Please critique my site

[bahadreama]

This is my first real website and I am looking for suggestions for improvement before I finish it.

www.kingerrisson.com (http://www.kingerrisson.com)

Thanks!

[alphadesk]

Hi baha ... welcome to the forum

Don't have much to say about the site. Just one thing.

I noticed you inserted the pic on your photo page then rezised it. The pic is huge ... 2026x2000 and more than 1/2 meg.

Try this one instead .. when it opens just right click save as.
oldphoto_bw (http://payc.us/temp/oldphoto_bw.jpg)

Rezise your pics first with graphics software to the actual size you want them ... then insert them.

[!CC]

Took a quick cruise around the site......I have to agree with Alpha you really do need to resize the pix with a graphics program they really are too large file size wise for good loading. Also you might want to work on your alignment where you have images side by side...in 800x600 they are tending slide into the menu on the left . It will be interesting to take a look again as you get things completed..

[bahadreama]

thanks for the tips--

do I need to resize them or just "optimize for internet?"

I had wanted the backs of the album covers to still be readable at full size--should I make the photos smaller for the page and just "optimize" them for the full size?

I hadn't realized the photos were going into the menu, either--exactly why I am looking for feedback!

[YvetteKuhns]

The first thing I noticed is that the site was obviously created in Front Page and has those generic button links. Since there are so many links, it would be better to have simple text links or rectangular buttons with hover effects using css. The home page has little to no info on it. And no copyright info on the bottom of each page.

Be careful about reaching your file limit on the server if using Front Page extensions and/or uploading with Front Page. I would remove Front Page dependent contents and upload/publish with another FTP program. There are free programs such as AceFTP that work fine.

You will have to resize and optimize pictures. The News pictures have text that cannot be read without resizing the images, then optimizing them for the web. Be sure to save the original images in another folder on your computer in case you make changes and choose a different image size. The images take some time to load for dialup Internet, I imagine.


Your discography has a song saved as a Real Media file. If possible, you should offer different formats such as swf (Shockwave Flash), mp3 or even a wav file. I would prefer swf for quicker loading and because it can be played by any computer.

[!CC]

I would resize and optimize the photos, if you want you could make them links to the full sized versions (also optimized of course) that way if someone wants to see the full size image then can click and do so but the pages will load faster if the images are smaller file sized say the 25 to 50 kb per photo range.

[!CC]

I took the liberty of playing with the image on your front page a little to clean up the edges. You can see it at http://www.ourcresteds.com/stuff/noback_1.gif and if you'd like to have/use it please feel free to download it.

[==[)/\\/()==]

Ya beat me to it Nancy :^)
I was just about to fire up Photoshop.

[bahadreama]

thanks, Nancy! I asked a friend to clean that up for me several months ago and got tired of waiting--

now, this may be a stupid question, but obviously, photoshop is not one of my skills. (although I do think I did a pretty good job of restoring the old B&W photo from the horribly stained and cracked photo I received--that's how I spent my Christmas vacation last year)

to resize my images--how do I know what size I want? do I get out my ruler and measure the ones on my pages?

and Yvette, I did FTP the files, but had wondered if it would be easier to use front page publishing--it took a long time to delete everything then FTP it all again after I made some changes.

And what kind of copyright info should I include? should it be on the front page, every page, or what?

and what else should I include on the front page?


And here's another question--can I resize the images that are in the web folder and not have to reinsert everything, or must I delete all the photos and insert the ones with the new file sizes?


point about the real media files noted, but the file sizes are much smaller and faster than mpg or wmf (I did play around with those). I think real player is probably common enough that I am not worried about that.

However, I do plan to add some video clips--there is one so far, and it is an mpg (maybe it is too hard to find, since I didn't include a text link--clicking on the home page photo will get you to it). But I am wondering if I need a smaller format that will load faster? And if so, what??

and I haven't even gotten to the "online store" part yet (but did buy a book about PHP and MySQL). I may just go with paypal buttons for now . . .

[!CC]

You're very welcome, glad I could be of some help*g* and I will try to answer your questions although I'm sure some here can do it much better than I can...

When deciding on the size you want pictures I find it easiest to keep in mind the 'size' that people run their monitors as.the 2 most common sizes are 800x600 and 1024x768. 800x600 give you about 750 pixels wide to work with in the browser so you definitly want your menu and image to be no wider than that when you add their width together. Myself I usually make images no more than 550 wide ( the height is not a problem as one can scroll vertically) but horiizontal scroll on a site tends to be a bit of a pain in the butt. If you're using Adobe Photoshop to work on your images then you go to "image" and then resize ....you can choose inches/pixels etc I prefer working with pixels as that is how monitor resolution is expressed so it makes it easier for me calculate things.

