Switch Software website

[ricmitch_uk]

My new website should be uploaded any minute. Please take time to look at it, tell me what you think, where I could improve etc.
I know need to change the titles to graphics so that the font I chose (the same one as on the flash) shows. The address is:
http://www.hhcr.freeserve.co.uk/ss/
Please do not use the vbforums' Website button below, as I have not updated this, and do not plan to until the site is fully up to sratch.
Thanks in advance.

[ricmitch_uk]

I've been impartial and said it's OK...

[CyberSurfer]

I have to say, I don't really like it very much..here's why:

1) The Flash on the front page takes ages to load (3 mins and counting), and ends up looking like a loading Java Applet due to the colour scheme. Maybe put a preloader into your title thingy? I can't say whether or not I like the flash, because I'm still waiting for it to load.

2)I don't think Times New Roman makes a very good font to use for navigation, it looks a bit "my-first-webpage-esque". Try Verdana! :)

3) IMHO The site looks far too grey. I mean, the whole site is grey, no other colours at all!

4) The logo looks very thrown together, as there are no effects or indeed anything other than the text.

5) If you ever want to be commisioned to write software, you need to change your disclaimer! You're effectively saying "You can pay us, but if we don't do what you want, we still keep the money"!! Not the kind of thing I'd want a software contractor to say...

[chrisjk]

Okay...here goes...

1) Get it off freeserve now!! Slow as an old dog

2) Cyber is right, the front page ss.swf blows because it never actually loads, it just sits there doing sweet fanny adams. After 5 minutes of looking at the page there had been no connection activity in that time, so I gave up

3) It loooks like a typical british winter, grey and miserable. Needs a brighter colour scheme.

4) Again, Cyber is right, Times sucks big time. Use easy reading font like Arial. I always use arial, it's easy to read (sans serif) and all PC's have it installed

5) The text in the grey boxes on all pages nees to come away from the border with the menu on the left.

6) Lose the white text on grey. It's too similar.

7) The bottom screenshot for NNN is all broken up. All you have done is use the same jpg but resized it in HTML so that IE gets the job of making it smaller. IE makes a sh*t job of it. Resize it in proportion using a proper photo editor such as PSP or Photoshop. Like a thumbnail.

8) Looking at other screenshots, most could do with that treatment as well

9) This...support
If you have any problems with our programs, please do not hesitate to contact us via. the contact page below, or by emailing:
ricmitch_uk@yahoo.com
We will do what we can to fix your problem, but we cannot promise anything. We (Switch Software) do not guarentee UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES that our software is 100% efficient, and cannot be held liable for any loss in profits, data, time, or ANY other loss. All of our software come AS IS without guarentee or warrenty of any kind, you use it at your own risk!

Thank you for not sueing Switch Software or Richard Mitchell.:-) Change to support
If you have any problems with our programs, please do not hesitate to contact us via the contact page below, or by emailing ricmitch_uk@yahoo.com * Lose the yahoo.com, very unprofessional *
We will endeavour to solve any problems you may have *You made it sound like they are likely to get problems *, but we cannot guarantee we will be able to resolve all circumstances * You probably shouldn't say that. If it is a problem with your software, then you should bloody fix it!! *. Switch Software cannot be held liable for any loss in profits, data, time, or any other direct or indirect loss as a result of using this software. All of our software is supplied "as is" without guarantee or warranty. Please note use of this software is it at your own risk. You may have some problems there. Under the sales of goods act (applies to electronic goods also), it must work. If it doesn't you must offer to refund money.

10) You have mispelt guarantee almost everywhere you have writen it. I suggest you compose blocks of text in something like Word and then copy/paste.

11) Sometimes you say "We" other times you say "I". Consistency!!

12) Leave the IE scrollbar alone. It disappears into the background.

That's about it. Pleanty there for you to sort out.

Hope you didn't find that too harsh, but as it stands you'll be laughed outta town ;)

[ricmitch_uk]

I just wrote a really long, nice reply.... but I got disconnected and lost it.
Basically:
[list]
@yahoo.com : what do you suggest?

freeserve : I have a supanet (www.supanet.com) account which has webspace. Nothing else.

legal stuff: yeah it's bad. I should change that

Flash : I'll try to get it to work. If it doesn't I'll remove it.

font: It isn't meant to be Times. It's meant to be Prisoner SF. I just haven't made graphics for the titles, yet, so I published it as it was.

colour scheme: the scrollbars probably should change, but I like the grey...

Thanks for your feedback:)

[chrisjk]

Anything other than hotmail, yahoo, freeserve, freenetname (anything with free in it) is fine. Free ones are okay provided they are not that well known so people don't know they are free. For example, my email is @totalise.co.uk. Now i bet you have never heard of them, but it's 100% gratis, they even give you shares in the company if you're a member (they ain't worth sh*t, it it's nice to say "hey, i've got shares!!".

Sorry, I was being snobish. Freeserve wasn't that bad (they have got a lot better) but it's that word "free" again. Supanet is okay as no free in sight. Dunno about how good they are though.

Flash stuff: Maybe a problem with your flash HTML coding. Try this which works for me (this is for Flash 5 anyway): <OBJECT CLASSID="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" WIDTH="170"
HEIGHT="400" CODEBASE="http://active.macromedia.com/flash5/cabs/
swflash.cab#version=5,0,0,0">
<PARAM NAME="MOVIE" VALUE="orditnavbar.swf">
<PARAM NAME="PLAY" VALUE="true">
<PARAM NAME="LOOP" VALUE="false">
<PARAM NAME="QUALITY" VALUE="high">
<PARAM NAME="MENU" VALUE="false">

<EMBED SRC="orditnavbar.swf" WIDTH="170" HEIGHT="400" PLAY="true" LOOP="false" QUALITY="high" MENU="false"
PLUGINSPAGE="http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/index.cgi?P1_Prod_Version=ShockwaveFlash">
</EMBED>

</OBJECT>Note you have to set the options twise, once in the OBJECT tag and once in the EMBED tag. This is because one is for IE, the other Netscape.

Prisoner SF: Never heard of it. You need to use common ones. If you're making graphics though it doesn't matter.

Colour: Fair enough, your site, but do change the sbar.

;)

[ricmitch_uk]

Thanks. I'm not likely to update it anytime soon ('cos I'm lazy like that ;)) but I'll take what you've said into consideration when I get round to it.:)

[Skitchen8]

god... im running a cable connection and it takes ages to load the flash, either get a faster host or trim it down :D

[ricmitch_uk]

I think I might have done the HTML stuff wrong on the Flash. Sometimes it doesn't even load locally.:(