Web Design

[melisa]

Hello friends.

 

I've been working on a very simple website design using Frontpage.

I'm nearing completion, but I wanted to cover my bases and ask advice

from those of you who also dabble in webdesign, what are your

criteria for a nice-looking and user friendly website? What are

appropriate sizes for pics and thumbnails? Anything I should be

aware of? Stuff like that.

[mattalofs]

Start over with something other than Frontpage;). OK, just kidding, but somebody will tell you this seriously. Frontpage is not well regarded by folks that do webdesign for a living. The code it generates is buggy, complicated and not standards compliant. It tends not to display well on anything other than whatever version of IE was current when your version of Frontpage was released.

 

Some general criteria:

 

1. do not disable the back button

 

2. give your user a way to get back to the front page from every page in your site

 

3. mailto links kind of suck

 

4. pics above 600 pixels in their largest dimension may cause scrolling for users with small laptop screens

 

5. don't go much bigger than 100 pixels for thumbnails

[al_kaplan1]

Hey Missy, if you do a really bang-up job I'm going to begging you to do one for me!

[dougs]

i hate flash pages..they waste so much time loading..keep as "google like" as possiblie..yeah its cool to have a sharp website, but its more important to get info to the viewer with outletting them lose interest...stay away from music as well..

[m_p7]

I would encourage you to use XHTML, CSS, and SSI and avoid tables for layout. When I finally get around to making a website, I plan to code it all by hand using XHTML, CSS, and SSI. I hope to avoid all use of Javascript if possible. Also, check the site on lot of OS and browsers - there are many bugs that need to be worked around. For a nice example of what can be done with CSS, see www.csszengarden.com. It is all the same HTML code, only layed out differently with CSS.

[marshall]

First things first: put the technology decisions last. They matter, but far far far far (really a lot) less than knowing what you want your visitors to see and do when they get to the web site. What are the goals: get visitors to contact you? show off images? provide information to potential customers? get feedback? If you want to put up a large gallery, how is it divided? What is the main focus or the few focuses?

 

Only after knowing what you want to do with the site do any of the technology decisions matter.

 

About Frontpage: there are reasons that it is reviled, but if it's what you have and you can accomplish what you want with it, it's fine. I've worked with FrontPage and it can be annoying, but it does work. [i'm not biased just because I've stayed at the FrontPage Program Manager's nice house. Then again, I'm not working with FrontPage now, so who knows if I'll get invited back...]

 

So, my criteria for a successful website are very simple: is the content interesting and is it usable?

 

Usability is: do I find what I want quickly? Are there any roadblocks to finding what I want? Does it work? Is it visually simple and effective? Compelling content is whatever that particular visitor is looking for. If you want repeat business, your content must change relatively frequently.

 

Sizes for pics and thumbnails: visible for most people is 450-500 pixels across. If you really want to show detail, it needs to be larger (600-800), but that gets large and unwieldy for some users. Thumbnails can be anything from 100-200. I've even seen effective 75pix thumbs, but they were crops of the larger images, which I find somewhat confusing.

 

Hope that helps a little.

[derek_c.]

It's only my rule, my common sense that I use on my web designing.<br>

Page width under 800 pixels, not everyone has 19" monitors.<br>

Don't make fonts too small, for older people.<br>

NO FLASH, just do a google search on "hate flash", enough said.<br>

Optimize your pictures for fast download (a lot of us have slow internet).<br>

No matter what page you are at, you are supposed to see the same menu at the same corner of the page. By using SSI, you can manage only one menu that will appear on every single page.<br>

NO MUSIC or any other stupid sound clips. (it's stupid)<br>

My thumbnail size is 144x144 (whichever is loger at H or V).<br>

<br>

But, most of all, optimize your web site for search engines.<br>

Join webmasters communities to learn those tricks.<br>

Good luck.<br>

<br>

PS. I want to get this off my chest... about Flash animation.<br>

Most people never sit and watch entire Flash introduction when they bump into one.<br>

Not only that, when you re-visit that same site, you are going to hate Flash animation.<br>

So.. why do they still want Flash in their own web sites?... I just don't understand.<br>

Just don't make common sense.

[chris m., central florida]

I started with FrontPage, and got a bit fed up (I'm sort of a technodolt when it comes to web design). I used Yahoo's Site Builder and it's working well, and I just upgraded my site again - it'll be posted in another week or so. Anyway, my site is extremely simple, but it works well enough and I'm getting plety of visitors.

 

To use Site Builder, you need to use Yahoo as your web hosting service. They seem to be pretty reliable.

