Website Critique - Penny Tray

J

joerocket23

Weaksauce
Joined
Sep 15, 2007
Messages
88
Hey everyone,

I have been working on a site that I would like to have you guys check out. It is called Penny Tray, and it is kinda like an instant cancer support group.

http://www.pennytray.org/ -new link




You type your message on the main page, it gets sent to someone, and you get someone else's random message. My hope is that these messages will be positive and will encourage the recipient.

So if you get a chance, check out the site and see if you run into any issues. I am looking for overall suggestions/critiques, grammatical errors, security issues, HTML/CSS issues, specific browser issues, etc.

I am thinking about rewriting the very first paragraph on the home page but I am not sure how to describe it better. Input is welcome on this.

Notes:
  • The header image will be changed shortly.
  • I am pretty sure I have covered my bases as far as XSS, but try to prove me wrong ;)



Thanks!

Ryan
 
Last edited:
Oh! Almost forgot...

I am going to wipe the tables when this site is done with testing, so write whatever you want for the input fields. If you do want to write something meaningful, I will save it and import it into the final tables.
 
the input box in firefox 3.0.8 under Ubuntu 9.04 is outside of the blue background.
 
You should go through the whole site and delete the word "random" wherever it appears.
 
Is it supposed to work?

On submit I received this error: Fatal error: Call to a member function fetchrow() on a non-object in /home/sylljur1/public_html/pennytray.org/postcard2.php on line 108

I think the idea is awesome, but the site is lacking.

The 'tips' could be shortened a bit and added in a modal overlay or something along those lines. I had typed something up then clicked tips and everything I wrote was then gone.

The same applies to the rules. You could even make it act more like a software installation, on submit present the user the rules and have them agree.

The overall design is nice enough - though it feels a little overdone with all the colors. But the biggest thing I think you could do, is adjust the typography of the site. That would make a big difference IMO. Just adjusting the line-height would help a lot.
 
mikeblas said:
You should go through the whole site and delete the word "random" wherever it appears.
Click to expand...

Oh and I really agree with this statement. It really lessens the impact of the idea when the message is being sent at random.
 
Thanks to everyone for the replies.

the input box in firefox 3.0.8 under Ubuntu 9.04 is outside of the blue background.
Click to expand...
Working on this.

You should go through the whole site and delete the word "random" wherever it appears.
Click to expand...
Agreed and completed, except for the head. I still need to change that. I suppose it is difficult to say that something is special and random at the same time...lol

Fatal error: Call to a member function fetchrow() on a non-object in /home/sylljur1/public_html/pennytray.org/postcard2.php on line 108
Click to expand...

I never ran into this until today. Found the problem and this should be fixed.


Changed the tips and rules links so you don't lose your typed message...that was stupid. Editted down the tips and the rules pages.

Changed the line height to 1.2...I have been thinking about changing that for awhile. I agree that the colors seem off...still working on this.

Thanks for the replies so far...keep 'em coming! :D
 
spotdog14 said:
the input box in firefox 3.0.8 under Ubuntu 9.04 is outside of the blue background.
Click to expand...
I get the same thing in FF under XP.

Make your privacy policy/terms a link at the bottom of each page instead of burying it as a link under "rules". I didn't even see it at first.

I disagree with encouraging senders to allow their email to be revealed to recipients. There is considerable potential for a spammer to use this to harvest addys.

Is there any screening of messages prior to their being sent? Another huge potential for spammers to send out spam, links to porn, etc.

You will also need to address COPPA regulations. The easiest way to do this is to put a disclaimer in your privacy policy that children under the age of 13 are not allowed to use the service and that by agreeing to the terms they are affirming that they are 13 or older.

Make the name and email boxes line up. Same with the "I am a" boxes below the message area.

Make the logo a link to the home page. That's an expected convention.

Donate page missing a word - ",,,I have decided not TO plaster ads over this site"

Rules page - "judgement" should be "judgment"

There are no graphics on the site. It's visually boring. Even your "logo" is just plain text.

