Thread: FEEDBACK is always a good thing!

Please, go visit my VH hosted Caricaturist Website,
and tell me what you do think of it...

Thank you very much.

I think your home page is waay to long. The text is to large and you repeat things over and over again. I think you will turn away a lot of people that may actually be interested because you just over whelm them with all the jibberish and repetition. Not the worst start I've seen but I would reconsider the home page. Thats as far as I went, could stand any more at the moment.

Hi, got some great caricatures on the site. Might look better with a coupler of your best ones right in the middle of the opening page.
Good luck.

Thank you very much for your kind advice D'son !

I understand totally what you mean.

I've added such bombastic repetitions some days ago only.
I wanted to be sure people would understand what I wish them to know and do.
I'm ready to remove these repetitions...

Yes, this page is long...I made it that long perhaps two weeks ago.

Before that, my site had too many pages,
and people didn't visit all of them, so I decided
to put all the info in one place : the home page.

I will work on the length too.

Thank you Collectors-info !

I'll follow your advice !

Hi there,
Sorry, I'm not commenting on your site...Because I was to busy looking at your caricatures..To much, just loved them...So funny

Originally Posted by SChajin

Hi there,
Sorry, I'm not commenting on your site...Because I was to busy looking at your caricatures..To much, just loved them...So funny

Hi SChajin.
Which nicer comment could I ever ask for ?
Thank you.

I guess D'son will check my site anew, even though it was a harsh experience for him.
I listened to his advice.

As for Collectors-info, I'd like to listen to his advice,
but more caricatures on the home page will contribute to make it even longer than it is already...
Perhaps with a size-reduction of the said caricatures will this be doable...

Getting better, I would make the text in the banner larger maybe add a fade effect to the back ground. I still see a lot of unneeded self promotion. This is your site you do not need to keep adding the name of your site to your text they are aleady there. Also you phrasing is poor, for example you have
"CaricatureMan.com : remove
The BEST Caricaturist (Charactures) At The LOWEST Prices (On The WWW") remove this. Its the web not WWW thats just used to get to an address.

Its simple things like that that still turn me off. Also why not just have the images linked to a price page insted of listing them all on your home page, just have samples of each category. I love your work, now lets make your site as brilliant.

Thank you D'son,
for still having the guts (LOL) to go there...

I appreciate very much your comments,
and you can actually see me doing what you say,
because I guess you want to help me.

As soon as I finish typing this, I go "there"...

Done concerning the repetitions !

As for the banner/header, this was already an issue for me, back then, when I was building this site.
I didn't get that much help, and left it as it is currently.

Concerning the Prices List, I even had it on a page of its own, but it was hardly noticed...
That's why I put it in the Home Page.

Hardly noticed by whom? If someone is really interested in ordering they will look at it, the window shoppers will not bother even if it is all on the home page. If you have thumbs of your work, they will click on them to see them better and there you could have your prices for that specific category. The point is you want to intice viewers to go further into your site, look around and feel comfortable so make sure you have good navagation (same on every page) so they browse easily.

Scythian, you had asked for help with your banner and if I remember right about your buttons. I quickly made one that you might be interested in, based on your color scheme, take a look http://www.marseillesyouthsports.com/caricatureman.html
if you are interested in it contact me through my site and I can send you this one or walk you through it. As you can see I have all the buttons at the top for a couple of reasons, you can use this as the template for all yor pages and add all your content under it and because as I said I thought I remembered you asking for those very buttons before (could have been someone else let me know).

Originally Posted by D'son

Hardly noticed by whom? If someone is really interested in ordering they will look at it,
Once again, you're right.
the window shoppers will not bother even if it is all on the home page. If you have thumbs of your work, they will click on them to see them better and there you could have your prices for that specific category.
You mean this, instead of me having albums like I have so far ?
--->Thumb-pictures instead of pictures in albums ?
The point is you want to intice viewers to go further into your site, look around and feel comfortable so make sure you have good navagation (same on every page) so they browse easily.

If it is thumb-pictures instead of albums that you meant,
I'll have quite some work to do (anew)...

