New website theme - yours views

[Ben:]

Hey everyone,
I recently got a new theme for my website

www.benbphoto.co.uk

I'm interested to hear your views on layout, content and so on.
The front slider images change every time you refresh. My aim is to have that showing my 'best' work. A portfolio if you like. Currently I've just uploaded a few to get me started. But will update as I take better pictures haha.

So any comments and advice is very welcome

Other than 'get a different theme'. Because I paid for this one!

Thanks!

 

[petersmart]

Hey everyone,
I recently got a new theme for my website

www.benbphoto.co.uk

I'm interested to hear your views on layout, content and so on.
The front slider images change every time you refresh. My aim is to have that showing my 'best' work. A portfolio if you like. Currently I've just uploaded a few to get me started. But will update as I take better pictures haha.

So any comments and advice is very welcome

Other than 'get a different theme'. Because I paid for this one!

Thanks!

Sorry it's far too "precious" for me and I'm really beginning to hate flash when used like that.

When I click on the big plus sign it goes on scrolling behind it while the hourglass substitute just keeps twirling - extremely annoying.

Then when the pic I clicked on does finally show it's no bigger than the original - to me a total waste of time.

Which is a pity because the photos are good.

And why is it called "Event Photography" when weddings are mixed in?

Far better to keep them totally separated on two different websites and cross pollinate to each site with a few links.

Far less confusing - at least to me.

And apart from the fact that there are 60 validation errors and 11 warnings on the first page alone it is coded in HTML5 which is not a firm standard and is still subject to change so some elements of it could be altered.

And once again there is virtually no text on the pages so your chances of getting a good rating on Google are very slim.

Sorry to be so negative but these days these kind of sites seem to be written by coders far more intent on showing off their "skills" than considering why people want a site in the first place.

.

 

[Ben:]

Hey thanks very much for taking the time

When I click on the big plus sign it goes on scrolling behind it while the hourglass substitute just keeps twirling - extremely annoying.

I see what you mean! Didn't realise that and it is pretty annoying. The pictures are bigger than the original but still kind of pointless.
The autoscroll function can be stopped, but you'd have to scroll manually.
Or I believe each picture can clicked on and takes you to another page. Would this be better?

Which is a pity because the photos are good.

Oh thank you

And why is it called "Event Photography" when weddings are mixed in?

This is a good point actually. Originally I set up a website offering my services for mobile studios at events. Since then I've done the odd portrait and helped at a wedding.
So would it be better to get rid of the Event and just be a 'General' photographer?

And apart from the fact that there are 60 validation errors and 11 warnings on the first page alone it is coded in HTML5 which is not a firm standard and is still subject to change so some elements of it could be altered.

Not sure what this is :\ not overly technical when it comes to code etc. Any idea what this is?

Thanks again!

 

[petersmart]

Hey thanks very much for taking the time

When I click on the big plus sign it goes on scrolling behind it while the hourglass substitute just keeps twirling - extremely annoying.

I see what you mean! Didn't realise that and it is pretty annoying. The pictures are bigger than the original but still kind of pointless.
The autoscroll function can be stopped, but you'd have to scroll manually.
Or I believe each picture can clicked on and takes you to another page. Would this be better?

Which is a pity because the photos are good.

Oh thank you

And why is it called "Event Photography" when weddings are mixed in?

This is a good point actually. Originally I set up a website offering my services for mobile studios at events. Since then I've done the odd portrait and helped at a wedding.
So would it be better to get rid of the Event and just be a 'General' photographer?

And apart from the fact that there are 60 validation errors and 11 warnings on the first page alone it is coded in HTML5 which is not a firm standard and is still subject to change so some elements of it could be altered.

Not sure what this is :\ not overly technical when it comes to code etc. Any idea what this is?

Thanks again!

To start at the back HTML means Hyper Text Markup Language which is the language of web browsers.

It is not a programming language like C++ or Basic but a language which defines for your browser how a web page will look.

HTML has progressed from basic HTML through XHTML and onto HTML5.

