SITE REVIEW: steve`s site

this is my site, ive tried to make it as simple as possible to navigate, but im not sure about the main menu. the idea was that i made a humor site with funny video`s texts etc. family friendly and all that. i know the main logo at the top is missing, i`m still working on that.
what do you think?
(any comments on the content would also be welcome.)

http://www.stephen-hunter.com

thanx

steve0

hi there

Some comments:

Your mouseover script works flawlessly in IE but in all the other browsers I tested (FF, NS & Opera - all latest versions of course) the script doesn't look the same as in IE. You should make sure you're using a cross browser compliant script. Same goes for the top right hand scrolling temperature thingy, a bg colour appears in IE but not the other browsers.

Also the mouseover colour on the titles in the middle frame are not very visible against the red text. I'd suggest changing the blue mouseover colour or getting rid of it all together.

I think you should move your login info up to the top.

Are you going to name your site something else besides "steve's site"?

Good contact section!

Great use of keywords!!!

i didnt think of that.
"steve`s site" does sound a bit boring i guess, though i have no idea what else to name it.
any suggestions?
as for the browser problems, i have a problem in firefox too with the streaming video`s. they... well.. simply dont work because firefox doesnt support activeX. ive been struggling with this for a while and have come to the conclusion that as most people use explorer, i`ll just stick with that until mozilla etc. come up with a plugin that supports it.
ithe only other way around it is to convert all the streaming video clips from .MWV to .MOV (which increases the filesize like nobodys buisness, i also loose quality.
i reckon therefore, i`ll just stick with embedded .wmv

CHEERS

Steve0

Why are you forcing embedded videos on people? I think the only people that do that anymore are porn sites.

As for the site, it is a little crowded, even on 1024x768. I don't even want to imagine it on anything smaller!

You have this in your keywords: "&amp." Why?

You need to optimize your code! Your site takes ~17 seconds to load on a 56k modem! The total size of your external CSS is 8381 bytes! Cut it down by hand coding/optimizing! Mambo doesn't optimize very well! Your home page alone is 32kb! My site's main page is only 5kb! OPTIMIZE YOUR SITE TO LOAD FASTER! The total size of your home page, including the images etc. is 86kb!
The template is alright, but if you are gonna use a template, Why not use one that really works?

firstly, ive found that people prefer embedded video, if it was normal video with service pack 2, instead of the video opening in the window on the left hand side, you would get a message asking if you wanted to open the file, or save it to disk.
you can get around that with explorer setting, but for the average joe who doesnt want to be messing with his system just to view one site, i found this was the best solution.
yes, the front page is a bit crowded, im going to get rid of a couple of modules and maybe make the section icons smaller too.
the words"&amp." in the keywords, is a bug, ive tried to remove it loads of times, but i cant seem to erase it, i just goes back to the way it was.
as far as customising my code goes, thats easier said than done seeing as im not a programmer. that was why oi chose mambo, so that i wouldnt have to deal with that.
any tips on how i might do this?

"The template is alright, but if you are gonna use a template, Why not use one that really works?"

i dont understand???
why doesnt it work?

What are you using to code your site?

mambo does it all, i put the meta info in the backend under global. its weird, i`ll try adjusting it again in an hour or so when i have time

cheers

steve0

ok is that better?

I don't see any improvements visually. Looks the same as before. (Haven't looked at backend)

i adjusted the meta info and managed to get rid of that weird text..

thanx for all the hints and tips folx.
i will be working some more on it as soon as i get some time!!

cheers

steve0

I am at yours now. hmmm you would have to do something about your 'shout it ' box you have because you have a jerk in their running off family types with abusive language.

It appears all your buttons are in order and everything is in order. Good...looks like a lot of fun.
I will book mark this page but do something about the abusive language in the 'shout it' box or people will not want to read that.

otherwise-great website.

PS after reading the responses about your website from readers here. I am an amature....barley.

ok, yea, i just saw it, but i had a tracker running in the background, so know who it is. (and i think they do too)
thanx for letting me know, and thanx for the feedback, ive only been doing this for a few months and the site is no where near what i want it to be. i guess its all practice and trial and error.
the shout it box should be (more or less) fixed now.

steve0

Because I am sure you would not want to go to a site to see profanities thrown around all the time and not where everyone can read it even if they are not trying to.

Good move to get rid of that problem.

Hey check out mine and give me your thoughts

http://www.roberttrevino.com

it aint bad mate, nice and simple.
a couple of things though, i would change the font colour fron red to black, and make the text window slightly bigger.
love the buttons though, and an online garage sale? brilliant idea!!
keep it up

steve0