On Nov 3, 6:19 pm, "AGw. (Usenet)" <freder...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
>
wrote:
> On Nov 3, 1:21 pm, 1001 Webs <1001w...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
>
> > I didn't know this Group existed, otherwise I would've been pestering
> > you before.
>
> > Please, would you be so kind as to review our website?
> >http://www.1001webs.net
>
> > Brutally honest critiques are most welcome.
>
> The "look" is of middling quality. In particular, the design "ethos"
> of the main part of the page below the navigation menu doesn't seem to
> have much artistic connection with the top three bars; to put that
> another way, the page lacks cohesion.
I am aware of that.
I think it is because the H1 title.
I've made it slightly larger but I'm still not convinced ...
> The following are my spontaneous responses to browsing round your
> site:
>
> Why does it say "1001webs.net - International" at the top left? This
> seems to imply there's a "non-international" version available,
> although no link is provided to alternatives, nor any apparent
> explanation given for the distinction between the two.
There are actually 10 non-international (i.e. localized) versions of
the website.
"1001webs.net - English", "1001webs.net - Fran=E7ais" etc.
> The envelope at top-right doesn't necessarily mean "e-mail" to people,
> they might be expecting a link to a contacts page. I'd actually use
> the word "e-mail" as well, or even get rid of it altogether since the
> "Contact" link on the navigation menu is more prominent.
The envelope at top-right is an "e-mail" mailto:, whereas the
"Contact" link on the navigation menu leads to a Contact form.
Redundant, I know, but it doesn't bother me in excess.
> I was initially thrown by seeing the Union Jack next to the word
> "Latin", since the UK is not a "Latin" country.
Well, let say half Latin, then ...
> Upon further
> reflection you're obviously distingui****ng between writing systems,
> but that's redundant information. Your use of flags is also unclear:
> do they link to pages with different content catered for specific
> countries, or are you using them to represent languages? If the
> latter, then you're going to confuse or annoy the heck out of people:
We mean languages, of course.
We started out with the 5 Latin ones you see on top.
They are displayed in alphabetical order: English, French, German,
****tuguese and Spanish, so no one gets offended (luckily English
happens to be the first one alphabetically speaking, since it is the
major language on Planet Earth nowadays).
When the time came to include more languages, we had to reconsider the
order. We couldn't put in Arabic first, because it only represents 50
million users.
But on the other hand we could hurt people's feelings by putting them
below the Latin based languages without a plausible explanation .
That's the reason for the no-so-good-looking Latin-NonLatin redundant
info.
A lot of thought and debate has gone into that decision, believe me.
If you think of a better solution, please let us know.
> India, for example, has several major languages and many minor ones,
It's absolutely true that India has several major languages, but we
had to settle for one.
Maybe the wrong choice, because Bengali/Bangla is believed to have
more users than Hindi, although many of those are located in Pakistan.
It has been taken into account as well that Hindi is second to English
in India as far as business is concerned.
> and do you not cater for users in (say) Canada or the United States?
Of course we do.
We cater for English, French and Spanish speaking users.
> If you do mean languages then use each language's name instead; if you
> mean locale, then state that clearly instead.
I have stated it in the Index page by writing the name of the language
below each flag.
And every section should state it as well, in their own languages.
> An artistic preference, but I think the "global" image you've used in
> your banner could be improved upon substantially.
Probably, yes.
> Your page changes width when the text size is changed; personally, I'd
> have it stay the same.
Due to the menu.
Another change in progress.
> In the main body of your page you've effectively hidden your links.
> If you must avoid underlining them you should at least have them in a
> visually distinct colour (or even have them with a different
> background colour). I had to actually hunt for the links, which no
> user should *ever* have to do.
Not sure about that AGw.
Those links are meant for Search Engines.
Regular users can access those sections through the Menu.
> Minor grammatical errors:
> "in Internet" should be changed throughout to "on the Internet"
> Several hosting options *are* available to fit your needs
> hosted *on* [not "in"] *high-quality* [not "high quality"] servers
> concerning the installation and [not "and the"] creation process
> 1001webs.net specializes in Hosting and Graphic Design *for* [not
> "of"] some of the most popular
Corrected.
Thank you.
> Your statement that you have a "99.9% Uptime Guarantee" should be a
> link to that guarantee.
We have linked to our provider at the Hosting page by saying:
"We have tested many different Internet Service Providers and we've
finally decided to team up with SiteGround in order to offer you the
BEST Hosting available in the market for your website."
The "99.9% Uptime Guarantee" has been literally copied from their
page.
We monitor our websites 24 hours a day and except for a minor incident
more than a year ago that lasted less than 10 minutes we have never
had any interruptions in the service.
Compared to other providers we've worked with, that's extraordinary.
> Having said that, I'm now unclear whether you're offering these
> services directly or not; earlier on the page you refer to the site as
> just being a ****tal (ie, providing information about third-party
> services). Number 1 rule for websites: be clear and consistent as to
> what you're actually offering your visitors.
It may seem ambiguous, but we are not misleading anyone.
We do what we say we do. All services offered in our website could be
done by proficient PHP-MySQL ITs with some level of expertise, but
those are not the people we're targeting.
> Your offer to translate websites should display a list of language
> names (in their own language; eg "Deutsch") and not of flags. Flags
> should probably be completely avoided for this service unless you're
> also able to adapt websites for different locales (countries) as well.
When you go to each section they are displayed in their own language.
