If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#21
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
James McNangle wrote:
Perhaps the clue to the problem with your web site is contained in the line "The online magazine and reference site for photography, graphic design, digital art, Web design, video, illustration and image creation." Any one of these subjects would be quite sufficient for a single web site, but you have them all together, all mixed up in a horrendous jumble. And, even worse, this horrendous jumble is reproduced on every page. About the only thing I can say in favour of the site is that it doesn't sing or dance. Consider the page http://www.dimagemaker.com/article.php?articleID=799. This is titled "A day of shooting with my Infrared converted Canon 350D". By the time someone gets to this page all they want to see is what results you have managed to get. But what do they get? On the left, a column 160 pixels wide, containing a plague of totally irrelevant links. On the right, another column 160 pixels wide, containing another plague of equally irrelevant links. In the middle a couple of ads, then an introduction, and yet another column 160 pixels wide, containing yet another plague of irrelevant links. Below this we finally get to the demonstration photos, all 450 pixels wide. If you threw out all this rubbish, or sorted it into categories, with the material relevant to each category on a separate page, so that this page only displayed the actual test photos and your comments on them, you could make the pictures much bigger, so that the viewer could really see what you are on about, without being distracted by a whole heap of totally irrelevant crap. James McNangle Ok, I get your point, though i can't help thinking you really don't need to be so rude about it. I am considering a redesign of the site and I'll take this onboard. Wayne -- Wayne J. Cosshall Publisher, The Digital ImageMaker, http://www.dimagemaker.com/ Blog http://www.digitalimagemakerworld.com/ |
#22
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
Thanks Duncan and Poxy for taking the time to reply meaningfully.
The challenge with a site with so much content is to strike a balance between showing what is there and making it easy to find. It seems I have struck the wrong balance, so I will go back and reconsider the site design and see what i can come up with. Cheers, Wayne -- Wayne J. Cosshall Publisher, The Digital ImageMaker, http://www.dimagemaker.com/ Blog http://www.digitalimagemakerworld.com/ |
#23
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
On Mon, 18 Dec 2006 23:57:55 +1100, "Wayne J. Cosshall"
wrote: Ok, I get your point, though i can't help thinking you really don't need to be so rude about it. Rude? I didn't see anything rude. It seems that perhaps you have a problem with your overly cluttered page's content being called "crap" but really, to the visitor, that's exactly what it is. It's cluttering up the page and making it very hard for them to find any valuable content. Frankly, I find it very ironic that your site claims to be a reference site for "Web design" given the site's own very poor design. jc -- "The nice thing about a mare is you get to ride a lot of different horses without having to own that many." ~ Eileen Morgan of The Mare's Nest, PA |
#24
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
JC Dill wrote:
Rude? I didn't see anything rude. It seems that perhaps you have a problem with your overly cluttered page's content being called "crap" but really, to the visitor, that's exactly what it is. It's cluttering up the page and making it very hard for them to find any valuable content. Frankly, I find it very ironic that your site claims to be a reference site for "Web design" given the site's own very poor design. jc I think anyone who has worked as hard as I have on the site might find the word crap rude. Anyway, anyone here who has actually designed a web site with so much content will know it is a tough balancing act. For example, I've been criticized for having the usability tip message at the top of the home page, yet I have had a good number of emails from people thanking me for putting it there as they did not know this and it has helped them not just with my site but many others. You can't suit everyone. My priority with the redesign of the site (which is the current design) was to put 'above the fold' enough