New website - Opinions wanted

[Capp]

Hey Everyone,
We just recently launched our newest web site layout and online shop. We would like to hear honest, constructive opinions about the site, the shop and any other aspects you can think of.

The links are in my signature, but here is the main site link:

www.capp-ware.com (http://capp-ware.com)

Thank You,

Capp

[Capp]

Bump?

If you do take the time to look over the new site, Please post back here and tell us good or bad. :)

Thanks

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

Feels a bit Windows 95 in looks.
The combination of DOS blue and green are a bit intimidating.
The font, is it Times New Roman? A bit heavy.
If you disable javascript, you see large, unformatted text "enable browser's Javascript to use the Hit Counter tool" instead of the doteasy icon.

Otherwise, it's clean and simple, as it should be.

Didn't check if it validates.

Don't take this too harshly, I'm talking from the perspective of someone seeking Windows help ... :) You need to give a warm, homey and professional look. Try aquamarine blues and Arial / Verdana fonts.

Mrk

[Capp]

{QUOTE-> Hello,

Feels a bit Windows 95 in looks.
The combination of DOS blue and green are a bit intimidating.
The font, is it Times New Roman? A bit heavy.
If you disable javascript, you see large, unformatted text "enable browser's Javascript to use the Hit Counter tool" instead of the doteasy icon.

Otherwise, it's clean and simple, as it should be.

Didn't check if it validates.

Don't take this too harshly, I'm talking from the perspective of someone seeking Windows help ... :) You need to give a warm, homey and professional look. Try aquamarine blues and Arial / Verdana fonts.

Mrk <-QUOTE}

See....that is exactly what I wanted to hear. I'm still a moderate novice when it comes to web design. I can whiz through programming an application or a database, but always need an extra hand with the websites. I will take these suggesstions to heart and make some changes.

Ya, the hitcounter is a built-in tool my webhost offers (doteasy), so java would have to be on for it to work properly.

thank you again :)

[N1ckR]

Content is good.
As mentioned above design looks dated, BUT atleast it is readable and easy to navigate.

The Logo is good - very identifiable, I would personally have a go a modernising the font alongside it.

Considering the colour scheme, I would stick with blues, but go for more pastille (like on this forum) possible along with some greys and stick with the white background.

The shop needs adding to the menu on the left.

Of course it would be best if the design for the shop, forum and main site are as close to each other as possible.

How much time have you got to spend on the site ?

Have you considered using a content management system ?

[Capp]

{QUOTE-> Content is good.
As mentioned above design looks dated, BUT atleast it is readable and easy to navigate.

The Logo is good - very identifiable, I would personally have a go a modernising the font alongside it.
<-QUOTE}
Thank you. Most of the font on the site is Arial. But I will check through and make sure its uniform. Are you referring to the name "Capp-Ware Solutions" that is along side the computer icon? If so, I can't easily change that. Its a copyrighted logo as is. If not, then would you please specify what you are referring to :)

{QUOTE->
Considering the colour scheme, I would stick with blues, but go for more pastille (like on this forum) possible along with some greys and stick with the white background.
<-QUOTE} The color of blue that is being used on the site in the menu bars and top/bottom bars is the same color as my company logo and heading and company colors (i.e. business cards, shirts, hats, etc..). This won't be as easy a change as the font, but will keep it in consideration for an update.

{QUOTE->

The shop needs adding to the menu on the left.

<-QUOTE} What additional information are you speaking of? It is fairly easy to customize the layout of the shop so if its something that could be changed easily, I will gladly do it to make it more user friendly.

{QUOTE->

Of course it would be best if the design for the shop, forum and main site are as close to each other as possible.

How much time have you got to spend on the site ?

Have you considered using a content management system ? <-QUOTE}
I chose the blue color scheme for the shop as well, just to resemble the main shop. I know very little about creating templates for online shops, which is what that is.

I do have time to work on the site here and there, so things can be changed and uploaded pretty regularly. My level of expertise with web design is novice to moderate at best.

I'm not sure what you mean by a content management system? Pardon my ignorance. Do you have an example I can look at?

Thanks for all your help,
Capp

[InfinityAz]

Capp,

What is the purpose of the site (i.e., to sell your services, sell software, etc.)? I ask because I'm not sure just by looking at the site.

My other question would be what is going to make me stay at, check out your site, or use your services. I think it would be helpful to tell people how you are going to help them solve their problems.

As an example, near the top of your page:

Is your computer running slowly? We can help it run like a sports car...
Are you concerned about viruses, spyware, etc.? We can help...
Have you ever lost files, music, pictures, etc.? Do you know the proper procedures to backup your data? We can show you how to avoid that...
Would you like to learn more about xyz? We provide information about...

