Site test/review + discount for actinic community

[bangers]

Thanks All,
Just gone live with layout which works in ie6 and above (a margin here and a pad there). looks okay ok in both.

Links at bottom are darker though I think I'll chage to blue rather than grey soon.
Still problem in ie6, always will be but I am on to them now that I have managed to find a way to run ie6 alongside ie7. Always new I'd lose my nce transparent fades and png images but now I've seen the about of luddites still using ie6 I think I may change them as well.

Thanks again...keep it coming
(haven't sorted Marks link problem at the moment)
Bangers

[Mark H]

Hey it's not MY links problem!

There is a very good way of serving different CSS stylesheets to IE6 and IE7 if this would help - I have commented before on this forum. Have a search and let me know if you can't find it.

[Mark H]

Bangers - it is here:

http://community.actinic.com/showthr...level+browsers

Modify Chris Bremer's method to serve different stylesheets to IE6 and IE7 (presuming that this would help you, I haven't had time to look at your code - off for a beer)

[Zath]

That works much better now
You've also enhanced the links at the bottom by making them less feint.
The third group of links on the right at the bottom seem to be a little "on their own" rather than in keeping with the rest of the bottom links. Was this to try and marry up with the right-hand side of the page ?

I'm at work atm, so couldn't try all the links but those I tried all worked. I particularly like the flash image with the scratched, "old film" effect at the top. Was that an inhouse invention or from a package ?

[bangers]

Mark,
Great idea, will use in future rahter than changing a single css. I may even use to sort our other ie6 problems that will need addressing.

Zath,

The third group of links on the right at the bottom seem to be a little "on their own" rather than in keeping with the rest of the bottom links. Was this to try and marry up with the right-hand side of the page ?

No it is becuase they relate to the main site rahter than the shop so all swimming lesson related rather than shop related.

I particularly like the flash image with the scratched, "old film" effect at the top. Was that an inhouse invention or from a package ?

In house (main site not shop), easy to do, I'm sure there are scripts our there that achieve the same but are better. I just animated a couple of lines, left to right copied and changed them around a bit. Then the "dust" went a bit mad with the pen tool created 3 versions, created another movie clip and added all over a few frames, the movie clip just gets left on a continious loop. Took about 30 mins to 1hr to do. The images are pulled in using actionscript and just choose images in a file on the server.
Thanks again,

Regards

Bangers

[bangers]

Safari can’t open the page “http://shop.swimmingwithoutstress.co...s/about.shtml”. The error was: “unknown error” ((null):10053) Please choose Report Bugs to Apple from the Help menu, note the error number, and describe what you did before you saw this message

Couldn't work out why this would happen, downloaded Safari (beautifully quick but woo there on the CPU) and had the same problem not all the time though, but I love the speed.

Looked on forums and seems like it isn't a code problem but a Safari problem on Windows XP (possibly to do with having css for print media). Maybe it is too quick for its own good, I dunno but all I know is that .1% of unique visitors to site use safari and that that this error seems to be a problem when on a windows pc so ain't going to lose much sleep over it.

I'm going to use Safari more though despite the errors it's lovely

Cheers for the heads up though Mark,
regards
Lee

[Duncan Rounding]

I just tried the Safari beta3 but it won't run on my machine - just crashes.

[bangers]

It does seem to be a problem on PC version from what I have read and developers complain at how bloated the software is along with problems of crashing all the time but if Mac can sort these problems out I think they could be a contender, even on Windows systems, as it must be twice as quick as Firefox and has lovely Mac styling, if you are in to those sorts of things.

Keep comments coming,
Regards
Bangers

p.s Just had a look at site in Safari today, no link problem just a few layout/design inconsistencies but all site seems to work, must just be a random problem, I'm sure I'll get errors if I try it another time.

[george]

Lee your 'site work is absolutely superb....


...but...


...if it was up to me...


...I'd ban every site on the interweb that uses light grey (on white) text.


Just as well it isn't eh?

[bangers]

Cheers George,
You're not alone, I've found over the years the most ardent views have been about using grey as a text colour, bit of a suprise I grant you. Like marmite I guess, you either love it or you hate it (maybe not quite) but I take your point.
I obviously like it. I like to think that I use font colour to help with users defining what information is really important and which is a bit "fluffy" as quick as they can (black can be a bit hard and I like people to feel cossy and soft..before I tear the cash from their grappling fist).
Grey gets used for the fluffy stuff.

Thanks for the comments though,
Bangers

p.s "Spurs are on their way to wembley, tottenham gonna do it again"...at least have a sniff at winning a two bit competition for the first time in just under 10 years.

[george]

Aye, it does look perhaps more `part of a design` sometimes?

I have a theory though, that sight being the most used sense on the interweb and that obviously not everyones sight is perfect (mine's good btw), I just think it's criminal to alienate any visitors from the word go.

I do realise you've obviously considered this but I think I always (subconsiously) look for accessability stuff nowadays. Things like script fonts can be hard to read, never mind if the colour difference between the font and the background is minimal.

I also see the `fluffy` theory but I think if you want it `readable`, then it should be, regardless of your eyesight quality (well, within reason of course).

I'll give it a bit more of a review if you like? I generally don't read anyone elses before I post, that way you get my view (as a dork and/or potential consumer) and not just someone agreeing with the person before them.

[bangers]

Cheers, appreciate any comments even if you think they maybe negative ones..still got a lot to tinker with as there is much I want to change
regards
bangers

p.s just noticed bottom links have reverted to the pale grey (I did send an updated css to client but looks like an update has reverted back to the pale grey) Have a look now, I ftp'd change..I'll have a word with client in the morning.

[Sean Williams]

Hi Lee
I concur with other comments - I do find the page rather too busy - it may put some customers off.
I think the the grey text is counter-productive.
I would also bring the box at bottom left with useful info up onto the first page (ie; above the 'fold') - a good place could be under Your Favourites.

Otherwise top marks for effort and making an interesting site

[bangers]

Thanks Shaun,
Some good points. I am definitely thinking of changing the grey text though I will give it a little time before I change across the site (the last site was much more pale overall and customers emailed the owners to say how "they liked the site because it was calming" so this grey is "really in your face" in comparision but there's been enough comment for me to take this onboard so changes will happen I'm sure.

I like the idea of moving the links but feel it will give them more importance than I want them to have, they're really there for search engine linking main focus needs to stay on the shop.

Your comments are appreciated
Thanks again,
Bangers

[PeterThake]

Reviews feature

Hi Bangers,
I like the reviews feature. Nice! Was that your own code or an off-the-shelf package?

Personally I like the 'busyness' of the site, particularly since I could still easily find products.

All the best,
Pete