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JohnLearner
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Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 10/3/2007 10:18:09
We've been around for 10 years, and our site was redesigned several years ago.
Feedback suggests it needs doing again. What do you think? Please click on Handscombes.com when you get there, not on the Online Company Brochure link.
All suggestions welcome...
Thanks in advance,
John.
http://www.handscombes.com/
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d a v e
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 10/3/2007 14:30:15
yes it definitely needs doing again! :)
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Gekko web design
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Tailslide
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 10/3/2007 16:45:19
The thing that really stands out to me as something I'd change is the flashing "new" icon - I'd try to find an attractive static icon to do the same thing.
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Little Blue Plane Web Design | Blood, Sweat & Rust - A Land Rover restoration project
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JohnLearner
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 10/3/2007 17:46:23
OK, Tailslide, I've whipped it away. I take your point - just the kind of positive little thoughts I need.
I've also had a thought on Dave Prescott's very definite answer: Website templates editable in FP 2003 - are these generally a good idea ... if they are quality ones, of course?
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womble
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 10/4/2007 10:11:17
To be perfectly honest, removing the flashing gif doesn't help that much. The site simply screams "1990s" and there's nothing on there that brings it alive - no graphics (apart from the two logos - do they need to be that prominent?), nothing about recent happenings in the financial world, nothing to show that anyone from the company's been there recently.
The navigation's overpowering - two columns of navigation? That's just too confusing for visitors because they don't know where to look. Don't do anything that makes them think! Steve Krug's Don't make me think!: A common sense approach to web usability is a book that every web designer should own, and really makes you think about the design decisions you make and how they affect users. All of the navigation also lacks any hover or focus state, so there's no visual cue of what's clickable and what isn't.
Colour scheme. Hmmmmm....purple on a mint green background? "UK Independent Financial Advisers Providing independent financial planning advice since 1979" in a font colour so pale against that background that anyone that has less than perfect vision is likely to struggle with the colours. Initial capital letters in a huge fond size in purple (on that mint green background again) - some words highlighted in purple - why? They're not links, you can't click on them. They just add to the confusion. Purple text on the navigation, and the body text in blue - the standardly used colours for links is blue, and purple for their visited state. Using those colours out of place goes against what users expect, and again can (unconsciously) confuse them.
A guestbook on a business site? I'm really not sure that that works.
"Other browsers" - again I'd question the wisdom of having such a page on a business site - and a rainbow of colours - red, orange, purple, blue. Some of them are clickable, some aren't. Again it all adds to the confusion.
In short, the site just doesn't say "professional company - you can trust us" - it says "built a long time ago and never updated". I'm sorry if that sounds harsh, but that's the way I see it.
As Caz said, changing to CSS would be a major undertaking, but there are loads of free CSS templates out there such as at OSWD and CSS Design Templates that you can use "as is" if you're happy with the template - just drop your HTML for your content into the appropriate places. It would take some work getting the tables and stuff stripped out of your HTML, and changing some of the tags, but it's a lot less work than starting from scratch again.
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JohnLearner
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 10/4/2007 12:42:41
Thanks, Dave, but I'm not keen on the sage colour. I've also tried lots of different shades too - what it comes down to is a complete re-doing of the site, as I gather from womble's comments.
Thanks, womble - very interesting and revealing comments, which I found very helpful. I could explain/justify each one, but that seems pointless. I've got to re-do it for 2007-08, haven't I?
So that's what I'll do. Easy, init?
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JohnLearner
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 10/4/2007 12:45:31
quote:
ORIGINAL: womble
As Caz said, changing to CSS would be a major undertaking, but there are loads of free CSS templates out there such as at OSWD and CSS Design Templates that you can use "as is" if you're happy with the template - just drop your HTML for your content into the appropriate places.
I'll have a look into those 2 sites, womble.
Thanks again,
John.
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dbguide
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 12/14/2007 3:21:56
Hey why dont you just get Mr. Bob your host to give you his website template ... it would be cheaper and easier
I mean his hosting hompage looks like a financial type page
don't use boogiejacks home page
Mr. Bob is your host and your friend
plus is the financial advisor gig good? I mean I have an economics degree, I was a wall street trader for 4 year until I took a 25th hour type position and got expelled from trading (Who knew someone was going to buy 5 million heads of cattle from canada 2 days before the new year, goddamn canadians) Anyway is there good money in it? How do you convince people to fork over tens of thousands of dollars to buy oil and gold futures? I sure can't even though all my gold minis and oil minis are through the roof ... no one believes me!
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JohnLearner
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 12/14/2007 12:15:13
Hi, dbguide, and thanks for your input.
I have decided in the end not to use a template, but am building from scratch. (I don't want to publish the URL at this point, but let me know if you'd like to see what I'm up to).
Thanks for mentioning Bob - he's a g-r-e-a-t Webhost, and I know he'll help if I need it.
I am not a qualified financial adviser myself - I do the Websites and Internet stuff for the company. My brother Brian Handscombe is the financial whizz kid, and he's darn good. Our company is doing exceedingly well and, most importantly, our clients are very satisfied with the service we provide.
It seems to me, from the way you 'talk', that you are in North America, so I can't give you any advice on "the financial advisor gig", as conditions and laws are very different in the UK. But thanks for your interest.
Regards,
John.
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d a v e
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 12/14/2007 12:55:51
"I'll just be delighted to see the back of the toothpaste! :) "
if you thought the front was gaudy, maybe you don't want to see the back of it too:)
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David Prescott
Gekko web design
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JohnLearner
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RE: Handscombes.com - your thoughts...?? - 12/14/2007 13:14:28
Don't worry, d a v e, I did get the message. ;)
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Printable Version 
The site is tables based, another clue. The colour scheme is depressing and the emphasis on using IE is off putting. 
