| tknterry on Apr 27, 2006 at 12:02:03 AM (# 8) Hello,
As an update, I did rewrite all of the image viewer window code to allow placement of a title and caption, as well to reuse only one viewer window for all images which will always be in 'focus' when needed. It may be closed easily with a 'button' but it doesnt have to be until done viewing. I did a lot of research to hunt for examples and to learn more about opening windows with captions, focusing, positioning, etc. Please look at my web site located at:
http://www.photostuff.org to evaluate my results. If you have a dialup connection please let me know if it loads in a reasonable length of time. Thanks very much for all oonstructive comments and suggestions. --- Terry
Winterwolf on Apr 28, 2006 at 2:28:15 AM (# 9)comments: it looks great. thats the good. The bad is the flow isnt contiguous and its not evident you need to click a link to get a thumbnail to come up and then click the thumbnail. Id recommend putting some flow arrows in your popup that cycle through the images, so a person starts, opens up the popup and clicks the arrows to see the rest of the photos instead of having to go back to the mother window, and go through the process all over again.
Another comment a friend of mine made about sites with blank backgrounds. you get more milage from such sites by using a subtle background design such as an image that repeats so that the window has the feeling of completeness no matter the window size. The lavender/purple background doesnt accomplish this to my eye.
Obviously you must know some of your menu links at the top dont work yet.
tknterry on Apr 28, 2006 at 3:40:00 AM (# 10)Winterwolf,
Thanks very much for the comments. Regarding the background, your idea sounds interesting and I will look into it. Id like to find . Interestingly, the background texture I found was labled "blue01" or something indicating its blue. I was trying to find a match with the blue in the water of many of my photos. Another friend also told me its purple too though, after I posted the page with the background texture. Color is a bit of a challange since my eyes do not distinguish color accurately. haha. Oh well, I must rely on other's eyes for color. I would like to find a subtle background design such as an image that repeats as you suggest. I need to look around for examples. As for the non-contiguous flow, I have to agree with you on that too and I recognize its one of the flaws of the one-thumbnail image design concept. I should give the option to cycle through the images in the popup window for those who wish to do so. Yes the 2 links for 'Africa (future)' and 'Israel (future)' dont work yet since I have yet to create those pages. I need to buy a film scanner first and scan those photos into my computer, since I took them in the pre-digital eon :)
philcha on Apr 28, 2006 at 3:44:34 AM (# 11)
This message has been edited.Your site starts with a splash page containing 1 big image. This is a bad idea: - Takes a long time to load without telling the visitor much. Many will leave at this point, or even before the page finishes loading.
- There's nothing for search engines to index (searchies need text!).
The next page is OK, but doesn't really answer the question "Why should I take the time to look through the rest of the site?" I suggest: - Use dark text on a light background, it's easier to read.
- Make the text more concise. This is one of the hardest parts of web site production, and the only way to learn it is to revise, revise, revise.
Winterwolf on Apr 29, 2006 at 3:36:48 AM (# 12)*me notes that the front page takes no time at all to load on broadband...which might be why I didnt notice it.*
However, I agree that a splash page is a general design no-no and is superfluous.
I dont agree that the text must be black (dark) on white (light) to be readable. A larger font might be better for the purpose. I didnt see anything wrong with the text content and still dont on reviewing it. As for the question as to why someone should look through the site the pictures are the answer. You Philcha might not think so, but then not everyone is interested in looking at pictures of places they've never been. However since the focus of the page is pictures there doesnt seem to be anyway around this. :)
bod1467 on Apr 29, 2006 at 4:18:23 AM (# 13)The El Fuego website has a splash page (per client request) but given that this is a band website and the splash also plays a track then this is probably OK. (Although, if you have JS disabled you redirect to the default home page).
(Just wanted to respond to the no-splash comment).
8-)
tknterry on Apr 29, 2006 at 6:41:50 AM (# 14)Thank you all for your comments! I will keep them in mind when I redesign my website. Ive been wondering about the 'splash' page myself. I initially liked it mainly because I love the photo and it seemed like an inviting entrance. However I will can the splash page on the new redesigned photostuff.org. Im going to re-work the image viewer again too. I have the feeling this is going to be an endless process, but Im learning quite abit and its actually fun so I dont mind. Im doing this just to share my photos, learn website building, javascripting, etc. My goal is to have a user friendly, efficient method for viewing hundreds of photos I will have available on a visually appealing website. I do want it to be reasonably quick loading for both dialup and and broadband users, realizing of course it will inevitably be slower for dialup. I may create different pages for higher resolution photos especially for the broadband users. I only had dialup for years, so I know how annoying it is to try to view high res images online. At the same time I want to make higher quality images available for those that can view them. OK, Im rambling. Thanks again all, and I will continue to read any input I find here.
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Seeking reviews/suggestions on my first website