Please, honest opinion about site redesign.

26 replies
  • WEB DESIGN
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Hello all, I’ve just finished a site redesign. Tons of tweeking!

The site might be a bit loud and I just wanted to ask fellow warriors what their thoughts were. I went a bit crazy on this one with the design, but a like it personally, but what people think is another thing. All criticism and any ideas to improve would be great!

And I’m about to start my marketing efforts so any input would help.

www.marcusid.com
#honest #opinion #redesign #site
  • Profile picture of the author 1stranked
    Try to use divs instead of tables
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    • Profile picture of the author ericblak1947
      Originally Posted by 1stranked View Post

      Try to use divs instead of tables
      I know they say It's such a bad thing to do. I'm the only guy who will be touching the code so the tables don't bug me. If i every got big enough I'd let a designer redo it from scratch. I'm super old school 10 years behind.

      As long as my users don't complain about it, I'll have to live with it for now. (I didn't a survey on one of my old sites. And not one user cared about tables and not one member of my old forum knew what is was. They couldn't tell the different between a table or div. All they wanted was easy navigation and pretty pictures.

      In the future I'll try my best to stay up to date.
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      • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
        I think the design looks pretty good overall, and should work well for your target market.

        Originally Posted by ericblak1947 View Post

        I know they say It's such a bad thing to do. I'm the only guy who will be touching the code so the tables don't bug me.
        I think you're missing the point as to why using tables for layout is a bad idea. Have you tested the site in older versions of IE? (which a lot of people still use). Lots of elements on the page are not lined up properly in IE 6/7/8 (because of tables). Not to mention, tables are a train wreck on most mobile devices.

        Read this...

        Web Page Layouts Shouldn't Use Tables - Avoid Tables for Web Page Layout
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        • Profile picture of the author serryjw
          Brandon...I keep reading to use divs, not tables. Can You show me the difference, NOT HTML but the end result the user will see.
          Thanks,
          S
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          • Profile picture of the author Brandon Tanner
            Originally Posted by serryjw View Post

            Brandon...I keep reading to use divs, not tables. Can You show me the difference, NOT HTML but the end result the user will see.
            Thanks,
            S
            Each browser renders table layout differently, so the visible "difference" will depend on what browser you use. And sometimes your screen resolution can also have an effect on how tables appear (ie it might look OK on 1280x1024, but break on 1024x768. Or vice versa).

            If you have IE9 or IE10 running, then you can hit the 'F12' key to bring up Developer Tools. From there, click "Browser mode" on the menu bar to simulate IE 7/8/9. Oftentimes there will be significant differences as to how each version of IE positions elements on a page (especially elements inside tables).

            And if you have a mobile device, that's another thing you can check. Most mobile devices render tables (when used for layout) pretty badly.

            Firefox and Chrome, on the other hand, seem to be much more forgiving with tables (even though they weren't really designed to be).

            So what it boils down to is, if you want the best cross-browser solution, then you should definitely use div's and CSS for layout/positioning, instead of tables.
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            • Profile picture of the author ericblak1947
              Originally Posted by Brandon Tanner View Post

              Each browser renders table layout differently, so the visible "difference" will depend on what browser you use. And sometimes your screen resolution can also have an effect on how tables appear (ie it might look OK on 1280x1024, but break on 1024x768. Or vice versa).

              If you have IE9 or IE10 running, then you can hit the 'F12' key to bring up Developer Tools. From there, click "Browser mode" on the menu bar to simulate IE 7/8/9. Oftentimes there will be significant differences as to how each version of IE positions elements on a page (especially elements inside tables).

              And if you have a mobile device, that's another thing you can check. Most mobile devices render tables (when used for layout) pretty badly.

              Firefox and Chrome, on the other hand, seem to be much more forgiving with tables (even though they weren't really designed to be).

              So what it boils down to is, if you want the best cross-browser solution, then you should definitely use div's and CSS for layout/positioning, instead of tables.
              Thanks for the tips! The f12 in explorer is a grat little secret.

              You are right, luckily for me I checked and everything works perfectly in in older browsers.

              I've had so much problem with css displaying correctly in all browsers that i just gave up. To many hacks and stuff.

              These these always work for me. I even run a check on my old windows xp computer.

              mobile devices are fine for me btw.
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  • Profile picture of the author serryjw
    I love it!
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  • Profile picture of the author tacitinc
    Looks great all the way around man! i have no additions or complaints - good work
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    not a ninja.

