Chinese restaurant critique

[findtim]

hi, client decided not to bother with chinese language version but thanks to those who offered suggestions.

So its now 95% finished so i thought i'd show you.
it started as this template: http://www.studiopress.com/demo/corporate.html

and i turned it into this: http://www.berwickpalace.com.au/

feel free to slag it off. NOTE: the logo, font and phone numbers are his "branding" on the restaurant shop front so i didn't want to deviate from that

the menu structure was the big one, it is 131 items + other stuff so i decided to put in a sidebar menu and split the menu into its sections, this way if you KNOW you want seafood you are just 1 click from it instead of a longgggggggggggg scroll, and every section has the same left menu so i think its user friendly.
i used

http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/easy-restaurant-menu-manager/

and paid the $25 upgrade which was well worth it.

client is happy, his teenage son will be doing and price or menu changes via the simple admin.

tim

( i'm waiting on "about us" words)

 

[sp@rky13]

That looks really good. Good job Shows how you can use an existing theme and change it completely so you couldn't even tell what theme it's based on.

 

[Blue Wren]

Looks great Tim well done.

2 things I would change.

1. Mobile responsive theme. (It's a crime not to have a website full mobile responsive these days).

2. Click to call phone numbers.

 

[Blue Wren]

There is also a typo on the About Us page.

"would like to welcome you to Berwick Palace Chiese Restuarant and would love to help"

 

[findtim]

thanks sparky , blue wren:

typo: i did mention i am waiting on that text from client.

click to call: yes i agree but i have been having problems with that between laptops and ipads, can you give me an example of somethign you have done or some advice.

responsive: yes i agree, corporate theme isn't responsive at the moment but i am told it soon will be so an upgrade is planned.

i'm trying to do all responsive now, i'm not sure i could have got that menu to work properly on responsive?

maybe i'll solve that by the time NF solve theirs ! LOL , just kidding NF

tim

 

[snoopy]

Basically fine, not sure about the way the menu has been done, I would also have an ability to scroll right through for the people who don't see the sidebar. Probably would have a pdf downloadable version as well that people can print out and show around when people are over and want to order. The phone number and menu are the key things with a site like this in my view. The about us photo would be better as a nighttime or dusk shot in my view, looks very suburban in contrast to the interior shots which make the place look pretty good.

Its always nice to see a chinese restaurant with several different omelettes on the menu, props to them for that.

 

[findtim]

thanks snoopy, i agree.

i'll do a night outdoor shot for them, as i said its 95% that why i asked for critique.

downloadable pdf, definately in the pipe line. printing? whats printing?

i do think it needs a TOTAL menu pdf though, working on it.

suburban: well it is actually very suburban, what i felt was that people see this restaurant a lot as its RIGHT ON a traffic light intersection, so this is why i stuck with their awning signwriting for memorability.

helena said "redesign it" but i said " its what people KNOW since 1988.

like one of my last posts snoopy "give them what they want"

if someone can't see/relate the left menu then they should cancel their internet access.

client is very lacking in english speaking so its been hard but i think in the end i have now made contact with the teenage son which is helping things along.

i do appreciate the feedback, thanks snoopy

tim

 

[johno69]

* Change the favicon from the standard Genesis one. The logo there would be ideal.

* Any reason to have 2 maps on the contact us page?
- I would only have one, and make it a good interactive one. Remove the popup/bubble from the map if you can't see it all anyway.

Add this to the map url and it will remove it.

iwloc=&

* Remove the "Login" link in the footer.
- If they cannot bookmark the admin login page:

then they should cancel their internet access.

* Special Lunch Box menu button on home page should link.

* I would look at something like this for the menu: http://plugins.righthere.com/styles-with-shortcodes/toggles/

* This one might seem picky, but the logo has a little white speck to the left that really stands out to me.

* I would try get the phone numbers in the header converted to text so they are indexed.

+1 for responsive.

* Design wise, nothing on the home page is lining up: http://screencast.com/t/wwK8sr5nkI2U

* So much really plain relevant text that could be text rather than images. Google loves text.

* In the images on the home page (that I think should be text) there are varying font sizes

* Site width changes from page to page, so the right sidebar is noticeably moving around.

* Footer has a serif font but the rest of the site has san-serif. I'd keep it consistent (san-serif).

I think that will keep you busy a while.

 

[Blue Wren]

Darn these replies are good and helpful.

Tim, you're brave doing this so I thank you. It is a great learning opportunity for the community.

 

[findtim]

exactly what i asked for and johno69 is right on all counts, thats the beauty of dnt and being able to have the guts to ask.
favicon, yep, bloody got get into the habit of doing that
2 maps, i did that as its a VERY LOCAL business so the left map is set to focus in on locally known roundabouts and traffic lights, the second map is for other who want to expand outwards if they are visiting the area, i am honestly not happy with it but i thought it was a good start to a solution.
-- thanks for the code i'll give it a go
login: agreed, LOL
lunch box link: shit ! it did today, i'll fix it.
toggles: maybe another time but not this time
white speck: yep, will fix, thanks
phone: like i said i'm not finding the "tel" working well for me so if anyone can send me a link that would be great.
responsive: yep, trying
lining up: yep, thats just css, no worries there for me ( 95% finished)
text: yes, you'll hate this but i am not worried about google as this is such a LOCAL traditional marketed business, we just wanted something online quickly ( stage one ) then i will work on refining the SEO, he is about to print his next 30K brouchures so we needed something up NOW, for him google doesn't bring him business, his letterbox drops do.
Font sizes: agreed, and now its online and the brochures will be getting out we can now sit back and look at the faults and fix them.
right sidebar movement: please tell me what browser as i'm not getting any movement.
footer: yep, thanks, i'll get that fixed.
-----------------
now this is what i love about dnt and thanks everyone especially johno69 for spending your time on this site for me, you all can see things that i can't see because i am to close to the forest.
i offer the same to anyone else always.
as i said " feel free to slag me off "
thanks
tim

 

[Blue Wren]

phone: like i said i'm not finding the "tel" working well for me so if anyone can send me a link that would be great.

thanks
tim

This works for me.

<a href="tel:0312345678">03 1234 5678</a>

 

[johno69]

phone: like i said i'm not finding the "tel" working well for me so if anyone can send me a link that would be great.

You don't need to link it. But I think if you converted all those images that are just text anyway, it would likely fall back to be naturally responsive.

text: yes, you'll hate this but i am not worried about google

Ok then.

right sidebar movement: please tell me what browser as i'm not getting any movement.

On a closer look, I think it's more the total width, rather than the sidebar as such. I've created a screenshot for you with details. Will email it as it's a bit large to attach.

With some more TLC it is looking like a nice site there mate.