New website for review, please

Tom vR · #1 05-08-2008, 11:24 PM

Hi,

I have created this website for a friend and would like your constructive comments, reviews, ideas, opinion about general look and feel and all the usual, please. (I still have to do a couple of small things like Term and Conditions, Accommodation photos, Gallery, News and Upcoming Events).

http://www.renkalec.co.za/

Many thanks

Lcoisas · #2 05-08-2008, 11:29 PM

Hi Tom,

In my modest oppinion, it looks great.
Nice colour scheme, professional look.
I think you've made a great job!

Just one small sugestion:

Why dont you center the text
Upcoming News and Events
(link coming soon)

I believe it would look good.

Congratulations once again!
Susana
http://www.imperiodocha.com

Tom vR · #3 05-08-2008, 11:31 PM

Thank you Susana,

I will do that. Much appreciated.

whiteshepherd · #4 05-09-2008, 12:18 AM

Hi Tom ... it looks great ... my main comment would be the website is mostly written in the passive voice and is verbose. this makes it hard work to read ... I have given a couple of examples to show you what I mean ...

Electrical Trade Test Preparation
This course will prepare the learner to complete his (it should be gender neutral) Electrical Trade Test successfully. The content of this course is fully aligned with the Trade Test and will provide the learner with the necessary skills to complete all the tasks as prescribed by Department of Labour.

Put in the time to prepare for your Electrical Trade Test. Renkalec Training Centre offers this course to provide you with the skills to complete your trade test in line with Department of Labour requirements.

Full time option
A period of 4 weeks is required to prepare the candidate.

four weeks full-time - Monday to Thursday (09:00 to 17:00)
- Friday (09:00 to 14:00)

Should the assessment not follow directly after the course, a two week revision period will be provided. (why would assessment not immediately follow is the question that pops into my head when I read this. I would think this would be something told to students on their first day or as part of their enrolment?)

Something I would expect to find under course description is a list of the skills I can expect to learn ... everything is very vague and the overview is not expanded on from the jump page ... it does not provide clear information of what the learning outcomes are ... only Department of Labour requirements ... a lot of people may not know what they are ... etc ... and this may alienate those who don't ...

Keep up the good work ...

PlayItByBeer · #5 05-09-2008, 01:01 AM

Hi Tommie,

Looking good and ahead of time... a couple of comments:

I think you are giving valuable home page space to 'where are we' when you have a 'location page'
Your page titles contain no keywords
I feel the 'tell a friend' button is out of place and detracting from sites look IMO. Because of this there are loads of fast movements catching the eye while the visitors are trying to read (consider slowing the slideshow down a little)
Spelling in the main headline "elecrical"
On the 'about us' page the VH link is overlapping proudly SA and I'm not sure about the weather on the page.
The office location page template is shorter than the other pages and the VH link is lonely at the bottom of the page.
In the department of labour links there is a missing space between &Safety
The 'contact' on the accommodations page should be in bold

Will be checking back often to watch it grow. Well Done

Cheers,

PlayItByBeer · #6 05-09-2008, 01:22 AM

Trying hard to stay away from my latest site and I found a whole new section to yours. LOL

On the cw-installation_rules page the picture is behind your table. The marquee on this page is really fast and not very easy to read.
On your course catalogue 'read more' sections consider a back to course catalogue button or next course button.
The Single(-) and Three- Phase looks out of place.

OK time to work.
Cheers,

Tom vR · #7 05-09-2008, 06:08 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by whiteshepherd

Hi Tom ... it looks great ... my main comment would be the website is mostly written in the passive voice and is verbose. this makes it hard work to read ... I have given a couple of examples to show you what I mean ...

Electrical Trade Test Preparation
This course will prepare the learner to complete his (it should be gender neutral) Electrical Trade Test successfully. The content of this course is fully aligned with the Trade Test and will provide the learner with the necessary skills to complete all the tasks as prescribed by Department of Labour.

Put in the time to prepare for your Electrical Trade Test. Renkalec Training Centre offers this course to provide you with the skills to complete your trade test in line with Department of Labour requirements.

Full time option
A period of 4 weeks is required to prepare the candidate.

four weeks full-time - Monday to Thursday (09:00 to 17:00)
- Friday (09:00 to 14:00)

Should the assessment not follow directly after the course, a two week revision period will be provided. (why would assessment not immediately follow is the question that pops into my head when I read this. I would think this would be something told to students on their first day or as part of their enrolment?)

Something I would expect to find under course description is a list of the skills I can expect to learn ... everything is very vague and the overview is not expanded on from the jump page ... it does not provide clear information of what the learning outcomes are ... only Department of Labour requirements ... a lot of people may not know what they are ... etc ... and this may alienate those who don't ...

Keep up the good work ...

Thank you Whiteshepherd for taking the time to read as thorough as you did. I agree and will convey your message to the site owner who provided the content. Your feedback is really appreciated.

