Your Website - - OK it's online - Page 3

d_kendal · #31 02-17-2003, 03:58 PM

Hi Kevin,

you've obviously done a lot of work on this site already, and it shows, I like what you've done. just a couple suggestions:
you might want to change the <title> tag inside the <head> area of your HTML since right now it's just displaying the site URL or page name (New Page 1). if you want to change it, just type whatever you want to appear in the browser between <title></title> and put it anywhere inside the <head> tags.
also, are you able to create new email aliases at your domain? if you are, I'd recommend creating seperate addresses for the different types of inquiries (i.e. sales@restored-memories.com, support@restored-memories.com)
the only other thing I noticed (and it's probably because you're still creating it..) but the gallery page is just displaying some text and things (see attachment).
overall, it's looking good and easily navigatable.

- David

KevinBE · #32 02-17-2003, 04:31 PM

Thanks CJ. That's a good site to visit. I'll take advantage of that.

Thanks David, I've caught some of the page headings. Frontpage has some funny quirks. It automatically changes some of the page titles to match the file name and not others.

I hope to get the new and improved version up this evening. I keep running into other things that need changing. Now I have to solve the font proglem.

I am going to have to put the logo on the top right hand graphic. The text area on the left side of the top is the crush zone where the page is allowed to compress. If I put a graphic all the way accross the top the page will not be able to compress down for lower resolutions.

LactoBeeZor · #33 02-17-2003, 04:58 PM

Kevin;

I like the page. To the point. But when I use IE 6 and go to the gallery page I see no pictures and the language is not one I read. Everything below the "contact us" heading is in the old language.
Maybe me, and I do seem to be the only one to have said this...Hum.

FYI this is what I get:

Ipsum lorem
vei illum sat dolor euis mod tincidunt vei auminiure dolor in esse. Ulta ceet dolore magna si napi. Wisi e nim admin im veniam, quis nostrud. In atsvulpate velt esse meleste at semper manet sola.

KevinBE · #34 02-17-2003, 05:17 PM

Hi Lacto. That page isn't being used. I have deleted it in the new and improved version. I hope to upload it tonight. That text is the giberish that the template installs when it creates the page.

KevinBE · #35 02-17-2003, 08:30 PM

OK, the Restored-Memories.com version 2.0 is online. I think most of the mechanical, gramatical, and general content is complete, of course you'll tell me if this is so or not.

The link bar along the top is not the way I want it to be but I couldn't find any better alternative, so for now I'll go with this. I will be studying and looking for a better answer.

I'm also not happy with the gallery examples I have. Microsoft after all these years still hasn't improved the way graphic and text interact. This will just take me more time to figure out.

Anyway, kick the tires and let me know what else needs attention. Thanks in advance.

d_kendal · #36 02-18-2003, 12:40 AM

hey kevin,

I'm still getting the "Ipsum lorem" thing when I go to the gallery page (I've tried clearing the cache and trying different browsers but still no success). also, if I go to the "Main page", I don't have any menu, so I have to go back to your main splash page to navigate to anywhere else. I know how frustrating it can be to try and debug a web site, hang in there!!

- David

BigAl · #37 02-18-2003, 12:49 AM

I think you're onto a winning streak now Kevin. When a visitor doesn't have to think about the navigation, then you've got it right

(Found another spelling mistake

on the Major Restoration page moire needs an i).

David, I don't have the problem that you're having. There is no link to the gallery that I can find in the new pages. Also, there's no longer a splash page - the index page and the home page are now the same (which I like). Are you maybe running thru a proxy server? Could be that the proxy server cache is still hanging on to the old pages??

d_kendal · #38 02-18-2003, 01:14 AM

whoops, my bad, it was my own problem (I only tried Opera and IE) when I went to the page in Netscape, I'm finally seeing the new page, and it's looking good, much improved. you can ignore my last post Kevin!

- David

jrolinc · #39 02-18-2003, 01:29 PM

Kevin

I like your site...and compliment you on your efforts, both in learning and producing a working site. I too am working on building my site and with the sugguestions you're getting, the work you're doing as well as other sites out there, I look forward to getting mine critiqued as well.

Anyhow, here are some thoughts...much different than the first time I looked at it, so here I go.

The "top" navigation bar area is a different height on the Products page than all your other pages, a minor inconsistency.

I (personally) would like to not see the top navigation links when on the main Products page, but then once you click on Restoration, have the 3 navigation links appear. Oh, line them up on the nav bar so that the left margin is above the white text area (make sense?) instead of the left margin of the page.

