Website Critique
11-09-2009, 12:19 PM
#41
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
OK, Contact Section has been added..
And I added the service/location info to both the Contact section and the footer that displays on all pages. It's unobtrusive, but easily found, I think. ??
And I added the service/location info to both the Contact section and the footer that displays on all pages. It's unobtrusive, but easily found, I think. ??
Last edited by wndrlst; 11-09-2009 at 12:23 PM.
11-09-2009, 12:37 PM
#42
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
Took away the user comments on the main pages. I'm leaving in the personal galleries for the clients to respond to their own photos.
I'm really liking the way these changes have streamlined navigation. Thank you all for taking the time. Imaginary rep points for all!
I'm really liking the way these changes have streamlined navigation. Thank you all for taking the time. Imaginary rep points for all!
11-09-2009, 01:08 PM
#44
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
I see - I'll look into that. I suck at CSS. 
Thanks!
Thanks!
11-09-2009, 01:10 PM
#45
Senior Moderator
I think it would work better somewhere to the right of the page but still aligned with the contents.
Go to rimz post on the first page (post 32) he talks about its positioning.
Go to rimz post on the first page (post 32) he talks about its positioning.
11-09-2009, 01:12 PM
#46
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
I also just noticed that the breadcrumbs are aligned on all pages except the contact page, where they're also hanging out on the left. I'd also like to make the slideshow button disappear on the non-gallery pages. I need to look into that, too...
11-09-2009, 02:37 PM
#47
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
Got rid of that nasty hover-text!!! 
11-09-2009, 06:25 PM
#48
now with four rings
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Bixby, OK
Age: 42
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2. your search field is way off the page on every page of your site it shows up on (not lined up with everything else...it's aligned to the left when everything else is centered). do this (remove the period after the initial < sign):
I. find this element:
II. replace it with this:
that will keep your search box lined up with your content, regardless of the user's window
I. find this element:
Code:
<.div id="mysearch">
Code:
<.div id="mysearch" style="margin: auto; width: 750px;">
11-09-2009, 07:59 PM
#49
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
Whoa!! Don't waste all that energy shaking your head - I totally missed your post when I was writing mine back to SS! 
I was wondering why dom said "still" off to the left.
Thanks for the help with a side helping of sass? I'll try that.
I'm not sure what you mean by the header being mostly black space..do you mean on either side or above & below the graphic? The header is set up to click back to home. I'll turn that off to see if that fixes the problem.
Did anyone else have trouble noticing the navigation?
I was wondering why dom said "still" off to the left. Thanks for the help with a side helping of sass? I'll try that.
I'm not sure what you mean by the header being mostly black space..do you mean on either side or above & below the graphic? The header is set up to click back to home. I'll turn that off to see if that fixes the problem.
Did anyone else have trouble noticing the navigation?
Last edited by wndrlst; 11-09-2009 at 08:02 PM.
11-09-2009, 08:10 PM
#50
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
That worked very nicely - thank you, rimz!
11-09-2009, 08:10 PM
#51
Creepy guy in the mirror.
I really like the new layout/nav. There is a lot more continuity to it.
On the nav bar I might recommend a few spaces between the words and the bullets - that might make it more recognizable as a nav bar.
Good job - I can tell you have been working hard!
BTW. You nail DOF in all your shots that you have in the gallery.
On the nav bar I might recommend a few spaces between the words and the bullets - that might make it more recognizable as a nav bar.
Good job - I can tell you have been working hard!
BTW. You nail DOF in all your shots that you have in the gallery.
11-09-2009, 08:22 PM
#52
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
I really like the new layout/nav. There is a lot more continuity to it.
On the nav bar I might recommend a few spaces between the words and the bullets - that might make it more recognizable as a nav bar.
Good job - I can tell you have been working hard!
BTW. You nail DOF in all your shots that you have in the gallery.
On the nav bar I might recommend a few spaces between the words and the bullets - that might make it more recognizable as a nav bar.
