My new site ( any comments )

[rmonk]

I just finished my first effort to publish my site at www.theabbeyspringerbaai.com
I would appreciate any helpful comments and any help to improve SOE.

[zuriatman]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

Hi rmonk,

Very well done. The only comment I have is the blue oval background for
your logo or header looks rather heavy. You could change to a more
pleasant pastel color to match or harmonize with your logo or use the
shape tool to make an oval, give it a border and then make it transparent
so U can see thru the oval to the background.

[rmonk]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

Hi Zuriatman,

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to play around with the Logo. I agree it does seem a bit heavy. Transparent might well be just the ticket

[Supermax]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

I just finished my first effort to publish my site at www.theabbeyspringerbaai.com
I would appreciate any helpful comments and any help to improve SOE.

Looks good man but you only need to size it down so ppl dont have to scroll left/right. Take a look at my site and you`ll see what i mean. My site have the widht of 1ooo pixel. Just enought to fit in.

[Vasili]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

Did you ever think of cropping just the header from the BV template you selected, and then simply re-sizing it to the page width you desired, all by itself? This would eliminate most of the distortion of images you are seeing presently, and would not require such an oversized logo to "fill up the space" the disproportionate sizing created.

Speaking of the logo: I personally think it would look better as a 'rounded rectangle' with a 'solid color' applied that was more complimentary to your overall theme. When you play with it, experiment with the logo borders (and colors) to see how you can spiff it up according to taste too! You might agree, as the logo should be prominent (and memorable due to the visual impression made).

I like the fact you use your "home" page as a type of portal, with more pages available via an interior navigations system, leaving little un-anticipated for the visitor to find lacking: for example, in your "Resort Info" link/area, you present additional depth with "History" etc.
Good logical construct!

All in all, really nice!

[rmonk]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

Thanks Vasili , I ws also a little disappointed with the distortion in the template pic. I think my page width is 1000px and wondered why a template from BV would distort at such a common width. I will experiment with cropping and see if I can make it crisper. The logo is still an ongoing project but I have done some interesting things with color and hope to re-publish soon. Again thanks for the useful comments

[whiteshepherd]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

nice job ... only comment I woul make would be to suggest centring your pages in the browser ... and keep fine tuning...

[Vasili]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

Going back to my earlier observations......

I prefer the pages you created using Adobe GoLive over the index/portal you used Blue Voda to create. I would think it important to maintain that continuity (and the crispness of the overall design), and suggest you reverse-design your splash page using the same medium and layout.

If, on the other hand, you are "starting over" by using BV beginning at the index page to cover a website you 'moved over to VH' I can understand the perplexity.....but emphasize the interior layout and design theme to be superior.


I have to assume that both the "new" index and the interior was done by one person, but if not, try not to feel overwhelmed. If you need some help, there are a few of us who actually do get involved by offering expertise very affordably, and have portfolios of our work to offer as assurance of worthiness. Just ask, and you will get some recommendations from all kinds of directions! LOL

[rmonk]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

Vasili,
I have never heard of Adobe GoLive. I presume it is an alternative to BlueVoda and that you feel it may be superior in some aspects. Please advise. I am serious when I say that I am brand new to website design and although I have a business need where my site is involved, I also totally enjoy the experience. Next up, I need some advice on whether I can open a new site within the same account or do I have to purchase another domain. The second site is for a totally unrelated business.

[Vasili]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

Vasili, I have never heard of Adobe GoLive. I presume it is an alternative to BlueVoda and that you feel it may be superior in some aspects. Please advise.

As I mentioned....I know you used BV to create your "Main" (or index) page, but your interior pages are different: as if they were an older website "moved" to VodaHost.
See source info here:
<meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1">
<meta name="generator" content="Adobe GoLive 4">
<title>Your African Coastal Getawaysm.jpg</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;">
<!-- Fireworks MX Dreamweaver MX target. Created Wed Aug 06 20:17:42 GMT+0200 (South Africa Standard Time) 2003-->
</head>

I really think the interior layout and "design" is cleaner and more appropriate for your overall website, and is nothing that you could not be prevented "duplicating" using BV.....it is just a matter of paying attention to the minutia and faithfully *******ting the elements for an overall presentation, of maintaining continuity.

Just my personal thoughts, remember, and not anything that you should feel compelled to follow whatsoever. I just wanted to mention the obvious difference between the Main and the interior, and was trying to figure out why the change of direction....

[rmonk]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

Vasili.

Now I understand the confusion. The pages you are referring to are links from other sites that are pertinent to the product I sell. They are just linked to my index page and when opened they have no links back to my site.

[Karen Mac]

Re: My new site ( any comments )

They are just linked to my index page and when opened they have no links back to my site.

Ding Ding Ding! All the lights are on and nobody is home!

You must put a target=blank on those links to open in a new window, so that when they CLOSE the page to the other site your site is still open. Highlight the link, and choose properties and add this to the link.

Karen