Thread: Things I've learned in the past 3 weeks

Three weeks ago, I put my web address in this forum, and got some very helpful advice. So please can I ask you to look at www.harrow-art.com again. Any suggestions or criticism will be welcome

I have learned a lot in the past 3 weeks, and so for the new users here are some pointers.

There are many different ways of doing the same thing, and more than one of them is correct (and fast loading). There are so many alternatives that the whole thing becomes confusing. So perhaps if I tell you some of the methods that I used, it will help to dispell some of the confusion.

Blue Voda
The website builder is a fantastic product. I would recommend Vodahost to anyone.

Fonts
Don't use fonts that are not widely used. In the beginning, I used Perpetua, because I thought it looked cool. For those computers that didn't have this font installed, there were some strange page displays

Screen width
Think of the majority that still have their screen resolution at 800 x 600. Scrolling up and down is OK, but scrolling left and right is irritating.

Blue Voda Gallery
The gallery offers a very quick way to publish photos. But it creates it's own thumbnails from your 'large' photo. The effect is that it will load the large version of all the photos, when the page is called, and this takes a long time.
There are many ways to create galleries, and I have used the pop-up method using my own thumbnail recalling my own large photo. Look for the thread "pop ups yet again" started by CarbonTerry. I used the code posted by Nyoman. Also look at Andy128.s site. Obviously, many other methods work, but this is one of them.

Email stuff
I used the "tellafriend" code posted by Navaldesign for both my Contact Us and Tell A Friend pages. The error checking was borrowed from Andy128's site. The more data you put in the hidden fields on the form, the more parameters you can pass to the tellafriend code.

Stupid questions
I had many problems 3 weeks ago, that I thought were huge. Basically, I didn't understand, but was afraid to ask. Read the forums, and if you can't find the answer, post a question. There are some very, very helpful users out there who have gone thru the same learning curve.

The Blue Voda forum search
It is not all that clever.

I would like to end by requesting to share links with any site that markets products that are related to mine. For example, candle makers, lampshade makers.

Have fun, and try not to stay up all night.

Hey Royden, I am about to visit your site again.....

Vodahost or Naval: This would make a good sticky !!!!!!!!!!

Royden,
All that hard work has paid off, because on this 2nd visit I can see the vast improvements.
All links checked OK.......centered as well.....excellent presentation...and loads quicker.

Your products photograph so well you might even be able to compress them a tad more.

Well done Royden.....fun, wasnt it !!!!

zigzag-

Awesome site. Truely! Should be a show case of "See what you can make" in BV.

Regards,

Andy

What can I say?

ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!

It is a beautifully designed and well made website. Very well done and congratulations.

You are a terrific student! You've applied your knowledge very well and created a beautiful site. Congrats.

You did a fabulous job. I, too, remember your beginnings - which were good - but the final here is outstanding.

If you want to trade with art sites - I have an art store that could trade - it will be the last one I move over to BV - but it will make the move and have a whole new look - if interested, send me an email.

Top banana! Looking very good!
Nick

Originally Posted by nick1346

Top banana! Looking very good!
Nick

Scuse.... 'Top Banana' - LMAO - I say that all the time!!!

i have tought you well young master luke......oops wrong forum. yes its ok i suppose mmmmmmmmmmm

Excellent!
I appreciate the simplicity (smaller voices are louder), the uncluttered and focused merchandise presentation, and the interaction opportunities you provide (email, tell-a-friend) to visitors. Half the battle is having anything to follow-up on from potential customers.

(Now if I could find a way to tone down the all-nighters, maybe my daily efforts would shine too, and my hair would go back to normal??) LOL