Review: midwiferyonline.co.uk

[Midwifery Online]

Id appreciate a review of my site: http://www.midwiferyonline.co.uk/content/

I've been working hard over the last few weeks to bring content to the main page and all in one place to ease navigation.

I've only ever tested my site in Firefox so if you spot anything which doesn't look right in another browser then please attach a image highlighting the issue so I can fix it.

Notice any spelling errors, then tell me!

I'd like to improve the way my 'upcoming study days' is shown, the 'look' of the table and to have it auto adjust if that's even possible depending on how many study days are listed. I'm not quite sure how on both accounts.

General thoughts and comments, I'm looking for things I can improve that I might of overlooked.

Ty

[Midwifery Online]

Is it that bad LOL!

[PersonalisedSigns]

Wow - a lot of time and effort has obviously gone in to this website - the amount of information is brilliant - it is so informative and can see it will be a very popular site to those who need it.
I like the whole community design of your website - the integrated forum and how your sub sections are more like blogs. It is very easy to navigate. I couldn't find any spelling mistakes. I really liked the banner of your website too.
If I wanted to be constructive the only thing I would say is make it a bit more engaging - bit more colour - more pictures? But apart from that it looks like your heart and soul has gone in to this website so well done.

[Midwifery Online]

Ah chucks why thank you! It's something I'm very passionate about so gets my undivided attention lol.

I've been trying recently to get more images into my articles so it's not just text plus the images show up on the article preview which looks really nice on the front page. I'm working on it

Ty

[spacefem]

I don't know, I think it's just awfully busy.

Also having been pregnant, that woman on her back just looks... well that's not a position I was comfortable in when I was that pregnant lol!

I think the upcoming dates/classes would be better on a separate page or calendar. Maybe just list the title and date, then have people click off for location & details?

The articles are in so many columns you get a little dizzy looking at the page I think. When I click on a side link (like "breastfeeding") I was at a nice calm page where I could just browse through the articles.

[ScriptMan]

I am not a fan of pink but other than that, I like it. But then I doubt men are your niche.

The layout is as unique as it gets for those scripts and for that I give AA+

[GlobeGenius]

You have done a lot of work. Looks good. For better SEO you could fix a few code problems. Meta description is too short. May not say enough about the site. Your H1 heading contains an image. It should be text only. Some of your images are missing alt tags (description). MidwiferyOnline.Co.uk and www.MidwiferyOnline.Co.uk are redirecting to different locations. For best SEO you should do a 301 direct combining the 2 URL.

[HTMLBasicTutor]

This theme uses the heading tags to format the content instead of creating structure. The H3s should be H2s. You can copy the H3 style in the CSS file and rename it H2 to get the same look.

For your frames,
The coding in the page being framed does not have proper open and closing general structure tags. Also once you ad the head section to the page coding you can reference the CSS file used for the rest of the theme. This would create consistancy throughout the page.

Thinking the second frame of the schedule is a bit over kill on this page.

Other than those few items, (didn't check coding or for SEO issues other than the headings mentioned above) looks nice!

[thefandango]

Wow, it is very busy. Perhaps it seems so because I know nothing about the topic. But to me it is a wall of text. I think you need to consider segragation of content using different categories, like "Latest News" etc, to allow people to flick their eyes to different areas of the apge more easily.

[Midwifery Online]

Originally Posted by spacefem

I don't know, I think it's just awfully busy.

Also having been pregnant, that woman on her back just looks... well that's not a position I was comfortable in when I was that pregnant lol!

I think the upcoming dates/classes would be better on a separate page or calendar. Maybe just list the title and date, then have people click off for location & details?

The articles are in so many columns you get a little dizzy looking at the page I think. When I click on a side link (like "breastfeeding") I was at a nice calm page where I could just browse through the articles.

I think the main issue with the upcoming events on the homepage is that it is in a widget, it makes it look really 'chunky' and 'clumsy'.

I've stripped the widget so it's down to the bare bones and mimickedth article preview styles so it doesn't look out of place, limited the amount of events shown to 3 instead of 7 I think it was and have added a 'view more' link which takes you to a full list.

What do you think? I think it personally looks a LOT better.

I have reduced the amount of articles on the front page from 7 to 4 so it's not so clustered looking.

Originally Posted by ScriptMan

I am not a fan of pink but other than that, I like it. But then I doubt men are your niche.

