jacko
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 07:58 PM |
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My Daughter's first ever web site
http://www.wix.com/amandajackson101/illustrator
Please take a minute to have a look and let her know what you think of it + ideas to improve it
Thank you
Graham [ Jacko ]
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theduck
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 08:05 PM |
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I gather from trying the link on my iPhone it's a fully flash site, as such I can't view it and can only feedback that flash isn't
the best way to code websites, though others may disagree.
Is there a particular reason she has used flash?
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jacko
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 08:14 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by theduck
I gather from trying the link on my iPhone it's a fully flash site, as such I can't view it and can only feedback that flash isn't
the best way to code websites, though others may disagree.
Is there a particular reason she has used flash?
Flash has been used because at my college we have been encouraged to use this rather than spending alot of time learning the html codes. My course is
more about illustration and promotion rather than the ins and outs of websites.
Amanda
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theduck
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 08:40 PM |
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No problem Amanda, where there is a reason for flash it's worth using, but if you were wanting to go into we design as a profession you would be
expected to use HTML and CSS. If its a visual design exercise rather than a technical exercise then flash is ideal as it is easier to make attractive
sites with flash the it is with HTML and CSS.
One of the biggest issues with flash is that it's not search engine friendly.
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jacko
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 08:57 PM |
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Thnakyou for your info. I understand what you mean about it not been good for site optimisation. I may get a website designer to build me a website
later on.
Amanda
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theduck
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 09:11 PM |
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HTML and CSS is quite easy to learn and implement for a basic site. Worth having a go yourself, plenty of websites out there that will give you the
basics and if you need to do something particular a quick search will find the code you need.
Also it's worth using gif files for images as they are small and so make website load faster. I'm no expert but am self taught and with a
bit of time can make an attractive and easy to navigate site that Meets all validation.
Have a look at http://www.w3.org/ and http://www.w3schools.com/
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theduck
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 09:14 PM |
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Oh and worth downloading and using notepad2 http://www.flos-freeware.ch/notepad2.html its free and helps when writing code.
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Slimy38
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 09:44 PM |
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It's quite decent, since I'm 100% geek I have to agree with the others about the technical difficulties imposed by Flash (as well as the
inability for it to load properly or quickly!!) but from an aesthetic aspect it's nice.
I like the fact that you keep the background static, you have a nice menu system that gives an indication of what page you're on. The titles
staying static is also good, although the 'cart' in the top right seems out of place when you're not in the 'shop'.
I'd perhaps look at hiding that from the other pages, at least until there is something in the cart and then maybe it can stay on screen.
The page itself is a nice size (if it fits on my screen it'll fit on anything else!), although it is very slightly too long. I can't see
the 'welcome' bit unless I scroll down.
You might like to look at the page on other devices, particularly smart phones. I don't know whether your white on black title may be difficult
to read on a smaller screen. I would suggest Ipad/Iphone, but you're not going to make any friends with the Apple generation if you use
Flash!
Oh, and you really ought to put a watermark on the larger images, either your own name or some other faint mark straight across the middle. Otherwise
you're going to find all your hard work has gone walkies and your shopping cart will remain ever empty! Put it right into the image, IE on the
originals before you upload them on to the site.
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Thinking about it
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 09:49 PM |
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I like the layout, it suits the type of illustrations.
Good luck.
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tegwin
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 10:07 PM |
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I like the general layout, very well thought out. Could be replicated pretty easily in HTML/CSS if you wanted (and for a commercial project I would
suggest doing this)
One thing though, reading the "about me". The grammar and use of punctuation does not seem quite right. I cant put my finger on it but it
does not get the information across as clearly as it could do. (please note I am not an English expert but I do read/write a lot of blurbs on
websites where getting key points across in a mature concise maner is vital.
For example:
quote:
I have recently graduated with a BA HONS degree in Illustration. I studied through Lincoln University and The Leeds Met, but have been based at Hull
College of Art and Design, Queens Gardens.
Could be re-written:
I have recently graduated with a BA Hons degree in Illustration from Lincoln University and the Leeds Met having been based at Hull College of Art and
Design, Queens Gardens. (much clearer, easier to read)
The other paragraphs likewise are not quite as clean as they could be. Remeber the reader will scan-read. Don't make it harder than it needs for
them to pick out the important details!
Also on the contact page:
quote:
The best way to contact me at this present time is by e-mailing me on
replace "this" with "the".... "this" is a colloquialism that does not really fit the sentence somehow.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Would the last person who leaves the country please switch off the lights and close the door!
www.verticalhorizonsmedia.tv
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bi22le
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 10:26 PM |
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Looks good but it glitches on my galaxy S2. I have not seen a site not want to scroll like that before.
Design wise though it looks good. From being an experienced art buyer i suggest you add more details of the pieces though. Size, ink type, canvas
frame type and background inspiration.
Overall.
Track days ARE the best thing since sliced bread, until I get a supercharger that is!
