How can I make this site less boring?

[andy89]

www.chateaudelucy.com

[steelphantom]

For one, use a font other than the default, which on my browser is Times New Roman. :)

[andy89]

I was thinking about that the other day.:rolleyes:

cheers, keep 'em coming..

*runs off to play with fonts*

EDIT: Why is there so many crap fonts?

[Butters]

When u change the font change the color aswell, especially for the links.

Try to move away from the default blue purple and red, or atleast pick nicer shades of those colours.

[andy89]

wow butters, the site in your sig looks pretty sweet.

thanks for the suggestions

EDIT: Just finished changing all the link text to black and making it underline on mouseover.
Looks alot better in my opinion

[cwedl]

May be have thumbnail images that open up into bigger ones. save on load time.

[LeeTom]

Nice house! If you need any help, I'll work for room and board!

[andy89]

May be have thumbnail images that open up into bigger ones. save on load time.

I am planing on doing this soon. I havn't been to happy with some of the pictures though.

And thanks for the artwork, I might fit it in there and see how it looks.

[cwedl]

Hi

I'm bored so did a quick mock up, probably no good because I'm crap at web design!

[andy89]

Changed the site, what do you think?
I can always go backif I need to.

[CoMpX]

I don't know if I'm the only one that noticed it, but in the gallery section, the links to "House - inside" and "Garden" do not work. They are unclickable.

[andy89]

thats because I havn't finished those parts yet:p

[CoMpX]

thats because I havn't finished those parts yet:p

Oh, ok. To avoid confusion among visitors, maybe put a "Coming Soon" notice next to those links?

[AppleMatt]

Firstly indent the text - it doesn't look right inline with the frame border.
Secondly more information, there's no story there except the "look, it's a house". Make that sentance the heading for the front page, and put the stuff on the 'About Us' page as the content for it - stick some emotion into there, why you are undertaking such a massive challenge as opposed to just stating that you are.

On the "About Us" page I'd have two passport-type photos and write who you are, your interests relevant to the project etc - look at the iWeb templates for ideas on what to put there.

Remove the front gallery page and instead have it go straight to pictures with headings instead of the navigation bar on the left - at one stage I can see three different navigation bars on one page. When you click on a picture make it appear in a new window, smaller, not taking them away from the original page like it does now (and the pictures are too big even for my 20" display - 1200x1060)

Finally swap around the gallery and contact us page, and either have the contact us page aligned to the right of the top nav bar or remove it entirely and include the info on the about us page.

Basically at the moment it's too big for the content it has - reduce the page count.

AppleMatt

[cwedl]

Firstly indent the text - it doesn't look right inline with the frame border.
Secondly more information, there's no story there except the "look, it's a house". Make that sentance the heading for the front page, and put the stuff on the 'About Us' page as the content for it - stick some emotion into there, why you are undertaking such a massive challenge as opposed to just stating that you are.

On the "About Us" page I'd have two passport-type photos and write who you are, your interests relevant to the project etc - look at the iWeb templates for ideas on what to put there.

Remove the front gallery page and instead have it go straight to pictures with headings instead of the navigation bar on the left - at one stage I can see three different navigation bars on one page. When you click on a picture make it appear in a new window, smaller, not taking them away from the original page like it does now (and the pictures are too big even for my 20" display - 1200x1060)

Finally swap around the gallery and contact us page, and either have the contact us page aligned to the right of the top nav bar or remove it entirely and include the info on the about us page.

Basically at the moment it's too big for the content it has - reduce the page count.

AppleMatt

Changing the layout according to you recommendations - for fun!

[andy89]

for the time being i've gone back to the old design.
thanks for the help cwedl.

I'll ask my family and see what they think, I think it looks quite smart.

And applematt, I know there are a few problems.

1st of all its not finished
2nd of all the nav bars are offset because there were pics next to the link, and if you drag all over the screen you will see hidden text where bits have been hidden for now

phew!

