Comments, please, about redesign (Full Version)

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_gail -> Comments, please, about redesign (9/17/2006 11:03:59)

Hi there,

After three years of growth, my site became increasingly difficult to navigate and mangage. So I drew a schematic for a new design and had someone put it into a Content Management System. The site was launched last month.

I did the donkey-work of moving content from the old site and pasting it into the new. WHEW!! I'm no longer using FrontPage, and by doing so have lost some control (this is a whole other story). Now have new and very different stuff to learn. I'm still using FrontPage for other sites.

Anyway, I would love and appreciate your feedback and any suggestions. As always, thanks so much.

www.digicamhelp.com

gail

ps - for Outfronters who helped me learn FrontPage from the very beginning, here's an idea of how the site originally looked as archived by the Wayback machine:
http://web.archive.org/web/20050310012954/http://www.digicamhelp.com/

Thanks again.



jaybee -> RE: Comments, please, about redesign (9/17/2006 11:35:10)

Gail, very nice.

Good luck with the CMS. I've used a CMS for 2 sites recently and am about to do a 3rd. It scares the heck out of me. You're so right about losing control.

Your site sits there and then the dreaded email turns up, Urgent Security Upgrade!! Do it now!!!

Sooo you drop everything else and start wading around in somebody else's code applying patches and hoping to heck they've got it right.

Of course the upgrade I had to do last night, one site worked fine, the other had problems. If I can issue any advice and I've not used the CMS you've got, be careful with the add-ons. They're the bits that get left behind on the main upgrades so all of a sudden part of your site has to be taken down while you wait for the fix.

I used to dread the phpBB updates coming in but at least with those you just lock out the forum if something goes wrong. Compared to the CMS, phpBB upgrades now seem positively benign. [:D]



markhawker -> RE: Comments, please, about redesign (9/18/2006 8:29:28)

Hello there!

Well, definitely an improvement on the previous site.

Just a few little bits and bats...

1) You appear to have ads everywhere, how about just having them in one location i.e. in the left-bar at the bottom?
2) I'd have your Find A Camera module above the Shop advertisement (I assume this takes you to the shop anyway?)
3) Space out the top search field from the Search button, it's a bit cluttered at the minute.
4) I like the Top Tips and Featured Photos, could these be included on every page and not just the Home?
5) What do you consider to be the main purpose of your site? Where are you mostly gaining revenue? If it's the shop, I'd highlight that more, if it's your forums, highlight that more. As a user, I'm just slightly confused!

Hope that helps, number 5 is probably the most prominent question I have!

Overall, I like the style of the site, you just need to refine the content. Maybe less is more?

Regards,



_gail -> RE: Comments, please, about redesign (10/3/2006 18:01:06)

First of all. I'm very sorry for the delay in replying. Evidently I didn't tick email notifications and simply forgot. Thank you for the replies.

quote:

Good luck with the CMS. I've used a CMS for 2 sites recently and am about to do a 3rd. It scares the heck out of me. You're so right about losing control.


Why are you scared and, if you are, why are you using it for a third time? Did you set it up yourself or have someone else set it up for you, as I did?

quote:

Your site sits there and then the dreaded email turns up, Urgent Security Upgrade!! Do it now!!!


Well, I don't know anything about those types of things. I've used FrontPage for years. I something major went wrong, I simply republished my site.

quote:

If I can issue any advice and I've not used the CMS you've got, be careful with the add-ons.


Yes, some of them are quirky, aren't they!!![:'(]



jaybee -> RE: Comments, please, about redesign (10/3/2006 18:16:06)

quote:


Why are you scared and, if you are, why are you using it for a third time? Did you set it up yourself or have someone else set it up for you, as I did?
Client requirements. They want a CMS, aren't prepared to pay big bucks for the professional ones so I have to use Joomla or similar. Why scared? Because when I've developed a site myself from scratch I know exactly what's there and if anything goes wrong, I know exactly where to look and how to fix it.

With a CMS not a clue. You take somebody else's code, install it on your host, tweak it but have no idea what holds it together. I end up on the CMS forum searching for clues. Complete loss of control.

quote:


Well, I don't know anything about those types of things. I've used FrontPage for years. I something major went wrong, I simply republished my site.
Ummm then I suggest you learn fast or get whoever set it up for you to keep an eye out for the security updates. Hosts regularly shut sites down for not having upgraded to the latest version of things. My own host killed over 50 sites recently for not being on the latest version of phpBB.

The problem is these upgrades come through fairly soon after someone using the same CMS has had their site hacked. They report it to the developers who find a security hole and then issue a patch. If you don't install it you're vulnerable too.





_gail -> RE: Comments, please, about redesign (10/3/2006 18:56:50)

quote:

You appear to have ads everywhere, how about just having them in one location i.e. in the left-bar at the bottom?


The ads have been changed since I first asked folks here to look at the site. They are still in several places but I don't think they are quite as in your face. We moved the navigation completely from the right-hand column and put it back in the left where it belongs.

We're still working on ad placement but, other than the rotator, they will not go in the left-bar. Navigation should be there and now it is.

quote:

2) I'd have your Find A Camera module above the Shop advertisement (I assume this takes you to the shop anyway?)


The Find A Camera module is for Amazon products. They have never done well at my site and I'm not inclinded to give it a more prominent position. Chitka ads work relatively well and they will stay about where they are.

quote:

3) Space out the top search field from the Search button, it's a bit cluttered at the minute.


Excellent suggestion. Will do. Since I'm dependent on someone else no to do things like this, it'll be done when they have time.

quote:

4) I like the Top Tips and Featured Photos, could these be included on every page and not just the Home?


I will be adding more photos throughout under the Creative Commons license as I did here:

http://www.digicamhelp.com/camera-features/shooting-modes/face-detection.php


quote:

5) What do you consider to be the main purpose of your site?


Eductional. Period.

Income is minimal considering the huge amount of time I put in on the site. I'd make A LOT more money getting a job at Mac Donalds at minimum wage.

I'm an educator and have been in education most of my life, a lot of it as volunteer. I am a retiree and do the site primarily to help others and because I enjoy it. And I have a passion for digital photography. I appreciate the extra pin money of course but if I had a day job, I'd never be able to quit it.

quote:

As a user, I'm just slightly confused!


I'm sorry you are confused. I have thousands of visitors to my site and no one ever mentioned they were confused.

Also, I do not have a forum, and will never have one. It's a Q&A Board. I get a couple of inquiries a week and that's plenty for me. I have three wonderful mods who help answer inquiries. Two I met here at Outfront and I consider them virtual friends. They are fantastic photographers in their own right.

Thanks again for your input.



_gail -> RE: Comments, please, about redesign (10/3/2006 19:03:47)

quote:

Ummm then I suggest you learn fast or get whoever set it up for you to keep an eye out for the security updates.


My host and the developer are one in the same. In this regard, I'm in good hands. From what I understand, the CMS I'm using is very stable. So it should be fine as long as I don't put my hands on it. lol




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