Please read my ring story:
http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/forum/13/viewthread.php?tid=139152&page=1
Me doing a sub 56sec lap around Brands Indy. I need a geo set up! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHksfvIGB3I
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computid
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 10:28 PM |
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As a software developer specialising in web based applications I have a few comments from both a technical perspective and a user perspective.
The first thing I'm going to mention is the use of Flash. You have eliminated a lot of users (most certainly mobile users) by using flash. Its
an old, inefficient and on some platforms a completely incompatible format. Learning HTML certainly isn't hard, its a very simple language.
Throw in some CSS and you can have a pretty reasonable looking website thats easy to update in very little time.
Another major flaw in flash is that updating it becomes a pain because you have to rebuild a new SWF every time (unless you've been clever with
a database interface or some sort of file back end).
The next thing that immediately stood out to me was the slow response time. It takes time for the images to be loaded and displayed which will annoy a
lot of users. This is partly down to the fact that the browser has to render the images within a flash application.
I can go on and on about the inefficiencies of flash but I think you get the idea.
From a usability point of view, my only negative comment is that the font is a little hard to read in some places, especially on the smaller buttons.
Other then my above comments it looks pretty good.
Oh, one other thing, because its flash based and all the text is stored as an image in the SWF application, google and other search engines
won't be able to index it properly. You need to do some serious SEO to get it a reasonable search engine ranking.
If you have any questions feel free to drop me a U2U.
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twybrow
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| posted on 22/5/12 at 10:55 PM |
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quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
I like the general layout, very well thought out. Could be replicated pretty easily in HTML/CSS if you wanted (and for a commercial project I would
suggest doing this)
One thing though, reading the "about me". The grammar and use of punctuation does not seem quite right. I cant put my finger on it but it
does not get the information across as clearly as it could do. (please note I am not an English expert but I do read/write a lot of blurbs on
websites where getting key points across in a mature concise maner is vital.
For example:
quote:
I have recently graduated with a BA HONS degree in Illustration. I studied through Lincoln University and The Leeds Met, but have been based at Hull
College of Art and Design, Queens Gardens.
Could be re-written:
I have recently graduated with a BA Hons degree in Illustration from Lincoln University and the Leeds Met having been based at Hull College of Art and
Design, Queens Gardens. (much clearer, easier to read)
The other paragraphs likewise are not quite as clean as they could be. Remeber the reader will scan-read. Don't make it harder than it needs for
them to pick out the important details!
Also on the contact page:
quote:
The best way to contact me at this present time is by e-mailing me on
replace "this" with "the".... "this" is a colloquialism that does not really fit the sentence somehow.
Seconded! I was also looking a those lines, and thought it sounded a bit like it was written by a school child (no insult meant!)... Otherwise, agree,
the layout and work is most agreeable... 
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kjouk
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| posted on 23/5/12 at 08:20 AM |
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Liked the presentation but thought the welcome page needed a bit more. Great to have the images but you don't give any clue as to what the
purpose is. When time is short if I don't "get it" with the first glance I will probably walk away. Perhaps replace
"Welcome" with a simple tagline saying what the site is for.
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dhutch
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| posted on 23/5/12 at 11:39 AM |
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Looking at work over lunch I got:
Something went wrong
Page load failed!
Page XML not found on appSrv
http://static.wix.com/doc/79356f_916d90178fa34a5437802a1eb0e02ded.xml.z?hz=0
docName:illustrator,userNick:amandajackson101,clientID:2590229,docId:22496858,pageId:2590229siteId:pageNum:0
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mad-butcher
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| posted on 23/5/12 at 01:01 PM |
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Even simpler for those of us who can't be arsed reading too much info
I have recently graduated from Lincoln University with a BA Hons degree in Illustration
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jacko
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| posted on 23/5/12 at 04:15 PM |
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Thankyou for your comments.
At the moment I have to abide by the college requirements for my web site. There are facilities to enable the web site to be accessed by mobiles etc.
however this will be done at a later date.
Amanda 
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gremlin1234
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| posted on 23/5/12 at 05:44 PM |
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in the contact me section, a more professional email address should be sought, -ie not hotmail.
amandajackson.co.uk is already taken, by someone working in a similar field, and local to you, so you may have the difficult task of finding a
name.
I like the illustrations!
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swanny
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| posted on 23/5/12 at 07:24 PM |
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looks really good, very nice design. first sentence of second paragraph of about me needs re ordering, agree that it comes across a little too
simplistic. is the Lincoln UniverCity s[elling a typo or intended?
some very nice stuff too
paul
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dhutch
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| posted on 23/5/12 at 10:02 PM |
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Looks, nice enough, and given the field its not going to be the sort of 'i want hard facts non of your marketing bullshit' website
requirements that im often seeking. I agree with most of the above comments on reducing the words said to say whats said, like a cv, i guess you want
vary short snappy info filled pros on why your awesome.
Im on an ok broadband connection and sitting there for a while thinking 'These buttons done work then...?' before I saw the loading icon
in the middle, queue a 30second pause, and we're there...
Daniel
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