[jthomas]

Currently comprised of sample content. Should I roll with it? Critiques appreciated. Thanks everyone. Please report any display issues as well if you could.

LINK

[dura]

Not really a web man. Like the logo tho. The line of text underneath may be a bit big.

[mx]

I like the layout but the blue area is so dominating that the left-hand column items are almost completely lost. They could do with bolstering up a bit. the logo is similar.

Only other thing is the submenu's background transparency, which will cause you readability problems if the menu extends down beyond two entries.

Codewise, you need to sort out your navigation which is un-semantic, as is your intermitant use of header tags. Image-replacement on your jigsaw images may also be a wise move.

but overall I like the way it's going

[finbarr]

is this the one from a few weeks ago where you had the brainwave thing for a logo?

Big improvement logowise for sure. Like the look of the site but you need more space down at the footer and also some margins between the different body links (the large ones) as at the moment there is no change in the mouse state as you go from one to another... making you think its one link instead of 3.

and ditto what max said about your code

[pgo]

That little message links to "deluxe-menus.com" or something.

[jthomas]

Thanks dura. Note taken about font-size under logo.

@max h: The menus are bound to be more full than they are, so I definately will need to lessen the transparencey. I suggested this to the client as well. He wanted something slightly transparent. If you could point me in the direction of achieving this more semantically, I'm all for it. What are you referring to when you say my intermittent use of header tags is un-semantic? How would you suggest that I be using them differently? I guess I'm not familiar with the semantics of header usage. Finally, I'll add some kind of touch to differentiate which jigsaw link you're hovering over. Good suggestion. I had not even thought of that. I'll probably simply underline the text within it. Also, note taken about color dominance. Maybe I'll try a reverse of the theme, by putting the left side-bar on the blue plate and putting the main content in white. Thank you for your time.

@finbarr: yep! Same Logo. It took me FOREVER to make one both myself and the client were satisfied with. It was a huge battle trying to convince him to not use a "brain" as a logo. I have many of you to thank for your suggestions during that phase of the project. So...thank you! I agree with footer space.

@pgo: It says that because I'm still using the trial of a nav I built in a program that is very customizable. However, I'd still like to find a solution that wouldn't require the use of this particular one, which is why I haven't purchased it. I'm not particularly crazy about it, so I'm more than open to suggestions of css-driven menus that meet standars, which work well in FF/IE/Safari. I've seen a lot, but not one that just hit the spot yet.

Thanks all.

[jthomas]

Also, I have no idea how to power that service locator by zip code and I imagine I'll just do some sort of content rotator script in PHP for the customer testimonials. If you know of some resources to power the locator, I'd greatly appreciate you pointing me towards it. It's not in the deal to do any advanced programming. I'm just doing the shell, but I don't like the idea of someone else getting in the code, so if I can give him a finished product, it'd be nice.

[mx]

Originally Posted by jthomas

If you could point me in the direction of achieving this more semantically, I'm all for it. What are you referring to when you say my intermittent use of header tags is un-semantic? How would you suggest that I be using them differently?

I'm sure there must be a thread on here that answers this in way more detail but here's my basic take.

Header tags are a way of defining importance in a document.
h1 = The title of the page
h2 = The main headline
h3 = Secondary headline
h4 = Paragraph title
Your use of them depends on the type content your laying out.

General rules
You should use header tags in order i.e h1, h2, h3, h4 etc
You shouldn't use header tags out of sequence i.e. h3 but no h2, h4 but no h1.
The h1 should only be used once in a page, but the others can be used multiple times.

For your layout I would:
h1 = the Brainwave logo using image-replacement.
h2 = "Why Choose Brainwave Broadband?"
h3 = Service Locator, Current News, Happy Customers
h4 = Current News Topic

[jthomas]

Ok. I see what you mean. That makes perfect sense. Thanks.

[swehner]

I looked at the LINKed website, http://www.calvaryspringfield.org/brainwave and have these comments.

Looks nice overall. The font for the bar with "Home Business Residential About Contact" is too small on my Mozilla Firefox 1.5. There should be something above this bar, or it should move up.

Would Residential not be more interesting than Business when the rates are shown? Then "Residential" should come first. It was not immediately clear to me what the prices are for.

See you

Stephan

[jthomas]

Originally Posted by swehner

Would Residential not be more interesting than Business when the rates are shown? Then "Residential" should come first.

Naturally, I would agree. This ISP is geared more towards Businesses than Residential. Also, the prices will be further explained when a user clicks on them. I hope to make "clicking" these links more suggestive as soon as I get the chance. Thank you for your comments.