update of haemochromatosis.org.au

You should post your code inside the comment and a link to the site would be helpful also. I think that the secondary navigation on the right column looks weird. The column is either too wide or the links are not wide enough (looks unbalanced). Also think the background gradient doesn't blend together very well. Try making it longer. You can tell where the gradient ends and the bg color begins. The layout looks neat enough.

1. , this should be your h1.

2.

3.

4.

, why is this in a div? You are using too many divs.

5. Home Why is this an when you dont have through anywhere?

6. You are using the tag incorrectly. These should be

7. , why these 's? just add margin to the through CSS like this... hr {margin: 5px 0;}

8. If you have alot of CSS that shares the same stuff like below...

#hilight {
font-family : "Times New Roman", serif;
font-style : italic;
font-size : 32pt;
font-weight : 900;
line-height : 40px;
position : absolute;
color : white;
z-index : 1;
}
#fill {
font-family : "Times New Roman", serif;
font-style : italic;
font-size : 32pt;
font-weight : 900;
line-height : 40px;
position : absolute;
left : 1px;
top : 1px;
color : #993333;
z-index : 3;
}
#dark {
font-family : "Times New Roman", serif;
font-style : italic;
font-size : 32pt;
font-weight : 900;
line-height : 40px;
position : absolute;
left : 2px;
top : 2px;
color : #993333;
z-index : 2;
}
#shadow {
font-family : "Times New Roman", serif;
font-style : italic;
font-size : 32pt;
font-weight : 900;
line-height : 40px;
position : absolute;
left : 4px;
top : 3px;
color : #c0c0c0;
z-index : 0;
}

You can save alot of typing and lines of code by simply doing this.

#hilight, #fill, #dark, #shadow {
font-family : "Times New Roman", serif;
font-style : italic;
font-size : 32pt;
font-weight : 900;
line-height : 40px;
position : absolute;
}
#hilight {
color : white;
z-index : 1;
}
#fill {
left : 1px;
top : 1px;
color : #993333;
z-index : 3;
}
#dark {
left : 2px;
top : 2px;
color : #993333;
z-index : 2;
}
#shadow {
left : 4px;
top : 3px;
color : #c0c0c0;
z-index : 0;
}

9. The XHTMl needs to be more meaningful and focus more on semantics.

10. Finally, the site looks boring. looks like something an 80 year-old dude did for his elderly home or something. Give me a reason to come back to this site, dont push me away.

Hope this helps. sorry if i was harsh.

Thanks FernE97 for taking the time to comment.
Yes, I agree with your comments about the graphical elements but I'm not sure how to fix the side nav col yet but it was not my main priority.
Now the site is up I can take more time to explore the alternatives for that col and improve the appearance down the track. I realise this is not the professional way of doing it but as a volunteer for a Non-profit organisation and self taught, it was the best I could manage in the time frame.
Thank you again,

lyndonaus

Thanks for your reply.
First, let me say that 18 mths ago I had no idea what CSS stood for or much about XHTML and I have found it a pretty steep learning curve. My aim for my code at the moment is for it to give the desired result, to be validated and function in as wide a cross section of browsers as possible.
In this I think I have been successful to a large degree and all pages are valid code, even if a bit messy, I achieved this mainly by trial and error and a lot of reading, not by knowing the niceties of semantic code. I think that will come with time!
Finally, your description of the site as boring is not surprising as it has specifically been designed to provide information to individuals who have the potentially fatal disorder, "haemochromatosis" (hemochromatosis, US spelling) and unless you have it I doubt that you would find the site of interest no matter what its format!
As this disorder tends to be diagnosed in the latter years, you were partially right in your comment: "looks like something an 80 year-old dude did for his elderly home or something.", but actually I'm only 69 and have never considered myself as a "dude" but I have the satisfaction of knowing that every day you are getting closer to that which you seem to treat with disdain: "mature years".
I sincerely thank you for your constructive comments on coding but for the rest - forget it!
lyndonaus

The site starts to degrade with a single text size increase.

Toejam in all honesty the reference to 'Dude' is never going to go down well with the majority of us or anyone come to think of it that hit thirty or over, which oddly is the majority of the established hands here.

I would be very careful in the reference to 'boring' there are a number of fundamental issues with the use of that expression, chief amongst them is the fact that to express boredom is to actually acknowledge ones own boringness, always be very careful in using this word. my father would get extremely angry if I or my sibling ever used the expression, as he always stated, "that is your problem, deal with it do something that isn't boring, expand your mind"

'Boring' in reference to sites is also fairly contentious, it is your opinion, and the issue is therefore raised as to the importance or relevance of that opinion. The web was designed to convey information and as such you may not refer to something that imparts that information as 'boring' if it achieves that end. The web was not intended as a showcase for graphic designers efforts - much as we may like nice pretty graphics.

I have looked at the site and it achieves what it needs to which is convey information, information for a specific group. Could it be 'jazzed up'? possibly; does it help with the purpose of the site? possibly but not in a hugely significant manner, I'm far more concerned that it imparts information in a clear and direct manner, that is accessible for all that require it, design is very much a secondary concern.

