Website Review and Suggestions

**jamestl2** · 09-27-2009, 02:45 PM

Alright guys, my project I've been designing and thinking of has finally been developed.

Link (also in sig):
http://wordpressmountain.com

Wordpress Mountain is a place where experienced developers and beginners alike can learn, seek changes, and share WP information with each other.

It has three primary features:

Wordpress Blog with a Custom theme (also used for main site)
Forum with a Custom Skin
Hiring Services for myself to contract work

Tell me what you think about everything, from the designs and usability to the marketing of my contract services.

I admit I'm not a graphic designer, but I wanted to give a look and feel similar to wordpress.org, yet unique enough on it's own.

I realize there's not too much content ATM, however this is because I JUST launched it, I'll definitely be adding more in the future, I just wanted to get something up and running for the time being.

Tell me what you think.

**TripleMoons** · 09-27-2009, 07:50 PM

Frankly, I'm not impressed. The graphics are sloppy both in creation and exportation. The colors are dark and drab...No where near the level of Apple or WordPress. I also am not too sure that you can use the WordPress logo to create your logo...Borderline copyright infringement if not straight copyright infringement.

I think you would be better off taking a pre-made template and editing it to suit your needs. I think it's a great idea (support on the WordPress forums is definitely lacking, I've as of yet to find a really good WordPress specific forum)...But to be taking seriously, I think a serious overhaul is in order.

Take a look at these for ideas on good design:
http://www.cssdrive.com
http://www.csselite.com
http://www.divinecss.com
http://www.bestcssgallery.com

**jamestl2** · 09-27-2009, 08:26 PM

Thanks for the honest feedback, Stephanie.

The theme layout is supposed to be extremely simple, that's the way I intended to deliver it. All those CSS links you listed seem to display layouts that focus too heavily on graphic design, which is NOT the message I wanted to send to potential clients and forum goers. (I'm specializing in customization and coding services, not WP logo or graphic design.)

Tons of graphics != good design, IMO. If people see all kinds of pretty images and graphics on my site, they're going to think I'm capable of providing similar features for their sites (which I'm not), and I don't want them to take away from the rest of the site structure and design.

I also didn't want to use a pre-existing theme to show that I can actually code themes together from scratch, and because I'll be coding custom WP themes in the future (and they probably won't look anything like the theme I've used for the site), but I want to get more experienced in that department before I actually try to sell anything.

As for the graphics appearing "sloppy", there aren't many graphics I'm using at all. I only created the logo and the checkmarks on the hire page. All forum graphics I found on vBulletin.org (which I credit in the footer). I'm not too sure what you mean by the "exportation of graphics", care to elaborate?

When it comes to the logo itself, I see your point (just thought it was clever at the time of it's creation, inverting it for the M). Also, regarding copyright, WP has a few sections on wordpress.org that allow you to download and use different icons, free of use, like here:
http://wordpress.org/about/fanart/
http://wordpress.org/about/logos/

Like I said though, I'm not a graphic designer, so I didn't really know what path to take when creating the logo.

And again, I do appreciate the feedback

.

**serandfae** · 09-27-2009, 08:26 PM

I have to agree with Stephanie here. You desperately need some color and a logo redesign. You might want to consider a tabbed interface for your menu. Maybe a two-column theme with some images, themes, etc. The black background with the gradient's OK if (and I emphasize IF) there are elements other than stark white to offset it.

tim

**jamestl2** · 09-27-2009, 08:39 PM

Tim, I was thinking about making my theme two-column, but I wouldn't know what else to put in the second column, so my needs didn't really require one.

I know most WP themes usually have a two or three column layout, but the text is usually much smaller in them, and it's not as easy to read.

As for the colors and background, do you think it would be better if I gave the container a width of 100% (Instead of having margins on each side)? That way there's not as much white-to-dark gray everywhere. (It's actually a really dark gray

).

But then it might look too much like WP.org, and like I said, in post #3, I aimed to keep the layout unique and extremely simple.

**TripleMoons** · 09-27-2009, 08:44 PM

James, you can have simple, yet modern and professional. Look at Apple's website as an example. Extremely simple, but modern and professional. Your current theme doesn't say simple to me, it says inexperienced and unprofessional. You can use those sites I linked as a tool to understand good design. Good design doesn't always mean crazy graphics. Look beyond the crazy graphics for the layout.

