Website critique

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djinn

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Edit My Images
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Hi, I`m not sure if this is the place to put this but I`m sure the Mod`s will let me know.

What I`m after is some feedback/critique on my new website.

I know this is going to be viewed as some way of driving traffic to the site but honestly it`s not.
I just want to get a few peoples views as to whether it`s working right i.e links do what there suppose to, the general feel, whether you like or not.

As of yet it`s still a work in progress and not completely finished.

I think there should be a section of this forum where you could post a Link to your website and get feedback.

heres the link : http://www. karlimages.co.uk
 
I'm using Google chrome and the link isn't working for me....

ETA - I worked it out - the address comes up as a link but you left a space in there!
 
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Removing the dodgy space in the link "%20" and it works..

But, having got to the opening page. What am I supposed to think? What is the purpose of this site? Are you seeking business? Is it a vanity site?

What do you do? Where do you do it?
 
Alastair said:
Removing the dodgy space in the link "%20" and it works..

But, having got to the opening page. What am I supposed to think? What is the purpose of this site? Are you seeking business? Is it a vanity site?

What do you do? Where do you do it?
Click to expand...

^this was my thought as well.

Its does not have any content other than pictures, your bio page is just a picture. its says nothing about you, what you do, where your based.
 
Thanks for taking the time to look.

Sorry about the duff link.

As I said it`s not finished yet and the Bio is one the parts that I need to complete, I should have perhaps made it clearer.

What I`m asking for is whether you feel it looks good or bad , is it easy to navigate around is the minimalist feel working or not ?

Hopefully this link works better

http://www.karlimages.co.uk
 
It's a bit style over substance at the moment.. maybe a bit more substance and then ask for critique?

.. but as above, what's the point of your site?
 
It doesn't work too nicely on my galaxy s2.
I had to pinch back until it fitted, are you building it yourself? I tend to use percent for sizing rather than a pre determined size.
The galleries won't work on my phone either, there looks like a scroll bar but its dead. Is the site finished or ongoing? There is no info in the bio.
I think its important for sites to work properly on mobile devices, i do lots of surfing on my phone (when the wife is watching reality tv lol) then view the interesting ones on the desktop when i get chance. And anything that i have to fiddle around with soon gets closed before i get to the content.
My site ain't anything fantastic but it works on most devices and the galleries are relatively easy to get around.
 
the portfolio doesn't scroll. i can see the first 3 images, and thats it. try as i might i cant work out how to get ot the others.

some things that may be more personal taste- i would move the "clients" login tab. or have the actual login page look like the rest of your site. (you could also move it to just <root>/client with no link, so clients can just manually navigate there. people will click on it, and to have it completely different from the rest of your site makes it look 'unfinished'
also, personally, i would tidy up the folder structure. the url's look messy.
'http://www.karlimages.co.uk/page/13776/contact/ for eg,,, get rid of the numbers. it will make it infinitly easier later when you ftp in to change your photos/portfolio too ;-)
 
Alastair said:
It's a bit style over substance at the moment.. maybe a bit more substance and then ask for critique?

.. but as above, what's the point of your site?
Click to expand...

The `point` of the site is purely so people can see my work .... an online portfolio if you will .... The idea of the site was to make it very simple and clean and hopefully within two or three clicks they can see my images, also it will be a portal for clients to be able to see their pictures though what will eventually be passworded galleries.
The `Bio` page ( when finished ) will only have a very small amount of info about me, the same with the `contact` page, hopefully if people want to know more about me they will click on the `blog` link.

MANY THANKS FOR YOUR FEEDBACK
 
Simon photo said:
It doesn't work too nicely on my galaxy s2.
I had to pinch back until it fitted, are you building it yourself? I tend to use percent for sizing rather than a pre determined size.
The galleries won't work on my phone either, there looks like a scroll bar but its dead. Is the site finished or ongoing? There is no info in the bio.
I think its important for sites to work properly on mobile devices, i do lots of surfing on my phone (when the wife is watching reality tv lol) then view the interesting ones on the desktop when i get chance. And anything that i have to fiddle around with soon gets closed before i get to the content.
My site ain't anything fantastic but it works on most devices and the galleries are relatively easy to get around.
Click to expand...

Hi Simon, Thanks for the great feedback just what I wanted. I can see what you mean as I had`nt tried it on my S2 yet but had the same problem on my Ipad but at least it does work on the Ipad as it`s not flash based.
I am using `portfoliobox` which is a online template based website builder , they are a fairly new company (to me anyway ) and I dont think they have got around to optimizing the sites for mobile devices but their customer service is excellent and extremley personable and I`m sure this will be something I will talk to them about as this is a big issue.
 
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Just had a quick look, and first thing is the home page image is very poor resolution and makes an otherwise great shot look poor. Personally i'd prefer the images in your portfolio all to have the same crop ratio, it doesn't flow very smoothly when they keep changing size.
Other than that and the above about content, it loads fine and easy enough to navigate. :)
 
Capt_Crash said:
the portfolio doesn't scroll. i can see the first 3 images, and thats it. try as i might i cant work out how to get ot the others.

some things that may be more personal taste- i would move the "clients" login tab. or have the actual login page look like the rest of your site. (you could also move it to just <root>/client with no link, so clients can just manually navigate there. people will click on it, and to have it completely different from the rest of your site makes it look 'unfinished'
also, personally, i would tidy up the folder structure. the url's look messy.
'http://www.karlimages.co.uk/page/13776/contact/ for eg,,, get rid of the numbers. it will make it infinitly easier later when you ftp in to change your photos/portfolio too ;-)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback

Not sure why you had problems with scrolling. Can you tell me what browser you was using ? and whether you are using a mobile device or desktop/laptop ?