On the matter of age bear in mind that what you use 'The Internet' was primarily designed, conceived, and instigated by people that are well into their 60's now; Vint Cert - generally considered to be the father of the internet due to his work on the TCP/IP protocol - is 65 or thereabouts and still a huge active force in the IT world. With maturity comes experience born out of years of knowledge and understanding; any culture that dismisses it's senior members is one that ultimately is doomed, never never put down age not that you were I'm sure

I am 33. You're not old till you start acting old. I'm very young at heart

Wow, seriously. I'm not in your family, therfore can give a *** less about this comment. I have the right to express my opinion, as do you. If I want to use the word "boring", so be it. It's not your place to attck me on this.

I never said anything about the information the site provided.

ALL HAIL THE GREAT HUGO AND ALL OF HIS WISDOM!

You are very young in fact. I am nearly twice as old as you, and I remember the original sense of "dude" and I know why it is an insulting term regardless of the fact that the internet itself apparently does not remember. If you wish to learn why it is insulting I suggest you start by watching some Westerns from the 1940's and 1950's.

But you should know that the term was an insult when I grew up and I still see it as one as do many people not as old as me.

I didnt know that it was an insult 69 years ago. But that was 69 yars ago. Give me a break. It's not an insult these days. If you take it as an insult, it is not intended that way. If you take "dude" the wrong way, thats your problem. You guys need to get over it already.

Or perhaps you need to have some concern for how anyone else other than yourself feels.
The world does not revolve around you! It can't because it is already revolving about me!

Its not my problem how somebody perceives a VERY commonly used term in current years. I've already said I didnt intend on insulting anybody. It was simply a "site check". Stop blowing the issue out of praportion. It's not as big of a deal as you guys are making it out to be. Simply a misunderstanding. I'm done with this thread, there is nothing else I can say to help the situation.

get educated
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dude

Well as I said the web has forgotten, so the wikipedia article hardly impresses me. Putting things out of proportion? Well now you know that at least one or two other people find the use of "dude", when implied to them, to be insulting. You can govern yourself accordingly if you choose. Your all caps response to Hugo above, however, suggests that it is not I who is blowing things out of all proportion.

Two things to state about this thread.

1) Toejam, your h1 above does not need an id as there should only be one h1 per page, therefore youre body tag can use a class or id and then base the h1 off of that if it will be different on each page.

2) wikipedia is a relatively new invention that is open to edits by just about anyone, I would heed caution when using wikipedia and take all advice on it with a grain of salt until you can otherwise prove it from another few sources.

I am 33. You're not old till you start acting old. I'm very young at heart

Wow, seriously. I'm not in your family, therfore can give a *** less about this comment. I have the right to express my opinion, as do you. If I want to use the word "boring", so be it. It's not your place to attck me on this.

I never said anything about the information the site provided.

ALL HAIL THE GREAT HUGO AND ALL OF HIS WISDOM!

You're quite right, I'm just a tit :shrug:

Damnit Hugo! When are you ever going to learn your place?! }:)

Sorry lyndonaus,
Your topic has been partly lost to the bickering.
If you read between the lines there were some good hints.
Looks like you targeted the audience well.

Toejam your comments were a little harsh, but I think everything was blown out of proportion.

Let's try to move on and offer constructive criticism.

Yep well this was my fault for clearly an ill judged response, as for bickering that is not something I generally have a lot of time for :mad:

Hi Hugo,
I think lyndonaus straightened toejam out nicely with her reply.

Everyone should try to show respect to other members and to be careful when mentioning subjects such as age. It's hard to tell how old someone is by their avatar.

Anyway lets forget this incident and move on.

Wow, I didn't expect WW3 to break out over my web site, however I thank everyone for their input and I will sift the chaff from the grain and utilise the good stuff!
For the record Tony, I am a 69yr male retiree and also a Brisbanite.
Maybe if my wife lets me out you could teach an old dog some new stuff (currently trying to wrap my head around php).
lyndonaus

Are you saying you're not a child prodigy?

cheers,

gary

Actually, I'm a boy genius darn, make that "old boy genius" :rolleyes:
cheers,
lyndonaus

Hi Lyndonaus,
Just yesterday I met with some people who were keen to get the http://webstandardsgroup.org/ running meetings again in Brisbane. If your interested sign up and join the Brisbane mailing list so you are notified of the meetings. Web standards is a fairly broad topic, you should learn lots of interesting as well as css.

Perhaps you have changed it since November; all the same, the site looks nice. Excellent choice of color. Edit: I even went back to read more, thanks for the information (My brother is going through a liver thing now, we will be getting his test results back tomorrow). So, that proves, to me anyway, that your site is appropriate for its content; which, is the main function of any site.

The links to the right could be placed a little better, perhaps even with the top of the first heading (the h4 tag). The pipes between the horizontal nav bar, with the text, could be raised to center, it will balance it aesthetically.

The site validates html and the css - good start.

G'day Tony,
Thanks for that info I'm about to join to-day.
See you around.

Thanks for that jmdirc, on some monitors the colors are a little bit yuk!, but I have no control over the color management of the users' monitors and I wonder if other people have this problem?
I'm in the process of changing the side nav to improve its appearance.
Hope your brother's test results are helpful.
lyndonaus

Did anything concrete come out of that or do we need to wait and see?