Web Pages That Suck - learn good web design by looking at bad web design

Submitter’s comments: Don’t even know where to start with this one. I’m sure you’ll do a better job than me.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Actually, it’s fairly nice for an Over-the-Top Website (OTTW). My favorite part of the home page has to be the use of logos from different media organizations. You can’t click them and go anywhere, but they lend an aura of authenticity to the site’s material. Interestingly, the red triangle on the home page, which I’m assuming is the Bermuda Triangle, doesn’t seem to match up to Wikipedia’s Bermuda Triangle. Who to believe? Who to believe?

This home page is different from your average OTTW because it doesn’t keep going and going down the home page. It’s compact. The navigation menu looks strange—the lines above the menu items runs through the text. If what’s at the top left is the logo, then it’s too small and unreadable. There are drop shadows on the

The subpages seem to look different from every other subpage. My favorite page is the Bigfoot/Sasquatch Overview page. Make sure your sound is turned up. There are lots of contrast issues, with the color of the links on the green background being the most glaring. On the plus side, this page is not all that long. On the negative side, clicking the Home link doesn’t take you to the real home page.

Other pages have text that’s too small, backgrounds that repeat, lack of links to the home page, justified text, animated images and the other usual issues found in OTTW.

Bermuda-Triangle.org

Submitter’s comments: I used to think your site had too many ads. I apologize. If you look at The Jerusalem Post with and without ads (I use an ad-blocker), you’ll notice that the site looks just fine without ads. When you see the home page with ads, it’s a totally confusing mess.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Apology accepted. I guess. Ads are good. Ads are necessary. But, like the submitter said, The Jerusalem Post’s home page is very disjointed and confusing with the ads (screenshot). In fact, my initial reaction was that some putz designed it. However, when the ads are removed, the design is obviously professional (screenshot). You have a lot of white space on the right side, though.

When I went to the Post’s site, a very strange text ad was at the top offering Jewish men the chance to meet Mormon women. I don’t keep up on religious practices, but this doesn’t seem logical.

As far as newspapers go, the current poster child of all that is good in web design is The Boston Globe. It’s often used to tout Responsive Web Design. Here’s a screen shot of The Globe’s home page. Here at WebPagesThatSuck the sites almost always use Un Responsive Web Design.

The Jerusalem Post

Eric Anderson’s take on  how I feel all the time. – http://bit.ly/FPyHgK

Submitter’s comments:I found this site after watching a video of the fountain in Osaka City Station.

These folks sell equipment to make fountains that create words and art. They have a skippable intro video, which I think is fine because the product is neat, but once you’re past it, it’s nothing but Mystery Meat Navigation (MMN).

Vincent Flanders’ comments: The top menu is in a shade of unreadable yellow and the pages move too fast to read. I don’t know how to stop them. The only Flash that’s needed would be to showcase the installations; otherwise, get rid of the Flash. The MMN is frustrating because you have to return to it time and time again because the subpages only have links back to the home page. Oh. Chrome kept blowing up because of the Flash.

BAELI New York

Submitter’s comments: The ultimate in Mystery Meat Navigation.

Vincent Flanders’ comments: Initially, I thought this was what happens when Pinterest meets Mystery Meat Navigation, but I was wrong. Turns out these are Blogger Dynamic View Gadgets. One of the problems I have with templates and widgets and gadgets is the creators give people options that are stupid. It’s like giving a machine gun with the safety off to your average 3-year old. They’re going to make the wrong choice. Templates and gadgets and widgets are the same way. The creators should offer choices, but they should be rational choices.

I don’t have any idea what the site is about other than someone’s ruminations on life. Even if it’s a personal site, the issue is don’t use stupid widgets—especially if you’re a business. To be fair to Blogger, their video shows how these gadgets should be used, but it assumes talent that even I don’t have. I’ve been trying to make a stupid Pinterest version of my home page, but I’m Masonry and Javascript impaired. Any help would be appreciated.

Raising Overcomers