Bad Club websites

[Charuzu]

Hello, I am currently working on starting a club at OCC and I decided to make a club site. the only issue is... it looks like c**p.

While I may be a CS/CIS major, it's all for networking, not websites.
It has the main information that is needed though

So my question is, if a club website looks like cr*p, yet still has the needed info does it hurt or help the club?
Would you guys mind having your clubs website look like it's developer has down syndrome?

[Gideon]

Do you care if your hakama has lost its pleats and your shinai is splintering?

[Charuzu]

I have some of it online (http://cs4.sunyocc.edu/%7Ec.a.poltenson/kendo/index.html) for you guys to preview but it is unfinished.

[garyquinn1704]

surely we judge a Kendo Kai on it's devotion to a centuries old art and not website design abilty. Would anyone here have avoided joining your local Kendo because of a bad website?

And isn't Kendo-World so beautiful with it's shades of grey? Oh how dull, nothing for me here.

[Sparv]

From my limited experience, it will mainly be other kenshis who will go on your websites. So you need 4 things immediately accessible in no more than one clic:

- training schedules
- a map to go to the dojo
- an UP TO DATE calendar
- an e-mail to get in touch with somebody from the dojo.

Moreover, it must be found in Google/Yahoo/live search/something less when you type the "name of your city" and "kendo"

If all this is OK, you've done 95% of the work.

[Martino]

Lose media/what is kendo.

Keep it simple, set the back ground colour back to white and lose the blue on the left hand side.

go with something list this
http://kuroyamakai.googlepages.com/home
it is clean and simple.

If you haven't finished sections rather that having under construction screens just remove the link

[michaelm]

Google is your friend.
http://www.google.com/search?q=free+website+templates

[Charuzu]

Google is your friend.
http://www.google.com/search?q=free+website+templates

wow, I cant believe that I haven't thought of that.

[Paikea]

Do you care if your hakama has lost its pleats and your shinai is splintering?Depends, am I still asleep in the gutter or are we home now? (Couldn't resist option four there, Charlie)

[Anonymous]

It just needs to be a functional website that actually gets updated imo. I personally don't think its bad if the site looks decent, but I'd care more about the practice times and locations on the site being correct and up to date.

[ne0r]

I agree with Martino: clean and simple.

To be honest if I ever start being interested in something that I could eventually take up I'd first look around a bit with google and eventually type the thing ("Kendo" for instance) + myTownName (I like Java ;D). A website that looks as if it was "designed" in the beginnings of the internet is rather putting me off than encouraging me to go there and give it a try.

Oh and I love to have a look at everything before I go there, so I find pictures from practise quite nice. But that's planned anyway, isn't it?

As others (especially Sparv) said, practicality is also very important.

[bobdonny]

Lose media/what is kendo.

Keep it simple, set the back ground colour back to white and lose the blue on the left hand side.

go with something list this
http://kuroyamakai.googlepages.com/home
it is clean and simple.

If you haven't finished sections rather that having under construction screens just remove the link

Good advice, remember KISS (keep it simple stupid) ;)

[Webalistic]

I agree with simplicity.

But as an individual and as a web design professional: please, please, please loose the animated background!!

The extremely simplified idea is: people come for information and good looks makes them remember the site.
Also make sure things are readable. (black text on a dark blue background isn't the best choice)

Other than that just choose the look you or your dojo want.

[JoDuncan]

I had to do our club's one, sadly other things took over so i left it pretty bare-bones.

Simple CSS style sheets, which you can get templates of online (although it is a piece of piss to do your own).

Accurate, up-to-date contact details and training times & locations are the most important things. Once they are in then think about what else you fancy sticking in...
Pictures of training, social events, bios of Sensei / Sempai, FAQ section... and links to the KWF yo.

Web design can be quite good fun although it requires a lot of tweaking to get it right.... things like making sure it is visible on Firefox, Opera, safari, Netscape and IE and that all the formatting is cool can turn you insane... why i didn't bother! :p but i will probably in the future.

[Mugu]

Or you can just go to blogger.com and get a easy set up plus easy maintenance website - not to mention they have pretty nice templates and 3rd party templates. And you can also go to dot.tk (http://www.dot.tk/en/index.html?lang=en) to get a free domain name. Quick and simple.

[MikeW]

I agree to try and keep it simple. Have all the information someone needs to be able to find and attend your practices (such as accurate location, time and a contact) as well as a short blurb about the club and potentially it's sensei. I would say I like your OCC club logo but I would say lose the pink background. Another thing.. make sure your page is updated in a timely fashion when new information comes up (such as practice changes, location changes, parties, meetings, tournaments, seminars etc etc) and make sure all your pages and links are active and not dead. The most over-riding need is for accurate, timely information... appearance comes after.

[SmellsLikeBogu]

be carefull with animated gifs as backgrounds. they may cause seizures :p

[satsumaruma]

I concur with the simplicity thing.

I thik the pink is okay-ish if you like it.