Collectors-info · #8 05-09-2008, 06:39 AM

Hi Tom, have you checked you site in FF. I am getting a couple of odd things, but wanted to make sure it isn't my FF browser playing up. IE: the header image is not showing fully in FF & feels like it want to come to the front. (A bit like that problem we have had with the menues going behind things).
And on this page
The table seems to be over the top of the small image of the guy working.
But the site is looking good & will have a good look when you see if your seeing the same as me in FF.

Cheers.

Tom vR · #9 05-09-2008, 06:44 AM

Hi Andrew,
Regarding your first post (copied), my comments in BLUE:

Quote:
Looking good and ahead of time... a couple of comments:

I think you are giving valuable home page space to 'where are we' when you have a 'location page'
Will talk to the owner, but yes, I agree.
Your page titles contain no keywords (Oooops, thanks, I will fix)
I feel the 'tell a friend' button is out of place and detracting from sites look IMO. (Owner wanted an animated TAF. I would prefer a text link right on top of the header area, but I will see him this morning).
Because of this there are loads of fast movements catching the eye while the visitors are trying to read (consider slowing the slideshow down a little) (Thanks, I will slow it down. Wanted to use script to advance manually, but time is limited and so the budget, lol).
Spelling in the main headline "elecrical" (Oops, thanks)
On the 'about us' page the VH link is overlapping proudly SA (First thing I noticed when I viewd site this morning on big screen) and I'm not sure about the weather on the page. (Maybe I should move it to the accommodation page)
The office location page template is shorter than the other pages and the VH link is lonely at the bottom of the page. (Also noticed this morning, thanks anyway)
In the department of labour links there is a missing space between &Safety (Thanks)
The 'contact' on the accommodations page should be in bold (end quote) (Thanks).

Thanks a million Andrew. So, still work to be done, lol.

Tom vR · #10 05-09-2008, 06:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PlayItByBeer

Trying hard to stay away from my latest site and I found a whole new section to yours. LOL

On the cw-installation_rules page the picture is behind your table. The marquee on this page is really fast and not very easy to read.
On your course catalogue 'read more' sections consider a back to course catalogue button or next course button.
The Single(-) and Three- Phase looks out of place.

OK time to work.
Cheers,

Hi Andrew,
The picture behind the table was intentional, lol. Don't like it?
I wanted to add a back to catelogue button. Bump....
I will fix the hyphen.

Thanks again Andrew for much appreciated tips from an expert.

Tom vR · #11 05-09-2008, 07:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collectors-info

Hi Tom, have you checked you site in FF. I am getting a couple of odd things, but wanted to make sure it isn't my FF browser playing up. IE: the header image is not showing fully in FF & feels like it want to come to the front. (A bit like that problem we have had with the menues going behind things).
And on this page
The table seems to be over the top of the small image of the guy working.
But the site is looking good & will have a good look when you see if your seeing the same as me in FF.

Cheers.

Hi Chris.
Thanks for the feedback. Yes, I have viewed it in FF regularly, but it seems there is a problem now with the header image. Same with the Proudly South African logo. Thanks for spotting this.
The image behind the tabe was intentional and thought it looks great, but it seems both you and Andrew don't like this idea that much???

Thanks again and have a good one.

Collectors-info · #12 05-09-2008, 07:13 AM

Ah! i thought it was my machine & wouldn't be giving you a correct review. On the table part i thought you have given the poor fellow the Mandela treatment. (Free him) lol.

Collectors-info · #13 05-09-2008, 07:43 AM

Hi, some of the things bellow might be just ways of saying things in different areas of the world. But I noticed the word “Learner” used quite often & wasn’t sure if student is a better word. Haven’t seen this word used before? But as a was saying it maybe different parts of the world.

On many of the pages there are 3 things moving around which is a bit distracting when reading.

Might be an idea to have a page for purchasing up to date books & guides/regulations for electrical installations.
In the UK we are on the 17th addition of this guide & is quite often updated every year or two. (Might be some extra income)

Another small thing with FF. This image http://www.renkalec.co.za/proudly-south-african.jpg is partly hidden behind one of the shapes.

But otherwise a good looking site with fast loading pages. (Well done)

Tom vR · #14 05-09-2008, 08:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Collectors-info

Hi, some of the things bellow might be just ways of saying things in different areas of the world. But I noticed the word “Learner” used quite often & wasn’t sure if student is a better word. Haven’t seen this word used before? But as a was saying it maybe different parts of the world.

On many of the pages there are 3 things moving around which is a bit distracting when reading.

Might be an idea to have a page for purchasing up to date books & guides/regulations for electrical installations.
In the UK we are on the 17th addition of this guide & is quite often updated every year or two. (Might be some extra income)

Another small thing with FF. This image http://www.renkalec.co.za/proudly-south-african.jpg is partly hidden behind one of the shapes.

But otherwise a good looking site with fast loading pages. (Well done)

Thanks for the feedback Chris,
Okay, I will free the chappy from behind the table. You have convinced me. I will have a look into the regulations part and talk to the customer about that.
Lastly, what do you think about the tables I use on the course pages? You think its better than using text boxes? Does it interfere with the general look and feel of the site?