[cjogo]

www.cjogo.com

 

all Front Page

[rds801]

I just started a website using Frontpage. It's not finished. Can't seem to find the time to finish it. Many people told me to use something other than Frontpage because of the reasons listed in this thread. I purchased Dreamweaver MX 2004. When I find time I will give it a test drive. Still trying to figure out what book I should get to help me with the program. Anyone here have any suggestions? It didn't come with a manual (educational version) I also started reading "HTML for the World Wide Web" by Elizabeth Castro. Those of you that code your own pages by hand, how long of a process is it?

 

Something that I have seen mentioned here is about flash sites. They are really annoying sometimes. I love sites that load quickly and are easy to navigate.

 

 

www.rolandsimmonsphoto.com

[altern]

I think the most important thing is to keep it simple. This rule applies to visual design,

content and technology. Regard "cool" as a sign to proceed with caution.

 

Find a focus (e.g. showcase your work to sell prints or services) and stick to it. Consider

having separate business and hobby sites, if you wish to publish other material too.

 

Get your own .com domain name, if you haven't got one already. Make sure

it's short enough and hard to spell wrong (e.g. doesn't require any punctuation).

 

Also, if you're serious about using the web for your advantage, consider moving away from

Frontpage. The best solution is to buy this book:

 

http://zeldman.com/dwws/

 

Then read it through several times, download NoteTab Light and open PhotoShop. The

second best solution is to get Macromedia Dreamweaver.

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

Mine is simple because it was put together by me. I use Yahoo Small Business service and downloaded a free template that was the basis of my site. They also have a free program called, "Yahoo Sitebuilder 2.1" that I use. I spend $11.95 per month for a package that suits me just fine. <P>

 

You can check my site out here:<P><A Href="http://www.williamclarkphotography.net">Take A Peek!</A>

[stacy]

Melisa- This may be considered cheating, but I bought an $85 template. It included instructions that were very basic and easy to work with. It's very easy to update too- I change our photos all the time! Look around the internet and I'm sure you can find a perfect template for what you have in mind.

 

Good Luck!

[william_au]

Hey Melisa,

 

One thing that helped me was surfing through a whole bunch of websites to see what appealed/didn't appeal to me. From a design standpoint, people above have made good points:

<ul><li>I think most people prefer accessible and simple sites where they can navigate easily and quickly. That's not to say that people aren't getting more internet-savvy, but building super-duper fancy Flash sites will exclude a whole section of people who don't have Flash, or who don't have the patience to watch the effects go by.

<p><li>Register your own domain name, and keep it simple. This will look more professional, and will help you build name recognition, as opposed to something like www.superinternetfreehosting.galleries.hokeypokey.blahblah.melisa/index.html. You should be able to get website hosting for under $60USD a year (3 rolls of film developed?), with a billion e-mail addresses and hundreds of MB for uploading/downloading a month.

<p><li>A navigation bar is very helpful - it lets people choose to skip forward/back to pages they want to see.

<p><li>Unless you're a spin-doctor, don't go too heavy on type. I think people would prefer to look at pictures instead of reading pages of why "I'm the greatest!"

<p><li>Make a mailto: link on your page, so that people can click on it and it pulls up their e-mail program with your address automatically filled in. One thing you may want to consider is to make this link a graphic instead of text, so that spam bots can't glean your address off the web and bomb you.

<p><li>You'd be surprised at how many people still run at 640x480 resolution. I think it's getting better, but don't make your site too wide/long, as scroll bars and incomplete views are annoying.

<p><li>Make sure you register with all the search engines, and develop a really good set of metatags. These are the keywords that search engines will use to look up your site. Page titles are also important, so don't ignore labelling everything on your page.</ul>

 

Good luck and have fun! I look forward to seeing it. I'm currently redesigning my site, and will post a link to it when it's ready.

[steve_hovland]

Keep it simple, design wise and technology wise.

 

My current site is almost pure html. The only javascript is the back button, which i may eliminate in the next version.

 

You're not selling your web site; you're selling your pictures.

 

see my ideas at stevehovland.net

[melisa]

Thanks everyone, for your suggestions and your website examples. From the sounds of things, I have a good idea that I'm on the right track.

 

I've found Frontpage relatively easy to work w/ so far, but can see it's limitations and frustrations. The gallery is not my favorite, but for an $8 program (my husband gets "computer geek" perks ;-)) I think it will get me by for a little while.

 

Al, you know I'd always help you!

 

Here's an example of my opening page, it looks a bit different in Frontpage, but this was what I could come up with quickly in PS. When I'm completed, I'll let you guys be the first to give me my "flogging" and any extra tips. Thanks again guys.<div></div>

[melisa]

It looks so small, but I downsized it to 511 x 328 for this post. It fills my FrontPage workspace nicely at 640 x 410. Should I go any larger?