EDIT: and cwedl, the font im using is edwardian script itc

[cwedl]

for the time being i've gone back to the old design.
thanks for the help cwedl.

I'll ask my family and see what they think, I think it looks quite smart.

And applematt, I know there are a few problems.

1st of all its not finished
2nd of all the nav bars are offset because there were pics next to the link, and if you drag all over the screen you will see hidden text where bits have been hidden for now

phew!

EDIT: and cwedl, the font im using is edwardian script itc


Thats okay Andy89

If you do want to use any of my ideas I have links for both of them.

header - Link (http://www.crankyworld.com/chateaudelucyheader.psd)
body+header - Link (http://www.crankyworld.com/chateaudelucybody.psd)

That way you can change the colour (my fav colour is blue if you haven't noticed!), make multible pages move stuff around etc.

p.s. I didn't have edwardian script installed on my Windows PC, probably do on my mac though :rolleyes:.

regards

cwedl

[andy89]

cheers, do you do web design or computer graphics or what?
Just curious.

[cwedl]

cheers, do you do web design or computer graphics or what?
Just curious.

Nothing like that, just going into IT after doing a geology degree. - going to do my MCSE's very soon and will be on helpdesk until I have enough knowledge and experience to become a consultant.

If you are talking about the website at www.crankyworld.com (i.e. you following the links)- I didn't design this, but I am coding it (I know the front page is weird but it will be fixed next week)

I do enjoy making websites as a hobby though, and will be trained up in photoshop and other graphics stuff like that soon.

[andy89]

i was on help desk once...:rolleyes:

anyways, i suggest you dump frontpage

[cwedl]

i was on help desk once...:rolleyes:

anyways, i suggest you dump frontpage

I'm using dreamweaver for that project, I have never have liked frontpage.

Didn't you like working on the help desk?

[tominated]

flash! Flash !

[maxrobertson]

Change the background to a picture. Maybe a picture of the grounds or a closeup of something.

[bwanac]

ok...

first. the font. maybe make it verdana or georgia. no serif fonts.

two. its all yellow. make the part of the table where the content is a different color. maybe white.

you dont need two sets of navigation links for such a small page. the one at top is fine.

basically get some contrast on the page, some other colors, white for the content should be good. maybe add some padding to the content so it is not completely left aligned.

sorry if this is unclear i can show you tomorrow if you like.

[andy89]

I'm using dreamweaver for that project, I have never have liked frontpage.

Didn't you like working on the help desk?

yeah, i liked help desk alot. But they made me redundant (I was making their other staff look bad:p )

[MrSmith]

I've got some spare time. I'll comment without reading anything else so it doesn't influence my remarks; though I'll probably be repeating all the other posts.

Firstly, the front page offers nothing except a photo. I would like to see background info there. Why does this site exist? A taster of what's inside. Like how a novel should grab you on the first page, there should be something to make me want to click one of your links. Why should I click a link if you've given me no incentive to?

The font needs adjusting (OK, I did read the first reply). The repetition of links above and below the picture looks like a screen redraw. The front picture is not so good (the sunlight angle? I'm no expert). And more than one would be a good idea - and at least do an iPhoto 'Enhance' on them.

One thing that I don't understand is why many web pages, as on yours, have a 'Home' link on the Home page. Why give me the opportunity to come back where I already am?

Second page could do with a lot more information. It's your choice, of course - this isn't a commercial website, but if you're going to the trouble of making a site I suggest you make it worthwhile.

The photos are far too big for my 20 inch screen, and many people are on smaller than that. And the one I'm looking at ( bottom left) is out of focus or is suffering from camera shake.

Javascript pop-ups on the non-links is unnecessary. More than that, it forces me to make an extra mouse movement.

I wonder at the purpose of the Firefox link at the bottom. Is my Safari not good enough? What about cross-browser compatibility? W3C and all that?

Sorry, all negative. However, I am eager to learn more (see note above :-)) and your site is bookmarked. I'll be keeping an eye on what you're up to there. It looks beautiful. Good luck and have fun. Lucky bugger.

