Thread: My 1st. what u think?

this site is being built about my family. when it is finished it could be compared to some kinda family tree or something. It is not completed because i dont have enough pics for each family member.
Be honest, I am willing to learn and correct problems on my site.

thanx

http://www.thegreateight.net

Great idea !
You'll find a few genealogy buffs in here. Your links (most of them) work and the magnifier is a good idea.
Suggestions:
-Black is elegant and way too formal for your family tree. The background will steal from the more importnat elements i.e. family.
-Consider centering your pages. Right click page properties and check the center in browswer button.
-There are several vertical lines under the photos, what are they?
-Guests, Admin and Links do not work yet.

the vertical lines on my photos page are actually pics. I moved my pics on my flash drive and have not republished the page yet.
the links you say dont work yet? they seem to b working good when i view it

the reason I chose black as a background is because the actual pics have a black background, this way they would blend in. the only program i have available to use is Microsoft Paint to edit pics.

Wow, that center in browser makes a huge difference. I assume this will center the page in everybodys browser and also in different types of browsers?

thanx

What color do you think would look best? I try to stay away from white cuz it gives be headaches, or maybe I shouldn't sit at the computer so long.

Yes, it does look much better and centering will work for all browsers.

-Pics taken care of, when you republish they should appear. Consider downloading Paint.Net it's a free program and easy to use. Go to *****'s post: http://www.vodahost.com/vodatalk/rev...ighlight=paint

-The links I mentioned do not work from The Vault. By the way, having the Site Map follow you as you scroll is neat.

-Color: this is about family, use a lighter tone, tans and blues are good. Light grey too. Consider an image or old photo as a watermark (say and old world map) save it as a *jpeg or *gif and then as a template. It really is personal taste.

Also, if pictures get too large, consider PixResizer, also a free tool.

thank you sir.
Looks i have a lot of work to do

You've done a lot of work, the rest is just minor tweaking. Have fun.

Aloha, I think black is too harsh a background for showcasing a loving family tree. The scrolling is too fast. It will look great when you have more photos and descriptions. Keep up the good work!!

Thanks for the compliments.
It's a lot of work and at times frustrating. I have changed the background and made some major changes. I downloaded Paint.net and it seems to help a lot. Im sure there are some more things needed to be changed so let me know what you think.

www.thegreateight.net

Looks good,

Much better than black background.try other options too.
Your pics show now. The link to Adams (from Vault) is not working.

Nice site with great potential.
I would add some more info on the home page about what you can find inside the site to get the attention and make visitors want to ENTER.
I'd put it just above the enter button you have

Wow! YOu have completely redone your site from when you first posted it about a month ago! I really like it! I liked the old one, too! What a blessing you are to your family! We just had our family reunion and when I mentioned I was learning to build sites, they all wanted one for our family (although I told them they would all me in heaven before I would finsh it cause I'm so slow! LOL)! Seeing yours is an inspiration!

I did have alot of trouble getting it to load on my STUPID DIAL UP...so I couldn't see it all. it kept timing out on me. Perhaps most of your family members have high speed internet though, so I may not be a problem for them.

Keep up the good work!

How do you make pages load faster for people using dial-up, or is there anything I can do?

How can i quote other messages in my replys? I tried using the check box below the quick reply but nothing happened

Not a lot more that you can do, you have already reduced the pic sizes to a very manageable size. You might want to consider eliminating the transition between pages but I don't know if this will help that much and it will take away from your pages.
Your best bet is to ask family members what they use. Good luck.

ok. one more thing?
I have looked everywhere for a family tree template or something i can use in my site, but have had no luck finding one. Does anyone know where i can find one i can publish to my site?

Search for genealogy sites. You might want to create your own using Powerpoint or a Paint, Paint.Net or Photshop program and link each box to that individual's bio.

Family Tree Maker is pretty good, it is a paid program.

thank you

http://www.gimp.org/
http://www.freeserifsoftware.com/Sof.../download1.asp
http://www.getpaint.net/index.html

ok....this should be the last of my publishing until i get the family tree finished.
if you wanna look over my site one more time feel free and let me know what you think.
thanx

Thanks everybody for all your help

You're welcome,
Did anyone mention that there are 9 people in the photo of thegreateight ?

wbjunior:

The first thing I didn't understand was the title. I'm no math wiss, but I count 9 people in the title photo.
I also don't understand how you got so good so fast. You have more bells and whistles than a new Rolls. All done tastefully might I add.
I like the slide show on the photo page, but think you might be happier putting the small photos below as thumbnails inside an I-frame. It took a long time to load the way they are now. You must have an enormous family to need a forum and Black isn't my personal favorite, I'm 60's not 80's. I don't understand the need for all the bells and whistles for the subject of your site, but it would make an excelent resume attachment for someone looking for a job as a web builder.

Bill: "the great eight" is a knickname my uncle gave to his dad, 5 uncles and two aunts. the 9th person is everybodys mom. that is the only picture i have of all 8. so (i think) that makes everybody in the pic my great uncles, great aunts and my great grandma, with the exception of the dude in bottom right, my grandpa.

circuspet: thank you for the compliments. i have spent countless hours on this site, and even called in sick to work one day so i could stay home and work on it (probably not a smart thing to do).
everything i have published so far is exactly that, bells and whistles. the family tree is still being created. that will be the main attraction for this site, hopefully.

wbjunior:

this site is truly some thing to be proud of, and I hope you have the time to stick around the forum and help others who will no doubt be admiring your work and wanting to know how you did it.

thank you, thank you, thank you

Site looks great. The only thing I would change is the forum template. I think the phpbb2 subsilver is so plain. here are many great templates in there sites gallery. If your like me, this web project is a constant update. But I guess that's what really makes it worth while.

I figured the great 8 excluded the youngest, which lends tribute to the family elders. Your relatives will almost certainly start sending you pictures and stories. Neat.

Wow. I am very impressed! I loved the slide show factor. I am also still learning and agree that it can be very frustrating, but also rewarding. The site I am working on has nothing to sell either, but I am making more of a travelog of sorts from an RV trip we took to Alaska. You've really given me some inspiration. Great job!

wbjunior:

I'll bet the quote in your signature was one of your greats favorites.

I've always liked " i wasn't born a cynic "

I love your site!! Gr88 job!!!!

thanks to all

circuspet: yep, i heard my grandpa say that quote several times.

wbjunior:

It warms my heart to think someone would remember something their grangfather said. I have 15 grandkids who don't know my middle name.

an Idea for you site: Favorite sayings eight pages' one of each of your greats with a photo and list of saying and poems ........ great memorial

Hey WB
Great site. If you find yourself getting frustrated.. this is good because it means you care. I think that site building is like having a tatoo. It is addicting and you just can't stop at one. Heck, my wife told me she was considering changing her name to blue Voda since I seem to pay more attention to this than her (of course I disagree).
Try using pix resizer... it is a free program you can get right here in BV; to give you an idea, I reduced the size of a photo I had, from 513kb to a mere 23kb using this program. This will greatly help with loading time issues. And might I add the photo was a pretty decent size, not fine print if you know what I mean.
Other than that, you have great talent and the time you have already spent on your site really shows.
Great job... can't wait to see how this site evolves.

wow the compliments just keeping

thank you
sincerely, this site means a great deal to me.

oops i meant keep coming