shiny new website

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AliB

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I've got my first "proper" website just about up and running. I can load albums into it and people can now order from it.

I've put a products section on there so people can see the products that can use the images in but I can't complete it because Loxley won't allow me to use their pics and I'm not about to order one of everything just so I can get my own pics. I didn't think I'd have to do my own product photography as well! :shrug:

I'm going to Focus on a product hunting mission so I hope that section will fill up more towards the end of the month.

Anyone interested have a butchers here
http://www.alisonbaileyphotography.co.uk/
 
I noticed that the drop down for the print size ends up halfway across the picture?
 
I'm not sure if you are looking for C&C, but visually, its a nice site, but it might be worth feather the edges on the photos in the presentation on the homepage, the hard overlapping edges are a little distracting.
 
Yeah, I can't change the layout other than reducing the amount of text in the drop down menus. I'll try to do that once I get the description done in the products section.

Many thanks for having a look :)
 
I dont like the colour on the products and contact page!! - in my opinion you should keep the same style throughout a site and not chop and change backgrounds.

Other than that its a good site.

Regards, James
 
Thanks Toto, I'll get onto the web builder over dinner..............."darling, do you think you could feather those edges for me........ :)"
 
Thanks James, yes the products page is not done at all yet and it will look the same when it's done. Thanks for having a butchers!
 
As you say it needs some content and filling up. I think the basic format is good!

I always think all the background colours should be the same on each page (black in thid case) and the jury is still out on the orange text colour.

I also noticed, as did pxl8, the drop down price menu, and it was £12 for a 6x4? :eek: Is that what they are nowadays?

Don't get me wrong I'm maybe out of touch, it just seemed a lot.

(Runs off to check prices)
 
i like it so far.
not sure if "caught emotion " sounds quite right to me.
but i'm an awkward t***:suspect:
maybe just "an emotion"?
dunno. what do you think?
dont encourage diddy , it only makes him worse.:razz:
he,s probably flat out under a hedge somewhere by now.:lol:
 
Lovely pictures :p :)

Re: main page

I think you should use a roll-over effect when a user hovers a mouse over one of your menu items.

The footer should be lined up as in have the "created by" on one side and the SWPP affilation on the other or vice-versa. At the moment it looks a little messy at the bottom.

Create yourself a custom 404 page, just in case someone gets lost.

Create a favicon (always a nice little touch).

Re: album page

Possibly supplement the written text with sample images once you have got yourself up-and-running (i.e. picture of an event, portrait, wedding) -- just a nice visual touch

I really like the view and order system, it's fantastic! (thought I'd mention that) I think the price of some of the lower-end prints is a little too high ***.

Re: contact page

Have an address at your domain

i.e. info@alisonbaileyphotography.co.uk rather than baileyphotography@btinternet.com

I know some of your pages are works-in-progress but it's looking very promising. I find it funny that Loxley won't let you use "their" photos. I'm sure when flicking through their catalogue they had pictures of other photographers! (with their permission of course). Mmmm....maybe that's the reason why!

Re: my website. Have a look: http://www.pixbyvish.co.uk - see what you think and feel free to comment back. I'm not into web design or coding but I gave it a go, learnt a few of the Adobe packages over the course of a year and ended up doing that (and consequently learnt about different aspects of web design along the way). Still have a lot more to learn but it's all good!

Hope this is helpful

:)
 
Thanks for the feedback folks. The print prices I've done some homework on and dropped a bit (the ones I had were defaults provided by the ordering system I'm using) I've also changed the prices downwards on the acrylics because I've found a much more reasonable supplier and I can now add pics to the products page too :)

I'm ordering some samples of the products this week and have some sample albums on the way with another to design this week. Then off to Focus on a product hunt. I'm aiming to offer some fresh ideas to Brides who "don't want an album that ends up under the bed."

The website is very much a work in progress and should evolve more over the next month or so before he kills me! :)

So many thanks for the feedback.
 
Home:

The page loads very quickly but my intermediate issue with it is that the cascading images very quickly start to move off the bottom of the window. I can't even see the 'A moment' image and have to scroll down. And unfortunately when I do I'm also met with a logo for the SWPP and a white graphic with a picture of a flying ace, neither of which have any place on the website in its current look. I have to be honest here and say those two graphics make the page look decidedly amateurish.