It's not pink! It is grayfolio red - http://www.vbulletin.org/forum/showthread.php?t=245720

These themes are perfect for a professional business site or any other site looking for a minimal and clean appearance. Colors include: green, blue, black and red.

Originally Posted by ScriptMan

The layout is as unique as it gets for those scripts and for that I give AA+

Thank you, I hate the stock vbCMS and I have been trying to get away from the look of it as much as possible, so hard though when I am not a coder but yet the vbCMS has so many limitations unless you hack at it.

Originally Posted by GlobeGenius

You have done a lot of work. Looks good. For better SEO you could fix a few code problems. Meta description is too short. May not say enough about the site. Your H1 heading contains an image. It should be text only. Some of your images are missing alt tags (description). MidwiferyOnline.Co.uk and www.MidwiferyOnline.Co.uk are redirecting to different locations. For best SEO you should do a 301 direct combining the 2 URL.

Do you mean this text - A educational resource to support Aspiring midwives, Student Midwives and Midwives. Affordable Midwifery study days, Midwifery Personal statement checking!

Hmm I'm not really sure what to write, I am crap at describing the site as strange as that may sound.

You say my Your H1 heading contains an image. Can you be more specific? Where can I find this to edit it?

Some of your images are missing alt tags (description). - Can you point me to one specific image please, so I know where to start as I thought I had pretty much covered the alt tags.

Regarding the URLs, they both take me to the same place which is the homepage where all the articles are. Can you tell me exactly where each one takes you to please?

Originally Posted by HTMLBasicTutor

This theme uses the heading tags to format the content instead of creating structure. The H3s should be H2s. You can copy the H3 style in the CSS file and rename it H2 to get the same look.

For your frames,
The coding in the page being framed does not have proper open and closing general structure tags. Also once you ad the head section to the page coding you can reference the CSS file used for the rest of the theme. This would create consistancy throughout the page.

Thinking the second frame of the schedule is a bit over kill on this page.

Other than those few items, (didn't check coding or for SEO issues other than the headings mentioned above) looks nice!

Way over my head! I wouldn't know where to find the CSS file as VB uses crappy stylevars which I have no idea how to use. I don't quite understand what you mean about the frames? Can you exaplin further please, any possible improvements I can do I would like too.


Thanks for all your feedback!

[deohaivan]

i think you should go with pink rather than bright red since your users will mostly be the ladies
other than that, very nice forum

[Midwifery Online]

Many of my members don't actually like pink. ^^^ Thats a bit stereo typical isnt it?

[shaymm]

I am quite new to this whole process, but I can offer a review. A better review, in my opinion, is something that alerts your attention. Whether you want to change it or not, is based on your reaction.

I do like the feel of the website, though it seems a bit too 'informative' and cluttered. Maybe, if the content was more visually appealing this could help. For example, the upcoming days looks too much like a daily schedule...one that most people aren't fond of unless for personal reasons. It would be nice to something less boxy. Also, the scroll down feature is something I would try to remove for the "study days" box. Most people will simply not scroll.

Again, I am new to this. Take it for what it's worth. But, anyway, best of luck. Having a forum on a site is great to increase traffic.

[Midwifery Online]

Originally Posted by shaymm

I am quite new to this whole process, but I can offer a review. A better review, in my opinion, is something that alerts your attention. Whether you want to change it or not, is based on your reaction.

I do like the feel of the website, though it seems a bit too 'informative' and cluttered. Maybe, if the content was more visually appealing this could help. For example, the upcoming days looks too much like a daily schedule...one that most people aren't fond of unless for personal reasons. It would be nice to something less boxy. Also, the scroll down feature is something I would try to remove for the "study days" box. Most people will simply not scroll.

Again, I am new to this. Take it for what it's worth. But, anyway, best of luck. Having a forum on a site is great to increase traffic.

Due to the nature of the site it is meant to be informative but I know what you mean. It's hard trying to provide the info without it looking messy but i'm restricted by the VB cms and my lack of coding know how lol.

I'm glad you bought the study days box up, I REALLY HATE the box it is in and would love a more stylish sleak looking box or something. I've tried tweaking it before but when ever I do I end up with errors. (I may start a thread).

On my screen the box doesn't scroll, but I suppose that is going to vary for all sorts of browsers and screen sizes? I don't know how to make that look the same accross all paltforms.

Thanks for your input.

[Midwifery Online]

How does the way the study days are shown now on the front look? I think it's a big improvement, give me the opportunity to describe a wee little about the event and display links nicely for more info and booking.