Re: Please critique educational mineral site

-----Original Message-----
From: Hershel Friedman <htf(at)minerals.net>


>Dear all HWG members
>I just uploaded a new version of my site, and would appreciate any
>comments. The name of the site is "The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom",
>and the URL is "http://www.minerals.net"


Hi

First impressions - a good looking site, well thought out, with great
content.  You've obviously put a lot of work and thought into it, and
it works well.  I enjoyed browsing it, and found it really
interesting.

Some specific comments and suggestions:

Consider dropping the picture from your title graphic on the home
page - there is a picture directly below it anyway, and I think the
title "The Mineral and Gemstone Kingdom" would look fine on its own.
Without the picture, you might even consider using a slightly larger
font for the title graphic.

Try to avoid the use of "click here" - most links can be reworded to
avoid it.  For example, instead of "To view copyright information,
click here." try something like simply putting "Copyright
information." with the whole phrase hyperlinked.

I'm not sure that you really need the graphic button bar - the line of
text links would look fine by itself, and fits the design.

Those little check boxes you use in the mineral descriptions - I can't
make up my mind whether they are "Good Things" or "Bad Things"...  :-)
It wasn't clear to me what they meant until I read the help file, and
with graphics switched off, the one at the top of the description page
provided no information at all.  That made me think that perhaps they
should simply be replaced by text.  Eg "Information on this mineral is
complete" or "Information on this mineral is still being compiled and
is not yet complete" or something along these lines.  Either that, or
make the alt text specific so that it gives this information depending
on whether the box contains a check or a cross.  By the way, you need
to add alt text for the help button graphic on the mineral description
pages (or maybe it was only missing on the ones I looked at - Adamite
was one).

Also on the mineral description pages - consider moving the picture
links to the top of the table.  It wouldn't prevent the serious
"seeker after information" from diving straight into the heavy detail,
but it occurred to me that some people might be sitting with an
unidentified bit of rock in front of them, and hoping to identify it
by comparing it to pictures in your database of minerals.  Having the
pictures at the top of each description might be helpful.

Hyperlinks - you might want to double check your links - a couple of
links that I tried opened in a new window.  Specifically, the links to
"Copper" and "Periodical Table" (shouldn't that be "Periodic Table"?)
from element.html did this.  Since other similar links didn't do this,
I'm assuming those were errors (the links had target="none").

You've used a graphic of the Periodic Table - you might consider
constructing an actual table.  It would then be accessible in many
more types of browsers.  You might also think about putting hyperlinks
from the boxes in the table to the appropriate element name in the
list below the table.  Just a thought.

Your pages look nice and clean - please consider dropping the "under
construction" icons on those pages you haven't completed.  They don't
add anything, and a simple text declaration that the page is under
construction and not yet ready would look fine.

And finally, a touch of French that sneaked into your mineral listing
help page  :-)  In the description of "Polymorphs", you have
".....regarding most minerals this entree is absent."  I think perhaps
you intended it to be ".....this entry is absent."?  I know.....
picky, picky!  :-)

I hope you find these comments helpful.  Nothing about web design is
fixed in stone, and these are intended as nothing more than points to
consider based on my own opinions.  Feel free to use or discard them
as you wish!  :-)

Regards,
Donna
--
dms(at)zetnet.co.uk
Different Worlds:
http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/dms/

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