[andy89]

Thanks for the great advice.

I am thinking about adding a small intro to the homepage.
And I changed the footer (sorry about the firefox link, but I was planning on it being viewed by more peecee's) I'm sure you'll all agree it much better now:cool:

Edit: just killer the second nav bar.

[johnniewalker]

andy89, sent you a PM!

[johnniewalker]

As an example of what can be done by a relative novice in an hour or two using wysiwyg web design software I put this together.

http://johwal8.**********.com

(I already told andy89 via pm)


Oh and rapidweaver makes it really easy to add a blog page which would be great for a work in progress such as this.

[andy89]

I've just updated the site.

I've started playing around with fireworks (:eek: )
What do you think?

I've taken the best bits from all three site designs, and looked at some of the suggestions for clues.

[MrSmith]

I like the font for the title and the vignette... But really, who cares? The important thing is the content. Look at the big sites like Apple or Amazon. No-one cares about the background colour. As long as the site is easy to read (e.g. limited in width like the one a previous poster knocked up on Rapidweaver) and navigate, the content is what the people are there for. People who design web sites aren't at the cutting edge of web design - they drive it. Web sites are about content. We've been reading books printed on nothing but white paper for over half a millennium. Pulp fiction and timeless classics. Just forget about the design and get information up there. If it's interesting, people will read it. Go the other way, of course, and it's a different story. No-one wants to read a site in flashing day-glo orange.

Nevertheless, just a few comments on the design. I mentioned before the photos. You really should retake them. Maybe the one on the front page is taken into the sun? I'm not saying they should look like stock footage, but they could be better to look at. The bit at the bottom about 'best viewed on a Mac' will make you look a jerk to a fair number of people, I would think. Making a web site browser-specific is bad enough. Making it sound platform-dependent is, well... The copyright tag is enough to get your name in. No need to repeat it. Who cares who made the site? Content again...

So to the nitty-gritty: Content... Here's a few things I would like to know:

Who are 'we'? Are you husband and wife? How long have you been together? How did you meeting end up with you buying a property in France?
What's your nationality?
If not French, what are you doing there?
Why did you buy THAT property?
Were you always looking for property (in France?) to buy?
What are your jobs?
What will you do for work when you live there?
How far is the property from the nearest town or city?
How much did the property cost? EVERYONE will want to know; and will feel excluded from the adventure if you don't say (or curb interest in some way).
When was the property built, by whom, and why?
What is the history of the place (in detail) up until you purchased it?
In detail, what are your plans for the place?
What will you do with the spare rooms?

I would be interested in a blow-by-blow account of what you do, the problems you come up against, regular photos to back up your reports, etc. After spending every day working and renovating I imagine you will soon lose interest in reliving every detail through the keyboard, though. But I would be interested in reading it and I'm sure a lot of other people would too.

[andy89]

I would be interested in a blow-by-blow account of what you do, the problems you come up against, regular photos to back up your reports, etc. After spending every day working and renovating I imagine you will soon lose interest in reliving every detail through the keyboard, though. But I would be interested in reading it and I'm sure a lot of other people would too.

Yeah, that reminds me, we were going to do a video podcast.:p
and... maybe an rss feed.

[johnniewalker]

As for podcasts and rss feeds, again RW is great for this.

I watched the screencasts showing you how do create these and it's really easy.

I do agree with all the above posts though, much more content and better images will make the site much better and also much more search engine friendly, after all spiders crawling your site aren't bothered about how your site looks to a human.

I think with as with most things it's a case of getting a good balance of form and function.

There's no point having a beautifully designed site if it never gets any visitors, but on the other hand you don't want any visitors you do get clicking the back button as soon as they see a site due to poor design.

That's why personally I love software like RW, although technically it may not be upto the same standards as a hand coded site, as long as the end results are well designed for human visitors but also get the SEO parts right as well then it allows people to get their ideas and creativity on the web very easily.