; )

Originally Posted by D'son

Scythian, you had asked for help with your banner and if I remember right about your buttons. I quickly made one that you might be interested in, based on your color scheme, take a look http://www.marseillesyouthsports.com/caricatureman.html
if you are interested in it contact me through my site and I can send you this one or walk you through it. As you can see I have all the buttons at the top for a couple of reasons, you can use this as the template for all yor pages and add all your content under it and because as I said I thought I remembered you asking for those very buttons before (could have been someone else let me know).

Great job, D'son !

But placing a whole new template into my soho website will perhaps put a real mess there,
perhaps perturbing everything, including the shopping-cart, its various categories, the albums, everything ?

Oh I thought you were building this using BV. Soho is a totally different animal. I haven't used it yet. But some of the concepts are still worth concidering as far as the structure of your site. I am constantly working on mine (along with helping others build theirs) and as I see a better way I play around with it.

I kind of regret to have built it with soho.
The soho checkout/buying process, for instance, is kind of messy...
BlueVoda seems much easier, even if I still have a lot to learn...

Hello there,
You website is coming along nicely, agree that you should add lots of thumnails to the opening page, treat it as a shop window, people only go in if they see what they like in the window. Its all about enticement. In fact with a service such as yours (and mine) you should let your work do the talking.
As for the banner, many sites, good ones, have a banner exactly like yours, simple and effective. I really dislike fade outs such as the example show to you, they are faddy and out of date unless done in an understated way. Keep it simple. Your buttons are defnately the way forward and many good sites have very basic buttons such as these. Why have buttons that detract from what you are trying to sell? My own site has grey on white page buttons and they are very simple.

Ps Love your caricatures

Andy
Z***** Design
www.z*****.co.uk

Hi Z*****man !

Thank you for such a kind comment, and for the advices too.

What is the kind of service you propose ?
I clicked on your signature's website,but an error window appeared.

Cheers.

To be honest i dont know why BV have decided to blank out my name, no one has advised me why but Im happy to help people along.
The website is at www.zappl e.co.uk and Im in branding etc.

keep up the good work.
Andy
www.z*****.co.uk

I don't know why BV does that neither, but let me thank you for your kind encouragements.
I'll keep up the good work ! BTW, you're offering a great service.

Originally Posted by z*****man

To be honest i dont know why BV have decided to blank out my name, no one has advised me why but Im happy to help people along.
The website is at www.zappl e.co.uk and Im in branding etc.

keep up the good work.
Andy
www.z*****.co.uk

z*****man, If you contact the support team, they could well change that for you.............

I published my caricaturist website.

The "claim" pages don't show up...

For instance :

The requested URL /claim_the_celebrity_formula.php was not found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


They're saved in php format...since they've got forms...but the"contact" page is saved in php as well, yet, it appears...

I know, I did something wrong, but what ?
(My head is a crashed website by itself now, full of digital errors...)

Look in your file manager (with in your c-pannel) and you will see all the files in your public_html folder, locate the two missing pages click on the title and copy it. Paste it into your links on all your pages, this will ensure they are correct.

Hi Ed !

Thank you for this, I'll (try to ) do it right now !

OMG...Once there, I thought I was suffocating !
This, for me, is the backstage of the backstages !!!

I fear clicking on anything, since it could have unsuspected consequences....
In the mean-time, I cannot afford to have my site running like it is now...
Holy cow !

OK.
I cooled down. I went to watch the cPanel tutorials
(not all of them at this time, but I surely will).

Ok bis.
I now know that there's a cPanel Documentation link,
at the bottom of the cPanel.

OK ter.
I will read it, and learn !
At my very low level, I still don't even know what a MYSQL,
a FTP, a CGI BIN (and sooo muuuch mooore) are.

By the almighty He-MAN !

In the cPanel tutorial, there's an ancient version
of what you're supposed to find in the cPanel Documentation link.

I went there, and there's a "new" version" of it.

In the tutorial, I had the time to see something about "What Is MYSQL ?"...

I was excited to learn that...

In the new version, I tried to find this,
and perhaps more of "what is this and that"...but no, nothing...

Now, I feel like throwing my comp' screen on the wall, out of lack of knowledge and dispair...

