New Nite Club Website

[SPYDERIX]

I have created a new Nite Club site and looking for feedback. The site is very image heavy and slow loading for those on slower connections (I'm working on that still).

Element Club Bar and Grill

NATE

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[johnwm]

Very exciting looking site!

Let us know when you've optimised the images - a 2.2Meg first page makes it too slooooow even on my ADSL.

Using non UTF-8 characters with a UTF-8 character set means that the validator won't even try to look at your splash screen or first page.

Be nice if your cookie would remember the music on/off setting for the splash - I really hate musical sites!

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[ChrisHunt]

Lose the splash screen. It serves no useful purpose, and just deters people from going to your site.

When I arrive at a site and see a slow-loading flash file, music I didn't ask for, and a form asking me for some personal data, I'm on that back button like greased lightning.

That's a pity, 'cos once you get into the site it looks OK.

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[SPYDERIX]

johnwm

Ya it's the flash file that's huge. Just over 2MB. The only non UTF is the trademark symbol. Is there an html code for that?

ChrisHunt

Ya I'm not a fan of it myself. It is needed though for the age verification due to the adult content (alcohol and the events that sometimes contain strippers)

NATE

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[SPYDERIX]

So other than the splash page which I keep getting complaints about, how is the rest of the site people?

NATE

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[HowardMarks]

Um... i just get 'Illegal Site Operation'...

Nick (Webmaster)

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[ca8msm]

It is needed though for the age verification

You don't have to have a flash file though and it would be much quicker if you didn't. I didn't get past that page to check out the rest of the site due to the time taken to load the flash file (which may also deter other potential visitors).


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[feherke]

Hi

I see you have problems with that Flash animation. I do not. I have Flashblock installed. ( Just as a hintr about the popularity of Flash animations. )

Sorry Nate, I better not say anything about the site itself. I do not share other peoples opinion. Just ignore me.

Feherke.

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[Foamcow]

I didn't like the things in little iframes/divs with scrollbars. They made it feel cluttered.

Initial impressions are good for a nightclub though.

I have another slant on the Flash intro.
Yes, it's way too big and cumborsume but it is very good and does suit the target audience. I'd try and trim it down a bit and make a really big obvious "SKIP" link in the HTML or right on the preloader... or both.

Also, the age verification. Is it a legal requirement or is it percieved as being a requirement? What's stopping a minor just saying they are older? It's no real "protection", you may as well just say, "if you are under 16 - leave now!". I'd avoid it if you could as it's just another barrier to getting people into your site.

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[SPYDERIX]

HowardMarks

Yup sorry that's my bad. There is a block in place when it comes to forms posting to the site. If the referer doesn't come from the site then you are locked out. I just had to change the addresses b/c some people use

http://www and

some don't. That should be fixed now. Please try again.

To those that hate the flash

I know it's big etc but you don't have to wait for the flash, you can just enter your age in. Perhaps that isn't clear enough. I'll put something like "Skip the intro and enter the site" as a header or something.

Foamcow

The site is actually too tall without the scrollers though and some content doesn't line up and leaves gaps of empty trapped white space (which is bad for design). Ya I'll have to work on the SKIP part. As for the age requirement I'm not exactly sure if it truly is required by provincial law, but it does help by having it to show that the club is being responsible about alcohol content and some sexually explicit content when they have strippers in.

Sure a 16 year old can bypass the age check - it's not sure fire. But at the same time getting in the door of the club can be bypassed too. You can sneak in the back door if a friend opens it for you, you could use a fake id etc. It's all based on the honor system. Nothing stops people that are too young from getting fake ID's and using them. It's really 6 of one and half a dozen of the other.

NATE

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[ChrisHunt]

Nate,

There are two differences between the age check on your site, and whatever checks you have in place at the actual club.

Firstly, it's very much easier to lie about your age when you aren't physically present. Your door staff are gonna be more suspicious of some little kid saying "yeah, I'm 27".

Secondly, it actually matters if under-age kids get into the club. There's alcohol and the occasional naked lady inside. It doesn't matter if they get into your website - they can't actually get a drink from it, I don't suppose they'll see much nudity either (check out

http://www.icra.org/

for a way to label content that you don't want kids to see).

All the age check thing does is provide an irritating barrier. If it's absolutely necessary to meet local laws, then keep it. Otherwise ditch it - your competitors won't be so encumbered.

By the way, Google is only eight years old, how do they get in?

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[SPYDERIX]

Chris,

Clearly there is a major difference between the site and the acutal club. All I was getting at is that both can be bypassed. An 18 year old is quite likely to say he's 19 and try to get in with a fake ID - it happens all the time. But let's not confuse the issue here.