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  • Profile picture of the author kstep
    Can you work a bit on the style of order placement form? It could be more welcoming in design terms.

    Also the box where it says: 'Name/Text & Other Instructions' - could be a bit bigger so the customer could see the comments that he or she wrote.

    Nice job bro! I really liked it.
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    • Profile picture of the author ericblak1947
      Originally Posted by kstep View Post

      Can you work a bit on the style of order placement form? It could be more welcoming in design terms.

      Also the box where it says: 'Name/Text & Other Instructions' - could be a bit bigger so the customer could see the comments that he or she wrote.

      Nice job bro! I really liked it.
      I will do! The form is created by paypal so I'm not sure how much I can change it but I'll try.
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  • Profile picture of the author badlimey
    I think you did a great job, I wanted to know more about the quality of the paper used as it seemed a little pricey.
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    • Profile picture of the author ericblak1947
      Originally Posted by badlimey View Post

      I think you did a great job, I wanted to know more about the quality of the paper used as it seemed a little pricey.
      Ok! never thought of that one! I will put in more info on the paper that I'm using. I'm using the best premium paper that I could find. I will list details on the gloss paper. thanks

      And I'm actually more than half price lower than the competition.
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  • Profile picture of the author kumarvijay
    Originally Posted by ericblak1947 View Post

    Hello all, I've just finished a site redesign. Tons of tweeking!

    The site might be a bit loud and I just wanted to ask fellow warriors what their thoughts were. I went a bit crazy on this one with the design, but a like it personally, but what people think is another thing. All criticism and any ideas to improve would be great!

    And I'm about to start my marketing efforts so any input would help.

    MarcusID! Personalized Name Art Prints | Custom Cartoon Gifts

    I say one thing that your website need upgrade time to time.Redesign was never the slippery road it is now,Website has become a prominent and essential media in the fastest growing Internet market nowadays.Make your web page more navigable with a website redesign.I suggest a blog post here they suggest the benefits of web redesign with the helps of popular brand example like Facebook,Flickr and window 8.

    Read with this blog for getting more information on this topic :

    fatbit.com/fab/website-redesign-why-some-pinterest-succeed-others-fail/

    In this post they give the example of FaceBook,Flickr,Windows 8.
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  • Profile picture of the author jay walters
    The site looks awesome and great... I don't know if it is my ISP or it is the site that is slow? Anyways, you did a great job.
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  • Profile picture of the author premiumdesigns
    The site is good, but design elements are missing. Also, the colors used are too bright. Please use some more balanced colors.
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  • Profile picture of the author neebbr
    using alot of images ..and the page loading slow , need to care also about css ...but it is nice idea at all ...good luck
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  • Profile picture of the author pvijeh
    I really like it - just a question as i am pretty new to web design. How did you get all those images to line up perfectly like that? I reviewed your site code- but still don't understand how you (others) pull that off. Is there some software that helps? Photoshop perhaps?
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  • Profile picture of the author StuartMcMinigal
    That's one good looking site. There is a lot of colour and detail to it but its young and hip. It's very audience specific.
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  • Profile picture of the author freetutorial
    Need to use Proper Stylesheet for this website. due to tables and more pictures website is loading slowly.
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  • Profile picture of the author Edge360
    The content is great, but you should probably learn some fundamental principles of html & css. Using tables is pretty oldschool
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  • Profile picture of the author amcg
    As others have said, try to use CSS to control elements of the page rather than tables.
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  • Profile picture of the author ICTBoost
    This webdesign looks nice!
    The website loads quickly.
    Only 1 remark: The navigation is a bit special. Probably not all people will notice the links.
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  • Profile picture of the author John84
    I absolutely what you've put together. Very unique site for a very unique product/service.
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  • Profile picture of the author ChrisMBevo
    [DELETED]
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    • Profile picture of the author Jakeeck
      Looks good, but if I had to complain about one thing, it'd be that Isaac looks a little too old for a poster like that.
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  • Profile picture of the author aadi1295
    Banned
    its eye catching template. good work.
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  • Profile picture of the author jeffresnich
    Overall, your site looks good, very appealing and easy to navigate.

    I think the area that you might consider working on is the order form under "Create Yours Now", where you can have your drop down boxes and text area have the same size/width just to make it cleaner. Also, the Submit and Clear Buttons within the Contact Page, have it aligned left just like anything else,

    Designs are really great, by the way

    Good luck!
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