Review Request - Site for Teachers and Students

[callvipin]

One of the nice website i reviewed at sitepoint. Very nice appealing web site...There are some scope for improvement like the arranging of data in tables or rows will be much more appealing in your listings other than that i feel it is very nice web site. The main point here is the user friendliness.. I personally like links with image representations in front page....

[Affiliate Noob]

as a casual web viewer for your site... it kind of seemed a bit confusing as far as direction goes... for example the layout for it had no flow to it. Id definitely try a different layout and if your using wordpress you may want to change up your theme.

[J in Calgary]

The whole site looks a bit monochromatic for lack of a better term. Too many shades/variations of blue. Perhaps look into some other complementary colors. Your links are a prime example (your 52 reasons especially)[*]The I in Ideas drives me nuts - it looks like someone took the small i and just elongated it.

Thanks for your detailed response. The "I" makes me crazy, too. I have about 7 sans serif font choices with this template, and except for the "i," I like this font the best. I can replace text with a picture, and I had designed the exact logo I wanted in PowerPoint (with the font and image), but I can't figure out how to size it so that it's big enough. In other words, within ppt, I can't figure out how to make it big enough (it goes off the slide). If I use the one that fits in PowerPoint, it's too small at the top of the site.

I played a lot with colors last night in response to your post. I tried yellow dropdown menus and orange ones. I'm still on blue for now, but I'll keep looking until I find a combination that is fun, but not distracting. I also can't find the right code to switch the background brown/gray between the blue (I'm working with an existing template), but I did lighten the background color where the text is. I'll keep looking at that.

Visited links should be a purplish color and new links should be blue. I'll have to see what's happening with that--that color scheme should be carried throughout the site.

I'm not sure what's up with the hz scrollbar--that's got to be a template issue happening in certain browsers. Argh.

I know it's not standard to have breadcrumbs only at the bottom, but when I tried them at the top, they really pushed my main content too far down the page. For now, I figured it was better to have a "you are here" sign of some sort, even if it breaks convention.

I know the fly-out menus start to get long. I'm struggling with having to create sort of empty landing pages to prevent that. For example, if I go from Math Problem of the Week, then there's the list of all the problems on separate pages, which is long. But the only way to calm that down would be to make sub-pages saying Math POW #1-10, and another saying #11-20, and then have the 10 flyouts from each page (for example). I don't know how to make them flip left/right--that's coded in the template--but I know what you're saying. It would be easier if the user would just click earlier. I don't know how to prevent sub-pages from appearing in the fly-out menu, so every time I add a page, it has to fit somewhere, which is why they've gotten really long. I'll have to look into that more.

I'm still trying to figure out how to make a footer work, and I'm hoping that will give the home page a more balanced feel.

You've given me a lot to think about--thanks!

[J in Calgary]

as a casual web viewer for your site... it kind of seemed a bit confusing as far as direction goes... for example the layout for it had no flow to it. Id definitely try a different layout and if your using wordpress you may want to change up your theme.

Thanks for taking time to look at the site. I'm using weebly for my template, and I've spent a lot of time choosing the theme and then modifying it. I know not all colors/designs appeal to all people, but I'm not sure what you mean about the layout having no flow or being confusing. Could you be more specific about which parts are confusing?

[J in Calgary]

One of the nice website i reviewed at sitepoint. Very nice appealing web site...There are some scope for improvement like the arranging of data in tables or rows will be much more appealing in your listings other than that i feel it is very nice web site. The main point here is the user friendliness.. I personally like links with image representations in front page....

Thank you for your response, and for taking so much time to look through the site to get a feel for the different parts. I realize there are some pages that have long lists of data, so that's something I'll keep working to arrange to make it more user-friendly.

I appreciate all the feedback, since it gives me lots of ideas about how to make the site work better.

[navyfalcon]

You may want to add "Scholarships" for gifted students. Helps particularly for "Home Schools". There is a lot of unadvertised help for home schools, you can advertise some of the better information and put a comment in your description as help for home schools. Also you can contact school district offices and let them know of your website help. Most states have a list of their school districts and contact information.
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hope this helps
falcon

[Siemen2491]

I don't know much about designs but i really don't like the icon's the logo eather it's looks unprofessional.

[J in Calgary]

You may want to add "Scholarships" for gifted students. Helps particularly for "Home Schools". There is a lot of unadvertised help for home schools, you can advertise some of the better information and put a comment in your description as help for home schools. Also you can contact school district offices and let them know of your website help. Most states have a list of their school districts and contact information.

falcon

Thanks--that's a good recommendation. I think marketing probably deserves more energy than I've given it, and focusing on the homeschooling population is a helpful suggestion. I really appreciate the thoughtful feedback!