Is it an actual law to have to have it? I don't honestly know, but if it is then it's a good thing it's already in place to avoid conflicts of interest. There also happens to be some beaurocracy with the city and police about the place and by showing that they are trying to be responsible helps their cause. Usability may be a factor but come on, if you're there to check out the club site you are there for a reason and you're going to enter your age to get in.

Tell me something. When Molson Canadian launches campaigns all over the world for their site and special promos they give their link to the site. (

http://www.molsoncanadian.ca/)

Now with all the millions of dollars they spend marketing themselves (which is to a massive audience) you'd think that they of all places would want to ditch their age verification b/c they have way more exposure. But think about this. You can easily bypass their age check - it's an honor system. People are there for a purpose the same way people in the surrounding area here that want to see the menu and events at this nite club are there for a purpose too. Although less savy computer people may find it annoying it doesn't stop people from entering. This site has only been open for a week now and they already have over 1000 unique visitors. If you want I'll look up the stats and see how many people came to the index and then left (ruling out my own IP address for when I was developing and tweaking the site. I bet the results are 0.

NATE

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[Foamcow]

The site is actually too tall without the scrollers though and some content doesn't line up and leaves gaps of empty trapped white space (which is bad for design)

You could say that cramming the content into small scrolling boxes isn't a design triumph either. It's just my opinion though. Maybe there is a different solution? Ask your users.

This site has only been open for a week now and they already have over 1000 unique visitors. If you want I'll look up the stats and see how many people came to the index and then left (ruling out my own IP address for when I was developing and tweaking the site. I bet the results are 0.

I'd be suprised if the bounce rate from the index page was 0.
Would a search engine bot be able to get past it?

You make a fair point about the age verification being an honour system but comparing a local night club to Molson is like comparing a corner shop to Walmart.
Brand presence can count for alot in getting people through the door. Perhaps those 1000 visitors are already aware of the club?

<honk>*:O)</honk>
Designease Ltd. - polyprop folders, ring binders and creative presentation ideas
Earl & Thompson Marketing - Marketing Agency Services in Gloucestershire

 

[SPYDERIX]

Perhaps there is a different solution to the scrollbars. I'll have to look into that more.

A search engine bot can get past the whole age thing but I'm not saying how it all works. BTW Chris - very funny - it's a robot accessing the site not a person. Doens't matter if google is only 8.

Sure I'll agree about brand power for Molson Canadian but if by saying that an age check will deter people you have to ask will it really if people want to access the info especially given the content within. I could see your point if google made you specify your age before making a search (it's pointless for something like that). But given the nature of the site and related content the age check is showing the company's responsibility in an effort to keep adult material targetted at the correct audience.



NATE

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[Foamcow]

If you are serving up different content to Google than to a human user - as it sounds like you are - then you are in breach of Google's guidelines and don't be suprised if they decide not to index your site.

Likewise if the search engine gets through the age check and then indexes and links to an interior page then the age check is bypassed anyway.

The point about the age check is that the user doesn't know if they want to read the content of the site. If you put some requirement on the user then you will deter some people, not all, but some. At the end of the day you need to weigh up the pros and cons of losing some visitors against showing that responsible face.

I can see the logic behind the motive for the age check, but really - it's a night club and not a porn site. Perhaps the responible face could be show in a different way?

<honk>*:O)</honk>
Designease Ltd. - polyprop folders, ring binders and creative presentation ideas
Earl & Thompson Marketing - Marketing Agency Services in Gloucestershire

 

[SPYDERIX]

Basically for the age check it calculates your age from your birthday and then stores it as a session variable. Every page checks the sessino variable age. If it's a search engine that part is bypassed allowing the content to be spidered. The same content that you see will be the same that the spider sees too. Think of it as search engines getting VIP access without being checked at the door

NATE

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[SPYDERIX]

So how is the rest of the site? I think we've gone over the first page enough.

NATE

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[coldfused]

I don't like the way you have the same creative elements at the top of each page (i.e. the bc/dc image) then you have to scroll down to get to the pages actual content. While browsing it doesnt appear that the pages are actually changing. The same images also show up because of the way you have the images rotating.

Seems like the layout could be revised a bit so it appears you are actaully changing sections when you do.

Good luck.

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[SPYDERIX]

coldfused

Ya that is a good point and something I'm concerned with too. The reason you keep seeing the same image is b/c that's the next upcoming show (it's how they wanted it to work). Also there aren't many other events loaded into the database so the second image seems stagnant too. They really like it though but I'll see what they have to say. Can I ask you what resolution you are on?

NATE

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[coldfused]

1024x768

Clearly this link is a bastardization of your graphics but this type of layout seems it would be a better suit to get the info pulled up to the top for each section.

http://www.fmgweb.com/TT.jpg

Carl

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