But the snowflakes are a bit twee and offputting.

I would advocate including the following.

Easy to read text.
Avoid too much jargon ( or explain it) - people may be thinking of taking up kendo but may not have done any other martial arts
Use colours that are easy on the eye.
Explain what you are about, where you practice , times etc And mention which association you are part of- it reassures people you are not some McDojo.
Use pictures to show yourselves in the best light - I personally think that these should be a balance between practice shots and some social ones. The social ones are good for encouraging new bods to ring you - it helps somehow.

And get someone to check it over when you have finished; someone who's opinion you value and who will not just say what they think you want to hear.
Oh and if they do tell you something is not very good, don't get too precious about it. It is only a website and should be changed/updates every so often.


Good luck.

Lee

[Sparv]

JoDuncan, you're so right! Badly programmed websites are a pain in the ass for non-ie users. I hate cro$oft.

Another small point: I know some people who over-use javascripts. The problem is that you can't go back with your navigator in javascripts. The code lines and the website can look fancy, but it might do much harm.

Java

This words reminds me some recents nightmares. I've to do a small project in Java, and it takes so much time that I program even while sleeping. :confused2

[Charuzu]

I concur with the simplicity thing.

I thik the pink is okay-ish if you like it.

But the snowflakes are a bit twee and offputting.

I would advocate including the following.

Easy to read text.
Avoid too much jargon ( or explain it) - people may be thinking of taking up kendo but may not have done any other martial arts
Use colours that are easy on the eye.
Explain what you are about, where you practice , times etc And mention which association you are part of- it reassures people you are not some McDojo.
Use pictures to show yourselves in the best light - I personally think that these should be a balance between practice shots and some social ones. The social ones are good for encouraging new bods to ring you - it helps somehow.

And get someone to check it over when you have finished; someone who's opinion you value and who will not just say what they think you want to hear.
Oh and if they do tell you something is not very good, don't get too precious about it. It is only a website and should be changed/updates every so often.


Good luck.

Lee

I removed the *.gif background and added in filler pages. When I get home I plan on adding more content. I also will fix the menu

[dwez]

I am totally of the opinion that something is better than nothing. I'm also of the opinion that a well designed website, template or professional can certainly present your club in a better light. I have much respect for anyone giving it a go and if you put 100% effort in then you should be proud. You are not deluding yourself that there is room for improvement, which is why you're asking for advice. So stick with your web presence and either follow the advice given or wait till eventually a web-designer turns up at practice and ply them with booze so they take on the job of re-designing it for you. Everyone's a winner!

[Mugu]

So stick with your web presence and either follow the advice given or wait till eventually a web-designer turns up at practice and ply them with booze so they take on the job of re-designing it for you. Everyone's a winner!

How come my sensei still beat me up senseless even though I volunteered my time to make a nicer website for the dojo... and I even pay for boozes sometime...

[dwez]

How come my sensei still beat me up senseless even though I volunteered my time to make a nicer website for the dojo... and I even pay for boozes sometime...

He clearly senses you are weak and your spirit is not strong, 20 push ups!

[ne0r]

This words reminds me some recents nightmares. I've to do a small project in Java, and it takes so much time that I program even while sleeping. :confused2

Yeah, Java is not the smallest language, in terms of lines of code. But I like Swing ;D The only thing that makes me re-think my language choice is that I put together a console for Java (swing component) because I felt so interface-less without it xD That's kind of weird...


Hm, Charuzu, you could put in a little java-applet with a kendo-shiai-game xD

[Charuzu]

Hm, Charuzu, you could put in a little java-applet with a kendo-shiai-game xD

lol, sure (I guess I'd go under media)

PS - I updated the site a little bit

[Sparv]

Java is not the smallest language, in terms of lines of code.

The problem is not the language itself, it is that we are rushed by the teachers, and java is brand new for us.

I once woke up at 3 in the morning with images in my mind of spaghettis moving by themselves to draw UML diagrams... :confused2 I couldn't eat any kind of spaghettis for a week.

OK, no more thread-drifting, sorry.

Hey Charuzu, put the link in your signature, that's gonna be easier for us to find the link!

[SmellsLikeBogu]

if you really want a good website, pick up php, get some hosting with database support, and start coding :) good websites take effort, and are usually made of a team of designers, coders, and some others to do the dirty work :p
if you need help throw me a pm

[ne0r]

The chibi kendoka is neat. (We have one, too, on our club zekken ;D)

Looks nice, but I would use one background color for all sub-pages. I like purple more than pink, though.

EDIT: @Sparv: "I once woke up at 3 in the morning with images in my mind of spaghettis moving by themselves to draw UML diagrams... " made me literally LoughOutLoud :) (Must spread rep etc., etc.)

[Kagerou]

It doesn't look that bad right now. A little old school simple but at least people will be able to find you.

[satsumaruma]

I agree. And basically that is all a website needs to do - provide a window for the world to know you are there and what you do.

Lee