Good job - I can tell you have been working hard!
BTW. You nail DOF in all your shots that you have in the gallery.
I've put the spaces in, and changed the bullet separating each nav link to a vertical line "|"
I think it stands out a bit more. Is it enough?
11-09-2009, 09:07 PM
#54
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
Sweet...thanks!
11-09-2009, 10:22 PM
#55
now with four rings
Join Date: May 2006
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...rolling of the eyes was total sarcasm 
find this:
Code:
<img border="0" style="visibility: hidden;" src="http://www.moxiephotos.com/photos/705192800_gcAAg-O.jpg"/>
Code:
<a href="/"><img border="0" style="visibility: hidden;" src="http://www.moxiephotos.com/photos/705192800_gcAAg-O.jpg"/></a>
11-09-2009, 10:24 PM
#56
now with four rings
Join Date: May 2006
Location: Bixby, OK
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oh and for the navigation, you could make a simple gradient (black to white; black on bottom, white on top) as the background for your navigation items..that will make them stand out better and look more like buttons...but that can come in v2.0...and let me know if you want help with it...
11-09-2009, 10:43 PM
#57
Senior Moderator
looks like you've been busy on it for a while here but I checked it out just now and it looks rather nice.
11-09-2009, 11:21 PM
#58
Big Block go VROOOM!
Sorry for just now getting around to commenting, but here's some general thoughts on the site's current state. All the comments below are from the perspective of a potential site visitor, not my own personal take.
- I'm not a fan of the filmstrip on the front page. In my book, slideshows and thumbnail based navigation, including filmstrips, are mutually exclusive. Do one or the other on the home page, not both.
- Also, if you keep the slideshow on the front page, get rid of the overlaid navigation controls. The front page is for you to show off the images you want to, not for people to navigate through your body of work. That's what the gallery pages inside are for. Anything on top of your images on your front page is a distraction.
- In the state I'm looking at it tonight, nothing on the home page states what you actually shoot (or want to shoot). There's only "portfilio" and "art". Pretending I'm someone who knows nothing about you other than you're a photographer, I'm immediately struck with the questions "What does this person take pictures of?" and "This person doesn't consider their art as part of their portfolio?"
- In relation to the previous point, do you really see trying to market yourself as an art photographer at this point or do you just want people to see what you're capable of outside of weddings, portraiture, and equestrian work? If it's just the people and equine services you're really trying to sell, then you may want to consider labeling your art images under a category of "personal work" or something along those lines. Once people get to those pages, then they can find out prints of those images are also for sale.
- I'm not particularly a fan of the cropped square thumbnails in the gallery pages. They work reasonably well for the equestrian images since many of them are square(ish) but not so well for the people images. If you only had ten or so images in each gallery then I don't think it would be a concern. With the quantity you have, however, it becomes too much work to click through all of those images just to view the entire contents of each frame even at thumbnail size. That said, coming up with a nicely formatted table containing thumbnails of different sizes is probably a substantial PIA.
- I'm not a fan of the filmstrip on the front page. In my book, slideshows and thumbnail based navigation, including filmstrips, are mutually exclusive. Do one or the other on the home page, not both.
- Also, if you keep the slideshow on the front page, get rid of the overlaid navigation controls. The front page is for you to show off the images you want to, not for people to navigate through your body of work. That's what the gallery pages inside are for. Anything on top of your images on your front page is a distraction.
- In the state I'm looking at it tonight, nothing on the home page states what you actually shoot (or want to shoot). There's only "portfilio" and "art". Pretending I'm someone who knows nothing about you other than you're a photographer, I'm immediately struck with the questions "What does this person take pictures of?" and "This person doesn't consider their art as part of their portfolio?"
- In relation to the previous point, do you really see trying to market yourself as an art photographer at this point or do you just want people to see what you're capable of outside of weddings, portraiture, and equestrian work? If it's just the people and equine services you're really trying to sell, then you may want to consider labeling your art images under a category of "personal work" or something along those lines. Once people get to those pages, then they can find out prints of those images are also for sale.
