http://www.rmp2.com

The goal was to design a website that offered all the features (and then some) of the big userfee charging websites, without the userfees.
The site was to be easy to use, fully featured, and even offer users features not offered on any other websites online. Six months ago I knew zero about php or mysql, I read tuts for weeks and have often come to these forums and asked for help (rudy in the mysql forums is my personal hero).
Now that the project is up and running and receiving members, I wouldn't mind some experienced eyes giving it a lookover for potential problems, since the site is still small in member base size and editing is easier.
Any and all suggestions will be taken seriously, and much appreciated, thanks.

***LINK***
http://www.rmp2.com

well theres alot to be said but first begin by defininf on your front page what your site is about. the purpose of your site. after youve done that ill give you some more tips

Your home page should include information such as News, Updates, or anything else important.

The text displayed at the top of the page regarding membership is place inappropriately and should be moved off to the side or when attempting to log in.

Most sites offer the option of logging in directly from the homepage. If you were able to have the username/password box displayed in your navigation you'd save some people a click or two which is appreciated more than you'd think.

Your copyright information should be placed at the very bottom of the page, for neatness.

Also, you've got alot of empty space that could potentially be filled with pictures or other elements to spice your pages appearance up. Think about some things you'd definatly like the reader to see, because most people who see your site may not look past the first page.

Best of luck!

hey rodney-

First of all - I wanna say I love the mission of this site. I would like to see some more features than the conversation angle (ala craigslist) and forum.

Code aside - the design is a little boring - I think you could benefit from a color scheme in the 3 or 4 color range - as your site will have many different sections when done. ->
The FIRST thing I would do is make your forums YaBB or phpBB or vbulletin. While you've written your own (works fine) - it is a stripped down version of what you can give your users with any of these programs - these tools are highly customizable and for the most part, won't cost you anything. Plus - users are used tgo these interfaces, avatars, and layout - it makes topic management a breeze too - all run through a clever CMS.

Next - i would start with a bit of a logistics rediesign. Your menu is great, but it doesn't show up on every page. It is easily understandable and well-thought out, but it should be present eveywhere. There is no need for a user to feel trapped. You may also want to ween down the # of links in each section - you can accomplish the same thing with a "general" sidebar link that has a secondary navigation menu on the loaded content (do not read as a dropdown - drop-downs blow).

The graphics seem a bit hokey and not thought out. WHen I visited your site first, I couldn't tell what exactly the site was about. I thought - maybe its anime, maybe its zen. The point is - try to dvelop some consistency in your stock art and created art iun the form of color scheme and 'online brand'.

Now enters the branding. I know I know - everybody hates marketing bulltalk - but site branding is very important. I suggest looking up branding information on google to get you in the right mood to start figuring out your brand. You've come up with a website philosophy - so thats a big start. Begin by reading that to yourself and thinking about what pops into your head. YOur web identity is your mealticket - and donations (in this case) are your meal.

Images: Stay away from trasparent gifs that require clean overlay.
colors: gray background: OUT OUT OUT.
anime sidebar girl - Non sequitur - remove it
Fonts: they are fine - you may want a more dynamic style sheet definitions set - that way it could give you pages more structure through fonts. currently you are only using the body id as a font guide - i recommend exploring css a bit more with this site.

That's it for right now - I'd comment on the code and say something about table-based layouts like everybody else, but I'm not gonna. You seem to have a system that works for you - sure some users may suffer, and css would be better in the long run, but for the most part - you're gold.

-Taylor

I'd like to thank you for reviewing it, it's very much appreciated, as I'm hoping the site becomes quite large, so any and all feedback is mucho appreciated.
I thought I'd go over what each of you replied, and respond:

Panther893
The very front page is a simple redirect into the main site. It's only purpose is to contain the code for webspiders in order to be listed in search engines. Thus allowing me not to have to insert that code in the header.php
It really doesn't serve any other function then that. Once you're redirected (which happens automatically), the sites description and goals are at the top of the page your directed to. Although, it could probably be made more clearly, thanks.

MaxM
The homepage does indeed contain news, updates, as well as random members pictures, that day's birthdays, and a small bar of current site statistics (total members, pictures, journals, etc etc). This is reserved however for logged in members, so that non logged in members could instead see the 'ad' telling them about the site and encouraging them to join. I seperated this into two different pages (depending on login status) so the pages weren't crowded, and so that logged in members didn't have to see things that didn't pertain to them.

