The four sites featured here show different levels of design and complexity. To view a site, simply click on the banner icon below. For the first two sites, this will take you to a "before and after" page. In the left window on that page, you'll see the site as it appeared "before" the redesign. In the right window, you'll see the site as it currently appears. By clicking on the appropriate button in the header, you'll be able to "maximize" either window for easier viewing. The last two sites have recently been designed from scratch here.
This American Politics course site is a very basic site:
the original design had a few backgrounds to make it visually interesting and a hierarchical structure (home page leading to other index pages, then from those to pages with real content)
it also featured a substantial links page
the redesign improved the navigation without implementing frames by:
replacing the index pages with drop-down menus on the home page
adding a navigation bar on the bottom of content pages leading back to the drop-down menus or to related content pages
the redesign also added a contact page and a discussion page
The AYSO Region 751 site was a major redesign:
The original site had frames and a variety of fonts, with many incomplete pages
The redesigned site eliminates frames in favor of a navigation table.
It also has considerably more content and a uniform graphic style.
It is frequently updated, with some redundant information on specific pages to accommodate the various ways users may access the information.
This is another simple and pretty small site:
It uses frames and buttons for navigation.
The buttons share the same design elements as the banner.
The footer is mostly consistent, although with several different photos on its left.
The Yo Anarchy! site is a personal web page and is thus idiosyncratic and political in nature. It also incorporates some design features not seen on the other sites.
The page that initially loads is the symbol above on a black background - users have to move the mouse around to get clues to what can be found and will be taken there if they click on a particular region.
After clicking, users are taken to an easier-to-navigate frame presentation with icons along the top. These icons provide two kinds of clues:
"Alt" commands - the little boxes that appear near the mouse (also seen on the initial page)
"Status bar" messages - appear at the bottom of the browser window
Users can also choose a "catalog" page, which is a more traditional home page, with verbal explanations.
Backgrounds were designed for the four main divisions of the site and they echo the icons that appear in the banner frame.