Reviewer Bennie C. Taylor visits the "Northwest Indiana Catholic newspaper" web site and files this review:
Newspaper Site needs organization
At first glance this site seems to be well-organized with some navigation links up top alongside the banner and arranged in categories. But the categories turn out to be inconsistent and confusing. I did not know what to expect when I clicked on a link, and sometimes I was surprised at the information that appeared.It is very difficult to organize a site that has so many categories of information. What seem to be logical headings to one person might be confusing to another. I think this is a matter that should be based on visitor recommendations. Get some input about material your visitors would like to read and under what heading they would expect to find it.
Organization and Logic
One suggestion: The menu which runs across the page would not be needed (or at least the number of items could be reduced) if you arranged the top right navigation links logically.
There are far too many links in the second menu; they do not tell us precisely what to expect upon clicking, and they make the page much too wide - maybe some could be integrated into the top menu. See: http://www.mcwebdesign.us/nwi.jpg
Alternate suggestion: put attention grabbers in the top links section (upper right next to the banner), then add a drop-down menu for the navigation links which extend across the page. Set up only a few very definite categories such as current news, announcements, regular features, special features, etc. and place subtopics in the dropdown subsections. See: http://www.mcwebdesign.us/nwialt.jpg
I suppose the advertising is necessary. Could you place it at the bottom of the page and make it very neat the way the Google advertisements look? Maybe it would be better to include only paid ads under this category to cut down on things that detract from your main content.
Nicely Done:
- Your logo is very appealing - neat, clear, and appropriate.
- The photos are clear, and they load fast.
- The content seems very comprehensive - you include something for everyone from children to seniors.
Things perhaps best avoided:
- Applets - these are not needed and require a lot of bandwidth making pages slow to load (your home page takes almost half a minute at 56Kbps).
- Horizontal scrolling - set the page width to 772-780 or make it adjustable by the visitor.
- Excessive vertical scrolling - condolidate information, use smaller font (ex. advocate 4-seniors page).
- Too many fonts - use only a couple of standard fonts (not fancy ones) and font colors for a cleaner look.
- Page transitions - these are outdated and serve no purpose.
- Page color change - keep all backgrounds alike for a more consistent look.
- Visitor counter - very outmoded (if you must include it, make it very small).
- Animated items - again they make the page slower to load and are not especially interesting today.
- Too many links on every page. After a full listing on the home page you could put an abbreviated list of links on subpages with prominent links back to the home page and to contact information.
Review by Bennie C. Taylor
Return to the Critique Department
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