skaterdav85 Posted June 17, 2009 Share Posted June 17, 2009 http://followthemusic.netI created this site for a school project and I was thinking of expanding it. What are your thoughts on the current state and maybe you could offer some suggestions as to what new modules I could add for more functionality or design issues.Right now its using the following web services:Google Maps Eventful.com Amazon Flikr (I know my graphic is weak, but im in the process of getting someone else to do that haha)Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy Posted June 18, 2009 Share Posted June 18, 2009 It looks nice. However, note this is just my opinion so don't take it too badly, it reminds me off the ad websites that are placed on domain names that don't have any actual website on them, so if I didn't take the time to look longer I probably wouldn't have stayed long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmcspadden Posted June 19, 2009 Share Posted June 19, 2009 I would echo the post before me, it definitely has the feel of a parked domain. Not to say that the design is bad, only that many people who are online alot would probably leave before really looking around. My suggestions, make sure you website validates. Even if your site displays fine in all the major browsing, I recommend validating for cleaner code and to fix problems before they happen.http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&am...themusic.net%2Fhttp://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validat...themusic.net%2F Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterdav85 Posted June 24, 2009 Author Share Posted June 24, 2009 I would echo the post before me, it definitely has the feel of a parked domain. Not to say that the design is bad, only that many people who are online alot would probably leave before really looking around. My suggestions, make sure you website validates. Even if your site displays fine in all the major browsing, I recommend validating for cleaner code and to fix problems before they happen.http://validator.w3.org/check?verbose=1&am...themusic.net%2Fhttp://jigsaw.w3.org/css-validator/validat...themusic.net%2F What do you mean by a parked domain? Im not familiar with that term. Also, why would validating my HTML do anything? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainsMirage Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 Validating your code means it good code. It meets all the requirements and standards of W3C if i am correct. It is also good practice. Also when you validate, that means the broswer wont do it's own thing to your codes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterdav85 Posted June 24, 2009 Author Share Posted June 24, 2009 Validating your code means it good code. It meets all the requirements and standards of W3C if i am correct. It is also good practice. Also when you validate, that means the broswer wont do it's own thing to your codes.I guess i should have been more specific. I know what validating HTML is. I do try my best to write clean XHTML/CSS, but I rarely validate because its a pain in the ######. As of now, my site works well in IE, FF, and safari, which is good enough for now. Does anyone have other suggestions regarding design, the colors, arrangement and page layout, graphics (i know mine sucks haha), or other functionalities that would be a good addition to increase user activity? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainsMirage Posted June 24, 2009 Share Posted June 24, 2009 It might be a pain, but it is good practice and habits. I always validate my code once i am done writing it and get what I want done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterdav85 Posted June 24, 2009 Author Share Posted June 24, 2009 It might be a pain, but it is good practice and habits. I always validate my code once i am done writing it and get what I want done.ya...good point. bad habits are hard to break haha. Its hard to validate it too when you have a bunch of php in your code and your php generates a bunch of html. But i use css tableless layouts with DIVs and always open and close tags. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RainsMirage Posted June 25, 2009 Share Posted June 25, 2009 I am learning how to properly use div's. My css layout is being a pain though. But I understand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pizzaguy Posted June 27, 2009 Share Posted June 27, 2009 What do you mean by a parked domain? Im not familiar with that term. Also, why would validating my HTML do anything?A parked domain is a domain that someone purchased, but instead of putting a real website on it, they just make a website that is all ads. This is an example of one (there is nothing special about it, its just one i remember was parked) http://antenaweb.com/. Here is another one, but notice how it almost has a similar lay out to yours. http://freehost.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmcspadden Posted June 29, 2009 Share Posted June 29, 2009 I apologize for taking so long to reply. I think PizzaGuy did a pretty good job with the parked domains. Often they are domains that are misspellings of real domains, that have similar content for their ads to try to trick people, and because of that, people try to avoid the parked domains if they know about them. As for the validation, 2 big reasons. 1. To avoid future problems as I stated originally. There have been many times in my websites that there was something in the validation that I didn't bother with, because everything worked fine. Then as I started adding more content and modifying the layout slightly to accommodate the new content, I started having problems. And more times than I'd like to remember, by correcting the things according to the validator it would fix the problem. Now I validate as I build them, and it is not as much of a chore that way. 2. To show those who care, that you are trying your best to make your website as standard as possible to allow the biggest number of people to it. It shows that you have taken the extra time to try to make your site the correct way. And that means something to other web developers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterdav85 Posted June 30, 2009 Author Share Posted June 30, 2009 so could you guys give me some tips as to how to make it not look like parked domain? I'll get to the validation eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterdav85 Posted July 2, 2009 Author Share Posted July 2, 2009 I apologize for taking so long to reply. I think PizzaGuy did a pretty good job with the parked domains. Often they are domains that are misspellings of real domains, that have similar content for their ads to try to trick people, and because of that, people try to avoid the parked domains if they know about them. As for the validation, 2 big reasons. 1. To avoid future problems as I stated originally. There have been many times in my websites that there was something in the validation that I didn't bother with, because everything worked fine. Then as I started adding more content and modifying the layout slightly to accommodate the new content, I started having problems. And more times than I'd like to remember, by correcting the things according to the validator it would fix the problem. Now I validate as I build them, and it is not as much of a chore that way. 2. To show those who care, that you are trying your best to make your website as standard as possible to allow the biggest number of people to it. It shows that you have taken the extra time to try to make your site the correct way. And that means something to other web developers.what if i changed the graphic, added a graphic of a screenshot of an example search with the map, and changed some of the colors? do you think that would help make it not look like a parked domain? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
makeitspiffeh Posted August 15, 2009 Share Posted August 15, 2009 Very plain... boring... This is the type of layout that could apply to any basic website. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skaterdav85 Posted August 15, 2009 Author Share Posted August 15, 2009 Very plain... boring... This is the type of layout that could apply to any basic website.then can you provide suggestions on how to make it not look plain and boring? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rufus Posted October 26, 2009 Share Posted October 26, 2009 then can you provide suggestions on how to make it not look plain and boring?Hey Dave,Some suggestions to spice it up a bit and get it away from that "parked domain" ad site look.Think about using perhaps a gradient for the background from a darker shade of your current bg to the current one. This will make the rest of the site be more vivid.One thing that stands out to me is they way you are treating type. For instance, rather than using capitals to emphasize headers, use bold or simply a larger font size. Also, try to make the text more eloquent. One thing you can do for this is adding the line-height property on your content text. Set it to about 20px and notice how it makes the text more readable. Also, you can try reducing the font-size a bit. Set it to 12 or 11px.The contrast between #ffffff and your gray is too great, so I would suggest setting the white to perhaps #f1f1f1 and making the gray lighter.I hope these things help!Great design and superb site so far keep up the great work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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