- I'm not particularly a fan of the cropped square thumbnails in the gallery pages. They work reasonably well for the equestrian images since many of them are square(ish) but not so well for the people images. If you only had ten or so images in each gallery then I don't think it would be a concern. With the quantity you have, however, it becomes too much work to click through all of those images just to view the entire contents of each frame even at thumbnail size. That said, coming up with a nicely formatted table containing thumbnails of different sizes is probably a substantial PIA.
Last edited by Billiam; 11-09-2009 at 11:24 PM.
11-10-2009, 08:44 AM
#59
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
...rolling of the eyes was total sarcasm no, you don't have to remove the link back to your home page...most logos are clickable to get back to the home page...but yours was including the entire <div> as the link, which spans across the entire width of the screen...you only want to link your logo....try this:
find this:
Code:
<img border="0" style="visibility: hidden;" src="http://www.moxiephotos.com/photos/705192800_gcAAg-O.jpg"/>
Code:
<a href="/"><img border="0" style="visibility: hidden;" src="http://www.moxiephotos.com/photos/705192800_gcAAg-O.jpg"/></a>
I'll add the nav upgrade to my list when I get a chance. Thanks for the offer of help - I'll take you up on that!
11-10-2009, 08:53 AM
#60
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
Sorry for just now getting around to commenting, but here's some general thoughts on the site's current state. All the comments below are from the perspective of a potential site visitor, not my own personal take.
- I'm not a fan of the filmstrip on the front page. In my book, slideshows and thumbnail based navigation, including filmstrips, are mutually exclusive. Do one or the other on the home page, not both.
- Also, if you keep the slideshow on the front page, get rid of the overlaid navigation controls. The front page is for you to show off the images you want to, not for people to navigate through your body of work. That's what the gallery pages inside are for. Anything on top of your images on your front page is a distraction.
I'm torn on these 2 points, but ultimately I agree. I like to be able to pause an image to view it longer, or to go back to one, but I do prefer the cleaner look for the "cover" of the site. Also, it seems the filmstrip may be distracting from other important elements of the page, such as the information about what and where in the footer, and the navigation links at the top. And, as you say, that's what the galleries are for. I've changed it back.
- In the state I'm looking at it tonight, nothing on the home page states what you actually shoot (or want to shoot).
It was there in the footer, at moe's prompting, but if you couldn't find it, it clearly wasn't prominent enough! So, I've made it larger and changed the text color to match the header.
There's only "portfilio" and "art". Pretending I'm someone who knows nothing about you other than you're a photographer, I'm immediately struck with the questions "What does this person take pictures of?" and "This person doesn't consider their art as part of their portfolio?"
I'll give some thought to how better to label these - thanks.
- In relation to the previous point, do you really see trying to market yourself as an art photographer at this point or do you just want people to see what you're capable of outside of weddings, portraiture, and equestrian work? If it's just the people and equine services you're really trying to sell, then you may want to consider labeling your art images under a category of "personal work" or something along those lines. Once people get to those pages, then they can find out prints of those images are also for sale.
My actual marketing is focusing on services for hire, but I've made a fair bit of money on the art images since launching the site, so I don't want to minimize them. Food for thought, though, as with the labeling. I'll see what I can come up with.
- I'm not particularly a fan of the cropped square thumbnails in the gallery pages. They work reasonably well for the equestrian images since many of them are square(ish) but not so well for the people images. If you only had ten or so images in each gallery then I don't think it would be a concern. With the quantity you have, however, it becomes too much work to click through all of those images just to view the entire contents of each frame even at thumbnail size. That said, coming up with a nicely formatted table containing thumbnails of different sizes is probably a substantial PIA.
It's true that I think it looks messy to keep them original and have staggered sizes all mixed together. I hadn't really thought of it that way, though. I'd hate someone to pass over an image because an important element was missing, though. I'll work on it when I get some time.