Be consistent. Some of your pages open in new windows, others don't.

Search engine optimization - You definitely need to re-write your text to include keywords. The word "cancer" doesn't even appear on the home page, only as part of the logo, where it can't even be indexed. Use descriptive page titles. "Penny Tray - Take a message, leave a message" tells me nothing.

How about a links page with resources for cancer patients and their families?

One thing you could do to help monetize the site would be to set up an Amazon affiliate "store" where you could select books, etc. of interest to your audience where if they click thru and buy, you get a commission. (Don't expect to make much this way, but even a little bit could go toward your hosting costs.)

It's an interesting concept for a site and I wish you the best of luck with it. :)
 
The fill-in form is messed up in Safari you should look into that. Also I'd move it to a different server because your current one is super slow.
 
If your new header image is a PNG too it wont display correctly in IE6 (transparency will look strange, either white or grey)

I find the green used for the links to not stand out against the blue background, similar note on the mouseover effect of these links.
 
Neat idea, but can we send messages without being a patient, survivor, etc.? Can't it just be random messaging?
 
Thanks again to everyone for the replies.

I think I am going to move it into a two step process as suggested by NickTheNut, which I think will make it easier to impliment Lethal's extensive (and extremely helpful) suggestions.

Thanks for the SS about the textbox, Ill get that fixed.

The new header will not be a transparent PNG and I will play around with different colors for the links, as well as spicing things up graphically.

I definately have my work cut out for me and I will post back here when the updates are complete!

Thanks again.

Ryan
 
GJSNeptune,

When you mean random messaging, do you mean the type of person it goes to is random (but still cancer related) or completely random?
 
Oh. I didn't quite get the cancer-related part. I didn't read the top! Whoops!

I like the idea, but I think you should broaden it so that people who aren't patients, survivors, or family members will feel like they can still send a message (aka "sign up"). I know there's concerned party, but that sounds too serious and might still discourage people.
 
Got the site updated as promised. Take a look and let the comments fly!

http://www.pennytray.org/



Changes:

- Significant visual changes
- Turned the “send message” process into a two step process
- Added privacy/rules link to the bottom
- Added a COPPA clause. Because the inherent nature of the site is not directed towards kids, I think this should be sufficient
- Made the logo a home link
- Clicking on the "rules" or "hints" links when going through the message process opens an Ajax window and doesn’t screw with your message
- Changed the page titles
- Changed home page description...hopefully more descriptive and SEO friendly
- Added a section for links to online support groups
- Added a section for links to cancer information sites
- Added a section with books w/ Amazon affiliate
- Changed the user type "concerned party" to "other/random"

To Do:

- Make the header file size way smaller
- Apply ie6 transparency fix
- Change the CSS on menu hover from two images to one (white lag when you first hover over)
- Complete about page
- Gather support group/cancer information links
- Make the two Ajax windows prettier
- More catchy slogan
 
Last edited:
1) Click on "Contact"
2) Don't type anything
3) Press "Send my message"
BUG#1) Sends the message anyway!
 
If you turn off javascript it still lets you send blank messages.
Click to expand...

Ha ha...I totally just busted my server side validation cherry.

Check out my nifty new validation process on the contact page with JS disabled!
 
joerocket23 said:
Ha ha...I totally just busted my server side validation cherry.

Check out my nifty new validation process on the contact page with JS disabled!
Click to expand...

@@@.com is a valid email address, and you can submit the form with just spaces as the message
 
You've still got some blanks to fill in, but overall I'd say you've made a lot of good improvements to the site. :)
 
Yeah, that should work...and it did work for me just a minute ago. Perhaps there was a space at the end? I suppose that would throw an error message. I changed that so that spaces at the end of the email address just get chopped off.
 
Hmm...someone just successfully posted a message with nothing in it and I don't know how!

Anyone want to fess up on how they did it?
 
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