[navyfalcon]

I like your dropdowns. Where did you get them ??
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For home schools - on Google search for "Home School Forums" and try to introduce your website. Do it carefully so you are not considered as Spam. Once they realize it is good they will tell others. This is a start. If you can direct a lot of information for homeschools, it will boost your site for the lean times. Try and promote free software for homeschools, and your Google ads should be directed to the homeschools also. Each state has different requirements, so you may want to consider that also. Eventually you will have the states divided up per requirements. Don't forget study guides for APs and CLEPs.
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hope this helps
falcon

[navyfalcon]

I am not a graphic designer (that will be immediately obvious), and there
are a lot of inconsistent elements on pages.

Below is a site with free education templates. Use one or use part of it for
your site improvement (main page and inside pages)

http://www.freetemplatesonline.com/f...ion-templates/
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hope this helps
falcon

[navyfalcon]

Google allows 66 characters (including spaces) in the title
adjust accordingly

<title>Conversation Pieces: Building Bright Ideas - Conversation Pieces:
Building Bright Ideas Home Page</title>

<title>Alphabetical List of Book Recommendations for Students - Conversation
Pieces: Building Bright Ideas</title>

<title>Book Recommendations by Grade Level - Conversation Pieces: Building
Bright Ideas</title>
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Please check out the results or reviews of any scholarship information

http://www.collegescholarships.org/s...ships/k-12.htm

http://www.privateschools.com/scholarships.phtml

http://schoolscholarships.org/start-...2-scholarships

http://www.fastweb.com/college-schol...e-k-12-schools

http://www.privateschools.com/financialaid.phtml

Also check out 'how to apply for scholarships"
filling out the forms properly with the correct keywords is important
(it will determine if you get the next step or not)
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-
hope this helps
falcon

[J in Calgary]

I didn't realize it was doing that with the Title meta tags. I can give each page a title and enter my own description and keyword tags, but it's automatically adding the site title at the end of each page.

For some reason I can adjust the css or add my own custom html elements, but I can't edit the existing html at this point (or there's a way and I don't know how) within the template.

Thanks for all the ideas about where to market the site--you have a good sense of big-picture thinking!

The drop-downs are part of the template I chose--Weebly is my host site. I use the pro version, but they have a free version. It's a good host, with good customer service, and it's fast to get a website up and running. I am finding that when I want to do more complex things that I don't have as much control, though, so there are limits to what I can change or add. Right now, for instance, I'm trying to create a footer, which supposedly is possible through a drag and drop system, but I'm having trouble getting it set. I wouldn't want to code my own contact forms, but I also can't change the ones they offer to customize the design. On balance, for me it's probably better to have something already coded, though, especially since I only know a small amount of html and even less about css, so I'm thankful I didn't have to start from scratch.

[navyfalcon]

Might want to try a 'free' HTML Editor and a CSS Editor. There are free HTML code snippets and CSS snippets plus script snippets for special items in the web page. All you do is copy the snippet and paste it where you want it. Do a Google search for them and use the editor to paste them.
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hope this helps
falcon

[navyfalcon]

I didn't realize it was doing that with the Title meta tags. I can give each page a title and enter my own description and keyword tags, but it's automatically adding the site title at the end of each page.

For some reason I can adjust the css or add my own custom html elements, but I can't edit the existing html at this point (or there's a way and I don't know how) within the template.

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I used "Alleycode HTML Editor" (it is free)
http://alleycode.com/
and edited the source code
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In Alleycode - close the popup (would you like to make a donation)
Then File - New - HTML Project
Highlite and remove the text
File - Open - search for your webpage - Use the arrow on top (look in) and click on it to download
What you see is the source code - You can add, remove, or modify the contents
<title> words </title> is what you are looking for - change to suit
Then File - Save or Save as (if save as - give it a name and it will be saved as that name)
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hope this helps
falcon

[navyfalcon]

In your quest for more traffic, better conversions ($$$), more page rank, and better positions on the web, You need software to assist you in making decisions and the right changes.
1st - you may want web page analyzers (they check your meta tags - Title - Description and body of the page for keywords and suggest changes to improve your website
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Free Web Page Analyzers:

Online Analyzer
http://www.analyzerhq.com/en/

Speed Analyzer
http://www.websiteoptimization.com/services/analyze/

Web Page Analyzer
http://www.freewebsubmission.com/web-page-analyzer.html

Meta Tag Analyzer
http://www.scrubtheweb.com/abs/meta-check.html

SEO Web Page Analyzer
http://www.the-escape.co.uk/tools/pageanalyzer/
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hope this helps
falcon

[TechnoBear]

As there is now a new thread for this site, I'll close this one to avoid confusion.