But we had to make an index page and English is the more appropriate
for the entrance page.
Someone suggested to have sub-domains, but there are some SEO related
issues against that approach.
> "Click for More Templates" should change size when text size is
> altered.
Yes
> I'd lose the subtle "photo corners" you've used around the templates;
> most people won't notice them, and those who do will probably think
> there's something gone slightly wrong with your formatting!
Probably
> Increasing the text size means the menu at the bottom overflows onto
> the dark bar at the bottom, making the items harder to read (it looks
> ugly as well when it does that, of course).
Correct
> Your page title should tell the user something useful: "1001webs.net"
> says nothing.
It is the index page.
The description says it all.
But yes, we'll add some descriptive meaningful title
> I'm getting 9 warnings for your HTML.
I know. Due to affiliate code.
Maybe we shouldn't use any banners in the index.html
> Now for a quick look at your Spanish-language version:
>
> The widths used differ from the English-language version; any company
> offering "global" services would surely want a consistent look and
> feel.
Because of the longer menus
They need to be reduced.
Work in progress as well.
> You've failed to translate "Latin" and "NonLatin" into Spanish.
Si
> Your introductory text actually gives more detail than is to be found
> in the English version.
Does it?
I understand now.
You have to look at the English index page:
http://www.1001webs.net/en/index_en.html
It is different from the main index.html page for the reasons
explained above.
> The rest of the main content differs in tone and detail from the
> English version; why do Spanish speakers get "steps", but not the
> English ones, for example? If you're offering translation services
> then you should have two pages that are identical in all respects
> except the actual language used; localisation to particular countries
> would also make a difference, but it's not remotely clear where your
> site is based so this does not apply in your case.
http://www.1001webs.net/en/index_en.html
> Overall the Spanish version seems better written than the English one,
> and in fact I'm wondering if the English version has been translated
> from the Spanish.
Right guess
It was originally translated from Spanish.
It was a Spanish-only website that we took over.
>Anyway, translations should be of an equal quality
> to the original, so that the reader would then be unaware that it even
> *was* a translation.
You're right.
But not everyone is multilingual, you know ...
> Since you're not using cookies, how do you ensure that I don't have to
> keep changing the language version to the one I prefer each time I
> visit?
Could do.
But it's only a click away ...
> Your Russian version is all in English apart from the navigation
> menu! Similar problems exist with your versions for non-European
> languages. Not a good advert for your translation service!
> Unfinished versions should be invisible to users until they're ready
> for publication.
The site is unfinished, of course, specially the Russian version.
We've had some problems with the Russian team that was going to manage
that side.
They wanted to run the German side as well, and assured that they had
the resources to do it.
As a result, they focused on incorrectly translating the German side
and postponed the Russian one.
In fact we're debating whether we want to keep them as partners, to
tell you the truth. Not for the German section that's for sure.
You can read about here:
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.usage.german/browse_thread/thread/5ee277=
6518b6a328/fe624825159bca1f#fe624825159bca1f
> I've just noticed that the ****tuguese version at least still has
> "Click for More Templates" in English.
Work in progress.
> Returning to the English-language version:
>
> On the "Contact" page, the information about template sup****t is below
> the fold and will probably be missed by most people using the page.
But it is the only place it can go ...
> Your "Search" page offers a veritable wealth of options (?) and
> information, which is far too much for anyone. A typical user will
> just want a search box to type in and hit "Go" for; incidentally, such
> a search engine interface should probably be prominent on each page.
> Any other options or information should be available only as "Advanced
> Search" for the minority of people who use such things, and even then
> shouldn't mean having to read through paragraphs of stuff. Your
> Google search box is also defaulted to searching the entire web rather
> than just your site, which is a great way to point visitors to your
> competitors!
We're not afraid of competitors.
Otherwise we wouldn't be posting here.
> On your "Samples" page you've put the templates in alphabetical order;
> this has the unfortunate effect of having the ****, sorry "Adult",
> template as the first that will be seen. I'd suggest you change
> this! Maybe you could move it to a "specialist" category at the end,
> or something.
We thought of that as well, and someone suggested to label them "XXX"
instead.
But as you probably know, Adult websites are the most popular on the
Internet ...
> I'd also have an in-page navigation list of templates visible above
> the fold, so people can see at quick glance the variety of what you
> have on offer.
That'd be a bit complex.
There are literally thousands of Templates available.
That's why we divide them into categories.
> Information about your affiliate programme should also be above the
> fold, or at least a link to further information should be. And
> incidentally, since you're using the Union Jack to represent the
> English language, you should really be using correct British spelling:
> it should be "programme", not "program".
Sorry but I don't agree on that one.
We are here for business, and American English is the standard around
the World.
> On your "Web Design" page your information about localisation should
> make it clear that you are offering to adapt *content* to the
> requirements of particular countries; sites in Germany require an
> "Impressum", for example. It's unclear to non-technophile users what
> you're actually offering since all you really mention is a whole load
> of technical jargon without any "real world" information or examples
> (apart from search-engine optimisation).
Right.
We have to further develop on that.
> And finally... your navigation menu shouldn't contain active links to
> the page upon which it appears.
I am not really sure what you mean by "active links"?
> OK, I'm done!
Thank you very much AGw.
I really appreciate the time you've taken pointing out those
corrections.
I owe you one beer, coffee or whatever it is custom to have in your
localized area of the Planet :)
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