indications of other content on the site so that if people came straight into an article page, they could see that there was much more available. Hence the article categories and types down the left, for example, and the recent articles list on the article pages. It has grown and evolved and, as people have pointed out, become cluttered. I suspect that if you ran a similar site such a thing might also happen. It is clearly time for a redesign, and I was heading towards it before this thread started. It has been clear for some time that the article page, for example, needed more width for the actual content so I could use larger pictures. I am also considering a home page design which allows me to highlight certain 'hot' content whilst also providing easy access to other parts of the site. Plus I've wanted to add a search page for some time, for example. Part of this process is looking at how other similar sites have done it and part is thinking about what is most important, etc. Anyway, there should be a new design ready in January. Cheers, Wayne -- Wayne J. Cosshall Publisher, The Digital ImageMaker, http://www.dimagemaker.com/ Blog http://www.digitalimagemakerworld.com/ |
#25
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
Wayne J. Cosshall wrote:
JC Dill wrote: Rude? I didn't see anything rude. It seems that perhaps you have a problem with your overly cluttered page's content being called "crap" but really, to the visitor, that's exactly what it is. It's cluttering up the page and making it very hard for them to find any valuable content. Frankly, I find it very ironic that your site claims to be a reference site for "Web design" given the site's own very poor design. jc I think anyone who has worked as hard as I have on the site might find the word crap rude. Anyway, anyone here who has actually designed a web site with so much content will know it is a tough balancing act ... snip Anyway, there should be a new design ready in January. Cheers, Wayne I think you should tell the crap-sayers to take a hike. You got to figure anyone who is serious about taking advantage of your valuable content will be willing to wade through chest-high crap to do so. They just have to trust you that it is in there somewhere, and be persistent; no other investment required. I mean after all, you are offering important material all at your own expense, right? Why? I wonder. Here's another site with a lot of content, and it's clear the designer* doesn't care if a casual visitor sees crap before finding whatever jewels are distributed within it. Of course it's apparent he's not attempting to be all things to all enquirers on any given subject, either. It's just a friendly amateur offering a casual stroll and (he hopes) pleasant experience. http://home.san.rr.com/fsheff/index.html -- *Frank ess I'm rubber and you're glue, it bounces off me and sticks to you. -- McLeod |
#26
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
"Wayne J. Cosshall" wrote:
Ok, I get your point, though i can't help thinking you really don't need to be so rude about it. I am considering a redesign of the site and I'll take this onboard. Good. I assume that you hope that people will come to your web site regularly, but in its present form I find it quite repellent. The biggest problems with it are that you try to carry all your baggage with you, all the time, and you do not appear to have made any effort to sort it logically. I would suggest that the home page should carry a statement of what you are trying to achieve on the site, together with a small number of links to subsidiary pages for each major topic. These again should contain a statement of purpose, together with links to pages covering particular aspects of the topic. If you must carry advertisements, these should be placed so they do not distract from the main topic of the page, and a particular page should only carry advertisements relative to the subject of the page. I would also suggest that you ask yourself what you really want to cover on your site, and concentrate on those subjects. You may like to have a look at http://www.cybec.com.au/, where I have tried to put these principles into practice. Some of my holiday photos are shown at http://www.corybas.com/Albums/Holidays.htm James McNangle |
#27
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
Don't spend too much time redesigning, content is even more important.