[derek_c.]

Yike! I don't believe in front page (I'm not talking about the program, but the greeting page when you visit someone's web site).<br>

Because... I never like to see the greeting page when I visit somebody's web site.<br>

It's my educated guess that most people don't pay attention to the greeting page. (even find it annoying)<br>

So, why would you put it on YOUR web site?.<br>

You need to think about what they want, not what you want.<br>

I visit some of the most successful business web sites to learn their concept.<br>

You will rarely see Flash animations or Greeting pages on multi million dollar web site projects.<br>

Also, most major web sites' page widths are less than 800 pixel (I think)<br>

I don't ask why, I just follow their concept.<br>

I also look at their HTML codes and see how they structured the Head tags (meta tags).<br><br>

Quick info.<br>

I use dotster.com to registger domain name ($15.00 a year).<br>

I became a reseller long time ago when it was free to sign up, so I pay $12.00.<br>

I use pair.com for my hosting company. I pay $18.00 a month.<br>

Pair.com will allow you to add your additional web sites to your current web space for $1.00 a month (about $11.00 a year).<br>

I am extremely happy with both companies.<br>

[melisa]

That is interesting Derek. I can't stand flash either, but I have personally enjoyed the impact of a "greeting" page. I will certainly consider what you have said, thank you.

[derek_c.]

It is possible that my thinking is not rational.<br>

Because I come up with my own rule.<br>

:)

[marshall]

In most sites with high numbers of visitors and which are functionally oriented (i.e., they are geared towards accomplishing specific, repeated tasks or contain a large amount of content), splash screens are probably a bad idea. For creative types, splash screens are a common tool for establishing a tone and separating the experience of the site from wherever the visitor has been previously.

 

Where you fall on the use of splash screens is up to you. However, I'd recommend that any splash screen load quickly and be very easy to move on from immediately, even before it has finished loading. So, in this case, you'd want the entire image to be a link to the next page (which would be expected behavior). Onward.

[derek_c.]

This is another one of my own rule.<br>

Putting one good picture as an introduction screen may be too risky.<br>

You better hope to God that every single visitor will find that image acceptable to spend their money on you.<br>

People have different taste.<br>

Personally, I will not gamble with single picture to show the world what I'm about.<br>

You are making a first impression with one picture.<br>

And you are hoping that everyone in the world would fall in love with that shot.<br>

To me, that's a no no...<br>

Not only that different people will have different view about your picture.<br>

Some poeple will think you only take pictures of babies.<br>

Things like that...<br>

Again, this is only my way of thinking.<br>

I never took lessons on these, I just use my common sense.<br>

I think about these things 100 times more than I think about photography itself.<br>

To me it's all about money. and less about photography.<br>

If you must have a introduction page, I would feel comfortable with having 3-4 different pictures to satisfy people of all tastes.<br>

[bill_clark___minnetonka_mi]

You know what Derek, I respectfully offer this, as another view. I don't want to wow everyone who sees my web site. I do have a picture on the front page and if it strikes their fancy they me investigate further. I want people to immediately see my work. Some will like it, I want them to determine that immediately. In Minneapolis lots of weddings happen every year. I'm book for the entire 2005 year so my site works for me.

 

Just another view! That's what's nice about being here is to gain other people's perspectives!

[derek_c.]

I think her intention is to have nothing but one picture as a greeting page.<br>

There will be no menu, no introduction... nothing.<br>

Just one big picture.<br>

Clearly, Bill, you are not doing that.<br>

THAT's what I like, Bill, no greeting page.<br>

So, if melisa would like to follow Bill's success story, she should not use a greeting page.<br>

he he...

[michael mccarley]

Melisa -

 

One thing I would do, other than keep a signature image as the welcome, is to delete "specializing in". The simple statement "Lifestyle portraiture and wedding photography" says that all by itself and is much more powerful. To me the "specializing in" is redundant clutter.

 

I agree that flash is unpleasant.

 

Make sure your return links take them back to your first content page and not your welcome image.

 

Displaying images on a website can be risky as previously mentioned. Some people may not like them. Then they won't call you. I would much rather have people that don't care for our style not call. It works well for me. I would much rather use my website to pre-qualify my contacts. This is how we shoot, these are the results and this is what it costs. If you like what you see, contact us so we can talk more about your day.

 

When someone contacts us from our website, we know they like what they see and can afford us. When we get a phone call, we send them to the website (after talking a little bit). Haven't had to "sell myself" yet. The website does that for me.

 

Websites can be a priceless marketing tool when done properly. A poorly done site can also be an excellent marketing tool. For the competition.

 

You're on the right track. Would like to see the rest.