Hello All! my site is done for the most part and I've published it. I signed up with a webring and didn't get very good ratings. The pics are still loading slow but that will be fixed as soon as I get an answer from another forum....Please let me know what u think. Also, there isn't any spell check....I'm the worst speller!!! I would like some guidance if u please....thanks! http://septemberschild.com Peace, Elena

Looks nice! You mentioned your photos... did you compress your photo sizes for web pages? If you didn't you should use the "pic resizer" Voda offers so that your photos will load more quickly. You can find it here:

http://www.vodahost.com/pix.htm

I didn't use it for my site, but I compressed my photos for web pages in MS Office Picture Manager before loading them to my site, and I don't have too much problem with them loading slowly.

You're welcome to stop by my site (it's a jewelry site too - www.hanalynn.com) to see how I have aligned my photos. It's a bit difficult to scan your item descriptions at the top of your Necklace page.

One last thing I know a lot of people have mentioned on this site, your pages are a bit wide. It's best to stay at about 800 wide so that people don't have to scroll from side to side.

Are you shying away from using a shopping cart or Paypal for easy customer payments (and credit card acceptance)? Paypal is really easy to set up and is free to have. A lot of people who shop online typically prefer a way to pay by credit card or account debit.

I hope I haven't said too much... I think you're doing a GREAT job! =) The colours on your site are so pretty. You have FABULOUS items too! I'm just offering my immediate thoughts as someone stopping in.

Julie S.
www.hanalynn.com

Thanks Julie!
I fully appreciate your feedback. The only help I have had is from these forums so far and I really have no idea what I'm doing. :) I did use the pic resizer to make the thumbnail pics in the necklace page and linked them to a larger pic which is really large. Still loads kinda slow.
You have a beautiful site! I think I need a template for my "theme" so I know where my boundaries are and can neaten everything up, I feel kinda like I'm all over the place. I started looking into pay pal but haven't gotten that far. Soon...Where did you find your template? I have looked at lots of free template sites and they are boaring for the most part or all black, which is nice but I like the lighter backgrounds.
Thanks again for getting back to me....I'll keep updating and looking for the right template.........check in again in a while ok?? Thanks and Peace...

Hello =)

I got my template from Vodahost! Go here: http://www.vodahost.com/help.htm
Look under Vodahost templates. There are lots to choose from!

Beware tho... when you use a template, you should keep your pages as close to 800 x 600 as possible, otherwise, the text and images wont format properly.

My pages are 800 x 700... but using tables seems to help with keeping the text in line for smaller screen displays that pull up my site.

Good luck! I'll keep checking in on you! =)

Julie S.
www.hanalynn.com

I told you to look for free templates at the wrong place!

Here is where I found my template... free from Vodahost.

http://www.vodahost.com/library.htm

You just find the templates you like, then you download and save the group with your chosen template in it, and then you add it to your page just like an image.

Hope that helps! =)
Julie S.

You have been most helpful! thanks.

Julie,
on the site builder, what numbers (bottom right) am I supposed to be watching? Thanks again!!!

When you look down on the bottom right, there is a "w:" (width) and "h:" (height). You should keep your (w:)width no larger than 800 and your (h:)height as close to 600 as possible.

Did you find a nice template? =)

Julie S.

I made a nice template using printmaster.....hope it works...
another question - when I want to redo a page do I make a new one, then give them the correct names such as "index" etc. and by uploading, it will take the place of the old page? Or should I remodel on the original page???

Many thanks again! Peace

Hi there,

Save your new template as a template ie, file>saveas>template get as much of the duplicate work done in the first template, ie menus, buttons and logo's or images you want on every page. Now your first page is index and lets say you want another page called about us, file> newpage>fromtemplate (the one you saved) now save this page in your local bluevoda file (on your machine) as aboutus, do the work you need on this page save it and then publish it as aboutus. Do this for all the pages you require. It's much quicker than producing each page at a time and you get a consistent look and feel throughout your website. Like I said earlier I have found that the more work you do on the initial template the easier your work becomes on other pages.

Hope this helps

Paul

Hi again,

Just read over your post again and I probably haven't answered your question very well. If you get the page up and you want to alter it then yes when you upload it again from your Bluevoda folder locally it over rides the old one. I would say that the only time you need to alter all pages within your website is if you change menu items or add other pages to a menu. It gets very messy if some pages have one menu structure and others a different one. Anything content wise on each page is fine because the "look and feel" generally stays the same.


Paul

Awesome Info! thanks...what a good idea...