Another new website thread...

Amp34

Amp34

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Edit My Images
Yes
I decided my old site (http://wildaboutlife.net) is a bit plain and no good for something I want to use to sell photos so I decided to have another go, this time with some more effort and as an emphasis on the selling part (I'm starting to sell prints in the local area and advertising the site).

Anyway break it for me... :lol:

http://wildaboutlife.net/test/site/index.html

Some comments on the useability and style would be good to, along with some purchases from the gallery (which is set up with Paypal sandbox at the moment, if you have an account if you could do the purchase bit as well that would be useful).

Issues I know about at the moment include the blog not being fully integrated (to do...) and a couple of issues with the gallery (whole site moves left slightly in the gallery page and on the image pages the copyright bar moves up a bit, any ideas how to fix either would be appreciated). There is also an issue with the nav bar moving to the left in IE6/7 and older versions of Opera which should hopeflly now be fixed (I don't have IE6/7 or Opera 8 to test it).
 
Hi Andy,

Quite like the site, nice and easy to navigate. Like a number of pics too (not all)

main thought though... 150 quid for a framed print on most of the pics when the buyer has no idea of the type of frame, style, colour etc, no option to choose different sizes....

seems a bit ambitious to me. If I went on there and was given a "take it or leave it" size and price I would leave it.

Just my thoughts.

Cheers
Dave
 
new site looks like a modified template? id drop the different colours and keep it all unifrom

while you have some rather nice pics...........the prices are ambitious i feel
if u can get the much, then thats great.

Gary
 
Thanks. Nope, not a template, coded from scratch by me (except a couple of JS elements). :)

With regards to the colours do you mean on the seperate pages or on the front page? I'm in two minds about the colours on each section however without them I think those pages are a bit plain.:thinking:

About the pricing... This stems from a thread in Talk Business and it's something I'm not sure on myself, however this website is going to be used in conjunction with (hopefully) a few framed prints and canvases in a few shops/location so the buyer can see the what the finished product is then look at a photobook and this site before ordering a specific print. That's how I'm hoping it will go anyway. I'm also planning on using Loxley frames and canvases so at least half of that price would be going on the materials (again that's subject to change depending on interest). :)
 
Amp34 said:
I decided my old site (http://wildaboutlife.net) is a bit plain and no good for something I want to use to sell photos so I decided to have another go, this time with some more effort and as an emphasis on the selling part (I'm starting to sell prints in the local area and advertising the site).

Anyway break it for me... :lol:

http://wildaboutlife.net/test/site/index.html

Some comments on the useability and style would be good to, along with some purchases from the gallery (which is set up with Paypal sandbox at the moment, if you have an account if you could do the purchase bit as well that would be useful).

Issues I know about at the moment include the blog not being fully integrated (to do...) and a couple of issues with the gallery (whole site moves left slightly in the gallery page and on the image pages the copyright bar moves up a bit, any ideas how to fix either would be appreciated). There is also an issue with the nav bar moving to the left in IE6/7 and older versions of Opera which should hopeflly now be fixed (I don't have IE6/7 or Opera 8 to test it).
Click to expand...
Its a nice original job

There are some issues you know about. However, from a design point of view you have a left and a right, the line determined by the end of the menu. It would look a lot neater if the same left and right were reflected beneath the menu, on the pages where the content splits in two

The same sort of issue is with the blog roll on the front page - visually would look better if it mirrored the design of the other 3 content boxes
 
what i ment by different colours are the sections at the bottom..i thnk it would look better if all same colour.

what u are hoping to do is where i started out

i have my own small gallery that my wife runs...but i also work fulltime
selling online does not work as well as selling in life.......people have to see and feel the picture in the flesh

it cost me a small fortune when setting up to get images in a few real ale pubs frequented by walkers, who hen buy the scenes
what u need to do is find a trades supplier for your frames at the very least to help keep costs down and your prices down, i have got a supplier who makes me frames in any size and with any amount of mounts

over time i have acquired my own stuff i know have 2 big hp printers (18+24 inch wide) an epson a3 and a dry mount press for mounting images properly

both the hp printers can do canvas and at moment biggest i do is 50"x18"

one thought i just had is.......craft fairs.......its coming into season for them...think about doing one or go to one see if any other togs are there

Gary
 
Richard:

Thanks for the suggestions.:)

You're right abut stetting the area to the end of the menu, it was niggling me and that would solve the niggle, just need to work out what would be best (there is a lot of blank space in the location and Contact menus, which is why I made the coloured areas thinner). Having them set instead of floating may solve that issue...

WRT the blog roll, i'm not sure what to do with that, if I create the same size header there would be a lot less space for the actual blog info. The box used to have grey background but I found it clashed with grey top so removed it. I'll have another redesign of it though and see if I can get it better.:)

hdseven:

Ah ok, I quite like them like and I think it gives a nice touch to the page. :)

Thanks for the tips too. I'll have a look round for a frame supplier local to me, I don't know of any at the moment and I'd rather stay clear of Ikea/hobbycraft for them tbh (why I looked at loxley frames).

Unfortunately I don't have the startup money to spend a small fortune on framed prints and canvas which is why i'm looking to do it the way I am. I also don't live in a touristy area or have many shots of the local scenery (which in all honesty is carp) which is partly why I'm erring towards the "fine art" side and not the more standard local scene type thing (if I still lived in the SW I would probably be setting up for that :)). To be perfectly honest I don't see much coming from it but it's a nice lesson in CSS and HTML at least and you never know, I may actually get one or two sales. :lol:

Craft fairs and fetes are also something i'm looking in to, I've been looking at seeing whether I can get some greetings cards printed as well, alongside other random stuff. I kow of someone else who does another craft that my be interested in sharing a stall with me too so that could save costs. :)
 
hi mate.........i dont mean ikea or anywhere like that......i sourced a company who supplies shops and gave then a ring.....which lead to a meeting and he was willing to supply me with frames at trade when i ran my pitch by him.
that made a massive difference.......local framer wanted £60 to frame 12x36 panoramic....think i pay somewhere like £10 now plus vat and mount

i do my own canvas's think 20x30" costs about £10 in raw parts....when broken down

greetings cards i also do........90p made a nice template for publisher what prints front and rear leaving inside blank, aslo made a nice template for photoshop with faded grungey edge, see pic below

card.gif


the cards are on thick matt card pre scored......with envelope in a clear bag

i know im new here but have been shooting for years


Gary
 
Sorry I didn't mean I thought you were suggesting Ikea, just that that was the other option I thought of. :)

I have however found 2 framers in my local area (just goes to show if you aren't looking specifically for them you miss them!:gag:) and am going to see what sort of prices they charge tomorrow. If they do only charge a similar amount to the cost you are getting for some good quality frames then that would be a bargain (although i'm guessing it will be more)!:thumbs:

I've modified the site with some of the suggestions on here, better? (not 100% about the green on the blog box, think i'll have to try and find another shade/colour...)
 
when u do see them tell them *** your plans are and ambitions and tell them your looking for trade deals
bespoke framers are hard to get a deal out of.........my supplier makes 1000s of frames and has about 6 people working for him.......its a volume thing, but he as allways got time for me and even drops them off for me if i cant collect

Gary
 
The blog hasn't been integrated yet, it's on my to do list. :)
 
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