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03/14/2008 01:25:32 PM · #1
I have recently updated my website and revamped the gallery.

flickerslair.ca

I would really love some opinions.
03/15/2008 10:22:08 AM · #2
I am really hoping that the lack of opinions is because of the time I posted rather than my site being horrible!
03/15/2008 10:25:26 AM · #3
Left comment on site. PM if any questions.
03/15/2008 10:45:46 AM · #4
Andy,

The navigation of the site is nice.. organized and simple. I would make the background dark to make your images stand out more. Another idea would be to line up the top edge of the slide show with the menu so that they are at an equal hight. It kind of looks unbalanced the way that it is set up now... hope this helps..
~haze
03/15/2008 10:46:59 AM · #5
Originally posted by haze:

Andy...

You mean Heidi. :-)
03/15/2008 10:47:08 AM · #6
Woah. That took nearly 45 seconds to fully load. Maybe that's why you're not getting any replies. People just quit when it takes more than 10 or 15 seconds, some even less. Your slideshow started showing images pretty quickly but I had the hourglass in my face for 45 seconds, and that's not a good thing.

Upon browsing the first topic, Landscapes, I immediately noticed the ugly bg colour that your images are shown on. Pale yellow is not a good backdrop colour to view images, again this may be personal preference but I think most like a dark backdrop.

I don't like the way the captions are shown below the images. It overlaps onto the yellow backdrop thus making the words harder to read, sometimes. I like the text to be clear either on a white or black bg, other colours tend to make some people squint to view the text.

Could you add transitions to your slideshow? The pictures popping every time gets irritating after a bit. A slower, not by much, transition would help in keeping viewers interested in seeing the next shot.

All in all a good looking site but it needs a little tweaking to make it a truly beautiful one. Try a darker theme. Images look better with darker themes. Check out some pro photogrphers and you'll see not many choose a light coloured theme to display there work.

Keep up the effort!

jac
03/15/2008 10:50:35 AM · #7
Well, it came up fairly quickly. The home page is organized nicely and the navigation from there works well.

Is there a way to just flip through the photos without closing the window and then clicking the next photo? That's a bit cumbersome.
03/15/2008 10:55:35 AM · #8
Yes, the loading time is particularly bad. You've linked to a page within the main site, and the front page seems to load ok, but your "photography" section simply takes too long. That page seems to be pre-loading all your gallery images. If so, that's not a very wise use of your site, and it's ultimately self-defeating. You may have merely submitted to whatever your gallery script is doing; if that's the case, change your gallery to something a little more rational.

I notice that you're hosting your site in the UK. If your primary audience is North American, find a local web host. Although not too terribly bad, the response time of the site averages 99 milliseconds. Less than a millisecond indicates a well-connected web host, and is really what's desired. After all, you should host your .CA website in Canada. :-)

03/15/2008 11:13:54 AM · #9
Goodness, thanks so much for all the feedback.

This is the first iteration of this version of my site, so I will keep playing!

I am using a component for the slideshow, I didnt like the lack of transitions, but will have to see what I can do with it, or maybe change the component. I am half tempted to write myself a new one that I like!

It is hosted in the UK, as I only emigrated to Canada in 2006 and have been with my host since before that. They have always been very good, good service, good packages and a sensible price. It was renewed in feb for a year so I am stuck there till next year.

I will have to see what I can do about the loading times. I am just using a collection of .net ajaxcontroltoolkit components to make up the gallery, so I can change it about anyway I like! I was working on the theory that it was better to preload the larger versions in the background to give a better response when clicked.

I hadnt thought of navigation within the popup window - but I really like the idea. I will have to see what I can come up with.

Thanks again
Heidi
03/15/2008 02:38:28 PM · #10
I don't like the background at all, way too noisy. Personally I'd go with a solid color or a more subtle pattern.

The page itself took about 15 seconds to load, the slideshow took almost a minute:
It sort of looked like you were pre-loading all your images but they're actually all just on the one page. You might look into a different code for your popup-window that only loads the image AFTER it is clicked on. That would hugely improve your load time up front and not discourage people from sticking around while they wait.

The image pop-up is nice, but the image caption doesn't always line up with the lighter banner (in IE7) and the copyright text you have in the image itself often overlaps with the description, making both hard to read.

The rounded corners of your main white box don't appear to work in IE7 or Opera but look fine in Firefox and Netscape.

Your image popups position themselves strangely in Firefox, Opera and Netscape if the image is clicked on before it is pre-loaded though IE7 appears to be fine.

I do like the navigation, its easy to understand and use. The slideshow is also a nice touch, if only it would load a little faster. I imagine that the slideshow loads after all the other images, which would be why it takes so long.
03/25/2008 08:02:57 AM · #11
Thank you all so much for your feedback, some of it I can not believe I missed!

I have been working on the loading time and popup window. I got rid of the slideshow I had, as it really wasnt good enough, and have replaced it with a flash gallery. //www.flickerslair.ca/gallery/gallery.aspx

It is so much more fun putting together a site about things I care about, but so much harder doing it all on my own!
03/25/2008 08:20:00 AM · #12
I had a look... the site looks very very very dated. Like 1995 dated. It's slow and cumbersome and doesn't look too hot either. I'm not giving any mention of the pics because that's not what this is about, but seeing as how most people will not spend more than 15 seconds looking at a website you need it to be punchy and to the point. I thought your background wasn't very good and made it look very unprofessional. If you're stuck for ideas, make it black. Get a logo too or somethign to jazz it up.

It would be ncie if the thumbnails were down the side too so you could just click one from an overall list and not be limited to the 5 or so at the bottom reel thing. I doubt many people will go past the 5th picture with an interface like that where they're not in control.

If i were you, and wanted to make a pro looking website, i'd go with a different provider like clikpic or godaddy because the prices are right and they look smart.
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