Please have a look!!!

Hi Elkie,

I have to be candid, I'm a bit confused by ths site. I'm not sure what you want to achieve. The red writting on the pcitures is pretty much impossible to read though to the point where my head hurts from trying - sorry.

Theres a couple of other issues to - I can still navigate fairly easily to the Wix sample site, to the point where I was getting confused between which is yours and which are the sample pages, and I'm also not a fan of knowing a site was created with any sort of free software.

I'm sorry not to be a bit more positive about it, but I hope atleast this crit is useful.

Hugh
 
Loks like it has the makings of a nice site. Could I offer one piece of advice-the "about me" section is difficult to read with red text over the photographs. Perhaps have the text on its own so it is easier to read. I also know nothing about horses, so can't comment on that area. Rob
 
not sure what to say, but you appear to have two sites in one.
One is the wix template design which you can flick through pages.

The other is found by selecting the links along the top.
when you click the links at the top, it appears th page statrs to turn to the corresponding template page but then 'jumps' to a new page (actually difficult to put in to words).

I have not used wix so wouldn't know how to help you, however, once you do figure out how to edit the template, you might consider placing your 'about me text' on an opaque grey box before overlaying the the text on the images. The red text on the colourful background is difficult to read.

I hope that helps
 
It would be really helpful if you could explain whether you just want us to look at your images, or the website as a whole?

L
 
Quaker said:
I didn't get the impression he was asking for "crit" :shrug:
Click to expand...

:shrug: I'm confused now - without meaning any offence to the O/P, why would she post in a business forum if not looking for advice on her site?

Hugh
 
Hi, thanks for the comments, it is really hard to find anything that is good to use for a site, i dont have the money at the moment to use a pay one which i know will be better, i just wanted to know if the site was going anywhere like am i getting to the right idea.

Yoshi - i know what you mean i dont know how to correct this it is very confusing i just wanted to see how it went really.

Am i heading in the right direction (not with colours n stuff but the actual information im adding), i am new to this.

Thanks
 
I'm sure quite a bit of effort has gone into creating your site but I'm not sure its worked. Sorry! Its confusing what you're trying to do/say and who's images I'm looking at. I'm not sure about the navigation through the site at all.

Perhaps have a look at other photographers sites (the better ones) and look at how they are navigated, the simplicity of their content etc. and try to come up with something that is similar in ease of use and impact.

Sorry I can't be more positive but to be blunt - start again.

At least you've given it a go though. Don't be put off. :)
 
ok, thanks, i will keep trying, i have to get it right at some point lol

Thanks for the comments
 
If you want something free to host and develop your site try something like wordpres.com.
 
Craikeybaby said:
If you want something free to host and develop your site try something like wordpres.com.
Click to expand...
Hi Elkie
I do think you should give serious consideration to Craikeybabys suggestion of Wordpress, you would find it a lot easier, no pre-made templates to try and overcome and no real eyesore promotion from the host/provider.
Another alternative would be a site called Gallery Space who provide a free website space with less intrusive self promotion if you would prefer not to go the 'blog' route. However, do support Craikybaby in the wordpress route, many many professionals use it.
 
Here's some constructive criticism for you:

- The site needs to be cleaner and simpler. There are pages flipping over (slow!!), then you go to the gallery and there's an iTunes-like coverflow which whizzes everywhere. The "gadgets" are distracting from your pictures.
- Lose the weird dragonfly which adds nothing and is horribly pixellated.
- Select a simple font and colour scheme and stick to it
- Some of the pictures seem to have lost their aspect ratio and look squashed/stretched
- Overall, it looks like someone has been let loose in the web site whizzy bits toybox and has used everything available.

Have a look at www.smugmug.com as an alternative. If you pay about £38/year for a power user account you can get a highly customisable site which you can tailor in many different ways to give you what you want.
 
ok, there is no dragonfly on the site, it is part of the template that has gone weired that i thought i got rid of i dont know what happened there!

thanks for the ideas but i still dont have the money to pay for a website which i why i am useing the free ones.
 
My 2 pence worth...don't build a site in flash! :)

As soon as I saw the loading bar I wanted to press the back button.

As mentioned, if you have little or no web development experience go for Wordpress, it is super easy to install and use.

Wordpress is free by the way, its an opensource web blogging tool
 
elkiebean said:
ok, there is no dragonfly on the site, it is part of the template that has gone weired that i thought i got rid of i dont know what happened there!

thanks for the ideas but i still dont have the money to pay for a website which i why i am useing the free ones.
Click to expand...


for what its worth - I think that if you are using this site to sell your sevrices then you need to pay a little to support a decent site. Something like smugmug at £30-£40 a year seems a sensible solution. One of the big issues you'll come across if using a site to front your business if that if a potential customer comes across intrusive advertising then most will back out - especially if it gives the impression you don't want to spend money presenting yourself (if that impression is right or wrong is another matter)

If this is purely a personal project then why not use something like wordpress as already suggested or even just Flickr

Cheers

Hugh
 
elkiebean, there are kinda two version of wordpress, one you host (its free but you have to pay a host) and the free version.
Have a look here
http://en.wordpress.com/features/

Thats the free one, of course no one is telling you to give up on what you have acheived already on your site. wix has its own community forum by the looks of things, maybe someone with wix experience can point you in the right direction for getting rid of the template? http://forum.wix.com/

Hope that helps
 
Elkie, at least have a look at the wordpress route, it is absolutely free and very many professional photographers use it. To be honest, you are doing yourself no favours with the one you are using now and if potential clients were to look at the site you are using it would inspire nothing.
I know many people like to use flash (the system) websites but to be honest, the majority of real people looking for images and photographers get very frustrated and often irritated by flash sites because, as nice as they look, they are generally too slow the viewer wants to see the goods not a whirly gig telling them the images will be along later, because later, the punter has gone!! The additional feature of a system such as Wordpress is it is very very search engine friendly, if you use your name in the title search engines such as google msn ask and yahoo will find you with in a few days, using templated systems such as the one you have it is most unlikely the search engines will find you this side or Armageddon. No I don't use wordpress myself I use smugmug and a paid service for my own site. There is no gain for me in this, or anyone else offering comment, we have one common goal here, to see you do well in your chosen field.
 
As you have posted in the business section then presumably the site is for your business. In which case you would be well advised to stop the current project and move to a more professional setup.. you may have to pay out but if you havent any money to buy a website or the inclination to make one from scratch then I wonder if Business is the right place?

Sorry but....
 
Another vote for Wordpress here.

Your site took ages to load, almost to the point when I pressed Back. I agree with the red writing over your images, it looks terrible :(

Have a look at my site if you want, link in my sig. This is all Wordpress and is so easy to set up and chop and change :)
 
Totally agree with this. Is this is a business site, or just somewhere to show your pictures to friends etc? Either way there are much better options, and if it is a business - well it costs money to get a business off the ground and keep it running.

KIPAX said:
As you have posted in the business section then presumably the site is for your business. In which case you would be well advised to stop the current project and move to a more professional setup.. you may have to pay out but if you havent any money to buy a website or the inclination to make one from scratch then I wonder if Business is the right place?

Sorry but....
Click to expand...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top