New Fairy Lamp Club Webpage - Critical Opinion

For some time I have considered changing the design of the Fairy Lamp Club webpage. While the current design is acceptable, I did not like the difficulty in finding what I wanted on the home page. I also did not like having to return to the home page every time I wanted to change a topic. Sooo....I am considering a new design that will, hopefully, make the webpage easier to navigate. But, before I go to a lot of trouble modifying all the pages, I thought I would ask for your opinion.

The following link will take you to a "conceptual design." It is far from complete!! All I want to know is: Is it easier to navigate and does it work well on your machine. (It is designed for a 1280x1024 display)

http://www.fairy-lamp.com/Fairylamp/FLC_Main.html

You will notice that the selection menu is always displayed and the selected topic opens in a separate "frame". The only link that is different is the "Undocumented Photo Gallery". That opens in a separate window so that the sub-menu is always displayed. I may use the same strategy on other pages that have a sub-menu.

As you go though the links, ignore the background image (spiral notebook). That background will be removed.

So, with that in mind, please offer your thoughts and suggestions. I have pretty thick skin, so lay it on me. I really don't want to expend a lot of energy on something that no one likes.

For reference and ideas, here are some of my other webpages that use the same "frame strategy"

If you read this topic......I expect an opinion.

It is nice to have the links available on every page, but you also increase the scrolling that will need to be done. Each time you take away from the width of the page, and the height of the page due to the title bar, you need to modify the page layout. The most common method is to make the pages longer. Many of the pages will need to be made narrower to prevent any horizontal scrolling from needing to be done also.

I have "Welcome" page set at 80% of the screen resolution. My screen is set at 1280x1024 so I do ever see any scroll bars, except on the right side to scroll down the page.

Do you see a horizontal scroll bar - either on the Table of Contents section or on the Welcome page. If so, this concept may be a non-starter if it can't be displayed on a low resolution monitor.

Jim.

I know that you set it up for a higher resolution than what I run. I use a multi-monitor system with all set to 1024x768. This way I can see more and see it larger. I didn’t test all the links, but I do know that on the Value Guide link and the Patents link, I end up with both scroll bars (Horizontal and Vertical). Maybe with the background removed, and the frame moved more to the left, it would fix the issue for me. I know that you are talking about removing the spiral edge which uses quite a bit of space. I’m not asking that anything needs to be fixed just for me, but I have found that most of the people I work with on computers all day find the larger setting easier at the end of the day.

Thanks. Your input is helpful.

I think I will reset my monitor to a lower resolution so I can seem the effect when I set up the pages. A verticle scroll bar on long pages I can understand but I really don't want any horizontal scroll bars. I may have to visit each page to make sure I don't have any table set at a specific width instead of a percentage of the monitor.

Jim.

Well I like having the index to the left of the page like that. I'm not savvy enough to even know how my monitor is set up but your link works well on my end.

Diana