www.softdevnews.com

Hello,

I have "created" the current version of the site http://www.softdevnews.com using a template provided with the RSS engine that I use. I would like to know if you find it easy to use. It uses frames and I have also a problem with the size of the left frame when I test it with Opera. It covers the middle frame, which isn't the case with IE or Firefox. If anyone has an idea on how to fix this problem ;o)

Thanks

Hi,

In general, the page looks somewhat boring. Almost no graphical design, but on the otherhand there are (many) people who like it this way.

When I opened the page, I got three scrollbars! This is not the way to do it...

When clicking on a few links, they open in a new window. This is not expected (also read the many articles about the 'new window' issue). However, if you really want/need this, please reuse the window and don't open a new one for every link. This is easilly done by naming the window.

The selection of the news-channel works nice, only why does the middleframe update first and then the left frame? Since they are frames, it should be possible to have them both refreshed at the same time...

You are using absolutely positioned IFrames. Why??? :s
A very simple solution would be using 'normal' frames. I'm pretty sure this will solve the Opera-bug also.

I would really suggest that you switch to a non-frames solution. Frames are out-dated, and have not that many possibilities. One page with three DIVs should be a good solution, or at least a page with one table.
This will fix your scrollbar problem at the same time...

Greetingz

I've set my spam blocker to ignore IFrames as sites often stick ads in them.
Guess what I saw when I loaded the page =)
I finally saw the page after modifying my adblocker... what's the third iFrame for?

I was expecting to click an article and see thefull text in the third iFrame... I didn't expect a new window... new windows aren't very accessible to certain users (consider visually impaired visitors with special browsers, narrow-sighted/low-vision visitors with special needs, or even just non-internet savvy users)

I appreciate the fact that you are testing your page in all available browsers.
A lot of developers don't... so congrats!

Visually, the page is plain... perhaps more colour and some accentuating images wouldn't hurt. My screen resolution is somewhat large, so that whole right side is pretty wasted. You may want to consider using a fluid layout, as I'm sure a lot of developers (your target market) have unpredictable screen resolutions. You may want a nice header representing your site.

From a programming stance, perhaps some future functionality could be the ability for users to signup and keep track of their own list of preferred RSS feeds... just a thought... not sure if you're looking to the future enhancements yet. Otherwise, the feeds and stuff seem to work. How often are they updated? If the feeds aren't pulled live, perhaps listing a last updated date is helpful. If they are pulled live, it's done pretty fast... cool