Website debut

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Susan Moore
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Website debut

Post by Susan Moore »

Please have a look and tell me what you think http://www.mooreglass.com

I put this together with Website Complete from http://www.godaddy.com and still need to do some tweaking. I have a couple more pages of photos to add and I have a few questions:

Anyone with a dial-up modem? How slow is the gallery page to load?

Before I add the other photos what do you think about the current gallery page?

Any other suggestions?

Thanks,

Susan

ps Thx Barbara Muth for suggesting godaddy.com in a thread somewhere in the archives
Tony Smith
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Post by Tony Smith »

Nice job with the website Susan. With DSL, it screams. Sorry, can't help with dialup.

Best of luck to you

Tony
The tightrope between being strange and being creative is too narrow to walk without occasionally landing on both sides..." Scott Berkun
Brian
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Post by Brian »

Your post and the Web site both tell me you're having a lot of fun with this. That''s great! Below are a scattering of thoughts for your consideration.

1. White text on a black background is difficult for some people to read. Dark text on a light background generally is easier on the eyes. Increasing the line height by 10 or 20 percent on the main page (and perhaps reducing it on the gallery page) could improve legibility.

2. The background for the menu in the left column appears blacker than the background of the main body, which is a very dark grey. It might be more attractive to use either the same background or more clearly different colors. The shade is close enough that it doesn't so much distinguish the two areas for me as it does make me wonder why the content area is muddy rather than true black.

3. The page unnecessarily relies on graphics for the background color and to display several words. At least four, maybe six, areas of the page have a background image. There isn't a need for even one with a solid color background. Your name and the menu are all displayed as graphics. This isn't necessary, either. This slows the page load (though not much in this case).

4. I like the photo on your main page. The contrast of the drift wood and the glass/silver is appealing to me. The placement of the pendant within a break among the horizontal lines of the drift wood draws my eye.

5. After looking at the photo of the red pendant for a minute or so, I notice the irregularity of the coils in the bail contrsted with the otherwise symmetrical design.

6. The "alt" tag on the photo of the red pendant is set to the file name. More useful would be to use a brief description of the photo, e.g., photograph of a red glass pendant wrapped in silver by Susan Moore. This comment also applies to the photos on your gallery page.

7. There is quite a bit of background space that isn't used, and that for me, doesn't help frame the content.

8. The text on the main page could be tighter. For example, "Susan Moore Kiln Fired Art Glass" is the banner text across the top of the page and appears in the first sentence; it doesn't provide the reader any new information in the opening paragraph. "Welcome to the website gallery...Please visit the gallery..." is repetitive and invites the question why one who has arrived at the gallery is being asked to visit the gallery. Consider linking to your bio from the first reference to yourself, rather than the last.

9. On the gallery page, it would help separate rows of photos/captions if you increased the amount of space between the end of each caption and the next row of photos.

10. I find it distracting when the caption extends beyond the right edge of a photo.

11. The page design requires horizontal and vertical scrolling when viewed at 1024x768 or lower resolution.

12. You might define "base metal."

I like the movement in colors throughout your pendants. Keep creating!
Last edited by Brian on Sun Apr 18, 2004 6:52 am, edited 1 time in total.
Roderick Sulte
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Post by Roderick Sulte »

Hi Susan,

Your site is great, the pictures a clear and crisp. I've got a cable modem so it everything came up fast and no problems. Beautiful jewelry, I really like the colors and the shapes. I think you'll do well.

Rod.
Susan Moore
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Post by Susan Moore »

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the comments and kind words.

Brian, thank you so much for taking the time to make detailed comments and suggestions. That is exactly the type of feedback I needed.

1. I had started out with white background and black text but didn't like it. I will try increasing the line height on the main page as you suggest....just as soon as I figure out how the heck to do that!

2. I think the template I used had a black background around the menu on the left column. I can't see the difference on my monitor but I will try to make the background all the same shade.

3. Good suggestion. It was the template so I just went with it, but I will try to change it.

4. I like this photo too, the necklace is resting on a piece of petrified wood.

5. I never thought about the bail in that way....it's going to drive me crazy now! Although, I am learning how to do my own silversmithing....in a few months I should be bezeling my glass and making my own bails.

6. Good suggestion.

7. I am more likely to take a "less is more" approach than fill up the space. Does this comment refer to all the pages or just some of the pages?

8. Good suggestions again, will work on it.

9. I need to work on changing line spacing....not sure how to yet but I will find out.

10. That bugs me too so I will be reworking it to fit within the width of the photo.

11. I was wondering if there is a 'normal' resolution that most people use. I have my resolution set to the maximum on my monitor 1920 x 1200.

12. I should define but it will get too wordy...maybe an asterisk and a note at the bottom of the page with the details?

I better get to work now! Thanks again for all your suggestions.

Susan
Lyn
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Post by Lyn »

Congratulations first, I also need a website so I know alot of thought and preperation went into getting it this far!

Your work looks very nice. My photos turn out worse tha my scans.

#11 was the only problem I'd fix if possible

It would be nice to know what size the pendants are, although I am aware of the size of the bails most people would not be.

Is there a good reason for no pricing? It would be nice to at least have a range in price quoted.