Frankly I love your site and find it really useful. Bill "Wayne J. Cosshall" wrote in message ... JC Dill wrote: Rude? I didn't see anything rude. It seems that perhaps you have a problem with your overly cluttered page's content being called "crap" but really, to the visitor, that's exactly what it is. It's cluttering up the page and making it very hard for them to find any valuable content. Frankly, I find it very ironic that your site claims to be a reference site for "Web design" given the site's own very poor design. jc I think anyone who has worked as hard as I have on the site might find the word crap rude. Anyway, anyone here who has actually designed a web site with so much content will know it is a tough balancing act. For example, I've been criticized for having the usability tip message at the top of the home page, yet I have had a good number of emails from people thanking me for putting it there as they did not know this and it has helped them not just with my site but many others. You can't suit everyone. My priority with the redesign of the site (which is the current design) was to put 'above the fold' enough indications of other content on the site so that if people came straight into an article page, they could see that there was much more available. Hence the article categories and types down the left, for example, and the recent articles list on the article pages. It has grown and evolved and, as people have pointed out, become cluttered. I suspect that if you ran a similar site such a thing might also happen. It is clearly time for a redesign, and I was heading towards it before this thread started. It has been clear for some time that the article page, for example, needed more width for the actual content so I could use larger pictures. I am also considering a home page design which allows me to highlight certain 'hot' content whilst also providing easy access to other parts of the site. Plus I've wanted to add a search page for some time, for example. Part of this process is looking at how other similar sites have done it and part is thinking about what is most important, etc. Anyway, there should be a new design ready in January. Cheers, Wayne -- Wayne J. Cosshall Publisher, The Digital ImageMaker, http://www.dimagemaker.com/ Blog http://www.digitalimagemakerworld.com/ |
#28
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
On Tue, 19 Dec 2006 08:56:29 +1100, "Wayne J. Cosshall"
wrote: I think anyone who has worked as hard as I have on the site might find the word crap rude. How hard someone has worked on something often has little relationship to the outcome. Lots of art is crap. Lots of new homes are crap. Lots of websites are crap. I've been in fancy-smanchy restaurants where a chef labored to put together some pretentious dish that doesn't work and the result is crap. And ObPhoto - many photos are crap too. When you put your work out there, you are going to get feedback (no matter if you ask for it or not). If you get a lot of feedback that says your work is not good, then that's how it is. Shooting the messenger isn't going to magically make your work better. jc -- "The nice thing about a mare is you get to ride a lot of different horses without having to own that many." ~ Eileen Morgan of The Mare's Nest, PA |
#29
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
"James McNangle" wrote in message ... "Wayne J. Cosshall" wrote: Ok, I get your point, though i can't help thinking you really don't need to be so rude about it. I am considering a redesign of the site and I'll take this onboard. Good. I assume that you hope that people will come to your web site regularly, but in its present form I find it quite repellent. The biggest problems with it are that you try to carry all your baggage with you, all the time, and you do not appear to have made any effort to sort it logically. I would suggest that the home page should carry a statement of what you are trying to achieve on the site, together with a small number of links to subsidiary pages for each major topic. These again should contain a statement of purpose, together with links to pages covering particular aspects of the topic. If you must carry advertisements, these should be placed so they do not distract from the main topic of the page, and a particular page should only carry advertisements relative to the subject of the page. I would also suggest that you ask yourself what you really want to cover on your site, and concentrate on those subjects. You may like to have a look at http://www.cybec.com.au/, where I have tried to put these principles into practice. Some of my holiday photos are shown at http://www.corybas.com/Albums/Holidays.htm James McNangle Speaking of your overly pretentious dictates (and yes, rude) above and those holiday photos mentioned, whoever put up the Victoria BC photos should, at least, get the name of Butchart Gardens spelled correctly!! I would assume you would consider correct place names part of the non-"repellent" atmosphere you espouse. Bob |
#30
|
|||
|
|||
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky
"Robert Brace" wrote:
Speaking of your overly pretentious dictates (and yes, rude) above and those holiday photos mentioned, whoever put up the Victoria BC photos should, at least, get the name of Butchart Gardens spelled correctly!! Thank you. I think they have all been corrected. I would assume you would consider correct place names part of the non-"repellent" atmosphere you espouse. Desirable, yes. But these photos are intended to be enjoyed as a collection of holiday snaps, not as a PhD thesis. James McNangle |
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
New Foto Tip column by Mark Alberhasky | Wayne J. Cosshall | Digital Photography | 32 | December 20th 06 01:24 AM |
New Foto Tip by Mark Alberhasy - A Perspective on Lenses | Wayne J. Cosshall | Digital Photography | 27 | October 28th 06 05:54 AM |
New Foto Tip by Mark Alberhasy - A Perspective on Lenses | Wayne J. Cosshall | Digital SLR Cameras | 28 | October 28th 06 05:54 AM |
Foto Tips by Mark Alberhasky | Wayne J. Cosshall | Digital SLR Cameras | 0 | July 13th 06 09:15 PM |
Foto Tips by Mark Alberhasky | Wayne J. Cosshall | Digital Photography | 0 | July 13th 06 09:14 PM |