Using an FTP program you don't have delete files that are up there if you have 'redone' them and kept the same file name...you just need to tell the program to 'overwrite' and it will overwrite the ones currently online. Publishing with Front Page is not the best idea as it tends to add a bunch of stuff you don't really need. at least from my limited experience with it.

Copywrite should be on every page and should be something like "All Content Copyright ©Windspiel.
Reproduction of content or use of graphics or photos without
prior written permission, is stricly prohibited. ©2003"

Pay Pal will certainly make getting your online store up and running quicker and easier to set up to start with, and in my experience seems to work quite well. When you are ready it can be changed over to your own shopping cart .

[bahadreama]

thanks, Nancy

I still have 2 questions


do I need to delete and reinsert all my photos if I resize the ones that are in the web folder, or will the new sizes automatically be inserted? (I guess I can try that first and see if it works)


I do not own the copyright to anything I have posted so far. Twenty years ago, I used to be a professional photographer, so I have made an effort to find out who the photographers were for all the photos I have and make sure I have permission to use them, but I haven't been entirely successful with that (the two photographers identified by name so far are both dead). I have seen some sites that have a notice that the presentation of content is copyrighted

I sure do appreciate all the feedback and suggestions!

This originally started out as a one page discography for my friend's birthday (done in excel) and he sent me a lot more stuff and said he would like a website. It has been an interesting experience, and now I have another friend that wants one, too. I hope the second one goes faster!

[!CC]

Hi

I'm sure someone with more knowledge of copy right laws can help you with that part more than I can but I will do some looking around and see what I can find out.

As for the pictures I you're going to have to reinsert them into the pages so the new sizes are in the html then re upload the pages when you upload the rissized images.

I sent you a PM (private message.) so you might want to check your messages...

[YvetteKuhns]

And what kind of copyright info should I include? should it be on the front page, every page, or what?

Copyright © 2003-2004. All Rights Reserved.
Website by Web Designer.
Trademarks and Copyrights are the property of their respective owners and used with permission.

to resize my images--how do I know what size I want? do I get out my ruler and measure the ones on my pages?

Place an image in a web page and edit the HTML code for the height and width. Remove the width and edit the height, view the page, right click on the image and select Properties. View the dimensions as reported 100 pixels wide by 200 pixels high for example. If your height is 200, then the width is 100. If your height is 100, then the width is 50. See what looks good on the web page, then optimize the image to that size.

Please keep the original sizes in a separate folder. You can make images smaller, but if you try to enlarge them, they look terrible.

real player is probably common enough

Actually, I couldn't play it! I have several players, but that one wasn't installed since my hard drive was reformatted. I could reinstall the Real Player, but I don't usually get that file extension.

I do plan to add some video clips
Here is a good place to use swf instead. There are programs to convert other video files to swf.

online store
PayPal may be okay to start, but remember that only PayPal members can make purchases unless you ask people to send you an order form and accept checks or money orders.

[bahadreama]

I was actually thinking of going with 2Checkout to take credit cards without dealing with paypal, but at the moment, I only have one item on hand ready to ship. (and if I sell all the copies I have, it will just cover the cost of the website) . It took me a long time before I finally decided to register for a paypal account to buy stuff online, so I understand that not everybody wants to do that.

I hope I eventually have more items to sell. And another friend wants a website and has a merchant account, so we may be able to work something out.


I have never run across a shockwave sound file. I will have to check if my video program will save in that format--I know I can do real media, windows media, quicktime and mpg. The mpg looks best but has the largest file size. Don't people have to have shockwave installed? And how common is that??

I know that on my laptop computer that I got from my job, some java functions and other stuff on websites just causes my browser to shut down. Can't enter chat rooms and have very limited access to media files--but real player works fine on it.

I know one website that had changing photos on the home page (an automatic slide show of some sort) and it caused my browser to shut down--it looked good on my personal computer--but I could not access it from my work computer even at home (I am a public school teacher, so some stuff is filtered at the network level when we are at work). The person who did the site said she got the same comments from other people, and changed it to a static photo instead--and now it works fine for me.

I like the copyright statement suggestion.

Do you know of a website that uses swf files that I can try to visit with my work laptop?


And back to the online store subject, the item I have to sell is a video. Half of the copies I have are PAL--and I am not sure what is the best way to get US$ from international customers???

I am glad I asked for feedback before I finished the site!!

[(jj)]

If you only have a limited number of items to sell right now, PayPal may be your best choice.

Simple to add the "Buy Now" button to your page and PayPal does all of the foreign currency conversion for you. You just need to state that prices are set in U.S. $$ amounts.

As for your video files, try to use either mpeg or flash formats. Those are the 2 most common and almost everyone on the Net can view them.

[YvetteKuhns]

Do you know of a website that uses swf files that I can try to visit

swf files are Flash files that are viewable with a Flash player. They are the most common and work on any computer or browser (with a Flash plugin).

Try http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/ for samples.