SITE REVIEW: http://thenitelite.net

Unlike many of you guys, I'm sorta' new to the HTML/Website design carte'. I'm just learning Flash and Java, so I need to know what you guys think of thenitelite.net in terms of layout/design and use of JavaScript. Along with Java is PHP, which is scaring the crap outta' me but I still gotta' learn it. Thanks for the input!

thenitelite.net

***NEW*** Sneak unoffical peak at new design

Please vote in the poll and tell me what you think of the new layout that will be coming at the end of the month (or sooner)

Woo Very nice!!! I like it a lot, but from the minimilistic journalist that I am the center column is a bit text heavy! Just picking tho, looks great, and I don't know jack about layout for journalism (I can be pretty convincing tho!). I like the page as it isn't extremely graphic intence, but the graphics you have add a lot! Also it might be a good idea to imbed the photogalleries instead of having them as a popup, not sure how much reworking that would take.

Great site all and all!

I personally like it a lot, I particularly like the focus on 3 primary colors (black, red, white), so it works for me.

The only thing, and I don't know if this is just a problem with me, is that I don't like 'fixed size' pages so much, though I know in journalism/newspapers this becomes a layout problem. On this note, I might 'center' the fixed content on the page instead of leaving it to the left of the browser window.

Of general interest, there's been recent research in computer graphics that will redesign such a journalism layout for you and keep the aesthetics...don't hold your breath, but in a few years we can expect browsers to automatically adjust layout according to general design rules.

Thanks for the help, is there anything that I should improve on? design, font, graphics, format, layout, etc?

I did justify the columns, making it easier to read and seperate. -and- I centered the whole layout, which -does- make it look MUCH better. Thanks for the suggestions guys! Keep 'em comin'!

Hmm. Maybe some more weight at the bottom of the page? Visually, the page ends rather abruptly. Perhaps a short strip of design like you have at the top, but something subtle.

PS. Now that the site is centered, the fixed width doesn't bother me so much

The layout is funky, the black and white stripes get a little getting used to though, but that's just me....

The stripes are not suppost to be black and white...
the hex#787878 is suppost to be a shade of grey, a bit darker than the city skyline on the menu...

Is your color calibration for the monitor set correctly?

For me its grey and black but it definitely works the eye some. You should try decreasing the contrast between the two colors and see what effect that has for your background. It will still have the striping effect but it might be a softer look then which doesn't strain the eye as much. Anyway you should give it a shot and see what it would look like.

The site looks very professional. It's got some great content that's easy to navigate and the color scheme makes the pages flow smoothly from one to another. You've done a great job with it and I'll be sure to check back on it to see your updates.

Yeah I was thinking about that while looking at it. It's a bit harsh compaired to the rest, but what would you recommend? letting up on the black some, so that they are two different shades of grey (one being darker than the other) or keep the black and make the grey darker...

ugh, the choices of a webmaster! Grrr

Ok, I removed the striping background for now and changed the background color scheme to something a bit darker shade of grey. Untill I have some ideas on the background I guess this will have to do. Anyone have an idea for the background? maybe a fixed image of some sorts?

Well I would try both and see what it looks like. First try a black background with maybe dark grey stripes. Then try a two shaded background where the contrast between the greys are not too great.

Also I was just thinking about your white text on your black background on your site. The contrast is really high there too which for me it makes it slightly strainful on the eyes. Instead of making your font color "white" you should try making it offwhite by using something like "#cccccc" for the color. Try it out, you might like it.

I only said black and "white" as a generalisation.... didn't mean it was actually white.... sorry for any confusion there....

The new background is much better on the eyes btw....

I'd use a font east to read, like Tahoma.

New Deal guys--

I'll let you guys in on an unofficial preview of the new style. Let me know if this is better, worse, or the same to the original. I don't want everyone to know about this, except the people on this board -- being this is a webmaster forum. Official debut is going to be around holloween. I appreciate everyone taking the time to visit and thank you goes to those who leave ideas/constructive critisim. It helps!

thenitelite.net revision v3.0
-and-
thenitelite.net old version v2.0

Thanks guys!