SITE REVIEW: A need to know

Don't worry about the broken links in the forthcoming link (I'll re-adjust those if I use it).

Keeping in mind my intent is for high tech users, does this dhtml menu system attract you long enough to toy with it, or is it a no-go:

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It really caught my attention and spent the bulk of the day fixing an IE glitch with it.

Then take it from the perspective of a common user and consider this will be the first page they see in order to get to the site map menu:

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Bottom line is I finally am taking some time to redo my site. I have no intention of wanting it to be a normal site. I want it to be attention grabbing and off-the-wall (so to speak).

Kinda cute... a lil annoying after a while though

Also, you might want to include text nav across the bottom of the page for those that have JS disabled, or text browsers

I noticed that. I also noticed that after I fixed the IE problem, it inadvertantly fixed a color problem I hadn't noticed in Firefox. On expanded menus the "dot" is supposed to change to a silver color. Prior to my fix it wasn't., Now it does, however, some menus are overlapping and I guess next I need to stretch those a bit.

The use of the menu isn't written in stone. I just found it attractive enough that I'm seriously considering using it, so additional negative feedback why I shouldn't is just as usefull as why I should.

I dont get the point of choosing red or blue since you clearly have to chose red anyway. The menu is nice works in IE and Firefox but NOT in netscape so I agree with Axe that you should add a text nav omewhere on the page, or make it netscape compatible, but then again there are users with JS diabled and text browsers etc.

For reference, what version of Netscape, so I can check?

The red or blue thing is just a bit of Matrix humor.

Netscape Communicator 4.8. I know its not the newest but i use it because i got used to the composer that comes with it.


I get that its from the matrix, it was amusing because of course i chose wrong the first time, need more practice making right choices

Hmm...the script appears to account for NS 4.x but I can't see the problem (not too concerned about that though...it's way outdated and I gave up on it long ago). I just checked in Mozilla 1.7 and cool there. I'll have to download NS 7.1 tomorrow since I don't have it currently installed. The only real things I'm lacking are views of MAC's Safari and Opera. I'm guessing Opera will work, but not sure about Safari.

Additional note: if I decide to do this menu, I'll add either text links or a link to a text sitemap. Will need to study the script a bit more to incorporate the status bar info.

I think its a really neat idea, but I think the main problem visually is how clustered everything seems after clicking on a sub-menu. Theres not much visual interest to begin with and such simplicity screams out BLAND...theres much potential here though if this were to be pushed farther - its a hell of a start though, I like it personally and I think your audience "..intent is for high tech users.." would find it attractive.

This actually gives me an idea for a flash navigation, one where a submenu would break off somehow and be zoomed in on and kept getting zoomed in on until the desired content was retrieved...hmmm

I like the whole matrix appropriation though.

I use IE, but the first time i entered, the menu went to the left corner, and when I clicked the menu, everything became clattered and squashed. I don't know what happened there.

But the second time I tried it, it worked fine. The only problem I don't like about it, is that you have to be precise and click the square, but the square is so small!

That's my advice. The Matrix thing was a bit wierd and pointless, but in a way; it was a bit funny. Nice work!

thanks mr_darek. Your flash idea is an interesting one. I haven't attempted to customize the menu other than fix the errors yet. But the way I'm reading it, I think it's entirely possible to "hide" the submenu system and only show the active one. Plus, it may even be possible to reposition the active ones and "enlarge" them. Sadly javascript is not my forte, but it might be interesting to attempt to modify it for such features.

Hey ATNO,

I realize that the site is nowhere near completion but figured I'd mention them anyways. Some things I caught:

- I tested your site in the following browsers (all latest releases): IE, NS, FF & Opera. They all work perfectly except for Opera. The dots don't appear at all. I've got a MAC here if you want me to check it out. Just let me know.

- I really like the menu! Cool effect.

- Don't forget your keywords & site description (I'm sure you'll implement it later though right?)

- Have you thought about linking to your js as an external file? I think it may or may not later on speed up your site (once more content is added) and clean up the code.

- One more thing, I tested it at various resolutions and when it was tested on 800x600 on both MAC & PC, the sub categories get mumbled together. Your site is scalable but the menus don't seem to have enough room to display at large resolutions. This only occurs on 640 & 800 resos though. So you may want to look into that.

Otherwise good work

Thanks for the tips. I am aware of the lower res looking cluttered. And truthfully, I haven't even played with the menu to set up my own links (those listed in the menu are the ones that came on the download. They will not be the links I'll be using at all.)

Primarily I was after feedback on whether people liked it, and whether it was practical to use. So far everyone's observations have been great!

The menu is cool and nice but after a while it's really annoying. Anyways...it's cool. Just gets annoying esp after and it can also get confusing.

Thanks for all the feedback folks. I decided from your comments and my experiments not to use that one. Just can't get it to look "uncluttered". I removed the links to avoid indexing. Thanks again.