In each case provide a link to show how you can help, why I should use your help, how to find out more info, etc.

Good start and good luck.

[Pedro]

I would try to fill the background with some image, but not in a way that distracts the user from the actual content. Maybe specific images according to the specific webpage (Home users - an image that represents that, services etc.).
Or some other idea - white is good, too white looks empty.

I also agree with the outdated menu colors. Keep it non flashy but "modern". I look at Eset logo and it clearly stands out, not in the good way for Eset, but in the bad way for the website.

Otherwise, it's simple to read and navigate, easy on the eyes. Try to keep this always. :thumb:

Note: i have no idea how one builds a website, nor designing one! ;D

[Longboard]

Hey Capp. humble of you ta ask for opinions.

What about just some background colour?
(fwiw I think Prevx has some nice colours and fonts)
Agree withe the mentioned font choices Arial or Verdana.
As a starter it's a great construction simple readable navigable. :thumb:
If you want to do it right get a "designer" to have a look, just for touch-up.

Edit rendered fine and all links going in FF 2.0.0.6, no adds seen with adBlocker running and google "customized".

Where's the Aussie branch? ;)

[ErikAlbert]

After clicking on the first link :
"The official Capp-Ware Shop is now up and running. http://capp-ware.com/shop"

I got a blank page with this message "Ad blocked here by SPF."

SPF is Sunbelt Personal Firewall, one of my new firewalls in trial.
I think I have to do some adjustments in my SPF. ROFLMAO.

EDIT :
Problem is FIXED. :)

[NAMOR]

Content seems good but, for some reason the font isn't the same between the "Pricing", "Remote Data Backups", and "NOD32 AV" pages. I'm using IE7 BTW. Also, is there a way to make the NOD32 logo and compare graphs look sharper? They look a bit fuzzy to me. One more thing... Have the main page and the shop page done in the same scheme so that they match. Unifority is the key.

[maddawgz]

I agree to win 98ish for millenium stand out! :o :o did well thou better then i could :)

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

I have also noted your code now. Did you use frontpage?
If so, I would not recommend it. Frontpage makes for very clumsy pages with lots of non-compliant code.

I checked the page at validator.w3.org, you have 97 errors, plus no doctype. This is also something you should bear in mind.

Mrk

[Capp]

Wow. You guys are awesome. Thank you very much for the feedback thus far. I will get to work correcting the problems.

To answer the questions, the site was designed with Publisher, not front page.

I guess the alignment of the text and images varies from different resolutions. I have the site opened up in IE, Firefox and Opera and it displays just like its supposed to, but I'll work on that too.

I appreciate your efforts :)

Keep 'em coming.

[ErikAlbert]

Regarding chapter "Downloads"

All links worked, except :
1. BoClean ---> Server not found.
2. Outpost ---> Not found. The requested URL /outpost1.php was not found on this server.

Maybe it's my problem or maybe yours. ;D

[Capp]

{QUOTE-> Regarding chapter "Downloads"

All links worked, except :
1. BoClean ---> Server not found.
2. Outpost ---> Not found. The requested URL /outpost1.php was not found on this server.

Maybe it's my problem or maybe yours. ;D <-QUOTE}

Hmm....These will be corrected shortly and thank you for pointing them out for me :)

[SG1]

Capp;

At present and thru' end of yr., I have to use up accrued Paid Leave days, so as I'll have time and since I LOVE noodling on artwork (tho' I've been away from it for a spell), perhaps I can throw a metric ton of goods at you/your site and see if anything sticks to the wall/catches your fancy. *

No charge, of course, to a fellow Wilders-ite.

For good or ill, and if archived, I last threw about "9,000" images at Spyware Blaster redesign contest; don't think anything came of that one way or another as I recall.

* That way... if no one then liked your site, all here could blame me for it. ;-)

SG1 (Pat)

[Capp]

{QUOTE-> Capp;

At present and thru' end of yr., I have to use up accrued Paid Leave days, so as I'll have time and since I LOVE noodling on artwork (tho' I've been away from it for a spell), perhaps I can throw a metric ton of goods at you/your site and see if anything sticks to the wall/catches your fancy. *

No charge, of course, to a fellow Wilders-ite.

For good or ill, and if archived, I last threw about "9,000" images at Spyware Blaster redesign contest; don't think anything came of that one way or another as I recall.

* That way... if no one then liked your site, all here could blame me for it. ;-)

SG1 (Pat) <-QUOTE}

Thanks Pat! That would be awesome. I appreciate it :)

[WSFuser]

Hey capp can the site be tweaked so it fits with the viewers resolution? My resolution is 1280x1024 and theres blank space on the right side.

