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nealrm
09-19-2011, 06:50 AM
I have been working on upgrading my site. Switching everything over to a new faster format using PHP and mysql. I have looked at it so long that I may have developed a blind spot for any short comings. The link is below. Stop by and let me know what you think. How fast is the load, are the search features easy to use, are any features or searches not present that should be, etc...

I have not attached all the inside and outside photos to all the listings. So if you get to the listing page and hit either of the photo button, you will not see any photos at this point.

Thanks everyone for their help.

Residential properties for sale or rent
T (http://www.houseviewonline.com/Missouri-real-estate.php)he email forms to request information from agent are live. (I am reusing the current form). So unless you are interested in the property, refrain from hitting the send button.

Spider
09-19-2011, 09:05 AM
As soon as I landed on your front page, something resonated unfavorably and I couldn't make out immediately what ir was. Was it the different color reds? Was it cramped, or too busy? I finally settled on the following--

The heading "HouseViewOnline" needs to be larger.

It appeared to me that you had three or four different color reds on your front page - the button color was darker than the others; the top red panel appeared to be slightly lighter, but if you add the corners and raised graphic as suggested below, may then match the buttons. The "Just Added" panel appeared lighter, and the mouseover color of the buttons lighter still. (which effect I liked, btw.)

The red panels down the side are all round-cornered and "raised" : the top red panel has square corners and is flat. I think the raised graphic and the round corners should be added to the top panel, too.

While I applaud the fluid design, I do think it gets too wide for people using large screens (over 1400px wide) This is something I have battled with and now include "max-width:1300px" in all my code. This notwithstanding, don't let the "FixedWidthers" put you off using the fluid design!

I would also have liked to see a little more "air" - some white space around the various boxes to counter the cramped feeling the page gives me.

Overall, I like it. A few easy tweaks will give the page a very professional look.

KristineS
09-19-2011, 12:47 PM
The search seemed to work fine. I think the top banner needs some more pizazz, it's really lost up there with everything else going on with the page. I also have to wonder if people are going to use the buttons on the top left hand side to search when you have the search form on the right hand side. I'm guessing most people would use the form so they could see exactly what they wanted to see. I know that's what I did when I was looking for a house. Why would I want to look at a bunch of stuff in areas in which I didn't want to live, or which I couldn't afford? That makes me wonder if those buttons are necessary.

The just added feature and the open house button I like. The open house feature is especially nice because everything is listed by date and each listing has a link to a map. I think that's very helpful.

nealrm
09-19-2011, 01:13 PM
Spider, Kristine thanks for the feedback. I'm guessing that you are using an older version of IE. In a HTML5 compliant browser it is raised with rounded corners. All the photos and text area are rounded. Sounds like I will need to tweak the CSS for the older browser to make up of the loss of space due to square corners. I will also check into the different color reds. The darker reds should all be the same, with only the highlight being different.

Did either of you follow through to the listing pages?

KristineS
09-19-2011, 01:20 PM
Actually, I'm using Firefox 3.6.22. I know there's now a version 6.0 or something, but I haven't updated my computer yet.

I did go through to the listing pages. Those were nice and I liked the buttons for set up a tour and more information. Very handy.

billbenson
09-19-2011, 01:49 PM
I'm in FF Beta 12 (Linux version). Rounded corners are fine. I'm on a 1920 x 1200 px monitor and It displays fine from my point of view.

nealrm
10-24-2011, 09:47 AM
OK everyone, I made the changes suggested.