The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

**mrmagoo144** · 12-08-2009, 11:01 PM

Re: The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

i love the design - not sure about the concept - too much linking to this and that for me, but i'm only one person. perhaps a video on home page to explain what you are trying to do would keep me more interested. i went to a few pages and then left. again nice job on your design and layout.

**Marko Nighthawk** · 12-08-2009, 11:28 PM

Re: The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

Appreciate the review, Magoo! The idea was to create information resources and video content to more deeply explore the topics running at the cafe group page. But you may be right. It's very early in the experiment yet so I'll give it some time. If no one utilizes the page, then I'll try something else.

Thank You!

Marko

**Marko Nighthawk** · 12-11-2009, 06:57 PM

Re: The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

Hi All! PLEASE take a moment to review our site. There have been folks apparently stopping by per the review request, and one actual review which was much appreciated, but I could really use some additional input from objective sources before I continue the tweaking and refining process.

Thanks!

Marko
www.thenighthawkscafe.com

**DarrenC** · 12-11-2009, 08:07 PM

Re: The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

It looks OK although I'm not a fan of having too many links that leave a site. All your Knight Hawk topics are external and all seem to go to the same page, A Yahoo Page. The cartoons link don't work at all.

Now your page navigation links got my interest because it kept me on your site and these pages do look very good.

This page is a bit disappointing http://www.thenighthawkscafe.com/tncguestbook.php would look better if you incorporated within your page template.

The other thing is i would have the external links open in new windows (_blank) so your site is always in the background.

I think overal, you've done a fab job with your own content, but I think with all the external links, things can get confusing.

Hope this helps?

**Marko Nighthawk** · 12-11-2009, 08:20 PM

Re: The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

This is just the type of critique that I needed. All of it made sense. I'll start to work incorporating your suggestions this weekend. I really appreciate your taking the time to peruse the pages! Very good stuff!

Thank You, Darren!

Marko
www.thenighthawkscafe.com

**Marko Nighthawk** · 12-12-2009, 04:19 AM

Re: The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

Received some excellent points from DarrenC...

1. Cartoons & Comedy links (the cartoons) do not work. (Should be fixed, I think; link is below)
2. Guest Book would be better if page template were used. (Done. Also did same for 'Suggestions & Comments')
3. The Nighthawks Topics links all appear to be the same. I need to explain this part.

When you are a member of a Yahoo group you post either a general Topic or you post Replies to a Topic. Yada, yada, yada...

What I've done with the Nighthawks website is to interlink it with the Nighthawks Yahoo page. If you are at the Yahoo page and click on the Topic: "Cartoons & Comedy" there is a link in the Topic to the TNC Cartoons web page. Click on that and you go to the cartoons. You watch the cartoons, or comedy segments, and then click the return button to the left and presto... you are returned to the Topic so you can post a reply.

Same is true for the Video Topics page which contains more serious material; but all Topics on the VT page are linked to individual Topics back at the Yahoo page. So instead of having to search around the list of Topics, you click on the button at the website and go direct.

In the upper left of the five main web pages is the drop down menu: "The Nighthawks Cafe Topics". Within that menu are all of the currently active Topics at the Yahoo page. Click any subject and it will transport you directly to it without having to search the Yahoo list. The reason the links all appear to be the same is, well, they are... with the exception of the post number which is unique to each Topic.

Basically you can flip back and forth between the two different areas as if it were all one place. Need more content? Go to the website. Watched a video and have something to say? Click the button and go write your message without having to look around.

Both the Yahoo Group and the TNC website are very new; up within the last three weeks. I honestly don't know if anyone else is attempting something like this or not. Given the size of Yahoo I would be surprised if it isn't out there somewhere.

Darren also mentions something that is unfamiliar to me, "...have the external links open in new windows (_blank) so your site is always in the background."

I don't know what "_blank" means. With the exception of the News and Entertainment links only on the first page, all the remaining links will send you to group Topics or the TNC Blog or to other areas within the web site. Are the News and Entertainment links the 'external' links he is referring to, and how do I fix that per Darren's suggestion?

Links to the specific areas mentioned by Darren are below. I would like to know if the Cartoons & Comedy page is now working. If it is, but the Video Topics are not, then I know what to do to fix the other page.

Thanks All! I really appreciate any time spent by anyone to get this tweaked.

Marko

Website: www.thenighthawkscafe.com
Video Topics Page: http://www.thenighthawkscafe.com/tnc2.html
Cartoons & Comedy Page: http://www.thenighthawkscafe.com/tnc3.html

**labradesigns** · 12-13-2009, 01:18 AM

Re: The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

Black seems too dark. Red too vibrant.

**Marko Nighthawk** · 12-13-2009, 02:06 AM

Re: The Nighthawks Cafe - Please Review

Thank you for your comment. I have been toying with the idea of a small tiled background logo to break up the black. I've tried a whole spectrum of colors and black, at least right now, seems to work best. Red? You're right. Ouch!

Marko

http://www.thenighthawkscafe.com