- I'm not a fan of the filmstrip on the front page. In my book, slideshows and thumbnail based navigation, including filmstrips, are mutually exclusive. Do one or the other on the home page, not both.
- Also, if you keep the slideshow on the front page, get rid of the overlaid navigation controls. The front page is for you to show off the images you want to, not for people to navigate through your body of work. That's what the gallery pages inside are for. Anything on top of your images on your front page is a distraction.
I'm torn on these 2 points, but ultimately I agree. I like to be able to pause an image to view it longer, or to go back to one, but I do prefer the cleaner look for the "cover" of the site. Also, it seems the filmstrip may be distracting from other important elements of the page, such as the information about what and where in the footer, and the navigation links at the top. And, as you say, that's what the galleries are for. I've changed it back.
- In the state I'm looking at it tonight, nothing on the home page states what you actually shoot (or want to shoot).
It was there in the footer, at moe's prompting, but if you couldn't find it, it clearly wasn't prominent enough! So, I've made it larger and changed the text color to match the header.
There's only "portfilio" and "art". Pretending I'm someone who knows nothing about you other than you're a photographer, I'm immediately struck with the questions "What does this person take pictures of?" and "This person doesn't consider their art as part of their portfolio?"
I'll give some thought to how better to label these - thanks.
- In relation to the previous point, do you really see trying to market yourself as an art photographer at this point or do you just want people to see what you're capable of outside of weddings, portraiture, and equestrian work? If it's just the people and equine services you're really trying to sell, then you may want to consider labeling your art images under a category of "personal work" or something along those lines. Once people get to those pages, then they can find out prints of those images are also for sale.
My actual marketing is focusing on services for hire, but I've made a fair bit of money on the art images since launching the site, so I don't want to minimize them. Food for thought, though, as with the labeling. I'll see what I can come up with.
- I'm not particularly a fan of the cropped square thumbnails in the gallery pages. They work reasonably well for the equestrian images since many of them are square(ish) but not so well for the people images. If you only had ten or so images in each gallery then I don't think it would be a concern. With the quantity you have, however, it becomes too much work to click through all of those images just to view the entire contents of each frame even at thumbnail size. That said, coming up with a nicely formatted table containing thumbnails of different sizes is probably a substantial PIA.
It's true that I think it looks messy to keep them original and have staggered sizes all mixed together. I hadn't really thought of it that way, though. I'd hate someone to pass over an image because an important element was missing, though. I'll work on it when I get some time.
11-10-2009, 08:56 AM
#61
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
I've changed the |'s back to bullets in the navigation because I just find them more visually appealing and more suited to my style. I did leave the space in, though, and increased the font size, so perhaps they'll be more prominent. Also, they're no longer competing with the filmstrip for attention. Hope that helps!
You guys are worth your weight in gold..thank you so much!
You guys are worth your weight in gold..thank you so much!
11-10-2009, 11:10 AM
#63
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
Thank you! 
11-10-2009, 09:08 PM
#64
Have camera, will travel
Join Date: Jan 2004
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I like the changes, Dancer. It does look cleaner now. I've never done my own website, but I'd guess it's like what you are doing now, refining and tweaking til you get it just where you want it.
11-10-2009, 09:10 PM
#65
Senior Moderator
it does look better with out the filmstrip and navigation actions!
cleaner
cleaner
11-10-2009, 09:14 PM
#66
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
Awesome - thanks for the feedback, guys.
John, you should have seen what I started with a few months ago!! The version I presented here last week was already pretty far along, but I really am much happier with it now than I was a week ago. I so appreciate honest feedback.
John, you should have seen what I started with a few months ago!!
The version I presented here last week was already pretty far along, but I really am much happier with it now than I was a week ago. I so appreciate honest feedback.
11-10-2009, 09:29 PM
#68
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
11-10-2009, 09:31 PM
#69
Senior Moderator
aww what a happy family. :P
11-10-2009, 09:44 PM
#70
Earth-bound misfit
Thread Starter
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