TemplateArchives (Please Review)

hi guys,
i'm a webmaster and have created 3 sites. I would like you guys to give me your opinions on them all.
Please state the site you are commenting on so that i may know where to make the changes.

The links are below on my signature.

RE: http://www.websolutionarchives.com/
I don't really see the purpose in the forward and back buttons - esp the forward one. These buttons are already part of nearly all browsers, and don't need to be duplicated.

From a design POV - the site looks a bit "templatey" if you know what I mean.... like it's off a template site - it's got that look to it.

You're right there about the FORWARD and BACK button, and i have also realised that, i just wanted to create something never done before and that's bringing those button closer to the click of the user. Anyways, i've been busy creating a new template for the site since a month ago, but i have a very busy schedule and can't get it finished now, but when its done, it will be without those buttons.

About the layout looking templaty, well that was the idea.. it didn't come from a template site.. i designed it myself like i designed all the other templates in this site http://www.templatearchives.com

But thanks for your structive critisizm.

Its seems difficult to get comments these days. I need your comments guys, could someone just do that?

http://www.websolutionarchives.com

I like the look of that site and it's nice to see that it's valid XHTML 1.0. I think the thing I like least is the fonts at the top (fireworks, css etc) - it is a bit difficult to read. I also get the feeling that the site is a bit dull - perhaps there's too much grey.

http://www.templatearchives.com

I hate that advert here thing in the top. That is distracting and a bit annoying. When you click on a template from the homepage, it opens in a new window which I don't like. Again, the site design is good, but there is just too much grey for me.

http://www.hassan4africa.com

I prefer the colours of this site. The image at the right is nice, but perhaps occupies up a bit too much room, especially for people with smaller screen sizes. Also, when you go to the Photos page (it shouldn't be Photo's), on the right, there are 3 Sub Menus.

Anyway, I hope that helps

i appreciate your concrete advice and i will do my best to solve the problems mentioned. Thanks

hi,
i'm back again. We have now got a new host and we hope some improvements have been made to the loading speed, can you guys plz comment on that?

Well, I can't remember what it was like before, but...

http://www.websolutionarchives.com - this doesn't load at all now


http://www.templatearchives.com - I quite like that. However, sometimes when you click a link (like Mail for example), you lose all the navigation and there's a button to close the window. Perhaps this should actually be opening in a new popup. The same is true also for About Us, and a few others. Otherwise, I think it's quite good.

http://www.hassan4africa.com/ - that looks pretty good. If I was to comment on one thing though, I still think the picture in the top-right is a bit too big.

thanks for the comments.
About WebsolutionArchives.. well its still being transfered, maybe it will be on line by next week...

ok - if you want to just post back when it's back, and I'll have a look at that too.

A totally new layout + the ability to contribute directly to our site without even contacting us... please check it out
http://www.templatearchives.com

Not sure about the drop shadow title - it's a very dated technique. I do like the sub-section titles though - on the smooth bevels.

thanks for the honest tip... i just had to add something there quickly, cause i'm still working on getting the engine work properly. Will definitely see to that soon.

I guess you've removed that title because I can't seen anything like that now.

But, about the site, I like that new layout. Looks nice, and the colours go well together. Just get a good logo (the space is empty at the moment) and it'll be fine.

Well i have finally finished my very first theme and used it as the layout of my site, so please comment on that.

who would like to give more comments on this site? Please just bring it on.. before we make our next layout...

http://www.templatearchives.com

Sorry I haven't been around recently.

I don't really like the green with the pink. The two colours don't really go well together, and I'm not sure about the background colour. The top logo is quite nice, but looks like it is suspended in the middle of nothing.

You seem to have two menus. One is horizontal along the top of the site which looks quite good. The second is to the right of the man going down vertically. Perhaps this is a little confusing, and all the links should be together along the top.

The rest of the page looks a little boring to me, as it's basically lots of boxes with one sentence in them. Perhaps aligning the images to the left of these boxes, adding more text and having different image links to download and view would help.

I like the who's online box, though.

HTH

well i agree with you.. i did it and regretted it straight away, that is why we have come up with something totally different and i'm hoping for more of your comments on this new one.
http://www.templatearchives.com