Remove top navigation links when not on Product/Restoration pages.

In the right Nav bar, make the Product "over" indicator selected anytime you are in either Product/Restoration, Product/Manipulation, or Product/Archive. Currently, it is "dark".

Maybe use Pop-up windows for your larger examples, that way there is just a Pop-up window to close and they clients/customers are still on the Examples pages??

I like someone's earlier reply about putting before/after pics side by side as examples...that works well in all the sites I've seen that are showing actual work done and/or examples.

Anyhow, just a couple of cents worth, but overall I like the look and feel of the site.

Congrats again.

KevinBE · #40 02-18-2003, 05:50 PM

Hi guys, just got home from work. Thanks for the comments and David I'm glad you finally saw the new site. I'm having a similar problem now myself. I just made a change to the horizontal links bar and one link stayed the same even though the copy I pull into the editor shows it right. Oh well.

Thanks for the information BigAl. The spell checker looked right over that spelling of Moire', guess it's not as smart as I thought. Maybe More' is how you spell something. I just made another correction to the links bar accross the top. Jeffery made a suggestion that made sence. I had been looking at it and thinking something wasn't right. I hope this change is an improvement.

Thanks for your comments Jeffery. I have removed the restoration links from the products pages and added a products link bar that only appears on the three different products pages. I tried moving the horizontal bar to the same areas as the other links but it added to the confustion. I am studying the whole links bar situation to see if there is a better way to place them.

I am also looking for ideas on a better way of displaying the gallery of examples. I'm not too happy with what I have now and I wasn't satisfied with Frontpage's gallery function.

Tell me what you think of the new horizontal link bars on the products pages.

jeaniesa · #41 02-19-2003, 01:14 AM

Hi Kevin,

Sorry to chime in late here. I was away this weekend when you posted and had to catch up on lots of stuff when I returned.

First, I want to comment on how "professional" your site looks. I love the layout you've put together!

I did catch a brief glimpse of the initial version you posted and I really like the change you made to remove the splash page and send people directly to your "home" page.

One thing that seems a little inconsistent to me is having your contact info at the bottom of your home page and having a separate "Contact Us" navigation link. If it were me, I'd move the contact information that you have on your first page and move it to your "Contact Us" page. I do like your "feel free to contact Kevin 24 hours per day via e-mail..." I would leave that there, but make the word "contact" a link to your contact page.

Also, you might want to consider adding some sort of "encryption" scheme for your e-mail addresses or you will be setting yourself up for a deluge of spam. (That has been my experience at least.) See this thread for more info. About half-way down the first page of posts Leah posted some very helpful links!

I know that you've gotten a lot of feedback on your sub-menus already and that you've been working on them - and fighting with the lack of flexibility in Frontpage. That said, it did take me a couple of page loads before I realized that the Products sub-menus appeared across the top. (I used the links in the text of the main Products page for my navigation.) Once I did figure out that the sub-menu appeared horizontally above, I was frustrated that I couldn't get to either Manipulations or Archiving once I clicked on the "Basic Restoration" link. Once in the Restoration sub-menu, there's no way to get to Manipulations or Archiving without clicking on the main Products link in the rightside navigation bar. (At least, I couldn't find a way.) This is not good because someone might not think to look further than the "Advanced Restorations" link - esp. if they have a smaller browser window and didn't scroll down the main Products page to see that there was more than restorations. Does that make sense?

I'm interested in the comment you made about Paypal. Can you share a link for more info with me? I'm also in the process of putting my webpage together (and have been pulling my hair out trying to fix a defect in Javascript that wasn't actually a defect.

) So, I'm also following this thread with interest and hope to get some feedback on my own site in the not-to-distant future. Unlike you, I wasn't smart enough to start from a template, so I've had a huge learning curve. I know more about JavaScript now than I ever thought I wanted to.

Thanks for being brave enough to ask for feedback. This has been a great thread so far!

Jeanie

jeaniesa · #42 02-19-2003, 01:20 AM

Forgot to mention... As for ideas about the gallery pages, I'm still working on that myself! I have lots of ideas, but haven't actually tried to implement anything. You might want to search the web for various sites with galleries and see how others have designed them. Then you'll get a feel for what works well for you and what doesn't - both in terms of navigation and implementation. I spent literally hours going through the websites of members here on RP taking notes on what I liked and what I would do differently. It was worth the time I spent doing it though - I learned a lot about how much difference a good presentation of information/images can make!

