What makes a good wesbite?

Question

I am working on a project which includes webpage design for a website on world war II (I am not a web designer so my knowledge is very basic). As you can imagine there is a lot of content and we are getting bogged down with how to navigate the content.

What makes a good design. How can we make all the content naviagible with ease? Any suggestions on what you like to see or not see on websites?

Answer 1

Try and stick to a grid like layout, clearly separating the navigation from the content. Please dont be be tempted to use frames as this is bad practice and becoming depricated.

If you have as much content as you say, a left hand navigation would suit your needs, possibly with fly-out menus if you are really struggling for space.

If you want anymore advice, write again!

Answer 2

Use a left frame with hyperlinks for your navigation bar.

Use relevant images in the formats .gif or .jpeg (other file types may take too long to load for the user and cause annoyance)

Dont use flashing text or backgrounds which may hurt people eyes or annoy them.

Answer 3

Aesthetics are really important however, it MUST be user friendly.  Easy to navigate, pictures when helpful, contact maps and phone numbers, obvious icons so that any Joe Blow can actually use it!

Answer 4

select a good color pallete to work with, something that really catches the eye