GOOD SITES AND BAD SITES

Assignment Two

Submit an example of what you think is a GOOD website, and one example of what you think is a BAD website. Include a sentence or two on what you think the problems or virtues of your choices are. Our next class will include a tour, or at least quick visits, of the sites. There is little agreement about right or wrong, or what defines quality on the web, but we can generate a lot of discussion and begin making decisions for ourselves.

REVISITED Jan, 2001

This page was put together in 1997 as a class exercise. As another class exercise in 2001, we return to this site. Are the sites still online? Is our analysis still valid? In the fast-moving world of the internet, how do we accommodate changes in addresses and sites?
Added comments are in purple.

STUDENT DISCUSSION COMMENTS
After receiving a complaint from someone whose website ended up on our "Bad" list, it seemed appropriate to add a few words about what this assignment accomplished and what emerged in the student discussion.

BAD

Ben Allison supplies this Bad page: http://www.numisart.com/indian.html
It is so large that it takes at least 15 minutes to load and, in addition to this, the pages do not easily fit within the boundaries of the browser.
Analysis: The page worked fine with Netscape, but wasn't designed for our lower-end browsers.
2001: Still online, and we've upgraded our browsers. But is this now a good page?
Brian Ayer is not happy with http://www.agriculture.com/agtalk/Grassroots.Marketing/messages/2562.html
I realize that this guy was not looking for anything elaborate when he wasa putting this page up, just a simple advertisement, but I think it is a page not to be followed.
2001: This site is no longer online.
Jason Brock's bad site is http://www.kalamark.com/jupeter/
This site is bad because there is no way to find out who authored this page, except for guessing that this farm made this page. There's no way to be sure. There isn't really any info about the site on the home page.
2001: This site is no longer online.
Analysis: The Home Page here actually does contain some information, but in order to get in touch with the company, you have to write or use the telephone! Maybe more info could be online.
2001: This site is no longer online.
Whitney Burke offers this as an unimpressive site http://www.tennis.com/instruct/tips.html
So far, I haven't come across a web site that I absolutely hated, but I did come across some that were unorganized or unattractive. I chose a a site from Tennis Magazine Online, which didn't really help me or interest me.
2001: This site is no longer online.
Amelia Carr suggests that this site poses problems http://scuba.uwsuper.edu/~sfenness/occult.html
This is typical of many links pages, although it's huger than most. Takes a long time to load, and you don't know what's there unless you scroll through. (There's a way to create a table of contents here, you know.) In the wacky world of New Age religion, there's a broad range of sites, so annotations would be helpful. Finally, take a guess at how many of these links are still active? How useful is this page?
2001: This site doesn't seem to be available.
Justin Leous wants us to look at http://cezanne.daum.co.kr/gallery/docu/index.html
It has little if any info on works, artists, etc. It's easy enough to move around in, but lack of info does not make effort worth it. I'd say this is a "bad" website, but could be improved if more text and info about pieces, etc where added. (any "bonus" points for finding this weird site?)
2001: Message that server was unavailable.
Kristin Magee offers this on the bad sidehttp://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/kcarroll/INDEX.HTM
I don't have any idea what this page is here for, but I do know that it doesn't tell you anything.
2001: This site is no longer online.
Analysis: Another page that didn't work on Allegheny College browsers, and provided no alternative text for our orientation. Should a Home Page be really flashy to get your attention? or should it be low-tech to accommodate to all users?
2001: This site is no longer online.
Helen McCullough submits two bad sites: The first is http://www.shsu.edu/users/std/stdkco/pub2/home.html
Don't let the animated gif of the dog turn you off; the page loads real purty after that. The site is just plain ugly. Ugly background, animated gif of the dog peeing gives a bad first impression, and, these people have no taste!! Can you imagine what their house must look like?
Analysis: Less is more. Maybe the guy in the toilet on this page doesn't show a very high class sensibility, either!
2001: This site is no longer online.
The other is: http://www.artcenter.edu/
The initial page with nothing but the @ is stupid. When you get to the real main page go to Departments. They have the gall to tell you to reset your browser to their fonts, colors, and page sizes. These people haven't grasped the concept of web design being about making your pages work across platforms and browsers. The scary thing is that they're an art school. Giving truth to the adage that those who can't do teach.
2001: This site has been changed. Do you think they took our advice? Is it better now?
Ryan Wilcox's bad site is http://wave.nos.noaa.gov/webshop/p23.html
Yes, this is a fast way to create a page, but has nothing else to recommend it. Note that there is no title, either, so nothing is searchable.
Analysis: This page is simply an image of text, not text itself.
2001: We were definitely right about this one. This link is now part of a presentation on how to avoid mistakes in web design, and it's an example of a bad webpage!
And to pull it all together Top Ten Mistakes in Web Design
from Helen McCullough and
Learn Good Web Page Design by Looking at Bad Web Pages
From Luke Boger. This site is kinda neat. It uses examples of bad pages, and then tells why it thinks it's bad. I needed to use Omniweb in the demos directory, since this has to have frames. If you want to go right to one link it has for a bad page, go to http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/booboo.htm This is just one example, but it shows in the left hand frame a list of all the other topics it has as well. Hope you like it.
2001: The site is still going, but these links now default to the main page: http://www.webpagesthatsuck.com/