And carrying on the honesty, I'd really advice you to change the font used on the homepage. I have to assume that you are a professional wedding photographer, but using that font just makes it look like you're an amateur. The only way it could be worse is if you'd used Comic Sans.

The links at the top of the page are okay, in so much as they work, but I'm not sure on the wording. I'd change 'Alison Bailey' to 'About me', 'About your photographer' or something similar and really neaten the whole menu up.

Alison Bailey:

Whoah, where's the pastel yellow colour come from? Totally unexpected and I'm having to double-check I've not been sent to another site. It's obvious the page isn't finished, but I can't even see where you can go with this other than a total redesign.

And if you must have that SWPP logo on there, can you ask them for one that's a little more flattering? Or just replace it with some text that sends the same message, but one that's more in-keeping with your site?

Albums:

This is something of weird page. I know I'm no longer on your site because the design has changed completely, but I also know because the URL has changed. Biggest problem? I can't get back to your site without actually clicking 'back' in my browser, which isn't the best way of doing things.

As for the page itself, this is entirely more in-keeping with the sort of style I'd expect your personal website to have. Clean, modern, simple design with easy to read text and a nice little logo at the top. And when we actually get into the Albums themselves, it just looks so nice. This is what the whole site should look like, not just this part.

What I don't like is each image popping up in a separate window when you click on it. Sorry, but that's not a nice way of doing things. Keep it all in the same browser window or risk people getting confused and shutting down the wrong window or getting besieged by the sheer amount of windows they might have opened. People are stupid and if it's not intuitive it's going to get confusing.

Products:

See comments for 'Alison Bailey' page.

Contact:

I'm sorry if I sound like I'm having a real moan here, but this just looks so amateurish. And what's worse is that there's two identical pages, stacked above each other. It's just so disappointing to see. It honestly looks like the person who designed the site either didn't know what they were doing or couldn't be bothered.

I apologise if that was you or someone you know and I'm offending you as a result, but think of me as someone who has never met you, doesn't know you and has just found your website through a Google search or a referral somewhere.

The fact is, I'm not going to be taking you seriously. There's hundreds of wedding photographers out there and as good as your work is, your presentation is awful. If your website looks like it cost 50p to put together, I'm not going to want to spend my money with you as its seemingly obvious that you're not providing a quality service.

Overall:

Ali, I'm sorry if I've come across as being overly critical here, but I'm afraid that I'm struggling to find the positives about your site and I think you deserve a bit of plain talking. I honestly believe that if you carry on with the site as it is, you're risking alienating a lot of the potential customers you're going to work so hard to attract. Evolution of this design isn't going to work. It needs a total rethink.

Your photography, from what I've seen of it, is amazing. And therefore you need a site that looks equally as impressive. It doesn't has to cost a fortune, it doesn't have to have all the bells and whistles, it just has to look like it was done professionally designed and built. And despite what people think, that's not hard to do.

Forget the coding behind the scenes for now, what you need is someone who knows how to design a site.
 
Thanks Glitch, the products page and the my page are not even started yet. I was just looking for feedback on the feel of it before I put any more work into it, no point in chasing off down the wrong road.

There are things I can change and things I can't change. The front page, yes I can change that. The SWPP logo. It is what it is and I either use it or I don't, no other options available. The navigation in the album, again, not my doing, that's a bolt on package and I'm not able to change anything in there.

The font is like that because it's what is on my business cards and if it's good enough for Brett Harkness then it's good enough for me. :)

Thanks for the feedback and it IS a work in progress and not nearly finished yet and yes there are bits than need polishing but things like the SWPP logo can't be changed whether I like it or not. :)

Some things I'm stuck with :)
 
Ultimately its your site and you're going to go with whatever you feel is right. But my overall feeling is that you should concentrate on making your own pages virtually indistinguishable from Online Picture Proof so that when people do click on the Albums link they don't even realise they've moved sites.

As for the SWPP logo, if you are going to use your connection with them as something you wish to feature on your site, I'd forgo the logo completely. It really does let the side down. I'd be tempted to write it out in text and make a big deal of your association/membership with them on your 'About me' page. As it stands I don't even know who they are or what your relationship is with them, so I'd really use any opportunity to push the good things about it in a manner of your choosing.