I 've got an AMPUTATED website running live, for Pixel' sake...

Originally Posted by Scythian

I published my caricaturist website.

The "claim" pages don't show up...

For instance :

The requested URL /claim_the_celebrity_formula.php was not found on this server.
Additionally, a 404 Not Found error was encountered while trying to use an ErrorDocument to handle the request.


They're saved in php format...since they've got forms...but the"contact" page is saved in php as well, yet, it appears...

I know, I did something wrong, but what ?
(My head is a crashed website by itself now, full of digital errors...)

Scythian
You have opened another thread on this same question which has already been answered by another member.
Please refrain from making duplicate requests as they will be deleted without further advice..............
By almeans, open a new thread on new questions

David, I did this because this question, I think,
doesn't belong any more to a site-reviewing section,
but to a publishing troubles section...

Here, how will this question of mine be noticed ?

I beg your pardon, anyway...it's just that this is becoming an emergency case...

Originally Posted by D'son

Look in your file manager (with in your c-pannel) and you will see all the files in your public_html folder, locate the two missing pages click on the title and copy it. Paste it into your links on all your pages, this will ensure they are correct.

Ed, please, when you're back on our BV forum,
could you explain me this, on a step-by-step mode ?

You know I won't make you
(neither anybody else) lose your time,
since I WILL actually FOLLOW whatever you believe is good and wise.

I strive for doing well.

Go into your Cpanel
click on file manager
click on public_html
and you will be able to see all your file names.

check that the file name is exactly spelled as in your link
or vice versa.

On the matter of new questions, by all means open a new thread in the appropiate forum from now on and you wont have any more problems.

We ALL have to learn sometimes.....................lol

Thank you David for being patient with me.

I'll follow what you advice me to do, as soon as I finish typing this post.

And I'll open new threads there where they should be opened,
from now on, I promise (it's just that I was in panic-mode)...

Yes, we need to learn, I especially.

Yes, it is the one that was made in soho.

But it's new, fresh and willing !

I succeeded to re-build it entirely in BV, re-saved every page, and published it,
NOT without the precious help of VH veterans, whom I thank once again here...

Finally, I've got what I needed : a much simpler checkout process for my customers.
Good bye to the soho's six to seven steps in the checkout process
(even for buying a house you wouldn't need such a looong checkout process !)...

Well, here's my caricaturist website.

I made quite a big header, because I wanted to have such one, from a long time ago.
For the moment, I keep it as it is...but I guess I'll get bored and make a "smaller" one.

Many find the "glass" boxes and buttons "cheesy", but I don't. I like this aspect very much.

In the coming days, I will "populate" this site with more drawings/caricatures/characters.

Tell me what you think...I'm all ears (and eyes).

Thank you.

Love your work, some of your links to order a drawing do not work (inner pages) they are fine on the home page but not others. Go on your site and check them all on every page. Good Job

Originally Posted by D'son

Love your work, some of your links to order a drawing do not work (inner pages) they are fine on the home page but not others. Go on your site and check them all on every page. Good Job

Oops !
Just when I thought I overcame every problem...

(I even tried the checkout process,
and it lead me without any difficulty to the Paypal pages...)

Thank you Ed,
I'll go right now to see that in detail...

EDIT : Hi, I'm back !

I don't understand, on my screen, everything goes very well.

I claimed a caricature, everything went fine to the Paypal pages.
I claimed the Celebrity Formula, and once again, everything went very well too...

When I was going through your site I went from the home page to the free page then tried to go to the claim pages (via the buttons) and the links were wrong and could not find the page. I didn't try the paypall links.

Hiya,
Looking better, slight spelling error on front page..whether not wether.

Andy
Z a p p l e
w w w.z a p p l e co.uk

Originally Posted by D'son

When I was going through your site I went from the home page to the free page then tried to go to the claim pages (via the buttons) and the links were wrong and could not find the page. I didn't try the paypall links.

Oh oh....

How could the links work
(I clicked on them "live on the internet")
and then, because of some light random clicking,
we obtain these same links not working any more ?

(I guess I did my job well,
because the links wouldn't work at all if I didn't...
What can I, at my level, do more ?)

