Needing constructive criticism...

freespiritbirth · 05-03-2007, 03:27 PM

Huff **Puff

! My website is rolling and I've asked a coupla former clients to look at through eyes of a shopping mother. If you've the time and wann take a look I'd love the professional feedback of other doulas.

www.freespiritbirth.com

This is one of the templates that Tiffany offers and I have to say that it really was magnificently easy - except I know that the contact page/guestbook page isn't in full flow yet

anxiously awaiting~
Barb

Itrustbirth · 05-03-2007, 05:47 PM

I think it looks great except for one thing....the little lines that are going through the clickable text links on the left hand side. That makes them hard to read, and a little crowded together IMO. I like your pictures and your content.

emmabella · 05-03-2007, 05:54 PM

Well, to start off I want to say that your content is well written and in depth, that is probably the hardest part of getting a website together. So good on ya for that!
BUT the site as a whole is VERY buggy. I've checked through it in Internet Explorer and Firefox; on many of the pages the layout is totally deformed. I'm not sure what you are using to edit this template but it is putting all kinds of yucky code in there. You can see some screencaps below:
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...ntes/buggy.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...tes/buggy2.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...tes/buggy3.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...tes/buggy4.jpg
http://i39.photobucket.com/albums/e1...tes/buggy5.jpg

Here are some specific things to note:

In Firefox your left navigation menu collapses and is kinda unreadable.
It is pretty important to have normalcy in your fonts from page to page. I would highly recommend choosing ONE paragraph font at 12px in a dark color to use throughout the site. Then you need ONE headline font that is larger and (possibly) a nice accent color. Stay away from the background colors on the fonts and different font colors on every page. It makes for a mish-mash of a user experience while browsing your website.
Several of your photos are too big for for the width of the page.
Overall your navigation buttons are slightly disorganized. I would recommend sticking with 8 navigation items or less and each should be no longer than a word or two (concise as possible, not breaking into two lines).
Having the mailing list, guestbook, contact, feedback and tell a friend seems a bit superfluous... noone is going to click and enter their email that many times. For me, the contact and tell a friend are plenty and if you wanted an extra I would choose the mailing list.

Well, as you can tell, I don't pull any punches when it comes to website stuff. To completely honest I would highly recommend you hire one of the webdesigners around here (Tiff, Mile High Doula or myself) to install a template correctly for you. That way it will be clean and beautiful and a LOT less struggle and time invested on your end.

Stacie · 05-03-2007, 06:28 PM

I agree with Emily. I think your content is great, but I didn't know where to go first. The font differences bugged me, too -- they weren't aesthetically pleasing. I tend to be a bit anal about how things look right off the bat. The site felt jumbled to me, and i would not take the patience if it was between your site and a sit like Emily's, for instance.

I think Emily gave you some great tips to clean it up and streamline it.

freespiritbirth · 05-03-2007, 06:49 PM

Ooo! Ouch-o-rama...good thing I'm a doula and Birthing From Within mentor by trade, I guess.
So I'm perplexed. I've just bought a wide screen, brand new computer and monitor and the website shows up perfectly on my screen - so I don't really know what I'm looking for to correct. I'll have to get with Tiffany on that one because I've just entered info where it says to enter it and then off I go - how it comes out on the screen I have very little control of...and I totally need to take computer as a second language cause I don't understand any of that lingo!
But, I do thank you all - I can change the fonts - I know how to do that much!
Barb

Stacie · 05-03-2007, 07:53 PM

It is hard to take criticism, which is why I don't often put my site up for comments, lol, but you did ask. We agreed your content is great, the site itself looks jumbled together. I know what you mean about it looking different on different browsers/monitors -- mine does that, too.

Neshama · 05-03-2007, 08:17 PM

It did seem a bit confusing, I didnt know where to go! There is a LOT of good stuff on there, but I think you should put the most important at the top under "home" as I know at least I am more likely to look at things at the top, thinking they are more expedient.
Your "home" is even pretty far down there. I love the pics, and the content is great.
I'm no computer wizz either! It shows up fine on my browser, though. I think it looks good except just make it more navigable.
hth!
shalom
Kylie

emmabella · 05-03-2007, 11:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freespiritbirth

I've just bought a wide screen, brand new computer and monitor and the website shows up perfectly on my screen - so I don't really know what I'm looking for to correct. I'll have to get with Tiffany on that one because I've just entered info where it says to enter it and then off I go - how it comes out on the screen I have very little control of.

I thought that it was probably showing up right on your screen so that's why I wanted to be sure to give the pictures too. One of the hardest parts about webdesign is making sure your site looks great for everybody no matter what computer they have or how proficient they are at surfing or what browser they have. It is VERY complicated... html and css ARE different languages (and it takes a LONG time to get them set totally straight). It might be a good idea to have Tiff check that template in the program you are using because it does seem pretty buggy. Although I'm 98% sure it is not something she made but hopefully she can get it sorted out. Keep working at it and don't be afraid to ask for help if you feel you are in over your head because afterall, you want to spend your time with your clients (and making $) instead of pouring hours into the aggravation of a website.

freespiritbirth · 05-04-2007, 12:18 AM

made some improvements! yeah! thanks gals!

emmabella · 05-04-2007, 11:33 AM

Getting much better Barb! The navigation is much easier to understand.

The only big whoopsie I'm seeing now is the picture on your "10 Reasons to doula" page is too large and breaks the template (but the pic is gorgeous!).

Also, the fonts situation still needs some help but overall the site is cleaning up really well!

analisa · 05-04-2007, 11:46 AM

Looking good!!!!!! Gotta think of a website just as giving birth with all kinds of ups and downs. LOL Soon you will be the proud mom of a beautiful website.

Julia · 05-04-2007, 04:17 PM

To be perfectly honest, I really do not care for your slogan--it puts me off a bit.

DoulaCBE · 05-04-2007, 05:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by freespiritbirth

I can change the fonts - I know how to do that much!
Barb

Barbara,
The text on the main page looks like you have it highlighed in a darker grey than the background color. If that makes sense.

I'm using IE 7 if that's of any help to you.
Other than that it looks great with the suggestions everyone else has made and I love the photography on the site. Are those your photos?

freespiritbirth · 05-04-2007, 09:04 PM

"To be perfectly honest, I really do not care for your slogan--it puts me off a bit."

Well I love it and it's staying and it's not a slogan, anyway, it's a play on words depending on where you put the emphasis.
To all the web gurus out there that helped me out - my heartfelt appreciation!