A customer of the pub has had a go at designing the CRB website. Have a look at it here (http://www.fysh.org/~iakat/classicrockbar/ ) and let me know what you think of it.

Sorry, its very dull! Not that you need to jazz it up with flash or anything that fancy. Get a good pictoral background, maybe the pub itself and make the links come brighter with a flourescent glow. A pub is about atmostphere so have a look at other similar websites for a bit of inspiration.

The text and graphics are not working as well as they should amongst other things - yuk
Black bacground sites are a nightmare to work with
Me shop for example (http://www.theshadesshop.com/catalog/index.php)
And my personal site (http://www.moon-maiden.com)

Don't like the alignment. Also have you said what you want from a website? I think you need something a bit more crisp and clean.

Moon

As stated, doesn't have much 'character' of the place (having said that, I've never been - will do one day! But is doesn't say 'rock!' to me)

Have you considered how you will update news / gigs / etc.?

Something dynamic on the front page - e.g. 'Today's Gig' will give visitors a reason to return, and give the appearance of the site being updated regularly.

Having navigation in the middle breaks web conventions (usually on the left or top) - you have to decide whether this is something done deliberately to emphasise you are different - or something that will just annoy people. (it makes it harder to read, as the eye has to jump over it to read between columns). It also stops the 'sub-navigation' e.g. on the Gigs page working properly for people, as the thing you have to click to change something is seperated from the thing it affects.

(on a technical point, it also needs a DOCTYPE)

I speak with a bit of experience with music venue websites - www.fibbers.co.uk (although the current version has been around since 2001, I've been working with them since 1998 ) - and more recently www.coxsyard.co.uk

PS - this is meant to sound constructive, not just critical!

I think you shuld have a news section on the first page and do something to the background.
Generally good layout though :thumbsup:

This is helpful, thanks folks, keep it coming.

I'm sure these comments will all be taken on board in a positive light!

Anyone else?

I liked it!

Maybe have your 'news' as the front page, and have gig info as someone suggested - if you are able to update it regularly. Then move your 'introduction' into the 'info' section.
I quite like the black - it says 'rock' to me - as long as you have some good pics up that should grow into a great site:thumbsup:

The centre alignment of the 'Gigs in May' list makes it hard to read. Also as already mentioned the navigation bar down the middle would be frowned upon by a web designer but I'm sure you can live with that :)

I think The Boardwalk's site works quite well - maybe some inspiration there!

http://www.theboardwalklive.co.uk/


And a link to the Sheffield Forum on your links page? :D

Some suggestions/critiqueing..

Black is often a terrible choice of colour for a website, but given the 'genre' of the pub, I think it works fine.

The navigation is a bit counter-intuitive (ie; the navigation menu down the centre), and may be a bit confusing to users upon first visit.

Other than that, there is lots of space, for content. Just make sure that the site is easy to update/maintain. Nothing worse than having a site like that, and not being able to update it frequently.

Also, you may want to link the email address under the 'Info' section, so that it's clickable. Otherwise people who were thinking of emailing you, may just be too lazy to do so.

Don't get too caught up in choosing the background colour - to most visitors, having an easy to use site, and useful and up to date information is more important!

Hi, scott bhuna here! We are due to play the CRB in May after our enjoyable gig their this month.

I could help you with design of the site as well as domain name (£50 for 2 years!). Site design free, of course.

I set up the bhuna site at www.bhuna.net

If you want any help, contact me on scott@shefinfo.f9.co.uk