Each has been a progression as the need for more and more things have been crammed into our browsers.

HTML5 is the latest progression and is meant to encompass the latest forms of rich media replacing flash and its problems.

Unfortunately while HTML and XHTML have firm standards set by w3.org, HTML5 is really only in the "committee" stage with various companies still pushing for inclusions in the standard.

Which means it is still subject to change and also means that some elements may not be included in the final version, whenever that may be.

It also means that any site constructed in HTML5 may show differently in different browsers and other media, iphones, blackberrys etc.

Which is why I prefer to program in XHTML until these issues have been settled.

Validation simply means that there are a lot of things in the coding which are wrong for the HTML5 standard as it now stands.

These could cause your website to show up differently in different browsers and other media.

I say COULD because even W3.org does not have a fully operational HTML5 checker - another reason, in my opinion, for avoiding it.

As regards to using the term "general" you could or as I suggested have 2 completely different sites for the two linked by a few hyperlinks.

Scrolling manually might be better and if each picture can be clicked on to go to another page that could be very useful if each page had a different title and description and a decent bit of text to allow the search engines to index them.

Hope this has been a little helpful at least.

.

 

[Ben:]

To start at the back HTML means Hyper Text Markup Language which is the language of web browsers.

It is not a programming language like C++ or Basic but a language which defines for your browser how a web page will look.

HTML has progressed from basic HTML through XHTML and onto HTML5.

Each has been a progression as the need for more and more things have been crammed into our browsers.

HTML5 is the latest progression and is meant to encompass the latest forms of rich media replacing flash and its problems.

Unfortunately while HTML and XHTML have firm standards set by w3.org, HTML5 is really only in the "committee" stage with various companies still pushing for inclusions in the standard.

Which means it is still subject to change and also means that some elements may not be included in the final version, whenever that may be.

It also means that any site constructed in HTML5 may show differently in different browsers and other media, iphones, blackberrys etc.

Which is why I prefer to program in XHTML until these issues have been settled.

Validation simply means that there are a lot of things in the coding which are wrong for the HTML5 standard as it now stands.

These could cause your website to show up differently in different browsers and other media.

I say COULD because even W3.org does not have a fully operational HTML5 checker - another reason, in my opinion, for avoiding it.

As regards to using the term "general" you could or as I suggested have 2 completely different sites for the two linked by a few hyperlinks.

Scrolling manually might be better and if each picture can be clicked on to go to another page that could be very useful if each page had a different title and description and a decent bit of text to allow the search engines to index them.

Hope this has been a little helpful at least.

.

Wow that's a lot of info!
The theme comes with support and the creator answers questions regularly on the theme website. They also update the theme with requests users have made and I've seen topics discussed about making it work correctly on different browsers.

Are you saying the site is displayed wrong on your browser? If so, what are you using?
It works fine on my iPhone and Chrome.

I've made the slider manual now and will adjust the images a little.
I can make each image appear in its own page when clicked.
However coming up with a unique name and description for each one other than 'Portrait 1' and 'Portrait 2' may be a little tricky.
However, as you say this may hopefully help a little with SEO.

Thanks again!

 

[petersmart]

Wow that's a lot of info!
The theme comes with support and the creator answers questions regularly on the theme website. They also update the theme with requests users have made and I've seen topics discussed about making it work correctly on different browsers.

Are you saying the site is displayed wrong on your browser? If so, what are you using?
It works fine on my iPhone and Chrome.

I've made the slider manual now and will adjust the images a little.
I can make each image appear in its own page when clicked.
However coming up with a unique name and description for each one other than 'Portrait 1' and 'Portrait 2' may be a little tricky.
However, as you say this may hopefully help a little with SEO.

Thanks again!

Well at the moment it's not actually showing anything apart from the 2 arrows and a slider at the bottom, none of which do anything.

I didn't say the site WOULD appear wrong in different media, browsers, phones, pads etc, but it COULD.

Luckily most browsers are fairly flexible when it comes to presenting websites but with the multitude of different media now able to access the web adherence to standards is becoming increasingly important.