Also the ESET Virus radar seems to "stick out" from the right side.

[Capp]

{QUOTE-> Hey capp can the site be tweaked so it fits with the viewers resolution? My resolution is 1280x1024 and theres blank space on the right side.

Also the ESET Virus radar seems to "stick out" from the right side. <-QUOTE}


I am not quite sure how to go about making it resolutions specific, but will be glad to look into it. Thanks.

[Mrkvonic]

Hello,

Use percentage rather than pixels in definition of elements.

For example:
width: 400px - not good.
Use rather: 40% or something.

Or, center the page, then you'll still get white space on each side, but then it's symmetric and forgivable.

Mrk

[SG1]

Capp;

Here ya' go, (if this works properly). These links are to screenshots I took, from 3 browsers, of your site.

I run a 20" Dell monitor, at 1024x768 res. (Don't know, or don't think, that the NoScript ext. in Firefox messed up anything) re the look/feel of the site I hope.

a) Ditch the free host/no banners site, as it smacks of little guy with no budget, in my opinion. I always looked askance at those back when in our business who wrote me from aol or some freebie mail service - not a pro/polished image; again, my thought, and no offense meant.

But, even I scraped up 20-25$/mo. back then to use futurequest.net; nice site, did well by me, back then and they even let me coast a few days once when I was going to miss mo. fee/deadline, by a bit. Nice place back then, and I assume/guess it's about the same now, but I'm just guessing on that so take it with a grain of salt.

As I recall, I looked at site I made in 3 browsers and messed with design 'til it seemed OK in all 3 views. And, as most/many of us may surf with mouse on the right near the scroll bar, that's where I put links, as I recall. I also made most or all web pages, so they didn't even summon up a scroll bar. Short, and sweet.

But, that was in the days of using certain Ed. of Navigator, for web design... so, it's been a while and things are tad more involved these days, I'd guess. ;-)

And, you've been here long enough to know that it may not be a good idea to have "normal" e-mail link slapped up on your site unless you love spambots crawling for that.

Just my thoughts on the matter; use/ignore it, as you deem best of course.

http://www.box.net/shared/xrcrzg32zk

http://www.box.net/shared/8tlmhlh0ax

http://www.box.net/shared/mku2uij3np

http://www.box.net/shared/2p9crzq2o7

http://www.box.net/shared/40fuymyzml

http://www.box.net/shared/2oi23fqaho

http://www.box.net/shared/ar4as7h68g

http://www.box.net/shared/ym79narh16

[N1ckR]

{QUOTE-> Thank you. Most of the font on the site is Arial. But I will check through and make sure its uniform. Are you referring to the name "Capp-Ware Solutions" that is along side the computer icon? If so, I can't easily change that. Its a copyrighted logo as is. If not, then would you please specify what you are referring to :)
<-QUOTE}

Yes, the text along side the logo, I think it should be smaller, possibly not as bold.

{QUOTE->
The color of blue that is being used on the site in the menu bars and top/bottom bars is the same color as my company logo and heading and company colors (i.e. business cards, shirts, hats, etc..). This won't be as easy a change as the font, but will keep it in consideration for an update.
<-QUOTE}

{QUOTE->
What additional information are you speaking of? It is fairly easy to customize the layout of the shop so if its something that could be changed easily, I will gladly do it to make it more user friendly.
<-QUOTE}

I meant add a link to the shop on the menu of your main site.

{QUOTE->
I chose the blue color scheme for the shop as well, just to resemble the main shop. I know very little about creating templates for online shops, which is what that is.

I do have time to work on the site here and there, so things can be changed and uploaded pretty regularly. My level of expertise with web design is novice to moderate at best.

I'm not sure what you mean by a content management system? Pardon my ignorance. Do you have an example I can look at?

<-QUOTE}

A CMS system provides templating system, automatically generate navigation and pages (a bit like a forum automatically links up topics and posts), you can get ones that provide WYSIWYG editors, even modules for shopping cart intergration.

Theres plenty of open source ones about - http://www.opensourcecms.com (I use CMSMadeSimple and YACS (and am on the team), but also rate Joomla and Drupal, both of which I have used in the past).

{QUOTE->
Thanks for all your help,
Capp <-QUOTE}

Anytime - I am experienced Web Developer by trade, so should be able to help with more specific things.

[Capp]

I want to thank you all for your valuable input. I will be taking a lot of them into consideration when doing a re-write. I may even contact some of you that offered your services. My only reserve is that the current site took me 3 months to get it to where it is and to see so many problems with it, its kind of discouraging. Hopefully with your advice I will get it to where it needs be in a short amount of time.

I will respond to each of the comments individually so you know where I'm coming from. Thanks :)