Webuser Forums: Walks Website (new) Please check?

Changes I would make:

1. Get rid of the Back button at the bottom of some pages. It is unnecessary since all menu items are accessible on the left of each page anyway, and that nasty grey default spoils the colourful coordination of your pages.

2. Launch your Terms and Conditions into a separate window, or add another coloured menu item for it and include it in the frameset like everything else. I also second the advice of making your second page the index one, and the small blurb on your current splash page added to it if needed. I also would cut down on the ToS, you are not a lawyer so don't try talking like one, and you are not selling anything, so talk of liability, merchantibility, etc is nonsense. Keep it to the point, you are not responsible for third party pages, you make no guarantee that any walks are suitable for everyone, and the exclusive jurisdiction is that of England.

2. I love the colours for those buttons, they brighten up the page. However I would soften the multi-colour in the title tags to match the pastel shades used.

3. Personally I dislike Java applets unless they serve a genuine purpose. They take longest to load of all content, where Java is disabled as a security choice they leave a nasty grey area. Unless yours serves a real purpose other than showing you knew how to use the popular lake applet, perhaps that should go?

4. On Walks2.htm, you have the map of Newcastle loading into the same window. Don't do this! Firstly it is a violation of copyright to frame someone else's pages inside your site, as it makes it appear as though it is passed off as your own work. Secondly when I tried it the page load stalled then failed, which gives a bad impression of you as it left a blank white area of nothing. Always make sure all third party links go into a new window, so your site stays on screen, and any page failures won't mess up your own site.

5. Just a thought, since you use the back tag "Walk Back" on the walks pages themselves, wouldn't it be fun to make the more walks one read "Walk Ahead"?

6. Yuk, more ugly grey buttons! Why did you use those on the walks pages for Print? The trick I use for my print pages is to use a print image which compelents the site, and get it to launch a separate window with the plain style page in it, and that new page has the code for printing in it as an onLoad statement. That said, this is javascript, and doesn't always work. So maybe just give the user instructions to right click the frame and select Print for themselves?

7. Images. They can be made smaller file sizes and load faster, I took heavan.jpg and cut it down from 11 KB to 9 KB as an example. Then some are full sized images which you've shrunk into a confined space - they keep the original file sizes when you do this! Example, the Newcastle coat of arms is 429*532 in size and takes up 26 KB. It needs shrinking down to a thumbnail to cut the load time. Try this BatchThumbs program which I use - it's free, easy to use and very effective. I just made that coat of arms into the displayed size you wanted, converted it to JPG instead of GIF, and it shrunk from 26 KB to 11 KB.

8. Also, did you get consent to use them from the copyright owners? I know you didn't take them all yourself, your city coat of arms is protected by copyright for a start, and you need permission to use it (ask the council if you don't believe me). It may seem like nothing to you, but anyone whose images you've used could demand their removal leaving your site somewhat empty.

Beyond all this, well done. I like the colours used and the design overall. Just needs tidying up - and run the text through a spell checker as you have errors, specially in the ToS page.

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