Best of luck, Lyn
AVLucky
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Post by AVLucky »

Hi
I'm on a dial-up modem, and the photos didn't take longer than usual to download. I had the same horizontal-scrolling issue that others have mentioned. I'm not sure what my exact screen resolution is, but without scrolling I was only seeing about three fourths of the width of the page.

Personally, I'm not crazy about the necklace displayed on a driftwood background because the texture and placement pulls too much attention away from the main object on display. Maybe you could crop the picture so that the pendant is more centered. The top half of the picture just feels kind of empty.

As for the uneven wire bail, that's no big deal. You can true that up in a few seconds with a pair of flat jawed pliers (no teeth). Just squeeze the coil gently, then rotate 90 degrees and repeat.

Overall, it looks good. Congratulations to you, and good luck!

Amy
Susan Moore
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Post by Susan Moore »

Lyn,

I probably will add pricing. Just for the curious the pendants are priced from $19 -$39. The sterling necklaces are extra. I should probably give approximate measurements of the pendants too. Thanks for you suggestions.

On the scrolling issue - is that a problem on all the pages? or just the gallery page?

I kind of figured that if someone has their resolution set low then they have to deal with scrolling on web pages all the time, no?

Susan
Susan Moore
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Post by Susan Moore »

Amy,

Thanks for the feedback on the dial-up modem question, good to hear.

I see what you mean about the photo on the main page...I will crop it and see if that looks better.

Will try the bail evener suggestion, thanks.

Once again about the scrolliing issue - I know it bugs me if I have to scroll horizontally, I'm okay with vertical scrolling though. With my screen resolution I only use up half my desktop with the internet window and for my website gallery I had to adjust the window width a little in order not to have to scroll horizontally. I guess if I make the photos a little smaller it would help.

Back to work. No rest for the wicked.

Susan
Brian
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Post by Brian »

Susan Moore wrote:11. I was wondering if there is a 'normal' resolution that most people use. I have my resolution set to the maximum on my monitor 1920 x 1200.

Susan
Scrolling came up in regard to other questions, so here are a few observations. There is no standard screen resolution. Everything from 800x600 up is in fairly common use on personal computers. Newer machines are more likely to default to a higher resolution.

While people with low resolution monitors may be used to scrolling more often, that doesn't make the page appealling to them. The common fixes are to make the layout "liquid" (i.e., the design adjusts its width automatically to fit the browser window) or set the max width to about 600 pixels. Either option will significantly reduce the number of people who must scroll horizontally to see your page. For the display of your pendants, you may want to reduce the size of the photos or display them one image per row to make the layout narrower.

If you're using Windows, you could go to the desktop, right click, select properties, then select settings, then adjust the slider on the "screen area" option. Apply this and you'll be able to view your Web page in a different screen resolution.

By the way, that was a good suggestion someone made about cropping the photo of the red pendant on the main page. I expect it will look better with a tighter crop. Maybe I just like drift wood today, so I didn't mind all that extra tecture as background.

Enjoy.
jim burchett
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Great site

Post by jim burchett »

I really enjoyed your site and the pieces were lovely. with dial-up it took less than a minute to load completely...nice job!
Susan Moore
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Post by Susan Moore »

I changed a few of the things that were suggested so far and will keep working on some of the others. I adjusted the size of the images down a little but it wasn't enough to eliminate the scrolling problem...I'll keep working on it. I need to take more photos of my newer work as well and get them posted.

Thanks everyone for your comments and suggestions. This has been very helpful for me.

Susan
Lynn g
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Post by Lynn g »

Susan,

I like your site and your work.

I reed through the other comments before I went to the site, and homed right in on Brian's comment about white text on black. As I get older (and develop some eye problems) I find I need more contrast and can't read tiny print. I was afraid I would have trouble with your text. But when I got to it, I found you used a large-enough font that I could read it with no problems...hurray! (What I really hate is things like white on amber, gray on white, etc....very prevalent in magazines, along with tiny print!)

On your artist profile page (wow, what an interesting life you've led!), the phrase "A creative outlet was partially satisfied" could be improved gramatically. Try something like "The urge to create was..." or "The need for a creative outlet was...". (You aren't satisfying your creative outlet, you're satisfying your feeling).

I have dial-up, and everything loaded just fine

Personally, I think the term "base metal" sounds like it's a cheap and crummy material...why not change those references to "nickel-plated zinc" or whatever?
Lynn g
"Patriotism is not enough, I must have no hatred or bitterness towards anyone." - Dame Edith Cavell
Susan Moore
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Post by Susan Moore »

Lynn,

I was going to email you about checking my grammar, wording, etc. I have read previous posts you made and found them to be very helpful. Glad you found the text size readable - I find a lot of websites with the white text/black background tend to use a smaller font and I have to hi-lite it with my mouse so that I can read it.

Thanks for the suggestion on the profile page - I will take your advice.

The base metal vs nickel plated zinc....hmmmm...they both sound cheap to me! I'm thinking about it now and probably will use your suggestion here as well.

I'm so glad I stopped trying to work this all out on my own and I asked you guys for an opinion.

Thanks,

Susan
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