New look for an old site

[tibberous]

Sorry for posting while I already have one post on this board but I really need to know what you guys think of this. My comany has been working on the site PVEI for some time and I decided it was time for a change. You can see the old version at :

www.pvei.com

Anyway, here is the new version.

http://www.pvei.com/NewPVEI

I tried to add more color and make it look more professional. Interestingly, it's acctualy smaller than the old version thats to the new graphics compression in Paint Shop Pro 8 and a lot of tweeking.

The site only consists of one page, the content is loaded from PHP. I didn't do any content, it was all wrote up in FrontPage :'(

Anyway, If you guys like it I'll go ahead and update it over the old version.

Thanks a ton, Hope you like it

Trent

[Delerium]

Old page - EEK!!! (1 out of 5)

New version - improvement.... however...

1. Font size - maybe reduce it a tad - just find it overwhelming right now

2. Nav menu - I think it needs improvement from your design - perhaps more graphical or better rollovers

3 out of 5 :classic:

[Wired]

Originally posted by tibberous
Sorry for posting while I already have one post on this board but I really need to know what you guys think of this.

No apologies necessary, IMHO they're completely fine.

As for the improvement, it is marginally better. The font size is ok, but you might want to look into changing the font itself.

[tibberous]

What do you think I should change the font to? I am generally afraid to use named fonts because of platform inconsistancies, so I normally use either serif or sans-serif. Realise that the font is not big, it just looks big because sans-serif font is larger by default, plus it often times either weighted or kerned. I think I might lower the font size in the nav menu to 10pt serif and get rid of the kerning, which would at least let every entry have it's own line. I could lower the body font too but I think putting it below the default value (100%) could cause problems. I don't want it to look bad but I suppose it's better the have it to big than to small.

If anyone has any opinions on how I should do this please share. I never know whether to use pt or %. Pt is bad because I don't think it can resize, and % is bad because it can (I don't want 125px high text in my 100px table just because somones browser is set to blind mans font). Somtimes I think it would just be easier to convert the whole thing to a pdf...

or a bitmap...

Thanks for the comments.

[splufdaddy]

The new design is better, but could use some improvement. The text in the banner is hard to read, and the page's background is too "busy" for me. I have a large resolution so I see more of it than others, but it's still too distracting for my liking. Also, the American flag background behind the "Videos and Literature" section is cool, but makes the text impossible to read.

I like the navigation. A better font may improve it, or even using images so you can choose your own font. There are more important pieces to work on than the font though, IMO.

[nsr81]

"verdana, arial, helvetica, sans-serif" That's the usual order in which I used them. Meaning if first one is missing, browser should try the next one in the list rather than making its own substitution. I use px for font sizes. verdana at 10px or 11px looks perfect.

Also, break your content on the newer version into two paragraphs. That'll make it easier to read.

[Delerium]

What Nsr81 said, although even a 12px font will work

[palmer]

WHen i visited it just now the banner was dead, the php include failed and your nav image was dead.

BUT i agree with everyone on the font. Smaller --> 10-11px.

Ill check back later to see if its working fully.

[tibberous]

It would appear that one of my assoates has went ahead and completed the update. The old version is gone, the new version in at :

http://www.pvei.com

It also has a few changes as far as font size goes, I think I am going to do as nsr81 said. Hopefully then I'll be safe.

[splufdaddy]

In Mozilla Firebird, your whole site is left aligned. Might want to look into that. Screenshot attached.