good sucess with it, but would like to get it out to the word more.

[KDLA]

Hmmm... frames layout isn't really accessible, and also hampers bookmarking your website.

A few other things:
- Don't underline text that isn't intended to be a link (such as you've done in the headings & navigation). That really confuses your visitors
- Rather than having separate columns for various formats (PDF or DOC), place the links in a list with the options next to them:
Link: PDF version | DOC version
I'd also include what programs are needed to view these, such as Adobe Acrobat or MS Word. Most people don't know what PDF or DOC stand for, or the software limitations associated with them.
- The design doesn't really entice me to stay in the website. It looks rather dated, with its use of serif fonts, frames, straight links, etc. You might look into some templates at http://www.oswd.org/. These are all free.

KDLA

[Le_Renard]

Thank you for your insite and help. I was taught HTML four years ago and have been going off that. :) Right now, I am using one of the templates from that website. Thanks so much!

[Le_Renard]

KDLA, I have taken your suggestions. My website is now a whole different animal so to speak.

http://home.comcast.net/~davidcottam/index.html

[KDLA]

It does look a lot better. It looks at least 10 years "younger." :)
Make sure to check in various browsers and resolutions. I noticed that the tabbed navigation at the top falls into the graphic because of two extra links.

Don't forget to validate your coding: http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.comcast.net%2F~davidcottam%2Findex.html

Good Luck-
KDLA

[Jake_ym]

On a purely graphical note, you could get rid of the pixelation on the 'LDS scripture glue ins...' image by saving it as a GIF instead of a JPEG. But don't save the rest of the banner that way because that would look like crap as a Gif. Divide the image, and save each side in the format best suited for it.

[Le_Renard]

It does look a lot better. It looks at least 10 years "younger." :)
Make sure to check in various browsers and resolutions. I noticed that the tabbed navigation at the top falls into the graphic because of two extra links.

Don't forget to validate your coding: http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&uri=http%3A%2F%2Fhome.comcast.net%2F~davidcottam%2Findex.html

Good Luck-
KDLA
Awesome! Thanks for the validation webpage. It hadn't even crossed my mind to look at something like that

[Le_Renard]

On a purely graphical note, you could get rid of the pixelation on the 'LDS scripture glue ins...' image by saving it as a GIF instead of a JPEG. But don't save the rest of the banner that way because that would look like crap as a Gif. Divide the image, and save each side in the format best suited for it.
Just as a quick question.... what is the difference between a gif and a jpeg?

[KDLA]

Just as a quick question.... what is the difference between a gif and a jpeg?

My article might help you: http://kdla.ky.gov/onlinepubs/onepage/1105.htm

Best Usage
JPG - photos, anything with shading
GIF - clip art, text, transparency
PNG - transparency, or just about anything (although PNGs typically are heavy in file size when used for larger graphics)

KDLA

[Le_Renard]

wow! I did not know that. Thank you!