Originally Posted by z*****man

Hiya,
Looking better, slight spelling error on front page..whether not wether.

Andy
Z a p p l e
w w w.z a p p l e co.uk

Hiya Andy !

Thank you, I'll go there right now, to correct this !

EDIT : Done !

OK.. you have to QUIT duplicating these threads. People dont know what they have or havent answered because you have them all over the place. I merged these.

Karen

Thank you Karen, for "merging these".

I thought you closed the thread,
which would have meant that I couldn't get any feedback for my site...

What do you think about my header and buttons ?

And check the contact page.
I followed an Alien Dude's cool tip,
and obtained an encrypted contact form (that's for one),
and this contact form itself is "covered"
with a drawing of mine (that's for two)...

I find the resulting "contact" page rather good.

Three months later :

My BV Website floats joyfully on the web's waves of fun.

Please, let me know what you think of it, now that it has "aged" a bit.

Only you, my fellow VHers, can help me improve ever more,
and perhaps show me other paths, or simply allow me to see out of the box...

My very best regards to all of you.

Sasha_

Your site is different, and stands out. You might want to have a list of free caricatures that people can click on to grab the one that they want. And your form for "claim your caricature" might be a little larger and less crowded by caricatures. Also, put in a contact form, instead of just a link to your e-mail address.

Hi Sportsbob !

Thank you very much for taking some time to review "the beast",
and for your gentle appreciation too.

What do you mean exactly by "a list of free caricatures" ?
Do you perhaps consider it better to have the written names of the celebrities displayed,
instead of actually displaying their caricatures ?

Yes, my "CLAIM Your Caricature" page looks overcrowded...
I'll have to enlarge it, especially when having in mind
that I'll add many more caricatures there.

As for my "Contact"page, I really like it.
You know, it accomplished its duty perfectly so far.
As soon as people send me some request, I get their e-mail adresses as well.

I seem to notice your webpage is not well centered. Anyway just for the best looks your site may turn into. Best regards, mate.

Originally Posted by flyer13

I seem to notice your webpage is not well centered. Anyway just for the best looks your site may turn into. Best regards, mate.

Hi flyer13 !

Thank you for helping.

Indeed : my webpage is absolutely not centered.

Two -bad- reasons for that :

1)
I wasn't sure what width to give to my website's pages...

2)
I just changed my monitor, and bought a handsome one,
which is 24" wide, while my ancient one was only 15"...

I now have to find some time to recenter every page, everything...

But I surely will.

Best regards also, mate.

Sasha_

Hi Sasha,
After so much "traffic" about your site I couldn't help but check it out......you should be pleased with the result. I thought you might not object to a few grammatical "observations"? Please read this with a smile :)

Home page: Professionnal with 1 n (Professional)
I would suggest "Lowest priced Caricaturist"
Unexpensive should be Inexpensive

Free Caricatures page: #3) try "leave" instead of "let"

Claim the Celebrity: I was going to ask what "UNIC" (in the
green arrow) means but I found the same
on the FAQ page & figured it's supposed
to be "UNIQUE", yes?

Prices page: "- and even pet - you wish to get caricaturized"
sings better!

so - I love to proofread.......maybe I should offer it as a VH service lol
good luck - great site
david

Hi David !

Thank you very much for this cool service of yours !

I will "repair" these errors as soon as I finish typing this.

For "unexpensive" vs "inexpensive",
I checked google, and "unexpensive" was the correct form.

VHers are cool, that's a fact !

Done !

...interesting.....can you point me to where Google says that UNexpensive is correct? I am ready to be humbled :)
david

That was a nice correction by david, you see this is really becoming a family forum, a feedback you can rely on. Best regards.

Originally Posted by ahimsa

...interesting.....can you point me to where Google says that UNexpensive is correct? I am ready to be humbled :)
david

Hey, I don't want to humble anybody,
especially not the ones hat help me, mate !

I won't remember where I found this debate,
it's months backwards now.

Whatever, I'll just trust you on this one too.

Cheers David !

Originally Posted by flyer13

That was a nice correction by david, you see this is really becoming a family forum, a feedback you can rely on. Best regards.

