Well, it is just about time I got this unit out on the web for people to see and criticise. My pet project lately is a site for the local Minor Hockey Association. I know it is not perfect (what site is), but it does what they asked for (more actually) and I am pleased with the features. This version is full of 'dummy content'. At one point, it validated strict, but this copy has a few (59) missing end tags that are being fixed, so please ignore the w3c validator link. And the maps on the contact page aren't ready yet. They are getting built as we speak. Other than those two items, I think it is ready. Thanks for having a look and please leave some comments for things that are missing or don't work other than the above noted items. Minor Hockey Webpage

Reply

Site Review

Okay the first thing I see when I load the page is a glaring blue background which burns my eyes. A couple of seconds after which I see the proper background image. So, I think the blue background should be removed.

Secondly, on the navigation menu you have headings which group the links. There is nothing defining the difference between a heading and a link (ie underlined text etc).

I like the way that the site works well in firefox and isn't one of those "ie only" sites and how the pages load nice and quickly on the 56k <20s on first page load and <8s thereafter

All in all a rating of:

9/10

Suggestions: Remove blue background, define the difference between links and headers on the navigation menu and maybe create 403, 404 error pages etc for the site...

Reply

Hmmm, I have no idea where the Blue comes from. But I will do something about it if I can.

And the error pages are in the works. You must have tried the "team" button on the top nav bar. One file (that one) failed to load on the ftp for some reason. *Fixed*.

Reply

in your "*/nolinkyet.html" page the left menu has disapeared; other than that it looks like an excellent site

Reply

Here's a quick tip. Make your navigation links bigger. I just feel that your visitors should be able to find what they're looking for easily.

Reply

Yes, planned that way. The nesting of the file structure was getting a bit complex, so I eliminated the announcement bar for the second level of files. Might add it back when I have some time free. Haven't decided yet.

Reply

Overall I really like this site.

That is strange though with the blue screen flashing in the way it does before it goes to the normal background. Does it have something to do with transition?

It looks like you've worked very hard for the minor hockey association and I hope they appreciate what you've done!

Reply

Thanks to everyone for their comments. All valid, of course, and each of them will be considered before the project is finalized.
Thanks to all of the fine folks in the html/xhtml forum for the current and past threads which assisted greatly during the construction of this project.

Reply

I have never touched xhtml colours (and if they're the same as html ones, it proves my ignorance even more ) Anyhoo in this cascading style sheets document, you have the code:



If I'm right #00f must be the XHTML colour-code for blue and therefore your site is displaying that background before the background image is loading.

Reply

Well that certainly explains it. the "#oof" is the hex colour code for blue.The background must get painted prior to the placement of the background image. I remember changing it from the colour to an image a few days back. I guess the url got inserted and didn't replace the hex colour code.

Reply