Opinons please
#1
http://citywidelockandkey.com/

Site I made for my company.. Just wanted a opinon or two on the feel and layout, if its appealing and well, just your take on it.
"Those with the ability to act, have the responsibility to act."
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#2
Hi,

Didn't spend too much time on it, but I do like it. Has a friendly yet professional feel to it.

--Pete

How big was the aquarium in Noah's ark?

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#3
Quote:[edited]

Alright, I'll keep this short. I wrote a lot up about the design aspects of the site, before poking around in the code and realized you're using a template. Searching for the same flash file name "altceva-main.swf" on google turns up about 8 identical sites.

There's generally nothing wrong with using a template, but for a business it's generally a bad idea - especially a template that's so aesthetically loaded.

I'll leave my comments at that, and ask you nicely to clarify what you are asking us to comment on. Because right now it appears that you're taking credit for a design you may not have made. And as someone who spends time trying to help out the web design community, there's nothing wrong with a template, but taking one as your own (if you didn't design it) is bothersome.

If you did indeed create the original swf, I'll be more than happy to repost my earlier comments about the design aspects. Otherwise, do me a favor and answer these questions to clarify:

What aspect do you want us to comment on? For example, the text content?
Did you create the original swf template?

Cheers,

Munk
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#4
Quote:http://citywidelockandkey.com/

Site I made for my company.. Just wanted a opinon or two on the feel and layout, if its appealing and well, just your take on it.


Looks very, very sweet, but the omnipresent scrollbars for reading tiny bits of text are extremely annoying to use and a turndown. Also the "two-legged circle drawing tool" (what on earth is that thing called in english?) is covering too much of the screen. Lastly, I would try to use more of the screen, I think the flash application is in a preset size, leaving much of the screen unused.

At the client section I would make links to the customers' sites out of the pictures in the top right.

I don't have sound on my work pc, so I couldn't judge that.

Overall, it looks very, very slick, but the scrollbars ruin the user friendliness.
Former www.diablo2.com webmaster.

When in deadly danger,
When beset by doubt,
Run in little circles,
Wave your arms and shout.
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#5
Quote: Also the "two-legged circle drawing tool" (what on earth is that thing called in english?) is covering too much of the screen.

Overall, it looks very, very slick, but the scrollbars ruin the user friendliness.

Around here it's called a compass.

I agree about the scrollbars being a bit of a nuisance.
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#6
Quote:Looks very, very sweet, but the omnipresent scrollbars for reading tiny bits of text are extremely annoying to use and a turndown. Also the "two-legged circle drawing tool" (what on earth is that thing called in english?) is covering too much of the screen. Lastly, I would try to use more of the screen, I think the flash application is in a preset size, leaving much of the screen unused.

At the client section I would make links to the customers' sites out of the pictures in the top right.

I don't have sound on my work pc, so I couldn't judge that.

Overall, it looks very, very slick, but the scrollbars ruin the user friendliness.


Interesting points, I never thought about increasing the size of the overall page. So is it the small text that is annoying, or scroll bars - or combination of the two?
"Those with the ability to act, have the responsibility to act."
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#7
Hi,

Quote:Interesting points, I never thought about increasing the size of the overall page. So is it the small text that is annoying, or scroll bars - or combination of the two?
Interesting discussion, considering that the WWW and HTML originally have been designed to be device independent... and what happened? People start to use Flash with preset sizes. When I look at your site on my 1600x1200 monitor, I see a very small box at the top of an otherwise blank page, using only about a quarter of the actual window size - and I'm forced to use scroll bars to see read its contents?!? :wacko:Plus, it uses very small fonts that I cannot increase in size, which I would be able to do with normal HTML. :angry:

Very slick design, I'll grant you that, but it sacrifices a lot of usability. I for one try to avoid sites that rely on flash at all cost, and would rather go to a competitor's site if it's more accessible and customizable.

Why use Flash when CSS is so powerful design-wise and still lets the user decide about window size, font size etc.?

-Kylearan
There are two kinds of fools. One says, "This is old, and therefore good." And one says, "This is new, and therefore better." - John Brunner, The Shockwave Rider
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#8
i alt-f4 when the sound started playing:P
but anyways, for us visually impaired people, flash is a nono.
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#9
Quote:Why use Flash when CSS is so powerful design-wise and still lets the user decide about window size, font size etc.?
I agree wholeheartedly. I will not buy anything from a site or even visit for very long that insists on doing everything in Flash. It's nifty for games and other little oddities, but as the sole medium for your site? No thanks. Also, sound is a big no-no unless you are selling music or other sound-related items.

HTML and CSS are so versatile still, there is no reason to be using the latest whiz-bang graphics packages when what has been used for years is still very valid and applicable.
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#10
Quote:I agree wholeheartedly. I will not buy anything from a site or even visit for very long that insists on doing everything in Flash. It's nifty for games and other little oddities,
Games, animated movies and streaming video (such as Youtube and Google Video) are the only decent uses of Flash I can think of. For everything else it is just a bandwidth waster.
Hugs are good, but smashing is better! - Clarence<!--sizec--><!--/sizec-->
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#11
Thank you very much for your honest opinons. I am reading them and taking them all to heart. I, like most choose flash because of its wow factor. I really enjoy how fluid it is for getting my point across, and thought others may see it the same. Yet reading your reviews, I am reconsidering this notion. again, thanks very much for your time and thoughts, they are helping greatly.
"Those with the ability to act, have the responsibility to act."
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#12
Hi,

Quote:Thank you very much for your honest opinons. I am reading them and taking them all to heart. I, like most choose flash because of its wow factor.
Keep in mind that the Lurker Lounge probably isn't a representative sample of the whole net community. I suspect that here at the LL, the number of people who dislike flash is higher than the overall average.

That's just a gut feeling, though. :)

-Kylearan
There are two kinds of fools. One says, "This is old, and therefore good." And one says, "This is new, and therefore better." - John Brunner, The Shockwave Rider
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#13
Quote:Keep in mind that the Lurker Lounge probably isn't a representative sample of the whole net community. I suspect that here at the LL, the number of people who dislike flash is higher than the overall average.

Flash can be extremely effective when used properly!

It can grant temporary invulnerability, while dealing a large dose of damage to magic-vulnerable enemies. What's not to like?
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#14
Quote:It can grant temporary invulnerability, while dealing a large dose of damage to magic-vulnerable enemies. What's not to like?

The fact that if your positioning is wrong it deals somewhere around 1/8th (alas, my Diablo-ese is rusty) of what it should?

--me
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#15
Quote:http://citywidelockandkey.com/

Site I made for my company.. Just wanted a opinon or two on the feel and layout, if its appealing and well, just your take on it.
Font too small.

Occhi
Cry 'Havoc' and let slip the Men 'O War!
In War, the outcome is never final. --Carl von Clausewitz--
Igitur qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum
John 11:35 - consider why.
In Memory of Pete
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#16
The biggest problem with flash is what other's have mentioned - it is created at certain dimensions and so it looks way too small for large resolutions.

The good news is I am pretty sure there are features in flash that are designed to compensate for it. I am not very familiar with flash, but IIRC correctly, you can load a different (large resolution) flash file depending on a user's resolution, which information is accessible through the browser.
--Lang

Diabolic Psyche - the site with Diablo on the Brain!
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#17
Quote:http://citywidelockandkey.com/

Site I made for my company.. Just wanted a opinon or two on the feel and layout, if its appealing and well, just your take on it.


Made some spelling and font adjustments. 07/05/2007
Hope this improves what seems to be the main complaint, which is font size and ease of readability. I too found it hard to read.
"Those with the ability to act, have the responsibility to act."
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