Building a website for a small company...
I'm building a site for a small company for my summer job. I'm posting some screen shots of the site I'm working on and info about how it all works. Please post your comments about the site...
The first screen (screen1.jpg) would the be homepage. Basically all the wording on the page is just for show right now- so we have some menu options to choose from. On the top the user has 3 options- Material Handlers, Telehandlers, and Rail Equipment. When they roll their mouse over "Material Handlers" the gray bar under them reviels a second menu with more specific links.
So say the user click on "General Information". The nest page (screen2.jpg) gives a general over view of that product line w/ specific model links. Meanwhile the "Material Handlers" button at the top stays highlighted depending on what type of machine they are looking at. The big "The Cary-Lift" pic can be replaced with anything- like I said I would maybe like to have something that gives an overview of why we call a "Material Handler" a cary-lift and what its basic functions are.
So the user wants more information on the "Super 20". They click on the button and it brings up a page with more model specific information. Maybe lifting capacities, engine specs, etc. The super 20 button stays highlighted letting know that they are in the super 20 information page. If the user clicks on one of the next set of buttons, lets say accessories, a small window would pop up with only a vertical scroll bar and have a simple list of accessories, specifications, etc.
Eventhough the user has gone deep into the site they can still get to almost any place via the top menu. I need figure out where to put more images of the machines and stuff. I was thinking about in screen3 making the box that says "This small text box...." scrollable so we could maybe put more images in there and longer information or something.
Let me know what you think about the navigation aspect and if you think it will work.
Thanks a lot!
The first screen (screen1.jpg) would the be homepage. Basically all the wording on the page is just for show right now- so we have some menu options to choose from. On the top the user has 3 options- Material Handlers, Telehandlers, and Rail Equipment. When they roll their mouse over "Material Handlers" the gray bar under them reviels a second menu with more specific links.
So say the user click on "General Information". The nest page (screen2.jpg) gives a general over view of that product line w/ specific model links. Meanwhile the "Material Handlers" button at the top stays highlighted depending on what type of machine they are looking at. The big "The Cary-Lift" pic can be replaced with anything- like I said I would maybe like to have something that gives an overview of why we call a "Material Handler" a cary-lift and what its basic functions are.
So the user wants more information on the "Super 20". They click on the button and it brings up a page with more model specific information. Maybe lifting capacities, engine specs, etc. The super 20 button stays highlighted letting know that they are in the super 20 information page. If the user clicks on one of the next set of buttons, lets say accessories, a small window would pop up with only a vertical scroll bar and have a simple list of accessories, specifications, etc.
Eventhough the user has gone deep into the site they can still get to almost any place via the top menu. I need figure out where to put more images of the machines and stuff. I was thinking about in screen3 making the box that says "This small text box...." scrollable so we could maybe put more images in there and longer information or something.
Let me know what you think about the navigation aspect and if you think it will work.
Thanks a lot!
Comments
http://www.pettibone-mi.com
BTW- its crap and 1/2 of the things don't work.
Linkage
The primary navigation 'buttons' are clean to a fault, and the typeface chosen does not fill the space well at all. I'm not trying to be an ass, you just asked for criticism
I think you need to reconsider the masthead of the site first and foremost.
By Masthead I would assume you are looking at the top nav menu? How could I make this better?
Thanks
For the font, I would consider using a thicker sans serif font up on the navigation. I like what you're using for secondary navigation for the different products, and I would like to see something bold like that up in the navigation as well. I would make the type fill the space of the buttons better... it looks a tad empty. So shrink the buttons or change the typeface.
The Dealer login buttons and what not are at the very bottom, and I guarantee you're going to have people call you up and ask where the hell the login page is because of that. Toss it on the masthead (the top), and I would put it in the upper right, perhaps under the logo. Gray it a little so it doesn't distract the user, but they will still see it.
Whip up something, post it here, and I'll give you more feedback