"The text displayed at the top of the page regarding membership is place inappropriately and should be moved off to the side or when attempting to log in"
I'm not sure I understand this. The login page has no text anywhere? It's just the banner at the top of the page and the login box. Although your suggestion of not having to have people click to get to the login, is well made. Some members have asked for that very thing, but I left it as is for the webspider code. There must be a workaround for this, I just haven't thought of it yet.
The copyright in the header file was for simplicity sake. It could just as easily be moved to the footer. Guess it probably would look better at the bootom, was only on the top for an fast and easy reference to the admin email link, but I understand what you're saying.
I'm not sure where you saw empty spaces? The homepage, even when not logged in, generates 10 random members pictures, although perhaps you meant the space below that? I guess I could put something nice there, I do agree most surfers don't stay long. They either like what they see right away, or they don't. So it makes perfect sense to try and capture their interest in the first page or so, good idea, thanks.

medianox
The sites design capabilities are what I'm most proud of. As a non member, you don't have access to the 'Theme Engine' feature. It is the only website online that I know of, that allows you to set how the site appears to you. There are unlimited background colours and 12 css style sheets that change the font and customised scrollbar to your selection. 2 clicks, and every page on the site displays with your chosen options. This has been by far our most popular feature, as members enjoy having the site display in their choice of background and font colours. If I hard coded it to a 3 or 4 colour 'template', the members couldn't choose for themselves how the site looks for them.
The Journal feature allows members to customise the appearance per element. This includes the three backgrounds, the divider, and the font colour. In total, there's over 6 million potential combinations that can be mixed and matched according to member preference.
The forums, have customised templates that use images (as opposed to simply colours) and interchange on a single click (there's 80 of them, so far).
And there is a specific reason the forums are hand made, and not one of the many available applications, and that is I much preferred to 'own' the code on the site, as opposed to be indebted to anyone for it. What I wrote, can't suddenly become a 'pay for' application, nor can anyone request I can't modify it in any way I deem necessary. Also, design wise, they use templates that involve nothing but a header and colour changes, and I wanted the design to be much more versitile then just that.
They don't offer any features that I don't already have, that I want. But have a ton of stuff (like individual login, profiles, mods, etc etc) that are unwanted and unneeded.
I've used invision and phpbb2 on another site I ran. I much prefer what we have now. I find it far more versitile, and a lot better looking then plain coloured forums with features already covered in other areas of my site.
The menu is part of the header file. The only places they don't appear are in individual features (which use their own menus), or in the information sections which contain a direct link to the homepage. Although I definately agree, drop down menus blow... big time! I also read while I was studying demographics regarding site design, that tree menus are not as popular as menus that are visible at all times (don't ask me why, I'd sooner a nice small and tidy tree menu, but...).
Also, the site promotes a "We're all family" atmosphere (hence the naming of some of the links, etc, after individual members), and as such, the members voted on the images.
I won't say I'm thrilled with all of them, but it is in keeping with purposely not trying to look like a 'professionally made' site. We very much wanted the impression and the feel of a 'handmade' site, and to give members direct input into it's appearance and what it offered.
The above, would also be our 'branding' I believe. The site is very serious about promoting members as family. It's how we want them to feel, and to know they can directly contribute to the site itself, as opposed to being 'just another member' on some corporate created site where they matter nothing at all. Above anything else, this is the main goal of the site.
The images used, I've already covered, and the grey background is default only, can be changed to any colour the member wants (Theme Engine).
I'm not sure what you mean by using css though, as the site uses a full css system with multiple css choices... could you maybe explain this better please?
And thank you very much for taking the time to review it, and write such an extensive review, I really do appreciate it a lot.
In my books, you're gold!

I read what I wrote, and it sorta looks like I didn't accept any criticism... wow, this was soooo not the case and I hope no one got that idea!
After reading the suggestions here, I made several edits to my site.
1: I changed the homepage to be more descriptive to new people surfing in. Giving a more clear description of what the site is all about.
2: I filled in the little space between the information and the bottom of the page, so it doesn't look 'empty'.
3: I moved the webmaster link and copyright info to the footer, and changed the header.
4: I changed the information pages so they now load within the main frame (the same as the rest of the site), eliminating anyone finding themselves on a page without the full menuing available.

A few other smaller cosmetic changes, but I wanted people to know that I not only appreciate the critique, I am taking it to heart. This site means everything to me, so the better I can make it, the happier I am.
Again, much thanks.

im still not sure whats the point of the site yet but lets skip that part, the next thing you need to do is remove the "redirect" page. also try going with a 2 columb design.