WordPress does give you use of their logo in the manner they supply on their website. That is not to say you have permission to use it on your own logo. It is creative (I do like the reversal to "m"), but tread lightly. Perhaps contact them first to make sure you're clear?

This image, as an example, you can see it's pixelated around "ordpress" and "ountain." This is either happening during creation or exportation of the graphics. I see the same thing on the forum graphics.

**serandfae** · 09-27-2009, 08:58 PM

What you have to take into consideration is: Would someone looking at this page want to hire me or look further? Right now I'd have to say no, just from looking at the page. What I'd do, really, is combine the home page with the about page, turn the sections into headers, make it two column and use only the amount of graphics necessary. Use some color, perhaps by making the menu look like tabs, putting it adjacent to the body. This is your business card, read it like a potential customer would.

tim

**jamestl2** · 09-27-2009, 09:29 PM

Sorry Stephanie, concerning Graphics, you're going to have to speak English to me (It's pretty much all Greek). What exactly does "pixelated" mean? Does it have something to do with how I saved the image? Or how I placed the font and images together? I created the logo using PS elements 7.0.

Honestly, I'm not too impressed with Apple's layout at all. The HUGE graphic takes up 90% of the screen (a waste, IMO) and the text is too small to read. Plus the sub-pages focus too much on flashy graphics and have the text cluttered all over the sides, making it really difficult to find the information you're looking for. It's just another site layout that relies too much on graphics, IMO, and doesn't really jump out to me as very usable or simple at all. (Anyway, we're not talking about Apple's layout here.)

I'm not trying to give off the vibe that all graphics are bad (quite the opposite actually), I just don't see much use for them in my situation. Are graphics really a necessity for providing a professional image?

About the logo, I'll probably post on the WP forums to see if I can use their logo in this way, unless I can think of anything better...

Tim, may I ask what exactly you would look for in hiring someone who modifies WP themes? Just trying to figure out why giving off a simple, basic impression would turn people off. The people I showed it to said the design and layout looked really clean cut and professional (although it was to my family, so they might have been a bit biased in their review

). Still learning here, of course...

Let me say one of the things I was going for was giving the forum and main site the exact same header (although script-wise, they're not). Do you think it'd still be possible to make a tabbed page layout you described with both headers still the same?

I like the idea of combining the home and about pages (most sites have both, but I suppose mine doesn't really call for it), so I'll probably do that, once I figure out just what i want to do. Again though, if you say the two-column theme is good, I wouldn't really know what to do with the second column, any ideas?

**serandfae** · 09-27-2009, 10:06 PM

What would I look for? Organized. Which is why I suggested the headers and maybe a little blurb under each. If you do it that way you can fill a couple columns. Also doesn't hurt your SEO. What you have on the home page just looks lost and floating around.

Regarding tabs, I just thought it would look better if they LOOKED like tabs, kind of like on wordpress.org. On there, they're not really tabs (in the menu sense, anyway, they're links to other pages).

tim

**JlueGold** · 09-27-2009, 10:20 PM

I didnt like the design either, seemed too simple for my taste and dark too...

**jamestl2** · 09-27-2009, 10:43 PM

Alright, thanks for the ideas Tim.

I had some thoughts rolling around about how I can display the different sections and I'll see what I can do with them.

**TripleMoons** · 09-28-2009, 08:17 AM

A pixel is what digital images are made out of. Pixelated means that the pixels that make up an image are visible (which they shouldn't be). These are two of several words you are going to need to learn if you are going to call yourself a designer. Note how "dirty" the outside of the letters are in the graphic I pointed out. It shouldn't look that way if created/exported properly. I'm not familiar with Photoshop Elements, so I can't really help you correct it. Maybe someone else here can?

James, you are ignoring everything I'm trying to say to you. IGNORE THE PRODUCT GRAPHICS. Look beyond the images of the iPods and what not (we're talking five, not a dozen). Note the simple gradient menu, note the rounded corners used. Note the large amount of white space with a very subtle gradient in each section. Fonts? Change the CSS to suit you! Currently your fonts are way too large...Their is a happy medium though.

