Comments Please

[DCH]

Hi

I'm in the process of designing my website and would appreciate any comments. The navigation doesn't work on NS4 and there is a lot of Java, so I am in the process of putting some filters in. The menu layer backgrounds will also change to give the menu naviagation text a crisp look (see my previous post - transparent backgrounds). So far the news pages, pcbuild (intro, components and motherboard pages) and weblog are active. I would espicially apreciate any comments from people using linux browsers.

Cheers

DCH

[DCH]

Err..just in case your powers of extra sensory perception aren't working here is the address of the website www.dchdigital.com

Cheers

DCH

[Damien]

Yes, I like the intro page, however, I hate scrolling sideways.

The majority of users will be viewing your site in 800 x 600 or 1024 x 768. When you build a site in 1024 x 768 then people like myself who use 800 x 600 end up scrolling sideways to view the full site.

This is only my opinion.

[Tim158]

I think some people would find the navigation text quite difficult to read because it appears 'fuzzy' when over a dark background. The text on the navbar at the bottom of the screen is too small to read. Otherwise, it looks to be a nice site :)

PS you could eliminate the fuzzyness by putting a white glow effect around the text - this is pretty easy to do if you use photoshop.

[DCH]

hi both

Thanks for your comments. The fuzzy menu text is in the process of being sorted. The weblog pages have a fixed version. The site should be viewable on an 800 x 600 screen without scrolling, I'll try and get the main menu bar and menu bar side box closer in so it doesn't go off the page. Thanks again for your comments

DCH

[Daria]

Check the positioning, too... DC logo "jumps" a bit from page to page (for example, go from index to swatch.html, you'll see)

[DaveSW]

Very Impressive, but you need to put a title in your head tag... The main part looks very impressive, but when you look at the title bar at the top of the screen it says untitled page, which kinda spoils that very professional image you've created

Not sure about the menu either - sometimes the filters there, sometimes its not, depending on the link you're over... Maybe thats just IE6 for you...

[DCH]

Thanks

Yeah, I need to title the pages. Will do when I get the meat of the content on. When you mean the filters missing, do you mean the whitish background is not there or the fuzzy lettering problem, I'm using IE6 with broadband, so the site seems to load in its completeness.

Cheers

DCH

[DCH]

Hi Daria

Thanks for the feedback. I don't see what you mean by the jumping. It seems to stay in the same place on mine. it should be in the same spot as the pages are from one template I created. Can you let me know which browser etc you are using, in case thats the reason, or ii's possibly because I'm being stupid....

Cheers

DCH

[Daria]

Sorry, should've specify: in NS4, of course... Although some believe people who still cling to NS4 don't care for clean design, therefore it doesn't count.
I thought you should know, though.

[DCH]

Hi Daria

I do have problems with the site on NS4, howver I won't be ignoring it..I have the menus working properly on NS4 on a test version and hopefully arrangement of images etc will be sorted. However I'm trying to concentrate on getting some content on...which is taking a very long time...believe it or not I do want it to work with NS4. Thanks for your comments.

Cheers

Cham

[Daria]

I believe it :) I'm trying to make it functional in NS4, too.
Have fun!
D

[DaveSW]

I've just revisited the site and now it has the background when you're over all the links, which it didn't last time... But when you're not over the link the filter disappears then reappears - i.e. when moving from one link to another in the same list. This makes the menu items harder to read... It also makes the whitish background flash as you move up the menu (IE6 with Broadband)

Dave

[DCH]

Hi Dave

Thanks, I'll look into this. It maybe a JAVA problem. I haven't been able to duplicate the problem as yet. So as I understand it, you move the cursor over an item such as Galleria, the pop up menu appears with the semitransparent filter over the background, then as you move the cursor up each item in the galleria popup menu the popup menu disappears and reappears. Is that right? Would you mind telling me your JAVA settings, as I'm sure this maybe the reason.

Cheers

DCH

[DaveSW]

The menu items remain but the filter disappears and reappears when I move from item to item on the menu.

Having checked again, I'm more confused than before now...
When I loaded it, it came up with the problem I've been describing, but then stopped disappearing. I reloaded it, and it started again...

Where do I find my java settings???

dave

[DaveSW]

I give in...
I've tried again another 4 times and this time it's working properly...
Maybe it's just my pc.

[DCH]

Hi Dave

Sorry my website is causing you so much grief. It's very difficult to know whats happening. The fixed menus for the website are now on in the star wars watch part, the privacy page and the legal page, weblog. These should load with no glitch. There is a lot of JAVA on the site (frowned upon I know in some quarters). IE6 should handle JAVA script okay, but it needs the SUN java plugin for java applets etc. (MS fell out with SUN, so the JAVA plugin was taken away). To check its there, launch internet explorer, click on tools , choose internet options, in the window that opens click the Advanced tab and scroll down. There should be an entry that says Microsoft VM, with three options beneath it. you can tick all three if you want, but make sure the last 2 are on. Above the entry of Microsoft VM, there should be an entry of JAVA (SUN) with use JAVA 1.4.x ticked, if its not there the entry above Microsft VM will be HTTP 1.1 Setting. If its not there go to here : http://java.sun.com/getjava/ and download JAVA, close IE and run the EXE file. Then the JAVA sun entry will appear when you next run IE6 and just make sure it's ticked. However I'm not sure whether what you are seeing is due to a JAVA problem, it just maybe the pics are taking a while to load. Oh when JAVA is installed go to tools, internet options, click security and then make sure the internet icon is highlighted, click on custom level, scroll down and look at the entry referring to JAVA, the options you can tick are disable, enable, prompt. Enable allows applets and scripts to run in the background but if you want to know whats happening choose prompt, though this may get annoying. Hope it helps and I'll post another thread when the site is finished with some proper content. Sorry again for the annoyance.

Cheers

Cham

[DaveSW]

Hi cham

I've tried all the things you mention above, and the filter still disappears between each item on the menu - it's back again. It's probably our firewall, which seems pretty hot stuff. Thanks for the info anyway. At least the filter appears sooner or later when you move over an item on the galleria etc menus. I'm on broadband so download time shouldn't be a prob.

It still looks good anyway...

Dave