TalkPHP - Heratheim Works

TalkPHP (http://www.talkphp.com/forums.php)

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- - Heratheim Works (http://www.talkphp.com/show-off/4756-heratheim-works.html)

I have released 3rd edition of my website.... hope you like it.
I could use any tips,help, bug finding and etc.. in order to improve it....

http://www.heratheimworks.ath.cx

I like the 2003'ish design. :P

But i recommend to use a bit less grey. Grey is a color that always fits with any other color, but it's also a pretty boring color. Get another color to make the greyish break.

Take TalkPHP for example, a lot of grey is used here. But because they use orange it looks a lot better. Imagine the orange gone and you'll understand what im saying :)

No more replies? :-/

Get rid of the flash navigation, it's bad for SEO and I can't see the URL I'm going to visit before I click the button!

Your site is failing to load so I cannot give you comments.

yeah, i had some problems... :-/ now it's ok... tell me what you think ;-)

Flash is bad, it doesn't work for text readers/mobile browsers. (A mobile site would suffice for the later).
The overall site load is pretty slow:
1. gzip the files
2. Use CSS sprites, compress images.
Do [black, gray, white, lime, orange, [dark blue, light blue]] really go with each other? I wonder how it would look with out the green (orange and blue match very well).
Is the comment form really a PM box that is linked with the forum? If so it is really nice.
The text seems just a tad small and the font-face could be changed.
Your Google Analytics code should really go on the bottom (just before the end of </body>, Page on why it will also speed up the page load.
Tables? Maybe try using <div>'s?
You seem to have a LOT of [IF IE x] conditional statements, this will slow page rendering. I would recommend JavaScript or PHP selective parsing. (Use JS or PHP to print/do specific things based on the browser, they are faster.)
You're using HTML elements that are:
1. Going to be deprecated in HTML5 (<font>).
2. Can be replaced with <span>'s and CSS.
Oh, you don't have a doctype.
Always, Always fill in the alt="" attributes, they are used by screen readers or if your images go offline/[server, client] can't load them.

Overall: 6.5/10
You clearly have a grasp on what you've done, it seems that you are just a little behind in the current technologies (5,6,7[,8],9[,11]). The site is NOT bad, I just think it could be modified a little.

My $0.02.
- Adam

*EDIT* Formatting issues.

Quote:

The overall site load is pretty slow

Actually the site loaded pretty quickly for me and I'm on dial-up. This could however be partially because the flash is already in my cache.

Quote:

You seem to have a LOT of [IF IE x] conditional statements, this will slow page rendering. I would recommend JavaScript or PHP selective parsing. (Use JS or PHP to print/do specific things based on the browser, they are faster.)

I disagree with this, I think that using the [IF IE x] statements is much more reliable than the javascript or php alternatives. However, you could get rid of them completely if you removed the flash banner and navigation. ;-)

Quote:

Originally Posted by ETbyrne (Post 27647)

Actually the site loaded pretty quickly for me and I'm on dial-up. This could however be partially because the flash is already in my cache.

I disagree with this, I think that using the [IF IE x] statements is much more reliable than the javascript or php alternatives. However, you could get rid of them completely if you removed the flash banner and navigation. ;-)

Yea I disagree with that last comment, I do however agree with the flash comments.
Although it is possible to make seo friendly flash it is however a nightmare for accessibility.

Thanks for comments... if some one can explain me the problems of flash and seo :-!

Quote:

Originally Posted by HERATHEIM (Post 27656)

Thanks for comments... if some one can explain me the problems of flash and seo :-!

Site crawlers only read text, so if you have a menu in HTML:

HTML Code:

<nav>

 <a href="/">Home</a>

 <a href="/about">About</a>

</nav>

The crawler can read and access those links. If your nav is hidden in flash all it sees is a .swf file, so it will ignore it and move down the page. For all it knows the .swf could be a movie, nav, blank, game, ect...

Plus flash is [slow, clunky, requires plugins, crap]. Most users don't like flash, they prefer Ajax. (But only if it is on things like forms or tabs.