Feedback please?

[Diablo_]

Hey people I am in the process of creating a fan/community site for Test Drive Unlimited. This is my own wee personal project and I am a one man band in doing this but it will teach me alot and give me something for my portfolio.

Anyway this is a design concept I have created for the homepage, I am realy liking this one and think I will continue with it.

removed
Shown with test background also: http://www.testdriveunlimitedcentral.com/default.php

Sorry for the specimen labels, I've been stung in the past so I like to take precautions.

If this is against the rules please remove, I only wan't feedback so that I'm not changing something later which I could easily do just now. There will be other buttons for forums, links and contact etc... (The silver navigation button is to show how it looks when viewing a section and also when you rollover it with your mouse. )

Thanks !

6 days to go woohoo !

[DeltaRouge]

very good, like alot. good frontpage

[craigie22]

yeah very good

a good community site that isnt a club

well done diablo :)

[F250GTO]

I like it man, looks quite original. What sort of work are you doing to need a portfolio, web design or graphics...?

Background is smart and the graphics in the banner at the top are good too. Big tup: from me.

[Bingham67]

Very good nice job. :)

[PsychoM666]

i like it presonaly love to see the WHOLE thing done lol 10sur10

[Girrari]

Great site! You should definately carry on.

[tenebra_uk]

My feedback is that since you're still ignoring my pleas to stop posting big pics, there is a strong chance that I'm going to have picture posting disabled in the forum. Do you guys really want that?

[Diablo_]

Sorry tenebra I never realised that was an issue as I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere or I've missed it, but, I do understand what you're saying so I do apologise for that. When you say "you're" do you mean me specifically or us the members? :mefiant:

Again sorry.

Thanks everyone else for the positive replies, I will definitely continue with this, I just got to sketch and layout the other pages now and then the fun and frustrating part starts, getting it coded, making it cross browser and cross format compliant and then scripting it all... oh fun times ahead indeed !

oh ..portfolio, yeah I want to do webdesign, I hate my job and have always been interested in design so trying to get a folio together which could result in me doing a job I enjoy.

Later!

[KoenigViper]

It looks great, Diablo. Let me know when it's fully done. I'll be sure to register to the forums if you get them up. :)

[F250GTO]

oh ..portfolio, yeah I want to do webdesign, I hate my job and have always been interested in design so trying to get a folio together which could result in me doing a job I enjoy.

There's nothing better than working for yourself m8, this would be an option with skill like that.

I might have some paid work for your portfolio after christmas aswell if your interested. ;)

It makes a change to see an original layout too. Best of luck with it.

[herr_lehmann]

looks very good! the writing could be a tad bigger though.

[FordGTGuy]

Sorry tenebra I never realised that was an issue as I haven't seen it mentioned anywhere or I've missed it, but, I do understand what you're saying so I do apologise for that. When you say "you're" do you mean me specifically or us the members? :mefiant:

Again sorry.

Thanks everyone else for the positive replies, I will definitely continue with this, I just got to sketch and layout the other pages now and then the fun and frustrating part starts, getting it coded, making it cross browser and cross format compliant and then scripting it all... oh fun times ahead indeed !

oh ..portfolio, yeah I want to do webdesign, I hate my job and have always been interested in design so trying to get a folio together which could result in me doing a job I enjoy.

Later!

hey diablo what are the chances we could advertise each others websites. I'm also part of squadxp who might advertise you to.

Thanks,
FordGTGuy.

[Diablo_]

looks very good! the writing could be a tad bigger though.The user will be able to choose the size of their text and if they are regisitered save it for the future. I'm looking to make it fairly user friendly and interactive also.
hey diablo what are the chances we could advertise each others websites. I'm also part of squadxp who might advertise you to.

Thanks,
FordGTGuy.Very probable mate, I haven't forgot about the clubs, don't worry I'll have a section for them where you can post your roster, keep people upto date and even receive join requests if you wish. I am just jotting ideas down for phase 2 and 3 as I go along. lol

[FordGTGuy]

The user will be able to choose the size of their text and if they are regisitered save it for the future. I'm looking to make it fairly user friendly and interactive also.
Very probable mate, I haven't forgot about the clubs, don't worry I'll have a section for them where you can post your roster, keep people upto date and even receive join requests if you wish. I am just jotting ideas down for phase 2 and 3 as I go along. lol

awesome man, I've wanted to see a TDU Central i'm very happy your making it! If you need any help just ask.

mdr1 10sur10

BTW what program are you using to design the site?

[Diablo_]

awesome man, I've wanted to see a TDU Central i'm very happy your making it! If you need any help just ask.

mdr1 10sur10

BTW what program are you using to design the site?
Photoshop then I'll slice and then handcode it hopefully to web standards. Been reading about accessibility also as well as makiing sites for portable media. This site will either help me or kill me. lol

[herr_lehmann]

The user will be able to choose the size of their text and if they are regisitered save it for the future. I'm looking to make it fairly user friendly and interactive also.
that sounds like a great idea.

[FordGTGuy]

Photoshop then I'll slice and then handcode it hopefully to web standards. Been reading about accessibility also as well as makiing sites for portable media. This site will either help me or kill me. lol

well like my friend told me never launch a site that isn't ready because if someone comes and doesn't like it at first they aren't going to come again.

[Diablo_]

well like my friend told me never launch a site that isn't ready because if someone comes and doesn't like it at first they aren't going to come again.
Exactly so launch date is expected this time next year. lol

[F250GTO]

well like my friend told me never launch a site that isn't ready because if someone comes and doesn't like it at first they aren't going to come again.

I agree with that but there are exceptions to this rule. For instance if you have a useful product which people can't get anywhere else they will come back. Or if you have a product which is cheaper then anywhere else they will advise their friends to go there. Content based websites need to function well and be easy on the eye, a bit of style helps here, I think Diablo is onto a winner with this one myself, it's easily recognisable and unique in the layout already, if you make it easy for people to navigate along with some decent content there's no reason why it won't work. If you have a product the main rule is to make it as easy as possible for them to buy something. So by this I mean the less amount of clicks/time to find and purchase something the better, also it has to be made as easy as possible for them to pay. It's a little like a highstreet but the next shop isn't 30-60 secs and 50 paces away, it's 2 clicks or a couple of seconds. If they find something more difficult than they agree with they hit back rather sharpish. I'll stop babbling on now but you see what I mean, there's alot to it. I agree with the statement mind, there's no excuse to not have a decent website. It's worth spending some money to get it done properly, you'll make this back before long and then the website becomes an income generating asset. :)