Design Testing

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 1:29 pm

I decided to give everyone a choice about which style they want the page to be in--so I am offering several!

Hopefully this will be the last post about the site redesign. I only have 3 browsers (internet explorer 6.0, firefox 1.0.7 and firefox 1.5.02) installed on my computer--meaning I only have 3 versions of browsers that I can test the functionality of my new layouts in.

During my tests I noticed a few errors and have corrected them for the browsers I use, but it would be most helpful to me if you could spare a few seconds to open up the following URL and let me know if you see any issues:

http://crystal.palpates.us/test/

To check for problems:

1. Scroll down to the bottom of that page to where it says "styles." Select a style other than default.

2. Hover your mouse over the links (links aren't really functional so don't click them). Make sure the menus do not "disappear" when you do this.

3. Look for any objects that are overlapping or obscuring each other (example provided below), or for any objects which are not perfectly lined up. Basically each style should look very similar to the images I asked for your votes on--"Art Deco" is "NEW blue," "Spring" is "NEW green," and magazine is magazine. (I might be adding holiday themes and so forth later, too.)

4. Repeat this process for the other styles at the bottom of the page and in any other browser you might have, if possible.

5. If you suspect you have found a problem, please describe the problem to me and tell me what browser and version you are using (version can be found by selecting "Help" and then "About [browser name]" from the menu at the top of the browser that includes things like "file" and "bookmarks."

(Sometimes the easiest way to describe the problem is to provide a picture of it--I know not all of you will have software that is capable of doing this, but if you have a graphics editing program (microsoft paint will work if you don't have anything better), you can hit the "print screen" key on your keyboard, open your graphics editing program (MS paint is usually found by going to start -> programs -> accessories -> paint), create a new document, and then "paste" the image you captured when you hit print screen. If you end up doing this, you can e-mail the graphic to me (info @ finchinfo.com). If it's too confusing or too much work, don't worry about it sending a picture of what you see, though.)

Here are some examples of problems I found that I have since corrected (to give you an idea of what kinds of problems you might find). You might need to copy and paste the URLs into your browser if it says the file is "forbidden":

http://crystal.palpates.us/photos/layout_issues.jpg - alignment problems

http://crystal.palpates.us/photos/layout_issues2.jpg -disappearing menus

Even if you didn't find a problem--please let me know what browser and version you are using so that I can tell which ones the layouts do work on.

Thank you SO MUCH for helping with this--I know it's a little tedious and not exactly about finches, but it will really help me to ensure that finchinfo.com is as reliable and functional as possible. :)

tammieb · Post by **tammieb** » Sun Apr 16, 2006 3:18 pm

Hi Crystal,

I have IE and Netscape and all version worked for me. No problems noticed.

Post by **Hilary** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 1:53 am

I also have IE (on Windows XP) and no problems noticed for any. They look great! Hilary

JeannetteD · Post by **JeannetteD** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:10 pm

Looks good on Netscape 7.2!!

I think I like New Blue better than New Green now.. LOL

Jeannette

alwaysfullofjoy · Post by **alwaysfullofjoy** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 9:51 pm

Works great on Netscape for me as well. The blue one is my favorite one as well.

Sally H · Post by **Sally H** » Mon Apr 17, 2006 10:35 pm

No problems, they're all very nice. Good job!

MadHatter · Post by **MadHatter** » Wed May 24, 2006 7:58 am

I'm running Opera 8.5 on Windows XP at 1280 x 960.
Aside from the fact that it doesn't wrap to that resolution (ie. leaves alot of blank space to either side), everything looks just dandy.

Crystal · Post by **Crystal** » Wed May 24, 2006 1:01 pm

Thanks, Mad. I could not figure out a good way to make it expand to fit all sizes, so I opted to keep the main page at 800 px wide and center it so that either side would have blank space as a compromise.