The changes you've made improve your site significantly from where I'm sitting.

Looking good, g'luck.

im still not sure whats the point of the site yet but lets skip that part, the next thing you need to do is remove the "redirect" page. also try going with a 2 columb design.

What I'm trying to do is simple... Ever been to lavalife? Match.com? Facethejury? Hotornot? Or 100000000000000 sites just like them?
They tell you how you can have 'free membership' and show you their huge database of hotties to make you join. And what happens as soon as you sign up? POW.... you can't do sh!t unless you fork over cash! All those hotties you see, and you have no way to contact them, unless you're willing to fork over cash to do it. Because those features are only available to Premium Members etc etc.
Well, from where I sit, I resent sending money to some mega-rich corporation just to meet people online. I pay to be online, why should I pay again to interact with people? That, is what is different about my site.
You don't pay squat, not a single dime, ever. The people you see on the site, can be contacted and interacted with anytime, anyway you choose. Through onsite email, onsite instant messages, and other ways. And it doesn't cost you $4.99/month (or whatever they charge) to do it.
Eventually, God willing, I'll be taking members from those sites hand over fist, when people realise they do not have to pay some already filthy rich corporation money to meet new people and interact with them.
My site is specifically built to do just that. To make the poeple on those sites see they can do the same things they're currently paying for, and do it FREE!

As for the redirect page, as I stated earlier, it's specifically so the 1st page contains the necessary meta tags for webspiders to list us in search engines, as opposed to having the code in the header file loading on every page (completely unnecessary).

The design, is as it is, so that the theme engine functions. No other website online (that I know of) allows a member the creativity to design how the site looks for them then we do. To hard code some template into the site, would defeat that purpose. And since it is the feature the members most like, it would be extremely counter productive.
How many sites have you been to, where you didn't like the background colour? or the text colour? Or you feel they didn't match up well? With my site, you click a button, and change it to something you do like. And those changes are saved, and change every page on the site. Pay your membership fees at a place like facethejury, and if you don't like black background and green text, you're SOL... I didn't agree with that, and purposely designed a versitile site that could change with the users preferences.

Thank you MaxM, we're trying to make it better all the time. I replaced the 'transparent gif' in the header with a small flash file (although I'm not thrilled with that file... yet).
Made sense not to have the gif, it was another good suggestion by you, thanks.

i click on the link to your site, and it takes me to a page, which then redirects me to another page (after 5secs?), if you managed to keep me there for 5secs while i don't know what loads then the page i get sent to has nothing on it, except a little menu down the left hand side with a picture of a strange looking female type welcoming me...

this is the point i closed down the window...

it's not welcoming, i have no idea what is going on and i'm slightly scared... nuff said

then the page i get sent to has nothing on it

Because you're running a firewall that is blocking the connection so the database queries can't run and/or a pop up blocker. Since the site is php, no database queries means nothing displays.
I make websites, I have no desire to be an 'online computer tech'. I don't expect to have to tell people basic computer operation. If you go to a games site that requires the shockwave flash player, and you don't have this installed, you shouldn't be scratching your head why the games "don't work". Someone that would then comment the games aren't working, when their own settings are the reason why, well... I won't worry too much about that. Enough said.
This is the third (and last) time I've stated this. The opening page is strictly to hold the code that webspiders use to list the site in search engines. I would have thought this was pretty clear and easy enough to understand.
No code = No search engines listings
Having this code load in the header, so it loads on every single page the site loads, slows down the page loading time with a chunk of code that is never used. Perhaps to some people's way of thinking, this is ok. I think otherwise.
Although a friend of mine showed me a 'workaround' for this (I knew there was one, no way those other sites were loading this chunk of code on every page) and I'll be implimenting what he showed me this evening. Before the night is out, I'll have the current 'home' page as the 'index' page, and therefore the first page seen when people surf in.

em... yes i run a firewall and yes i use a pop-up blocker, this is a very common setup and one which has never caused me problems with anyone elses database driven websites, php being a serverside language, my computer (network) has/should have no effect on database queries at all... hmm... but perhaps the only way to be sure people can view your site is to have:



I'm sure that'll make people stick around

I think i see why things aren't displaying, upon viewing your source, the content has been commented out, you have a comment tag which looks like this: change it to and bingo bango, there is that content, just like magic.