GOOD

Ben Allison offers this Good page: http://www.cadvision.com/calcoins/home.html
It is a complete and concise index of all the pages this company has. It isn't too large to load quickly and it doesn't lack any information either.
2001: The site address has changed, but the old link is still good. A good example of responsible redirection.
Brian Ayer can't make up his mind and offers two good sites, Rusted Root at http://www.public.iastate.edu/~thinker/rusted.html
2001: This site is no longer online.
and Ostriches Online at http://sunflower.singnet.com.sg/~limsumin/meatidx.html
2001: This site is no longer online.
Luke Boger reveals his tastes with this good site http://toolshed.down.net/
This is a page dedicated to the band Tool (you might remember that I wrote a paper on one of their songs for our LSF last year. It is "semi-official", and contains just about whatever you want to know about the band. The quality of the page is exceptional, it loads up very fast, and contains verified information. It has been cited in Rolling Stone, and various other publications. I have been in contact over email with the guy who maintains it, and he knows what he's doing/talking about. Aside from being visually pleasing, yet not cluttered with meaningless images, the site is organized extremely well, and it is very easy to get around it.
2001: Still cutting edge. (but what happens when you hit your BACK button to return to this page?)
Jason Brock offers this site http://www.hrgiger.com/frame.htm
This site is good because it coontains clearly marked points of interest and about the making of the page itself.
2001: Still there.
Whitney Burke thought this was a pretty cool web site: http://www.val.net/~tim/encounter-room.html
K, Tim. Fresh Widow 3000/ Encounter With Marcel Duchamp. I liked it because it was fairly unelaborate, even though it has many means of getting information. It also presents the info. in a new way -- instead of just listing Duchamp's works, it compiles them all into one photograph-like picture. It also has an interesting combination of audio and video (although I didn't get a chance to listen to the audio stuff). It was very aesthetically pleasing
2001: Still there.
Amelia Carr offers Suck, The Web Newspaper at http://www.suck.com
Technically superior, with its cutting edge graphics, use of frame technology. The essay is often provocative and the links take you into all sorts of interesting sites.
2001: Still like the site, but I'm not sure it's technically superior anymore.
Justin Leous is impressed with http://webpages.marshall.edu/~smith82/monet.html
This is it! I think this is a great page. Not only does it have a great collection of works, but it provides links to other sites as well. Yet, i would like to see our page have more info on the pieces themselves. Still, this is a good page nonetheless. (any more brownie points for a "new" page? heehee)
2001: When was this site last updated? Does it matter?
Kristin Magee labels this as a good site. Mark Stockhausen, North Coast Rock and Roll Page, http://moose.erie.net/~gnome/ Erie (Pennsylvania).
I like this page because it has a huge database of bands, lyrics, and other music related sources. In addition the author has made the page very user friendly
2001: This site is no longer online.
Ryan Wilcox's Good Site is http://www.valley.net/~transnat/russrel.html
Russia - Religion. A chart on Religion in Russia in Time magazine for May 27, 1996 shows Russian Orthodox as 71.8% of the population in Russia, Muslim. The thing that impressed me the most with this page was the amount of information that was accessible. The Russian Icons were especially impressive.
2001: Still there. How might you update this page?
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Last modified January 30, 2001.