Your layout is currently unprofessional and ammature. I wouldn't give it a second glance and wouldn't trust you (based on the website) to handle a clients WordPress needs.

You've been provided suggestion and tools to correct your problem. I look forward to seeing what you come up with!

**jamestl2** · 09-28-2009, 10:22 AM

Admittedly, this was my first WP theme, and my primary aim was to make sure I got everything working properly, making sure WP could integrate with vBulletin well, etc.

I'll definitely be working on the primary site's design issues over the week. I've got a few navbar and Home Blurb ideas I'm presently coding up. I'll post them on my test site to see how they work out and I'll show everyone to get some feedback on those designs too once I get a chance to complete them.

However, aside from the design, how about the other site features:
Is it usable?
How does the page copyrighting sound?
Page structure? (Apart from the about page comment Tim made, I'll be fixing that up)
Does the forum flow well?
Etc...

**MDwebdev85** · 09-28-2009, 10:41 AM

James, I have to agree with Stephanie as well. She has given you multiple great ideas and references. When I visit your site, it reminds me of one of the basic templates that Dreamweaver has. I think the color scheme is a little too dark and the text is too big. I also think the links should be a different color than the neon green when you hover over them, maybe the same color as whats in the links in the footer. I also do not care for the logo at the top left. As Stephanie said, yea its creative to flip the w for the m but the quality of the image is horrible. Why wouldn't you want to build off of a template? There's nothing wrong with doing that, while some people disagree with that, why re-invent the wheel? I would suggest you customize a template to suit your needs. Thats my 2 cents.. good luck.

**TripleMoons** · 09-28-2009, 11:57 AM

Is it usable?
Absolutely. It functions. Now would I use it as it stands now, no.

How does the page copyrighting sound?
If you mean the Privacy Statement & Disclaimer...I think you could do more. Read over what others say. Be as professional and clear as possible.

Page structure?
It works. It makes sense. Once the content is in I think things will look much better.

Does the forum flow well?
I think some of the forum titles are confusing. Pre-Start Questions
for example (not sure if "pre-start" is even proper English). I would also keep all of the code forums grouped together and not spread out (CSS, XHTML, PHP). I would personally go this route:

Getting Started
- Before you install
- Installation
- General Questions

Coding
- CSS
- XHTML
- PHP
- Other Code

Themes
- General Theme Questions
- Show Off Your Themes
- Free Theme Gallery

Plugins
- General Plugin Questions
- Free Plugin Gallery

Marketing
- Search Engines
- Content Creation
- Business, Monetization & Advertising

Our Community

- Forum News & Announcements
- New Members
- General Discussion
- Project Hiring
- Review My WordPress

**The-Pixel** · 09-28-2009, 12:29 PM

I think the best thing to do in your case - keep that simple idea but start over. Use color and Web 2.0 elements to make it more modern to today's web standards. That old grayish silver is very 90's. Best of luck!

**jamestl2** · 09-30-2009, 10:45 PM

I changed the theme everyone, let me know how it looks now.

Also, for the time being, I took down the logo, just replaced it with the site title, until I figure out just what I want to do in that regard.

**serandfae** · 09-30-2009, 11:04 PM

Looks a lot more polished. I would try putting just some graphics in, perhaps some screenshot thumbnails of Wordpress themes, for example. Nothing too elaborate, and not a LOT of graphics, mind you, but one or two. You might consider, too, keeping the title typeface for Wordpress Mountain and doing some kind of smaller logo to the left of it. The foreground works, perhaps experiment with different backgrounds just to try some different things?

tim

**jamestl2** · 09-30-2009, 11:47 PM

Thanks Tim,

Once I actually start to create some custom themes down the road, I know I'll definitely want to create some screenshots and demos of them in use. And concerning the title, you think I should use the old typeface I was using for the previous logo? (Because the one I'm using now is actually the wordpress.org font, Mrs. Eaves.)

**serandfae** · 10-01-2009, 12:03 AM

No, no, keep the typeface you're using now. I think that you might want to put a different, smaller logo to the left of that title.

tim