As for SEO if you want good rankings on the various search engines you do need a bit more than portrait 1 etc.

.

 

[Ben:]

Well at the moment it's not actually showing anything apart from the 2 arrows and a slider at the bottom, none of which do anything.

I didn't say the site WOULD appear wrong in different media, browsers, phones, pads etc, but it COULD.

Luckily most browsers are fairly flexible when it comes to presenting websites but with the multitude of different media now able to access the web adherence to standards is becoming increasingly important.

As for SEO if you want good rankings on the various search engines you do need a bit more than portrait 1 etc.

.

Yes I've currently deleted all the images and uploading them again in a different resolution and adding them to new pages.
Ah sorry I misunderstood. I thought you meant you could see the errors etc in your browser. But I get what you mean now.

Looks like I'll need to think of some titles and descriptions then!

 

[Ben:]

Added a few images with very brief descriptions. Better than nothing I guess.
Turned the auto scroll back on again. Much better having it direct you to another page!

 

[petersmart]

Added a few images with very brief descriptions. Better than nothing I guess.
Turned the auto scroll back on again. Much better having it direct you to another page!

Well it's a slight improvement but unfortunately in Opera once you have gone to the bigger picture you can't scroll down or indeed scroll anywhere at all!

It's OK in Explorer 8 and Firefox but not in Opera.

This could have something to do with the validation problems (that page has 21 errors and 5 warnings.)

Apart from that why has it got a line on the right hand side and a blank space?

>

 

[Ben:]

Hmm strange that it doesn't work in Opera. At least IE, Firefox and Chrome are ok.

By warnings you mean things that COULD change? Like you were saying earlier?

Hmm that space on the right could be something to do with a sidebar? Can't think of anything else. I'll try and find out

 

[petersmart]

Hmm strange that it doesn't work in Opera. At least IE, Firefox and Chrome are ok.

By warnings you mean things that COULD change? Like you were saying earlier?

Hmm that space on the right could be something to do with a sidebar? Can't think of anything else. I'll try and find out

No a validation warning means that something is wrong in the coding TODAY which COULD lead to problems with different browsers.

It's referred to as "interoperability" which means that all browsers and other media adhere to and apply the same standards to all the web pages they receive.

In that way if a web page validates correctly you can be fairly certain that if it looks OK in one browser it will look OK in all the other media which adhere to those standards.

Which is why I said before that adherence to web standards is becoming much more important as the kind of media you can display your pages on becomes ever more diverse.

But unfortunately if web standards have not been properly defined then problems can occur.

And HTML5 is not yet a complete web standard which may or may not be implemented correctly in every media (including browsers).

If you want to check pages easily I would suggest you download and install Opera.

You can then simply go to a web page and right click on it then scroll down to "validate" and your page will be uploaded to the w3.org conformance checker and you will get a list of the errors (a fairly technical list unfortunately)

.

 

[Ben:]

Ah I see! Ok well I'll download Opera now and have a look. Not that the errors will mean anything to me, but good to have a look.

 

[Ben:]

Hmm I see what you mean now about how it's displayed in Opera.
I've mentioned it to the creator.

Having some issues with the Logo.
Anyone know how to get the background of the site into the logo. So only the text of the logo is visible? Instead of the black background.

 

[petersmart]

Hmm I see what you mean now about how it's displayed in Opera.
I've mentioned it to the creator.

Having some issues with the Logo.
Anyone know how to get the background of the site into the logo. So only the text of the logo is visible? Instead of the black background.

LOL to be honest that is one aspect which I quite like - it is not obtrusive but blends in quite well with the site and at the same time makes it quite distinctive - so much so that I thought that was how it had been designed.

Personally I would keep it.

.

 

[Ben:]

Have you seen the latest one? It was a solid black background with white text. Looked terrible.
The one before was much better, the background blended in with the text as you say.
However that was a rough edit I did by print screening and sampling the background colour.

I've just found out how to have a transparent logo so JUST the text is visible and the site background shows through