I think it is fair to say the initial response to the new website design was less than enthusiastic. To some extent this is because many people do not like change and the new site is definitely a significant change over the old site. Also I would agree with many of the comments about the font family and size not being very good.
So I have just finished updating the site so that most people viewing using Windows will see the “Segoe UI” font. This might seem an odd choice but remember I am selling components to Windows developers and so the vast majority are going to be viewing the site from a Windows machine with that font installed. It falls back to using Tahoma if you do not have that font installed.
Let me know what you think of the latest update. If you could split your comments between the main site, the blog area and the forums area that would be good. Maybe you like some areas but not the others?
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:11 pm
Hi Phil,
I realy like the new site…
greetz
Geert
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Now, that you fixed all the initial issues with the font I think it looks really good now. One thing which is not so good as before is the Top Logo but I guess everyone has a different taste.
What I really like is the footer area with the sitemap and that the forum now appears “integrated” to the rest of your site.
cheers,
Stefan
January 22nd, 2010 at 9:57 pm
Problem about blog area :
All responses have not the same font. One response is big, the next is small then big then small etc ..
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:05 pm
I don’t think as Stefan, I don’t like the footer with the sitemap because the sitemap has no interest. It don’t give more than if you put the mouse on the menu. Many place used for nothing.
But I like the “integrated” forum.
January 22nd, 2010 at 10:47 pm
Works fine on IE8. However, the font doesn’t work on Firefox 3.5.7, and there are a variety of layout issues, one of which I posted about in the other redesign comments.
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:16 pm
Hi Phil,
the footer always shows “–> DOWNLOAD “, is it correct?
… I prefer the old one …
Angel
January 22nd, 2010 at 11:43 pm
Sorry, still ugly as sin. Your component are 1000x times better looking and more polished than this so called “website”. I’m sorry, but that’s what I think.
That’s all I’m going to say as I’ve said everything in the previous blog post.
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:05 am
In the words of Little Britain’s Andy Pipkin;
“I don’t like it!”
Sorry.
January 23rd, 2010 at 1:18 am
Hi Phil,
I can see the tweaks you’ve made since the initial update, but I have to say that it still does not change my opinion about the overall lokk & feel of the site. Also, I understand that everyone has his own taste, but I don’t think your previous website generated as many negative comments (although we can assume that all people viewing the previous site did not have the same taste neither)…
In order to be constructive, here a some flaws I noticed at very first sight:
WEBSITE:
1) The logo (in Flash) does not match the rest of your header (static image)… probably a compression issue, but you can clearly see a marked “line” between your animated logo and the “COMPONENT FACTORY” title
2) The Footer: some like it, some do not… but without commenting on the size, the dark blue/grey grid does not render well at all for my eyes. Also, the layout seems a bit akward, the Sitemap then a double arrow icon lead to a big “DOWNLOAD”… not sure I understand the flow…
3) The main menu with the dropdown menus (PRODUCTS, BUY, COMMUNITY, …) shows with transparency… I’m ok with that except that it also has that “stripped” background which overlays the back of the header portion (blue) and page portion (white)… Because of the stripped lines combined with the transparency I find the text hard to read (or not comfortable at least). When you mouse over on the menu entries, the first entry shows darker than the other ones because it shows on top of the blue header portion. Also, the menu dropdown does not align at the center of the white arrow below the label (now that’s a choice, and really not an issue).
Finally, I already mentionned that but in the Blog section, the comments really do not show nicely because of the alternating font size.
Obviously, you don’t have to agree with the people who don’t like the new design :) Good luck with all your activities!
Mike
January 23rd, 2010 at 4:02 am
I don’t think the new website is as bad as some comments suggest and you can’t argue over taste but to me the new design is in no way an improvement in contrast to the previous website, which actually had a much more professional aura.
First of all the inconsistencies are implying unprofessional work. Secondly the new design actually looks as if it was ripped of a free wordpress theme. I can’t imagine any business who would want that kind of first impression for their website. Finally when you compare your website to other online (not only software related) businesses you might see where things are going wrong. A nice example of a really good website with a similar structure as yours is http://www.elmwoodspa.com/.
January 23rd, 2010 at 5:02 am
Please don’t dismiss the critics as curmudgeons who hate change. It really is that bad.
Also, the front page still has gap/alignment issues in Firefox 3.5.7 @1600×1200.
January 23rd, 2010 at 6:18 am
I believe Miketrixx’s “marked line between your animated logo and the COMPONENT FACTORY title” is really only a dropshadow, with lightsource at 270° or thereabouts. If you look, the angled roofs cast the same shadow.
January 23rd, 2010 at 8:42 am
@Steven
this “is” Wordpress:
<meta name=”generator” content=”WordPress 2.9″ />
January 23rd, 2010 at 9:58 am
I think the site looks very good with the new font.. The site looks very modern, by utilizing many of the most trendy features in webdesign today: Bright call-to-action buttons, big footer, simple menu, big screenshots above the fold etc.
The company I work for is currently creating a website for our ASP.NET cms that we’ll be launching internationally in a few weeks, and it will use all of the same elements.
January 23rd, 2010 at 10:01 am
Steven: I think the example you linked to looks like a $10 template…
January 24th, 2010 at 9:56 pm
I love change, that is change for the good, this is not yet change for the good, sorry Phil
January 25th, 2010 at 12:27 am
I really am surprised at the response, which shows jyust how passionate people are about design.
I only suscribe to the blog and forum, and think that new new design is very modern with soome final modifications and tweaking necessary.
I do not like the header though, the binary chimney is superb, but the COMPONENT FACTORY text just seems wrong to me, and i’d probably narrow the menu and drop downs a tad, but that is just personal.
The posts in the blog have variable text size so some consitency is required here as some post are bigger than others.
January 25th, 2010 at 2:21 pm
The tweaks made it a little better yet,
but I think header (especially on front page) and footer are stil to big,
half of the size are sufficient.
When I come to your start site 2/3 of my browser are blue header with no information, I have to scroll down to see whats interesting …
and I’m using 1920×1200 display, no idea how it will look on smaller resolutions …
January 26th, 2010 at 5:49 pm
hi Phil, its always good to come up with somthing new, that is better, unfortunatley you previous site gave a more business feel, I would Say with
the new site has not kept this image.
January 26th, 2010 at 7:11 pm
In Firefox 3.6 (just upgraded), everything looks fine.
January 28th, 2010 at 11:29 am
I’d say: stop waisting time tweaking minor stuff on this site. It’s fine and good enough. We can find our downloads, FAQ, Forum and whatnot’s. Now get back to your core business, developing windows GUI components, and do what you do best!
As a personal not: I must say I can’t precisely remember the old site but it seems to me it got better. Maybe my memory has served me wrong but as far as I know things got better. I like it (not overly enthousiastic though I have to admit) but it’s fine. No go make me my dinner…uh go make us some great KryptonUpdate :-)
February 20th, 2010 at 9:56 am
It’s been awfully quiet here for the past few weeks. What’s up? :-)