TITLE:introduction/newsletter_archive/design/design33A.html

2. Minor Concern: I know this is going to upset someone,
but that’s part of the fun right?

Here’s the bottom of the home page.

You may not be able to see it, but the second to last line
reads:

) 2000 Chip D’s Web Productions

It is also a hypertext link. (What’s with pages in the U.K.
and having black as the color of links? The site last week
did it as well.)

Now my concernI don’t think that should be there. I
don’t mind a copyright statement. In fact, I encourage
you to do one. What bugs me is that blip of advertising.
It’s like buying a new car and the dealer slaps his or her
logo on the bumper. I hate that in the worst way. I
almost walked away from a new car while picking it up
because the dealer had put a sticker on when I explicitly
told him not to. Needless to say, that thing came right
off.

Suggestion: Yes, this is petty. Yes, this is minor. Yes, it
is at the bottom of the page, but that’s the way I feel. I
have other sites that have posted an image for the
designer. Often the designer’s image is nicer than the
images on the site. Mostly, the image seems out of place.

I really don’t have a suggestion. I just wanted to rant on
for a while. Keep it or lose it. It’s your choice.

3. Minor Concern: Back to actual minor concerns! I
clicked on the link for the Chefs. I like to see who’s
cooking the food. I got this:

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

*deep breath in*

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUUUGH!

Suggestion: Please finish the page.

4. Minor Concern: Let’s head off to the Location link.
There I got a map. I love it when sites take the trouble to
give me a map. It looks like this:

Suggestion: This one, as are most, is from MapQuest. I
like the map, but you didn’t use it to full potential.
MapQuest also has elements that will zoom in or zoom
out. I almost always zoom out at least one size just to get
my bearings. Think about adding those functions.

Also I went to the Mapquest.com site to see how I
could get a map. I read their policies. Did you know it
explicitly states you cannot repost their maps? I’m just
letting you know.

5. Minor Concern: Maybe it’s just me. Maybe was just
the time of day. Maybe it was a million other reasons,
but I found your site to be quite slow. I don’t mean just
the first time the 25 images had to load either. It took a
while for the pages to even be called for.

Suggestion: Hopefully I am wrong, but it looks like you
are on a slow server. Maybe the company that sold you
the space is overloading the machine. I don’t know.
Check it yourself. If it is slow, then try to find another
server. If you are on the current server because it is very
cheap or even freethen I suggest you get off of it.

Overall: I just liked the site. Yes, it was a bit slow, but it
was nice. I enjoyed my time in it. I’d like to come have
a pint and hear some stories. I’ll bet even some of them
will be true.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>

That’s that.

Joe Burns, Ph.D.

Always Remember: When it comes to designing your Web site, the
most important person is not you, but your user.