This is why I just love VH.

Best Regards flyer13 !

Sasha_

EDIT :
Done, and thank you again David !

Did you draw the caricatures? They are hilarious. I particularly liked the one of Paris Hilton. Good job!

Mia
www.busyparentscorner.com

Yes Mia, I did.

Thank you for your kind words.

Paris Hilton is...inspiring, for us caricaturists.

; )

Sasha_

Well, I suppose everyone is entitled to his/her element. I respect trade secrets but I'm just curious if you did the caricatures with a software, sash'.

Demet

No software here, Demet.

This is raw "traditionnal" work.

This is my pride, this is what a REAL caricaturist is all about.

Sasha, am glad to have an artist aboard. Drop an "n" in the traditional. I get used to david's attitude, sorry.You must be a great cartoonist as well. Cheers.

Well thank you Demet.
I'm glad to be here too.
Ah, this double "n" thing...
I live in France, and here, it's "traditionnel", "professionnel", and so forth, with two "n" everytime...
English isn't my native language.
Keep on, if you like it, "repairing" my bad grammar or orthograph : I'm happy to learn.
(I always drew, as far as I can remember, perhaps even in my mother's womb.)
Cheers mate.

Hi Sasha,
just took another peek.....flattered that you took my comments seriously LOL
One "little" thing I noticed: on your Prices page: " - and even pet - you wish got - I would change to to get....
have a good day
david

Hi David, and thank you for taking another "peek" !

What did you expect ? LOL...
Of course I do take comments seriously.

Concerning the "to get" instead of "got"...
I already changed it, as soon as you told me to,
that fourth of april....

:P

Have a good day too.

OK, then I must have looked at 1 of the "Claim" pages.......Ah, yes, I see that BOTH of them have the same problem :)
.....later,
david

I am uploading more and more Free Caricatures on this page.

By doing so, this page becomes longer, and longer, and longer...

What do you advise me to do ?

(I thought about using something like thumbnail pictures,
that enlarge themselves once clicked upon,
but I want to be sure ANYBODY could still do
a "right-click" on any caricature, in order to save/share it.)

So, is it OK :

_to keep on adding caricatures in this "savage" way ?

or...

_to find another display solution ?

Thank you.

Originally Posted by Scythian

Before that, my site had too many pages,
and people didn't visit all of them, so I decided
to put all the info in one place : the home page.
I will work on the length too.

Your Index page should pack all the punch possible, to pique the interest of the Visitor and to provide easy means for them to drill in according to their particular interest.
It should instantly communicate the Purpose, the Uniqueness, and the "readiness" of the site to fulfill the motivation of each Visitor --- which is why they arrived in the first place: the common tactic is to rely on graphical expressions (to capitalize on the 'eye candy' effect) moreso than text, which emphasizes the intelligent site design of using more pages that are each more focused on specific topics .... which can be a useful tool as well in developing a more effective website over time (more on this in a bit).

With the option of having more pages that are smaller and more specifically focused on a narrow interest comes the freedom of Visitors to follow their own interest as far as they desire, instead of picking 'nuggets' out of a larger pile only to feel as if there should be more or better composed resources. This psychology also supports the "15 second Rule" which is founded on the reality that Visitors will make up their mind whether to drill in or abandon a site within the first 15 seconds upon arrival ..... this is the basis, actually, for the guideline to keep pages shorter and more "first impression" worthy, for it will take about 5 seconds for a Visitor to emotionally react to a site's layout, colors, and "feel," and another 10 seconds for the brain to register the import of the images and 'eye candy' to determine whether the is potential for their satisfaction to be met on the site. You have to ascertain how much text needs to be read and how long it takes to mentally assemble the collage to get your "message" and that certainly dictates a minimal of text (who is going to read all that dribble?) in favor of a masterfully crafted 'splash page' ---- which is what your Index page is supposed to be .... as expected in a Book: a taste of what's to come, what's inside.
> If an abundance of Navigational choices are present, Visitors can quickly 'interact' with the site to find the level of possible satisfaction present by locating the details they are really seeking and then easily go to the page that promises to present the Content they wish to browse. This is how a shorter, more tightly composed page becomes more effective, and dictates the Navigational Form of a website to becoming more "User-Friendly" and servicable. (It also helps support good optimization strategies, if navigation is textual and not dynamic)

