Opinions on Website

airbornflght

Hey all,

I am the webmaster for my fraternity, and I would like your honest opinions about the website, content, layout, and the such. I'm sure some will be tempted to give their opinions of greek life, but I am not looking for that. I've put a lot of time and energy and I'd like some feedback.

I have google analytics on the site and it has really gave me some insight and I've changed some stuff.

The only thing that I can see to do is to get a more tailored template. But I'm not sure where to go or how much to expect to pay. If anyone can offer me advice on this subject it would be doubly appreciated. :bigggrin:

Thrax

Your menu containers need to match the color of the logo, or vice versa.

kryyst

Looks pretty good, color matching the logo's with the menu boxes would be a nice touch. Otherwise though it's nice and clean

Linc

Looks quite good! Very professional looking.

airbornflght

That's what I'm going for. Like I said though, I have my heart set on a professional template design that isn't so generic. I've put my heart into that site as far as content goes though.

If you look at the national website it is very nice looking. But I'm not sure that is the direction I want ours to go in.

kryyst

The national site has pretty effects but it's damn slow to load. I'm at the point in my surfing mind that I want the information clean and fast and logically laid out. I don't want to have to wait for a flash to finish loading before I can click next or a series of menus that load new pages only to get a new menu to find what I'm looking for.

I'm past being entertained by someone jingling their keys for me. So yeah, while the national site looks pretty initially, which is fine for a site you visit infrequently. If it's a site I'd have to frequent regularly I much prefer yours.

airbornflght

Yes, and that's what I think. I like how accessible our site is, but at the same time it is missing some flair. I want a template that will balance flair and professionalism.

I also want the context menus changed. The static menus can stay in the same place, but for the menus that come and go based on section I'd much rather them be under the main menu. As I fear that someone might not notice another menu to the right. Does this make sense? At the very least I want to differentiate them somehow.

And if I find someone to make me a template, what are the practices as far as design goes, because all I have are general guidelines as to what I want such as colors used and content locations. If I get a proof and I don't like it am I stuck with it? I'm afraid of paying someone for a design and not being happy with it.

manuleka

airbornflght wrote:

Yes, and that's what I think. I like how accessible our site is, but at the same time it is missing some flair. I want a template that will balance flair and professionalism.

I also want the context menus changed. The static menus can stay in the same place, but for the menus that come and go based on section I'd much rather them be under the main menu. As I fear that someone might not notice another menu to the right. Does this make sense? At the very least I want to differentiate them somehow.

And if I find someone to make me a template, what are the practices as far as design goes, because all I have are general guidelines as to what I want such as colors used and content locations. If I get a proof and I don't like it am I stuck with it? I'm afraid of paying someone for a design and not being happy with it.

well you can give out your expectations... and the sort of layout you want, maybe something with the color and theme relevant to your site logo... i'm sure alot of designers here can whip up a template or layout for you... if you like it then you can purchase it... slice them up into a template or someone can do it for you at a reasonable fee ofcourse

airbornflght

yeh, this would have to be a packaged template, because while I understand the concept behind css/slicing, I am a complete noob at it and my time is worth more to me than the price I'd pay to have someone do it for me.

Nomad

I'm not quite sure where the blue is coming from but it should match a color that is part of your Frat's scheme.

airbornflght

That is just a default template included with joomla. Like I said, I can find my way around html, but css confuses the hell out of me; nothing ever works like I think it will. I can probably go in and find the css class to change the color, but I still only see that as a stop-gap solution.

*/EDIT/*
ok, I delved into ps and the css and got the colors changed. Let me know what you think

Nomad

Not a fan of your Grey Poupon yellow background at all. That's your fraternity's secondary color, not primary.

Thrax

Ditch the yellow and go back to a neutral color.

airbornflght

Ok. I put it back to white, but do you think there would be any other more aesthetically pleasing color than white. Maybe it's just because I'm looking at this on a 24" monitor, but it seems like there's no real division between content and background.

Or is the white not so bad?

Thrax

White's fine. Your content box is in varying shades of grey and the drop-shadow brings it out well enough.

Nomad

The rounded edges on your navigation at the left isn't aligned. Maybe trying removing that all together and using just a simple black like you did on top.

GnomeQueen

" I'm sure some will be tempted to give their opinions of greek life"

Heh.

What's a full parking lot? Is that contrary to a half parking lot?

primesuspect

When parking lots are full, that sucks. You have to go down the road and park far away and walk. I prefer my parking lots as empty as possible.

airbornflght

That just went way over my head. Anyone care to explain?

and @ nomad;

I noticed that happened, but I'm currently in Bartlesville, OK trying to get an internship with ConocoPhillips so fixing it will have to wait until Saturday when I get back to Stillwater.

and on a sidenote. Conoco Phillips seems like a damn awesome company to work for. I'm loving their culture and the way they treat their employees. I'm currently here for a GISSLF (geographical information systems student leadership forum) and besides of getting tons of useful information about the industry and what to expect; they are wining and dinning me and 19 other top MIS students from texas, oklahoma, kansas, and arkansas hardcore.

They flew two girls up from houston on the company's private jet. How sweet is that? I had to drive up in my jeep. I was a little jealous. We all meet with the recruiters tomorrow, individually I think. I'm really hoping that I get offered an internship, but I here they are very competitive. I figure if I'm one of 20 handpicked students from four states my odds just got a lot better though. Wish me luck

The only bad thing is I think I've already gained ten pounds in one day. Every meal has literally been three courses and it'd be rude to refrain .

primesuspect

Good luck on your internship.

Winning = wining

Dinning = dining

airbornflght

primesuspect wrote:

Good luck on your internship.

Winning = wining

Dinning = dining

lol, I caught wining and changed it, but good lord I must be tired. Today started at 6 am, which I need not say is way before my normal college schedule does. I choose to blame spell checker, it has made me lazy.