my new homepage... any thoughts?

so anyway, I just created a new homepage. I just learned css today (and xhtml… not to mention i hadn’t used good old html4.0 for years), but it validates. I just want comments on the design, what do you guys think about colors/gfx/etc.

its here:
http://www.addertooth.net

oh, and the buttons don’t work yet… they just send you back to the home page… still wip.

thx for looking.

I think the W3C images in the bottom left are a bit much.

Nice site though, keep working on it.

Firefox and IE give other outputs of the header…

cheers

thx for the replies… yes, i do think the w3c logos are a bit much, i’ll remove them and maybe put just a little low-contrast text at the bottom.

I use only linux w/ firefox
could you please post a screenshot of how it looks in IE and Firefox (and opera if you have it) so I can work on the code? I don’t really have a way to see it in IE esp.

edit: i’m installing opera now, so no worries there, but i still need an IE screenie.

ok, I’ve reexamined my code.

i’m guessing in ie7 the nav bar is at the top of the page next to the title, with the last button, “contacts”, wrapping to the next line.

if this is the problem, blame microsoft for creating a non-standards-compliant browser.

xhtml1.0 does not allow two box borders to ‘collapse’ or become one horizontally, (i.e. no two elements can be right next to one another unless they’re in the same box like the individual button elements). IE7 allows this, hence, instead of advancing a line and floating to the right, the buttons stay on the same line as the header.

I’ll try to find a workaround… but i don’t think IE7 allows clear tags so I can’t force it to advance… hmm…

You fixed it.

cheers

Nice, simple design. 2 simple crits:

  1. The e-mail button on the right side of the banner / header thing (adder mail) is kindof redundant since you’ve got the ‘contact’ tab on there as well and
  2. The words in the header “Addertooth.net” could use a little more cushion on the bottom, between it and the buttons there. At least, it feels like it to me :stuck_out_tongue:

I like the colors and the black background. You know, there was some statistic i read a while back where if Google used a black background instead of white, it would end up saving some billions of dollars a year in energy bills or something. With numbers like that, you kinda wish more sites used black. It’s easier on the eyes too. White pages are like staring at a lightbulb.

thanks for the comments…

ok, about email: I guess I need to make the buttons easier to understand,
contact: will be a form-based contact section (like at the bottom of blendernation, except it’ll email me)
adder email: webmail for the people I’ve given @addertooth.net email accounts.

about the color thing: yah, I agree, but black is very hard to pull off, especially with green. straight green-on-black (like old msdos set to green) is extremely hard on the eyes, so it’s hard to find a nice balance between contrast/painlessness. that’s why so many go with blue on white or grey on white, because it’s visually attractive (compared with most amateur pages) and easy on the eyes. It’s an easy, well known, shortcut.

any other comments? I’ll mess with the adder email button and see if I can get it to explain itself better. maybe a menu? services>>webmail? or just webmail? hmm…

also, as of last night (like 15 hours ago…) I updated the page, so check again

edit: moved title up,
current: http://addertooth.net
old: http://addertooth.net/old/

better?
more?
less?
it’s only a very small change, try opening each page in a new tab (and if you have IE6 ditch it and go with firefox!!!)

I will maintain this structure, keeping an old version in /old until it’s finalized.

ok, I updated again, added a vine to the left… (wow I love inkscape:eyebrowlift: …had to fill the space somehow)

so anyway, what if I make the whole think a little more ‘viney’

what if I made the addertooth.net title be kinda like dark grey stones with vines climbing all around and undergrowth? what do you guys think.

meanwhile: I’ll add leaves to the vines w/ gimp… inkscape can’t do it all

update:
worked on vine pic, better?
did some cleanup on code, should load a split second faster
lowered ‘adder email’ button and changed name to ‘webmail’ is that better?

Not bad. Design is certainly interesting. But, I think your text should have more contrast to the background. Not necissarily brightness, but more like change the colors to contrast better. I think the bottom links can be a bit brighter, but that’s just my preference.

I know this is a bit of an old thread, but I also notice the site is still not done, so I’m commenting on it anyways.

Well Mr. Webdesigning consultant, why on earth would you think bumping a thread that’s a few months old would be helpful?

:no: