Feedback – good or bad please

[FAQPAL]

Ok, so I have been working on this site for a couple of months off and on, and I think (hopefully) it’s done.

You can find it at http://www.faqpal.com

Let me know your thoughts, good or bad.

Thanks.

[Matt]

"FAQPAL" wrote:

Ok, so I have been working on this site for a couple of months off and on, and I think (hopefully) it’s done.

You can find it at http://www.faqpal.com

Let me know your thoughts, good or bad.

Thanks.

It looks nice. Biggest issue is that the graphics just look flat. Minor issue, either reposition or remove the Alexa Ranking box. It sticks out like a sore thumb.

[FAQPAL]

Thanks Matt, graphics are my biggest downfall. That’s what I definitely need help on.

[FAQPAL]

Since the time of posting this thread originally, we have done a major update to the look of the site.

Would love your feedback.

Thanks.

[greg.mcausland]

I have to be honest here mate, I’m not too keen.

Starting from the top the login form floating on the right, seems very much out of place. It’s one of the few elements on the page with a seperated background. Also I don’t know if it’s mid-production or not, but the lack of styling on the form elements hurts the look a lot.

The spacing is abit of an issue the whole site over, the logo has seemingly unmeasured whitespace on all sides leaving it kind of floating in a random spot and not filling/aligning to other elements. It’s really breaking up the flow of the header for me.

The menu, is wrapping on 2 lines, which might be different browser for browser, but it’s definately wrapping on safari 4. With menus of variable length like that being generated from your categories, you’re much safer placed putting it in a horizontal format where the number of items is really irrelevant to the design. It will just go down. I’d even consider a 3 column layout for this site in order to best feature all the categories prominently on the page.

[img]http://www.ninjafocus.com/sandbox/faqpal.jpg[/img]

Something like this I think could be more effective to feature you’re expansive navigation.

The sidebar also is struggling from a spacing and alignment errors.. the spacing between the search/buttons at the top is off, as well as the horizontal alignment of those elements. Also the all the content blocks in the sidebar are wider than the featured adverts, which is just breaking down pageflow. Get everything in the sidebar evenly spaced, equal width and evenly aligned. It will do massive things for the look of the site.

The posts bar is probably the best part of the site, and the thing I would change the least. However I do believe that it’s way too busy, making it difficult to scan quickly and also the whole section suffers from a lack of seperation from the sidebar too.

I think if you want to keep all the social media links and stats that you currently have in each post then you need to really work on the spacing and layout, and give each post a little more room to breath.

The footer, is actually looking pretty nice though the final paragraph on the site needs a bit of style.

I think the fundemental problem with the site is lack of a grid, I’d have to assume that you didnt use a grid system to build this layout? or had trouble with the CSS getting it to properly align. Either way that is the biggest issue and if all you changed was making sure that the elements had appropriate spacing and were accurately aligned, the page would look 110x better.

forgive me for the heavy critique, but I feel like your style is good and you are very close to producing some great work. All that is required is a bit more refinements, and attention to small details.

all the best.

[FAQPAL]

Thanks for the feedback.

Seems everytime I make changes it just makes things worse with this site.

Give me a few days to re-work things.

[mshort]

I don’t mind it, but I think the side bar is looking a tad empty. the "feedback" and "follow us" buttons, I am not a big fan of, I would put them up at the top of the side bar, and not give them a fixed position personally. other than that doesn’t look too bad :)

[FAQPAL]

Ok, I have totally changed the lay out, what do you think now?

@mshort, I will think about the removing those buttons, you my have a point.

[greg.mcausland]

you gotta work on the fluid layout, elements getting knocked down as it becomes more narrow, better still just set a static width and make sure everything fits.

The alignment is looking better already, and the header also becoming better layed out, a good start mate.

[FAQPAL]

Ok, should be better now.

Thanks Greg.

[Author]

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