Is the site too Busy? Any improvements you can recommend?

**grahamb** · 08 April 2006, 09:59 PM

I have recently revamped the school's web site. I am wondering if the page is beginning to look too busy? What do people think? Are there any changes that people would recommend?

http://www.kogarah-h.schools.nsw.edu.au

While you are at it you can tell me what you think about my own home page which I use for my students?

http://www.bettscomputers.com

**-=Drifter=-** · 08 April 2006, 10:02 PM

I love the flash stuff... i would however change "Abouts Us" to "About Us"

**jamesmc** · 08 April 2006, 10:05 PM

I like the design, not busy at all.

The only comment I would have add to the mix is resize the effects of the Flash in the lower right corner. You don't want it to dominate the page. The "Values" should actually hover over the rest of the flash in my opinion.

Btw, I love that carousel effect with the photo banner.

Good job I say, looks professional.

**grahamb** · 08 April 2006, 10:08 PM

Thanks Drifter,

I have no idea how that one slipped past me. I feel like I have looked at the page a million times. Thanks for that.

**grahamb** · 08 April 2006, 10:11 PM

Thanks JamesMC.
Good point. Not sure. I placed the "Values" out of synch with the others for artistic effect and to make it stand out. I will have another look at it. Thanks for the feedback.

**pauland** · 09 April 2006, 12:46 AM

I think the red band on the page is too tall, leaving the school logo and the text looking a little lost in a sea of red. Putting the logo amidst the red is losing it's outline (simply because the logo has red within it and around it). The Motto on the logo is unreadable because it's just that bit too small/or the quality of the image doesn't have enough detail. Your html pages show the logo better against a white background and the logo is larger and better defined.

The flash animation, bottom right is pretty annoying as it loops and I think it loses the focus of your page. My eye is drawn away from the revolving pictures and the rest of the page to look at the flying text. it would be better if the animation is to remain, that it should run only once. I'm not a fan of this animation, if you want to keep it, some work on the placement of text should be done. Should "Values" overhang the black bar? "Education" is uncomfortably abutted against the edge with no margin inside the grey.

The School Motto is "Honor above all". I'm surprised that the spelling is the US "Honor" rather than "Honour". Is that correct? if so I wonder why?

I'm a bit of a nitpicker, and before anone else suggests it, I love Flash. I don't think Flash is working well for you on this page though. Even with all my comments, I think the page is OK, but it's a case of "could do better".

I'll look forward to seeing how it progresses. Please don't be put off by my comments. Good luck.

Paul

**Egg Bramhill** · 09 April 2006, 02:31 AM

Hi Graham

...the page is beginning to look too busy

No. You have a great deal of information on this site, but it is served in small digestable slices.

Like many sites that hold a lot of information, the navigation is all important. The dropdown menus are excellent. However I get confused by the left hand column menus, which often are only repeats of part of the main dropdown menus, but in other places hold further links. I would do away with the left side menu and only have drop down version.

A file 'tree' structure would also assist visitors to know where they are on the site.

If you're linking to an external site, have it open in a new browser window. Keep your visitors with you, don't send them away!

I love the "A School For You" strap. I might change my "Only the norm is good enough" strap for this one.

Egg

**pauland** · 09 April 2006, 12:59 PM

Graham,

I'd just like to say that my comments about the site earlier were all about the main intro page - that was how I interpreted the original request. My first thought was that you might be planning to revamp the site because the first page is a bit different in style to the rest of the site.

I think the other HTML based pages have a nice clean style that is really easy to go digest and navigate through - you should be pleased with them.

I found the occasional oddity here and there:

Canteen: "This Heading is in a style called Heading 1"; bit of alignment funniness with the prices on the right-hand column. I'm not a fan of the central alignment for the products - I wonder if it makes things harder to read?

Careers: "What can I" should probably read "What can we". I think the picture would probably look better under the heading, or at the base of the colum - it looks a bit odd with the bullet points flowing around it.

Uniform: Mixed font sizes on the prices. Is it Bold or just big? Perhaps using the same text size as above in th "Why we need" para might work better?

Bus and train times: Fonts need some work.

Contact Us: I think the staff list font is a bit big/bold.

Kogarah High Brochures.. : I guess this is part of an old site, waiting to move over?

I think the first page would be improved by using the same style as for the rest. You can still embed the Flash rotating picture gallery within an HTML page to make a good effect.

OK, nitpicking over and final word. The Kogarah High must be absolutely delighted by your work. I've nitpicked over a few things but it's still probably the best school site I've ever seen, so feel free to ignore my nitpicks and be very proud of your work.

Paul

**pauland** · 12 April 2006, 11:04 PM

I have a rare talent - one or two posts from me and the thread is dead. :-(

**grahamb** · 15 April 2006, 11:44 PM

I would really like to thank everyone so far. It has been a brilliant help. The points raised are excellent and I do agree with all the comments made by Paul and Egg Bramhill. Not sure what to do about the red. Paul, if you are still out there, are you suggesting perhaps go for white instead of the red? The red is a bit strong.
The banner down the bottom is very annoying. I do need to make it smaller. Perhaps make it run through once a lot slower and then stop? Do you think this would rectify? I might do a test run and see what it is like.
There are 2 sites here interlinked. The first site is within the Department of Educations server. The space is limited and unfortunately I am the only one who can have access. this is the site with the rotating photogallery on the main index page. The secdond site is the one linked through from the "brochures" link. In this area I can grant teachers access. Unfortunately I need to change the CSS to reflect more the themes of the official site. Unfortunately the CSS is not within one file. It is a content management system, and very good, but slightly confusing as to where files are linked.
Unfortunately I build the site and do everything else around free time when I am not teaching. very hectic.
I will make the changes and then post a new thread for comment. Thanks again everyone. very valuable feedback.

PS. Paul... You might call it nit picking but its those fine details that I really appreciate. Thanks for the time and effort
PSS Egg Bramhill... Thankyou very much for your help. You are correct about the menu. There are many pages interlinked. Perhaps getting rid of the side menu would be a help. Extending the menu up the top with a better branching structure would probably work better. Thanks for the suggestion. Very much appreciated.

Graham