Jeanie

KevinBE · #43 02-19-2003, 06:02 PM

Hi Jeanie, thanks for your observations. I'm trying to figure out how I can best organize the links. More experience would help me a lot. I have several degrees from the University Of Hard knocks. I hate signing up for classes there but I keep going back for more for some reason.

I agree with you about the contact information. I need to do more research on the contact form. It doesn't produce the information in a very usable format. I guess I need to learn more about it. The Microsoft book I bought "Frontpage 2002 Step By Step" discusses creating the contact page but doesn't even mention how you get the data back. I found a slight mention about it in another book. This is frustrating to say the least, so now do I buy yet another book to learn how to manipulate the data collected with this form.

The information about Paypal is discussed in great detail on their site. That is where I learned about it. It seems to be a much better alternative to developing your own relationship with the credit card companies. They offer all the information about setting up their shopping cart system and supply everything you need to get it up and running. The only fee comes when they collect a payment for you. I'd like to talk to someone using their system to see if it is all they claim. Here is the link http://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr.../index-outside
There are no fees to open a business account with them.

I am looking into add-in tools to help me with the Gallery. I don't think that Frontpage 2002 will do what I want. I hope to design a gallery page with all the thumbnails set up the way I want them, with the ability to add my comments to the page they will see when they are actually viewing the expanded version of the pictures. Frontpage doesn't allow you access to modify the viewing page at all. Microsoft loves to provide business opportunities for companies that offer aftermarket products that provide services Microsoft software fails to provide, that's a mouth full. I don't want to have to learn any additional software program to complete this project but it looks like I just night have to.

winwintoo · #44 02-19-2003, 06:56 PM

Kevin, I stumbled across this or a similar forum a couple of months ago - when I was thinking of opening a paypay account for Christmas shopping. It opened my eyes.

I did a Google search just now for "paypal bad experience" and got thousands of hits.

I have no personal experience with them, but with that many people complaining, they can't all be making it up.

Margaret

jeaniesa · #45 02-19-2003, 07:15 PM

Quote:

I have several degrees from the University Of Hard knocks. I hate signing up for classes there but I keep going back for more for some reason.

You too? I'm sure we've been in at least one class together!

Before you buy another book on Frontpage, try doing a web search on "forms". (Maybe "Frontpage forms"?) I've found tons of info on the web when I have a specific problem I'm trying to solve/implement.

I'm not using Frontpage, but have used it in the past and have the "Running Microsoft Frontpage 2000" book from MS Press. I assume the contact page is a form. My book mentions an "Options for Saving Results of Form" dialog box. This is accessed by right-clicking anywhere on the form and selecting "Form Properties" from the pop-up menu, then clicking on "Options." If it were me, I'd have the results mailed to me, which you can set up by then clicking on the "E-mail Results" tab. It looks pretty straight forward from there. (I would check the "include field names" box.) Perhaps you've already found this and are having problems beyond this. If not, this might help a little.

Thanks for the link to Paypal. I'll take a look at that.

I know how frustrating it is to have to learn one application after another just to do something that "should" be simple! I guess that's why web designers have jobs!

If it were easy, they wouldn't be needed. (Same with photo restoration/retouching too!) Do you have any programming experience? I think you've probably mentioned this before, but I can't remember. I have to say that I'm really glad that I have a programming background. It has made it a lot easier to go in a tweak the HTML code to do exactly what I want - and to debug Javascripts, etc.

I took a look at your source code to get an idea for how your menus are designed. Did you create the gifs that make up your menu, or did Frontpage create them automatically from text that you typed in to a template? I'm thinking that you could modify the GIFs slightly to make them appear to "indent" a bit, then add more menu items to your menu on the right. Specifically, when you click on the Products menu item, it will bring you to the Products page and the menu on the right will include three indented items below Products: Restoration, Manipulation, Archiving. I think that you tried this and weren't able to get the sub-menu items to indent? What I'm suggesting is that you create the menu with Frontpage, then edit the GIFs that Frontpage uses in PS to make them appear to indent. Not sure if I'm explaining this well enough, so I've attached an example for what I'm talking about. Since I don't know exactly what limitations you ran into before, I'm not sure if this will help or not. But, it's what I would try (and have done something similar before.)

Good luck. Hang in there - you've got a great base to work from!

Jeanie