New Website

[IanC]

Hi Guys & Gals, Take a look at my new website and let me know what you think. I posted this in the Talk Section but thought I might get more of a response in here.

http://m.wix.com/iancarvell18/iancarvell-photography

 

[neil_g]

I'd have a look but doesn't work on my iPad..

 

[stokes]

I'd have a look but doesn't work on my iPad..

+1 notice a trend here?

 

[Craikeybaby]

Nor my iPhone.

 

[Phil V]

Ignore the fact we can't see it, what do you need a website for? It's not a facetious question, I often find that people assume they need a website and don't consider what it needs to do before choosing a design/ host etc.

A bit like deciding you need a camera to shoot Motorsport, doing no research and then complaining that the p&s isn't working for you.

 

[IanC]

Ignore the fact we can't see it, what do you need a website for? It's not a facetious question, I often find that people assume they need a website and don't consider what it needs to do before choosing a design/ host etc.

A bit like deciding you need a camera to shoot Motorsport, doing no research and then complaining that the p&s isn't working for you.

Primarily to gauge interest in my photos to see if it is worthwhile setting up a proper website with selling facilities. I thought I would give wix a go as it was free. I think it is pretty poor that apple doesn't support flash based websites really.

I wanted to find out peoples opinions on here as to whether or not they like the layout, colour scheme as this may be used in future on a proper website.

 

[neil_g]

Flash isn't the be all and end all, it is a dying standard (roll on html5). you should have a non flash alternative, especially due to the popularity of apple devices as you're limiting your audience.

That said I had a look on my desktop earlier and it's fast to load but could do with a layout rethink. You'll have to excuse me on any more detail than that until I have another look tomorrow as I've forgotten exactly what it looked like (probably a bad thing).

Sorry if that's overly harsh, it's meant to be constructive.

 

[petersmart]

All it tells me to do is update my flash player.

Not a very good advert.

.

 

[Grizu]

Hey Ian, managed to view it no problem and I find the layout well thought out. The navigation tabs being at the foot of the screen is refreshingly different and the content is clean and easy to browse. One major flaw is the wix ad bar at the foot of the page, any way you could upgrade your account to get rid of it? Apart from that I give it a thumbs up....

 

[IanC]

Flash isn't the be all and end all, it is a dying standard (roll on html5). you should have a non flash alternative, especially due to the popularity of apple devices as you're limiting your audience.

That said I had a look on my desktop earlier and it's fast to load but could do with a layout rethink. You'll have to excuse me on any more detail than that until I have another look tomorrow as I've forgotten exactly what it looked like (probably a bad thing).

Sorry if that's overly harsh, it's meant to be constructive.

Yeah one thing that this thread has made me realise is how limiting flash really is. Apple are so dominant now when it comes to the phone and computer market.

Thank you all for the feedback, it is greatly appreciated. I think I would quite like to build my own website from scratch, it would be quite an achievement.... my take me a couple of years though

 

[Phil V]

Yeah one thing that this thread has made me realise is how limiting flash really is. Apple are so dominant now when it comes to the phone and computer market.

Thank you all for the feedback, it is greatly appreciated. I think I would quite like to build my own website from scratch, it would be quite an achievement.... my take me a couple of years though

It's not really an Apple thing. Mac computers and laptops can view Flash sites fine. However Apple ipods ipads iphones can't. But neither can many other portable devices, it's a big dirty myth blaming this on Apple.

The other really big problem that Flash sites have is their visibility to Search Engines (known as SEO), basically if you want people to find your site from a search, they have almost no chance. Back to why I asked what was the point of the site - if you want people to find you, choose a different platform.

There are thousands of template sites, hosting packages etc that will give you a better result with little knowledge of website building. A wordpress site will take less than an hour - choose the right template, or do it yourself with various plugins and widgets and you'll have a great looking easy to maintain site.

 

[ukranger]

Ive not designed in flash for some 6 years for this very reason.

Apple & google don't like it & like it or not they are the main 2 players in the market today.

JavaScript, & HTML 5 etc can give you the same result if not better.

Best of luck
Rob

 

[petersmart]

Ive not designed in flash for some 6 years for this very reason.

Apple & google don't like it & like it or not they are the main 2 players in the market today.

JavaScript, & HTML 5 etc can give you the same result if not better.

Best of luck
Rob

Since HTML5 is not yet a common standard it's best to stick to XHTML until a final standard has been agreed on.

.

 

[ukranger]

Since HTML5 is not yet a common standard it's best to stick to XHTML until a final standard has been agreed on.

.

Yep prob best...

 

[IanC]

It's not really an Apple thing. Mac computers and laptops can view Flash sites fine. However Apple ipods ipads iphones can't. But neither can many other portable devices, it's a big dirty myth blaming this on Apple.

The other really big problem that Flash sites have is their visibility to Search Engines (known as SEO), basically if you want people to find your site from a search, they have almost no chance. Back to why I asked what was the point of the site - if you want people to find you, choose a different platform.

There are thousands of template sites, hosting packages etc that will give you a better result with little knowledge of website building. A wordpress site will take less than an hour - choose the right template, or do it yourself with various plugins and widgets and you'll have a great looking easy to maintain site.

I thought wordpress was just for blogs, not really a main website?

 

[pmaccyd]

I thought wordpress was just for blogs, not really a main website?

Originally it probably was but its evolved, there are a huge amount of themes and plugins to quite quickly create a decent looking site for next to nothing. I agree we earlier posts that good sites need direction and good content. I'm by no means a web guy but found the themes forums really helpful.

 

[Phil V]

I thought wordpress was just for blogs, not really a main website?

Check my site, it's the same theme I use for the blog. Making it all uniform. I toyed with the idea of all in one but decided to stick with a blog and a site.