critique my site

[deadrats]

hey guys,

i'm in the middle of putting up a website specifically targeting fitness and weight loss and i would like some feedback on style and usability as it stands now, also i put up a forum, same thing please give me some feedback on style and colors, etc.

http://nice-muscles.com

http://nice-muscles.com/forum

i want the site to be fast, efficiently laid out, pleasant, with lots of good info.

if anyone wants to contribute content, i welcome it and needless to say you will be credited as the author.

thanks for your time.

[_Al_]

.. never mind, you just want some comment about design ..., not functionality

[El Heggunte]

--- Buttons instead of links in the left-side menu: bad idea ;

--- if resolution = 1024x*, then the 3rd button gets wider than the width of the background-element

The forum so far looks OK.


BUT...

The board requires you to be registered and logged in to view profiles

Is that absolutely-necessary ???

[deadrats]

thanks for the feedback, it's still a work in progress, please bear in mind that up until 3 weeks ago i knew nothing of html, javascript, php or css, never took a course, basically i taught myself how to do this with web tutorials.

the buttons on the left side were kind of a proof-of-concept, after reading up on search engine optimizations i had already decided to eliminate them and instead make everything a link.

the board i just got through setting up yesterday, configurations aren't finalized yet, will be making some changes.

@_Al_ if you have some comments on functionality i'm more than happy to get the feedback, good or bad, when you put something like this together you can't really see it clearly, you always think you've done a good job, feedback from disinterested parties is the only way to get an honest opinion.

[El Heggunte]

Okay, since you admit you're a newbie at webdesigning, you may find the following URLs useful:

http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

https://www.google.com/search?complete=0&hl=en&source=hp&biw=&bih=&q=%22why+your+site+...e+Search&gbv=1

Have fun

[thecoalman]

I'll be brutal, the colors suck..... Way too much green.

I'd drop the button style on the left and just make it a text link, add a more descriptive header for it . Make both your links on the top menu and left menu white. The top menu or your main menu should be consistent throughout the entire site. You can get rid of the JS for the mouseover effect, you can do that with CSS. I'd just use a color change.

http://www.w3schools.com/cssref/sel_hover.asp


Your forum is spitting out an internal error.... If it's a phpBB forum ask away. I can answer just about any question you might have.

[thecoalman]

Ahhhh... forum works... I'd suggest dropping the custom style and the reason for that is because it can be PITA to maintain especially if you're a rookie at it. When an update comes out for phpBB if the style is not maintained by the author....

You can use this site to colorize the prosilver theme and buttons.

http://www.colorizeit.com/styles/phpbb-group-styles/12.prosilver.html

[El Heggunte]

It's good to know that now phpbb supports Ignore Lists or something

http://nice-muscles.com/forum/faq.php?sid=ffb4238cb0ef46bac9e70147f0a67d75#f6r0

[thecoalman]

Since 2007 when it was released. The friend/foe list is more helpful as friends list especially for PM's

[_Al_]

@_Al_ if you have some comments on functionality i'm more than happy to get the feedback

As was said, design is kind of not expected therefore not friendly, same as for DVD menus, when people try to design their own menu structure , it is not expected,

I'd try to make it simple , header , put there some slogan and picture, you put menu to the left with CSS buttons possibly (there is tons of it on web just pick up some, google free css buttons or menu) , content will be changing in the middle possibly without java script, line up those questions at the top:

<ul> 
<li><a href="#question1">text1</a></li>
<li><a href="#question2">text2</a></li> 
<li><a href="#question3">text3</a></li>
</ul>

and then on the same page do this:

<h4 id="question1" >text1</h4>
 <p> Answer the first question
</p>

<h4 id="question2" >text2</h4>
 <p>Answer your second question
</p>
.
.

you can create each page separately in html or use php and change only content, it is a bit advanced, I'd start with html only

[TreeTops]

And I agree with a poster above about the green color. Can you pick a happier color?

[deadrats]

thanks for all the feedback, i'm experimenting with numerous changes based on what has been said so far, hopefully the next iteration will be better.

[vhelp]

forum color was fine, i only disliked the body? text color ($32 $3D $4F) over the green background color ($AD $D8 $E6) and makes it look fuzzy or blurry on my monitor, 1440x900. black would make it sharp for someone like me to read in this background color setup.