Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

p.s. Iframes are not dynamic. Dynamics are introduced when there is underlying code that supports flow control or branched actions. When you mouse over a graphic, it changes. That`s dynamics. Iframes != dynamics.

That background grid has got to go. It`s extremely distracting and makes
the page hard to look at. Psychologically speaking, textured, high-
contrast patterns have been proven to turn a viewer`s eye away from the
patterned area. While they`re just the sidebars on the page, they are still
part of the page. One thing you might do to keep the grid pattern is
lower the contrast considerably. Make the linework a dark gray, 80 or
90%.

So let me get this straight? "Included with kit" is a shipping box? You
mean they don`t ship lightbulbs in bags? I`ll go out on a limb and say that
the shipping box can be removed from that list. If I buy anything online,
it better come in a box!

The welcome text on the top half of the home page is pretty small,
especially for white on black. Make it bigger.

Why are the vehicle manufacturers listed in a serif font while the rest of
the site is sans serif? This happens only on the homepage while on other
pages the font is appropriately sans serif but in a hard-to-read dark blue.
Furthermore, why does it say "back to top" at the top of that list? That
whole manufacturer section is inconsistent.

Speaking of inconsistent, why do the categories and navigation links have
different color borders and style? I prefer the style on the navigation box
as far as colors go.

However, I`m not much a fan of the site`s color scheme. That weird
greenish-brown-puke color doesn`t fit the product. These bulbs are an
improvement in light quality, right? The colors of the site should reflect
that! Just look at the comparison photos of the headlight beams. The
site`s colors remind me of the old beam, not the new. I`d replace the
greenish-brown-puke color with some teal or blues, modern and crisp.

And why in the world does that HID banner-shaped graphic fade to a
lighter value on the right side? It makes no sense for it to fade at all.
Details like that create visual clutter and speak of poor design.

(Thankfully I`ve closed the window now so I don`t have to look at that grid
pattern again.)

I just wanted to chime in on this one.  It`s a bit of a catch twenty two. You could build an excellent VALID table free CSS layout. But lets say you use a chunk of code for tracking web stats, the only code they provide you with is a sloppy hacked together piece of cheese that once entered into the site, no longer allows it to validate.

The same thing happened with this guys site.  He used a 3rd party system to build this shopping cart (that he claims to have custom coded), and the system builders could care less about standards, all they want to do is sell a product.  It`s like the blind leading the blind ignorant.

In a perfect, not to distant internet, all sites will validate and be accessible, regardless of content. [And I`m not talking accessibility for the disabled, we`ll save that for another thread ]

Too many so called developers love FrontPage, tables and <font> tags, luckily times are changing, table lovers are going to be left in the dust [and out of a job].

Cookie Monster thats a Hover. Not Dynamic..


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Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

Again, Twilight,
Like I said it was a favor for a friend. and I am not going to go out and spend countless hours developing a fully customized web site like I said before, I could have gone with a table less layout, and go with that. But again it`s time consuming and If Im going to spend a month developing a shopping cart system and charge $600.00? man I would starve.
A simple solution, for the people with low budget.
Again, in some instances I am a table lover and haven`t found myself out of a job. As a matter a fact I need lots of help I just closed my doors for the next 3 months with the exception of a few clients that I had promised.


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Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net

I think the web site is fine. I really hoped that was clear. The comments I made about the code are just that: comments. The site obviously works fine and really looks fine.

 

First of all I wouldnt say that CSS takes any more time than tables for defining layout.... in all honesty I would say that it is quicker than tables once you are used to using it

As to creating a custom shopping cart, it doesnt take months at all, and the aspects which do take the time (ie encoding it for easy integration into other clients sites) are the bits you cannot charge your current client for anyway but if you decide to do you invest your own time on the hope of reducing development time on the next custom e-commerce site but still being able to charge top dollar for the work.

I have always believed in the fact that if you are going to do a job then do it right irrespective of if a client is a friend or not, and if they are paying £300 or £30,000. If the price was too low for you to be bothered to do a decent job on the site then you shouldnt have taken the job. Plus yes, I have written a custom cart for less than $600 and likewise it was a friend but then I was pleased that someone paid me anything to basically be a beta tester and fund my creation of a system that I have then gone on to sell for more than double that each time.  


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Astaroth Solutions - Bespoke web development

Astar,
You know what the problem with most developers / designers is. They(we) all think they/we can do a better job than the other person. I never understood that concept of how our brain works. But regardless if I charged my friend $600.00 the functionality is there. and under no  circumstance was I being dishonest or  ripping him off.
We can sit here and argue about CSS, table-less web development and, hovers all day and night an never agree on anything, which is cool. we all have an opinion, which is why I always consider opinions like "Poop-Shoots" we all have one... So what!

But, I stand behind any of my designs 100% and with all "Honesty tell you, I have a proven record of sales and customer satisfaction" I don`t develop web sites to boost my ego, I design for my customers to profit of their web sites.
What good would it be if I charge a customer thousands and thousands of dollars when the [fancy one line code web site is sitting there doing nothing?] I think that would be a total rip off and by far more dishonest.

The question to you is, for the sake of this conversation? What is your Track Record? Twilight? Astar? anyone?
Please fill me in...



-------------------------

Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net