blackcastledesign.com

blackcastle · #1 (**permalink**) 08-31-2003, 02:48 PM

Here's my site let me know..

tikanet · #2 (**permalink**) 08-31-2003, 04:30 PM

You've certainly spent a lot of time, effort and talent on the look. But it's clearly a high bandwidth site. You're not catering to the dial-up crowd, that's for sure. Your newlook_r1_c1.gif (masthead) image weighs in at a hefty 840KB. That image alone is five or six times larger than an entire home page might ideally be. Add to that all the other poorly optimized images and we're measuring in megabytes--the kind of bloat that would make Bill Gates proud. Ask yourself if you'd be willing to wait out the download if it wasn't your site and you still connected to the Net with a 56K modem.

As a Web designer, it's crucial that you spend as much effort on the mechanics as you do on the look. JavaScript errors can destroy the impression of professionalism you're trying to make. Specifically, you've got a syntax error in method getT(). I don't know if it's Dustin or Ken who's responsible, but if you're gonna use canned scripts, one of you needs to test them, and test them on all major browsers on several platforms. It's your reputation we're talking about here. Take it seriously.

And now for the biggie -- the thing that really destroyed your credibility -- your login feature -- it's a couple of input field with no functionality. For a database design and programming firm, this is a real shot in the foot. I'm embarassed for you. If a feature isn't fully tested and ready to implement, it should never see the light of day.

blackcastle · #3 (**permalink**) 08-31-2003, 05:26 PM

sorry if I imbarrassed you. I do agree that my site optimization needs work. Size does matter I guess..Anyway as far as the login function it is a work in progress. I didn't think it would matter to the average joe just happening into my site. Due to the fact the would not have a login to use. Well anyway thanks. And just some constructive critisim on my side.. You might want to lower the prices on your site for hosting..whooa. Talk about an arm and a leg. Have a great one buddy..

blackcastle · #4 (**permalink**) 08-31-2003, 05:29 PM

oh ya.. and samples of your work would be nice. Your inital design just doesn't do it for me.

tikanet · #5 (**permalink**) 08-31-2003, 07:37 PM

Yeah, couldn't agree with you more, we are charging too much for hosting, but it's probably because we're paying too much for a few U of space, an electrical connection and enough bandwidth to keep it up. You're in SD so you're probably familiar with SimpleNet:) Change has been contemplated. I've been pushing to have hosting be our loss-leader, but rule-by-committee is hell.

Didn't mean for my comments to raise your defenses -- must have subconsciously added a little bite to the words because we're working the same marketplace. Can't we all just get along!

janeth · #6 (**permalink**) 08-31-2003, 08:13 PM

I will start by saying I agree with tikanet
Very nice look but I agree it takes way to long to load. I'm on 56k and still waiting. I think you will loose a lot of customers in the wait. Also when it says "Click to view details" I clicked on web design and nothing changed.
I also think with as many pass words and log in as people have to remember already I would try to work around that if I could.

blackcastle · #7 (**permalink**) 09-01-2003, 02:10 AM

hi,
sorry if I came off snippy myself. i have put alot of time and effort into my site and I was expecting oooohs and aaaaahs. That's ok. I just think the login thing is really not what I wanted people to notice. Truthfully I've never used it and have not had the time to take it out. I was hoping people could focus more on the sites and logos I've done. And give me feed back on those. I'll put some extensive time on optimizing my site for the 56k folk out there. I'm on cable and so it was never really an issue. Thanks everyone for your ideas and comments.
P.S. If thats your real picture janeth then your are a cutie..
Late

View Poll Results: Rate blackcastledesign.com
1- This site sucks..	20	20.62%
2- If seen much much better	34	35.05%
3- It's ok but it needs alot of work	42	43.30%
4- The ideas are cool but the graphics need work	0	0%
5- Typical site	0	0%
6- I like the graphics and the sites	0	0%
7- I would go thorugh you to get a logo or website!	0	0%
8-I love the site. It's got what it takes to make it!	0	0%
9-Great Job. Really is among the top	0	0%
10- This site is great!! I love everything about it.	1	1.03%
Voters: 97. You may not vote on this poll

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