And if that font is on your business cards, keep it. But just use it for your logo, not for every link on the website. It's incredibly hard to read and you would honestly be better served by using something like Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, Verdana, etc. I know you say Brett Harkness uses it, but it's not on his website. It's just a very similar font he's using in his logo.
 
Thanks for taking the time to give feedback Glitch, it really is appreciated. I might take your suggestion on the SWPP logo up and have that detailed on the about me page. I would be better served there.

I'd kind of like it to integrate with the onlinepictureproof package so I'll aim to make it a lot more similar.

Look out for v2! :)
 
I'm sorry but I don't like it. The opening page is very cheesy with its italic font and catchprases. I honestly don't know why portrait photographers feel the need for italic fonts and cheesy catchphrases. Just show your work. It should be good enough to bring in business. I really don't like the colour on the other pages. Your name is in Flash for no real reason at all and links back to the same page. You've got a different font for the main "text" which completely jars against the italic font. Once you get into the albums its hard to get back out and you have popups which have always been a bad idea.
 
I'd agree with what glitch says to be honest. I'm taking it someone else designed the site for you - was it a friend doing a favour or a paid job?

I think it should be possible to "mask" the URL that redirects to the online store. To be honest with you, I didn't have so much of a problem with that (i.e. opening up a new window) but I would definitely look at more consistencies.

The photos are fab, just need investment in design. It's a work in progress so keen to see V2! :)
 
It's my partner who is doing it for me. Don't worry boys he's only 6'3" of ex bodyguard. :D

The advantage of that is that we can change it without me having to go back and pay a lot of money. So we'll take the advice on board and go and change some of the bits that have been suggested. The colours on the about me and product pages were never going to stay, they are not even built yet but I wanted some feedback before he put any more effort into it.

As I've said, no point in going down the wrong road, so we'll get onto it over the next few days and I'll let you know when V2 is being born.

Thanks again guys. :) :thumbs:
 
I've just asked him to make some of the changes and to be honest, it was me who had asked to make the headers in the same font. So I've apologised to him most profusely (grovelled more like) and the changes are already underway. I've got the first few products lined up so that can start to take shape too.

Will definately be trying to integrate more with the gallery page.

Again, my thanks :clap:
 
I won't repeat what the others have said, and I'm not sure if this bit is complete yet - but looking at the wedding gallery posted, I would have a problem actually buying prints from that. There is a good selection of sizes, but they don't always correspond with the picture I can see - for example there is a group shot that is very wide, but not very tall. I have the option of buying a 6x4 of that for example, what would I get? A widescreen picture, or half the people from the left and right missing?

I don't know if it's easy to change this so you can have individual orders for particular crops of pictures, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

We used to have a wide range of picture sizes you could order, now we've massively simplified it, simply because people always want an odd size otherwise. (10x8 is a fine example, when just about everything we have is a 12x8 ratio).
 
Good point, well made Mike.

I'll be making sure that I have all the images sized properly for the aspect ratio in future albums.

Thanks for pointing it out :)
 
*Update*

Well it's coming on and I just got my first business from it, and the groom, (a graphic designer) loved it.

Happy bunny :)

Off to focus next week on a product hunt to complete the product page when I can then take the pricing of those back off the drop down list.

Thanks for the help with it, it's much better for it. :thumbs:
 
iill be honest,

im a freelance web designer myself and i dont like what the person who has created this has done..

its very sparse and probs took him about 10minutes to do... if your interested in a proper website let me know...

sorry to be harsh... but it does look amatureish and also the designers website isnt that much cop.
 
andiphoto said:
iill be honest,

im a freelance web designer myself and i dont like what the person who has created this has done..

its very sparse and probs took him about 10minutes to do... if your interested in a proper website let me know...

sorry to be harsh... but it does look amatureish and also the designers website is that much cop.
Click to expand...


On reflection, I'd second that. The order system's great but the entire site needs a lot more of a design overhaul.
 
AliB said:
Thanks for the feedback and it IS a work in progress and not nearly finished yet and yes there are bits than need polishing but things like the SWPP logo can't be changed whether I like it or not. :)

Some things I'm stuck with :)
Click to expand...

You should still be able to advertise the person who done the site which i know is your partner. but why not have text instead... this way with a image is random and looks rather unprofessional.

But im not having a hate rant... just giving you feed back like you asked..
 
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