Now ... back to how having shorter and more web pages can be one of the most effective 'tools' in your arsenal to tweak performance out of your evolving site: if your pages are simply "modules" of Content broken up across more 'destinations' rather than sections of a long composition, for instance, your Site Stats will reveal those pages (sections) which are more appealing to Visitors, and the time spent on pages will indicate which ones are satisfying or may need better tweaking. If it is a complicated page, or a Conversion page, it is understandable that Visitors may engage the Content a bit slower, or with a greater sense of acuity --- they don't want to make a mistake, or commit in error. If, however, the page is innocuous or only semi-important and Visitors are spending more time on them unexpectedly, it may be either the Content is composed in a manner that is awkward or inexpressive (something wrong with it), OR that this may indicate the page contains more of the kernal of value than you expected, that this is may relate to your "niche"/relevancy that is pulling in traffic, and could possibly be successfully expanded or blended with another section that is closely related (this way you increase relevancy on a single page as well as eliminate a poorly performing one, which could possibly be replaced or substituted with all-new Content .... to continue to respond to Visitor trends as you refine your site altogether).

Understand?

It truly is advisable to keep you pages near the 800x600 (max advised 975x750) standard, so everything that is important is always 'above the fold' and immediately visible to Visitors the instant they arrive. In your case, this may require you to reduce the size of your images, or better, to create a true "flow" to your site layout, integrating more elements into a 'collage' rather than merely placed hither-thither on a blank canvas. Play to the instinctual and emotional predisposition of your Visitors (but do not shock or abuse), and you will likely get the predictable results everyone strives to attain all at once. Use colors, lines, and modular construction to "tie" things together --- make a PAGE. I merely suggest using auto-functions to indicate trends and to then be prepared to respond to the indications with a minimum of thinking ..... use the tools you have, and make the effort toward refinement so you earn the results you can take credit for!

Maybe within this perspective all the chiding and urging of your peers to follow standards and the encouragment to diligently duplicate success makes more sense?

Good Luck .... You're off to a good start by keeping things simple. Now it's time to make simple shine!

Methinks you will give a big sigh and undertake a whole new task of redesign to apply these principles. It is worth the effort, trust me!

Hear, hear........good idea

I love the Caricatures, but the website design seems a bit dated. I actually thought this before while going through your page and just forgot to mention it.

I also believe the website seems a bit busy and many pages are too long.

I would find a good viewer program to place those great designs. I think your website needs work to be worthy to hold those fantastic caricatures.

Your Index page should pack all the punch possible, to pique the interest of the Visitor and to provide easy means for them to drill in according to their particular interest.
It should instantly communicate the Purpose, the Uniqueness, and the "readiness" of the site to fulfill the motivation of each Visitor --- which is why they arrived in the first place: the common tactic is to rely on graphical expressions (to capitalize on the 'eye candy' effect) moreso than text, which emphasizes the intelligent site design of using more pages that are each more focused on specific topics .... which can be a useful tool as well in developing a more effective website over time (more on this in a bit).

With the option of having more pages that are smaller and more specifically focused on a narrow interest comes the freedom of Visitors to follow their own interest as far as they desire, instead of picking 'nuggets' out of a larger pile only to feel as if there should be more or better composed resources. This psychology also supports the "15 second Rule" which is founded on the reality that Visitors will make up their mind whether to drill in or abandon a site within the first 15 seconds upon arrival ..... this is the basis, actually, for the guideline to keep pages shorter and more "first impression" worthy, for it will take about 5 seconds for a Visitor to emotionally react to a site's layout, colors, and "feel," and another 10 seconds for the brain to register the import of the images and 'eye candy' to determine whether the is potential for their satisfaction to be met on the site. You have to ascertain how much text needs to be read and how long it takes to mentally assemble the collage to get your "message" and that certainly dictates a minimal of text (who is going to read all that dribble?) in favor of a masterfully crafted 'splash page' ---- which is what your Index page is supposed to be .... as expected in a Book: a taste of what's to come, what's inside.
> If an abundance of Navigational choices are present, Visitors can quickly 'interact' with the site to find the level of possible satisfaction present by locating the details they are really seeking and then easily go to the page that promises to present the Content they wish to browse. This is how a shorter, more tightly composed page becomes more effective, and dictates the Navigational Form of a website to becoming more "User-Friendly" and servicable. (It also helps support good optimization strategies, if navigation is textual and not dynamic)

