Any suggestions for my site?

[freshJet]

I am really cracking down on making my site as attractive as possible. Crystal clear images, accurate aligning, vibrant colours, etc. Can anyone give me some suggestion as to how I can make it look better than it is?

Link in signature btw

[James142]

I love that start page! But maybe add a-bit more color too it? There is a lot of white. Just my opinion though.

Other than that you have a very professional site there

[freshJet]

Thanks James! Anyone else?

[stuartpb]

Looking good. Only criticism I could offer is concerning the use of a splash page. I personally don't like them, as landing on them soon becomes boring, but that's my personal preference. I know you can just bookmark the index page, but that requires me having to work. When I done my web design module, our tutor said that anything you add to a site which means a visitor has to think or carry out unnecessary steps is a bad thing, and I agree.

[freshJet]

Thanks Staurt, you're not the only one who has said that. They seem to have a bad reputation...

[James142]

Thanks Staurt, you're not the only one who has said that. They seem to have a bad reputation...

Why not make it show up on their first visit then have it redirect to the main site on their second?

[Tom]

I tend to be rather blunt when critiquing websites. Apologies in advance:

Some of your images could do with a little touching up; the background image doesn't quite tile seamlessly, and for certain others I think it's an antialiasing issue: your text is a little unclear and rounded corners are somewhat blocky. What image editor do you use?

The menu/dropdown just doesn't seem to fit in correctly (I tried on Firefox (see below) just in case and it looked the same) though I don't really know what to suggest. Rounded corners and rollover effects don't tend to go well unless you use CSS3...

Whitespace is key. It would benefit from some extra spacing here and there, such as between "News Centre" and the article link below or both between and either edge of the left and right sides of the content.

Also, pet hate: "Best Viewed in Mozilla Firefox 4 or Higher" <- never ever do this. You should treat all of your users equally (by which I mean display content the same) regardless of their browser, or at least try. When I read that I think "lazy".

Colours are very nice and contrast well, there aren't loads of in your face distractions of colour though I'd agree with an earlier point that it could do with a little more; by the bottom of the page it's all white...

[Strider]

Tom, depending on where the nav is located, if it is centered or left align as it seems to be in this case, rounded corners and rollover effects can work without CSS3.

I don't like the way the rollover effect is bigger then the nav background itself. Looks very sloppy if you ask me. The best viewed, yes should not really be there, I don't think it is lazy as such, but you can fix it with a simple css reset, which should make the site work fine in all browsers. I also think you should use the pagination thing I put a tutorial for for the pireps at least, as it is too long to scroll for some. Also get ride of the splash screen, as the page is large, it isn't at first understandable that you have to scroll down to get to the enter site button. Also it will turn away potential pilots. Your site is what you want potential pilots to see first, not a splash screen that is not clear on what it does.

[freshJet]

Thanks again. Tom, that isn't blunt, it's that kind of criticism I was looking for! Like you and Dan said about the navbar, I'm having problems with it. And I use Paint.NET. Here's the code:

.menu{
border:none;
border:0px;
margin:0px;
padding:0px;
font: 67.5% Tahoma;
font-size:12px;
font-weight:bold;
}
.menu ul{
background: url(http://www.freshjetvirtual.com/lib/skins/premiumseries/images/navbar-bg.png);
height:40px;
list-style:none;
margin:0;	
padding:0;
}
.menu li{
	float:left;
	padding:0px;
	}
.menu li a{
	background: url(http://www.freshjetvirtual.com/lib/skins/premiumseries/images/navbar-bg.png);
	color:#FFFFFF;
	display:block;
	font-weight:normal;
	line-height:45px;
	margin-right:10px;
	padding:0px 10px 0px 10px;
	text-align:center;
	text-decoration:none;
	border-top-left-radius: 5px 5px;
	border-top-right-radius: 5px 5px;
	}
	.menu li a:hover{
		background: #05A2EA;
		color:#FFFFFF;
		text-decoration:none;
		border-top-left-radius: 0px 0px;
		border-top-right-radius: 0px 0px;
		}
.menu li ul{
	background:#05A2EA;
	display:none;
	height:auto;
	padding:0px;
	margin:0px;
	border:1px solid #000000;
	position:absolute;
	width:150px;
	z-index:200;
	/*top:1em;
	/*left:0;*/
	}
.menu li:hover ul{
	display:block;

