Demosthenes
Unregistered User
(4/12/03 5:43 pm) Reply
never bettered ?
Ted,
Surely you mean - Often Bettered Never Imitated....
I mean, the website is just horrid. Really, really horrid.
Did anyone choose those colours ?
Where to start.....
OK, the buttons for navigation in the left hand frame.....not only are they ugly and way too big but you can't even size them properly.
The Images themselves are 219 pixels wide and the frame you put them in is only 216 pixels wide (your frameset tag is below..)
You can also remove the frameborder here too, as it serves no purpose and only makes the site even uglier.
Do everyone a favour and resize either the buttons or the frame.....just pick a size and go with it..
The rest of the site is garish and very unprofessional, just like the magazine. You claim to have years of professional writing experience....what was this for ?
It is widely accepted (amongst the internet community) that having an updated date on the bottom of you page can only be detrimental....all you are doing is telling people that you haven't updated the site for 'x' days...The internet is about change, it's assumed you will update the site on an almost constant basis.....it just reeks of the amateur.
The length of almost every page is also amazingly bad, consider how much scrolling you have to do. I have a 1600*1200 resolution and most pages are at least 3 screens for me, what about most people with 800*600, they would be scrolling forever. Any writer worth their salt would now that it's not the quantity it's the quality of the words.....
You also seem to change design and layout for the order page, this page is half decent, please move the rest of the site across as soon as you can.....it's still pretty horrid but it's a huge improvement....
You may want to use stylesheets to provide some consistency to the site, there are lots of tutorials out there, I just can't believe that the 'designer' is professional and could obviously use the help.
As I'm sure you are aware, not only is less more when it comes to copy but the phrase 'the more you know, the less you need to show' springs to mind. In an ironic sense of course. Please do not brag about how amazing you magazine/website is, it's not clever and you will only get lots of other emails like this berating you for your arrogance and quite frankly scary photos.
You also do not need to assume the user is brain dead by saying things like 'To contact us follow this link and use the information as required'. Most people know that contact details are usually in the form of a postal or email address, the contact details are always displayed in the top left frame, so hammering this point home is just insulting.
The title animation 'The Glade' is frankly, horrible. It's far too grainy and low quality. I, and I suspect everyone that visits the site, already know it's an archery site, so the naff symbolism and lame animation serves no purpose but to consume bandwidth and slow the site down. A simple static image (maybe even one that doesn't clash heavily with the rest of the site) would be a big improvement.
Demosthenes
Ted Bradford
Unregistered User
(5/14/03 1:51 am) Reply
never bettered
I guess you don't like my website!
It is there as an information board - not a showpiece.
TED
Donnie C
Unregistered User
(11/11/03 8:20 pm) Reply
I was compelled to write!
Ted,
It has been a very long time since I have written. BUT!... once I noticed that there are those who don't appreciate "Fine Art"... I was compelled to write!
I LOVE YOUR WEB SITE! (I wouldn't change a thing!) It is BOTH and "Information Board"... AND a "Showpiece!"
I'll try not to wait so long to contribute again!
Have a Great Day!
Donnie
chthonic
Unregistered User
(11/19/03 1:20 am) Reply
The Website Critique
While, it is quite obvious that the site needs an overhaul (I mean it does say that the site is due to updated and to be patient) and that in essence the points raised are valid. I think that a public flaming was not necessary. Going from paper to screen is not the easiest transition as a lot of what was learned has to be forgotten, you also have to remember that the site is not the primary medium, the magazine is. So I would imagine that there has not been the same level of input to site as there has been to the magazine.
Remember, there need not be a site at all and people with the intolerant (and frankly rude) attitude of demosthenes do not make it any easier for the novice site builder.
If you are critical of a site, be critical - do not lower to insults and flame throwing.
The Glade website
Thank you Donnie C and Chthonic for your kind words. I have not been too happy with our website for some time now and, as I know almost nil about designing a site I have just tried my best - not too successfully. However, an archer friend has said he would like to have a go and, at present, is working on it and hopes to have it up and running shortly - so do I.
As for demosthenes, I trust he will emigrate to where the sun don't shine!!
berkerboy Registered User
Posts: 1
(12/8/05 12:21 pm) Reply
Some new buttons
Evening All
The mindless criticism Demosthenes offered was disgusting. What makes it more so is that he obviously knows what he is talking about and is presumably in a position to help, if he should choose to!
I have no time for people who simply complain and criticise, but among his tirade was some valid points. Although most of the site is just fine, the buttons at the start are stretched somewhat and rather unattractive.
I have designed some alternative buttons which can be found at
If you like them or would like to see them modified, please get in touch.
I think that perhaps the colour scheme should be scrapped all together, at least within the buttons. Blue suits the buttons much better than the variety effect.
Unlike Demosthenes I am not only in a position to help, but am very happy to do so. I have far too much time at my disposal and would love to put my skills to good use. I can do a variety of graphic design, and some web design. I will do any graphics you need, although I think you have the website very much under control and so will leave the running and design of that to you.
Thanks,
Archy de Berker
orloff@blueyonder.co.uk
UPDATE
I have now found myself with some time on my hands and desgined a completely rehauled site. My new prototype can be found at
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