Now ... back to how having shorter and more web pages can be one of the most effective 'tools' in your arsenal to tweak performance out of your evolving site: if your pages are simply "modules" of Content broken up across more 'destinations' rather than sections of a long composition, for instance, your Site Stats will reveal those pages (sections) which are more appealing to Visitors, and the time spent on pages will indicate which ones are satisfying or may need better tweaking. If it is a complicated page, or a Conversion page, it is understandable that Visitors may engage the Content a bit slower, or with a greater sense of acuity --- they don't want to make a mistake, or commit in error. If, however, the page is innocuous or only semi-important and Visitors are spending more time on them unexpectedly, it may be either the Content is composed in a manner that is awkward or inexpressive (something wrong with it), OR that this may indicate the page contains more of the kernal of value than you expected, that this is may relate to your "niche"/relevancy that is pulling in traffic, and could possibly be successfully expanded or blended with another section that is closely related (this way you increase relevancy on a single page as well as eliminate a poorly performing one, which could possibly be replaced or substituted with all-new Content .... to continue to respond to Visitor trends as you refine your site altogether).

Understand?

It truly is advisable to keep you pages near the 800x600 (max advised 975x750) standard, so everything that is important is always 'above the fold' and immediately visible to Visitors the instant they arrive. In your case, this may require you to reduce the size of your images, or better, to create a true "flow" to your site layout, integrating more elements into a 'collage' rather than merely placed hither-thither on a blank canvas. Play to the instinctual and emotional predisposition of your Visitors (but do not shock or abuse), and you will likely get the predictable results everyone strives to attain all at once. Use colors, lines, and modular construction to "tie" things together --- make a PAGE. I merely suggest using auto-functions to indicate trends and to then be prepared to respond to the indications with a minimum of thinking ..... use the tools you have, and make the effort toward refinement so you earn the results you can take credit for!

Maybe within this perspective all the chiding and urging of your peers to follow standards and the encouragment to diligently duplicate success makes more sense?

Good Luck .... You're off to a good start by keeping things simple. Now it's time to make simple shine!

Originally Posted by Stamati

Vasili, I found the post you made above very illuminating. I have come across your other posts that are also specially useful, and wonder why they are not part of a collection or put in a place all their own to make them easier to find? Nobody else writes about important things the way you do.

Originally Posted by ahimsa

Hear, hear........good idea

Well, with as many posts as I have strewn in these Forums, "collecting" them would be quite a task indeed! Maybe that's a good reason to explain why "VodaTips" is not complete to this day?

I am simply sharing as freely as I have received ... and remember all too well how overwhelming it is when beginning to learn one concept at a time. General racefan20 was the one who first demonstrated the value of "paying forward" and his example was my motivation to participate fully in these forums. That was the original inspiration for VodaTips.com, which has since obviously become the model for various other "helps" that have appeared ....
.

Originally Posted by Vasili

Well, with as many posts as I have strewn in these Forums, "collecting" them would be quite a task indeed! Maybe that's a good reason to explain why "VodaTips" is not complete to this day?

I am simply sharing as freely as I have received ... and remember all too well how overwhelming it is when beginning to learn one concept at a time. General racefan20 was the one who first demonstrated the value of "paying forward" and his example was my motivation to participate fully in these forums. That was the original inspiration for VodaTips.com, which has since obviously become the model for various other "helps" that have appeared .... .

I am thankful for all I have learned from you Vasili. It doesn't matter if your site isn't finished yet (it does look nice) because I just go to your page and go through all your posts one at a time. You might be surprised how much is really there to absorb. It has helped me tremendously. Thanks again.