.menu ul li:hover a }
	background: #05A2EA;
	color:#000000;
	text-decoration:none; 
	}

	}
.menu li li {
	display:block;
	float:none;
	margin:0px;
	padding:0px;
	width:150px;
	border:0px;
	}
.menu li:hover li a{
	background:none;

	}
.menu li ul a{
	display:block;
	height:40px;
	font-size:12px;
	font-style:normal;
	margin:0px;
	padding:0px 10px 0px 10px;
	text-align:left;
	}
               .menu li ul a:hover{
                       background:#FFFFFF;
                       border:0px;
                       color:#000000;
                       width:130px;
                       text-decoration:none;
                       }

               .menu li ul li:hover a{
                       background:#FFFFFF;
                       border:0px;
                       color:#000000;
                       text-decoration:none;
                       }
       .menu p{
               clear:left;
               }  	 

[Strider]

.menu li:hover ul{
               display:block;

You have forgotten to close that.

.menu ul{
       background: url(http://www.freshjetvirtual.com/lib/skins/premiumseries/images/navbar-bg.png);
       height:40px;
       list-style:none;
       margin:0;   	
       padding:0;
       }
       .menu li{
               float:left;
               padding:0px;
               }
       .menu li a{
        	background: url(http://www.freshjetvirtual.com/lib/skins/premiumseries/images/navbar-bg.png);
               color:#FFFFFF;
               display:block;
               font-weight:normal;
               line-height:45px;
               margin-right:10px;
               padding:0px 10px 0px 10px;
               text-align:center;
               text-decoration:none;
               border-top-left-radius: 5px 5px;
               border-top-right-radius: 5px 5px;
               }

the second background image can be removed, you dont need it twice.

[freshJet]

OK. Any suggestions on the hover?

[Strider]

Check the height of it, make sure the height of the nav and the height of the hover match. Also check the padding. Padding can cause it to extend more than it should.

[James142]

(sorry for butting in) But maybe change the folt? For example: http://www.freshjetvirtual.com/index.php/PopUpNews/popupnewsitem/?itemid=27 maybe change the font/color of the text "Congratulations Yanick Techer!" ?

[Strider]

I think you mean font James

[James142]

I think you mean font James

Folt? lol yeah I meant to say font

[Strider]

I think it is time to lay off the beer for one day James

[James142]

I think it is time to lay off the beer for one day James

haha

[Tom]

Ok, another criticism since the last about browsers:

"We support: _ _ _"

Don't do this either unless you plan on listing every browser created since IE7. Unless you're saying something along the lines of "We love every browser! Yay!" I don't see why anyone would bother mentioning browsers.

Test on IE7/8/9, FF4/5, Chrome and Safari and make sure it's compatible with those. There are (web) tools around to test a site on tons of browsers without having to launch them all yourself.

[Strider]

Tom, what you are saying is not a criticism, but more of an opinion. I have seen plenty of sites that contain, "best viewed in..." or "We support ...." I just ignore as many others do. Usually most things that are not going to work, don't really make too much of a change to a web site. It is more of a cosmetic item that is not working, but is replaced by a default action, that does the same thing.

[Tom]

Tom, what you are saying is not a criticism, but more of an opinion. I have seen plenty of sites that contain, "best viewed in..." or "We support ...." I just ignore as many others do. Usually most things that are not going to work, don't really make too much of a change to a web site. It is more of a cosmetic item that is not working, but is replaced by a default action, that does the same thing.

crit·i·cism /ˈkritəˌsizəm/ Noun

1. The expression of disapproval of someone or something based on perceived faults or mistakes

I perceive this as a mistake. I express my disapproval.

If it's just going to be ignored, why should developers put it? It only extends the time taken to download the page (albeit negligible if it's only text). Besides, if they're seeing the message then their browser is supported...

Something to ponder over...

[James142]

Oh dear

[Strider]

Without going into an arguement, you did express an opinion more then a criticism. But yes, if it is not needed then don't have them. Most people won't even know if it is not working right for them. Unless they are web designers and know that it should be doing something different.

[freshJet]

Alright, Alright...