RE: FN-FORUM: Site Review

date posted 1st May 2008 20:53

Hi Tony,

I've had a look - I hope the below might help with some ideas:

1. The site is very flat - my first idea with this was that it is almost
crying out for something like Wordpress. This will allow them to add news
themselves if they want (or you, if they don't have time or expertise). This
will allow them to put up the extra "static" pages as well, which are
probably not going to change too much. The theme used can be customized - it
is written in PHP, or you can download and install a theme if you wish...

2. Lightbox! This would really give the site some much needed dynamism - I
think you may have heard of it, but if you have not, it is a lightbox
magnification effect written in Javascript. Check out
http://www.huddletogether.com - it is a link on this page...

3. The top and side menus make the overall effect confusing - do you need
both? Plus - the top menu is in green, which makes it harder for visually
impaired people to see it. (Yeah - I know - that old chestnut. But it is
important!). Also - the menu at the bottom has to be scrolled down to, to
see it; are people going to want to do this? Particularly as there is a link
for the shop. (Now there's an idea - would they consider a small online
shop, selling higher value presents, etc, that may be sold in addition to
those at the museum??)

4. Work through the site and see if you can get some javascript "masking"
code for email addresses - this will help towards reducing any spam that
they may get.

5. There are some inconsistencies with background colour - eg. the map of
the museum grounds is on a white background, whilst other pages are on a
yellow background. I think the white background would look better, maybe?

6. Some pages have a yellow box in the left hand menu system - eg. the group
visits page. This is not consistent across the board - perhaps it might be
worth putting this as a CSS styled boxout towards the top of the page, on
the right hand side? I think that I read somewhere that people look at that
part of the page first on a newspaper, so the best ads are put there. Would
the same work on screen, I wonder?

Hope these help - if I can be of any more help, please say.

Alex.

-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL REMOVED] [EMAIL REMOVED] On Behalf Of Tony
Crockford
Sent: 01 May 2008 13:28
To: FN-FORUM / [EMAIL REMOVED]
Subject: FN-FORUM: Site Review


Client has asked for a design refresh and minor structural changes for
http://www.bclm.co.uk

any suggestions for things you'd change, add, or take away, most welcome.

TIA for your feedback.

;o)

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