[ezekielrage_99]

Try not to center everything, it make sites look amaturish. Try the gold ratio :D

For good design use The Hugo Boss (http://www.hugoboss.com/) Web Site as a very good guide, it's so simple and acheivable for anyone who can use Dreamweaver and Photoshop.

Also check out here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321193857/sr=8-1/qid=1155729912/ref=sr_1_1/104-0536688-1591941?ie=UTF8)


Some dirty picture of Kate Beckinsale wouldn't go astray either ;)

[MrSmith]

Try not to center everything, it make sites look amaturish. Try the gold ratio :D

For good design use The Hugo Boss (http://www.hugoboss.com/) Web Site as a very good guide, it's so simple and acheivable for anyone who can use Dreamweaver and Photoshop.

Also check out here (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0321193857/sr=8-1/qid=1155729912/ref=sr_1_1/104-0536688-1591941?ie=UTF8)


Will this career change be before or after mastering French :D

[MrSmith]

I had another look at your site. At first I thought it was a site to record your personal endeavours, but now I see it is a commercial site. Well, considering you will be appealing to a world-wide audience my advice is to get a site professionally made. People browsing for holidays will judge the condition of your hospitality and amenities from the state of your webpage. Instant impressions and all that. I'm sure it'd pay off in no time. You may be lucky and get coach parties stay when you've completed the rest of the property.

Just my 2 pence worth.

[Butters]

Site best view on a mac

True of every web site. :P
but unfortunately not something the majority of your -pc using- visitors will want to read to be honest. Maybe lose that one line :)


also, if it's something you're interested in I would too recommend getting the site professionally made (as somebody mentioned above).
I'm sure I for one and some of the other guys on these forums would like to offer you a great deal and help you out.

[waynesun]

Trying making the picture of the house stretch across the body, make sure it's not distorted. I don't have PS with me now, but i'll mock up something and edit this post later.

55257
Remember, visitors most often read your site in an "F" shape (see: digg,) so it's important to maintain that shape. Aligning your text in the center and your pictures will throw your users off completely. Hope it helps.

[andy89]

Trying making the picture of the house stretch across the body, make sure it's not distorted. I don't have PS with me now, but i'll mock up something and edit this post later.

55257
Remember, visitors most often read your site in an "F" shape (see: digg,) so it's important to maintain that shape. Aligning your text in the center and your pictures will throw your users off completely. Hope it helps.

Yeah good advice. I'm not sure about the font I've chosen anymore though.

[johnniewalker]

andy89,

Just out of interest what software are you using?

[johnniewalker]

The hugo boss site mentioned earlier does look very nice, however I sometimes find that sites such as this are almost too fancy for me.
I don't want to have to choose which version of the site to view or wait for a fancy animation before I see a selection of shoes, I know I can use the skip function provided but I never asked to see the animation in the first place and now I have do something to avoid seeing it! they could at least allow me to see what I'm there to look at before making me view the equivalent of a splash screen.

Thankfully this animation is used only on the first time you choose a subcategory!

Again, the scrollable zoomed image looks nice, but I would rather have views from different angles, for example I want to know what type of sole the shoe has or does the insole have a big thick label sewn in that could feel strange when I'm wearing them!

Maybe I'm just a control freak but same goes for the watches, I want a side profile to see how bulky they are.

You can't please all the people all of the time (or maybe it's just me :p ) so as long as you stick to tried and tested design techniques (layout, colours, navigation etc) then you should be ok, you may never have a groundbreaking or award winning site but to be honest unless you're professionally trained and spending every day building sites you probably won't have the time or knowledge to build a site such as the hugo one (that includes me!).
But you can at least get some 'inspiration' from it and just add your own style to it, but quite often the simpler the site the easier and better it is to use, after all, the only thing anyone really needs from a website is information.

I'm not saying design isn't important, just that I think that a site should look as good as possible without lots of unneccesary frills.

[andy89]

andy89,

Just out of interest what software are you using?

Dreamweaver and text edit (for when the GUI slows me down:p )