Not sure how much control I would have over the `login` page because as I said in a previous post I`m using `Portfoliobox` an online template based website builder but I see what you mean about the unfinished feel, this is something I will talk to them about or it might even be an option as I have`nt got around to adding any Client galleries yet.
 
treeman said:
Just had a quick look, and first thing is the home page image is very poor resolution and makes an otherwise great shot look poor. Personally i'd prefer the images in your portfolio all to have the same crop ratio, it doesn't flow very smoothly when they keep changing size.
Other than that and the above about content, it loads fine and easy enough to navigate. :)
Click to expand...

Yes I know what you mean about the home page image I was`nt a 100% sure of using it but I do like the fact that the eyes of the image are pointing to where you need to go to navigate the site, I may try uploading a higher resolution but this may have an effect on loading time which is somehing I was trying to avoid.

Many thanks for your helpful feedback
 
One question I would like to ask all the people who have viewed the site so far is:

"When viewing the galleries is it `obvious` that if you click on any of the individual pictures then a lightbox viewer will appear and a larger view of the image will be displayed and you can move though the images that way ? "

or do you think I should add some text to highlight this feature ?
 
You can scroll ok when viewing in lightbox. You just need to hover the mouse to go left or right for the button to appear. You really need to make the scroll bar more in your face rather then a little grey box.

I think people may struggle depending how bright their screens are. Make the bar a dark colour and the scroll background a bit darker.

I just think the scroll bar lets your gallery down.
 
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I think I would take out the "Photos" page altogether. It doesn't serve a purpose now that I see that the drop-down menu gives the same options. It makes the sight cleaner if you're going for that type of style.

Are there three different fonts used on the first page? I'd change "Photography" to the same font as "Karl Stevens". At the moment it looks slightly odd and unbalanced.
 
djinn said:
Thanks for the feedback
Not sure why you had problems with scrolling. Can you tell me what browser you was using ? and whether you are using a mobile device or desktop/laptop ?
Click to expand...

i've tried it on firefox and chrome, on a laptop.

this page- http://www.karlimages.co.uk/gallery/23861
(same with landscapes page etc)
I can see the first 3 images, but can't seem to scroll without opening the lightbox.

Nice shot of the Sydney Opera House, by the way ;-)

Edit> Ahhhhh, i got it. right, the scroll bar is right there. Hmmm, ok, that doesn't look like a scroll bar. that needs to be a little more obvious. i don't know how i missed that, but if i did, than you can be sure others will (especially less 'techie' people, which i definitely am not!)
 
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AboutLee said:
You can scroll ok when viewing in lightbox. You just need to hover the mouse to go left or right for the button to appear. You really need to make the scroll bar more in your face rather then a little grey box.

I think people may struggle depending how bright their screens are. Make the bar a dark colour and the scroll background a bit darker.

I just think the scroll bar lets your gallery down.
Click to expand...

Thanks for looking and the feedback.
Yes I`ve had a few comments about the scrollbar and how it`s not that `obvious` so I think I might change the template and go for more of a thumbnail type look.
 
Alastair said:
I think I would take out the "Photos" page altogether. It doesn't serve a purpose now that I see that the drop-down menu gives the same options. It makes the sight cleaner if you're going for that type of style.

Are there three different fonts used on the first page? I'd change "Photography" to the same font as "Karl Stevens". At the moment it looks slightly odd and unbalanced.
Click to expand...

Yes I agree about the `photos page` but unfortunately it`s a menu link and has to go somewhere so better a page with something on than a blank page. I would have prefered it just to bring up the drop-down menu but thats not an option.

Great feedback much appreciated
 
Capt_Crash said:
i've tried it on firefox and chrome, on a laptop.

this page- http://www.karlimages.co.uk/gallery/23861
(same with landscapes page etc)
I can see the first 3 images, but can't seem to scroll without opening the lightbox.

Nice shot of the Sydney Opera House, by the way ;-)

Edit> Ahhhhh, i got it. right, the scroll bar is right there. Hmmm, ok, that doesn't look like a scroll bar. that needs to be a little more obvious. i don't know how i missed that, but if i did, than you can be sure others will (especially less 'techie' people, which i definitely am not!)
Click to expand...

Glad you finally found it, looks like this template maybe to confusing and the scrolling a little bit jittery, so I think a change is the order of the day.

Thanks for the Opera house comment, That shot was taken while on a boat trip around the harbour, I can`t believe how sharp it came out , thank god for Nikon VR lenses .

Thanks for the great feed back
 
AboutLee said:
You can scroll ok when viewing in lightbox. You just need to hover the mouse to go left or right for the button to appear. You really need to make the scroll bar more in your face rather then a little grey box.

I think people may struggle depending how bright their screens are. Make the bar a dark colour and the scroll background a bit darker.

I just think the scroll bar lets your gallery down.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the feedback it really helps.

yes I`ve had a few comments about the scrollbar, and I think a simpler option is needed, more of a thumbnail approach.

edit : sorry replied to this one twice
 
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Hi I`ve changed a couple of things and I was wondering if people could take another look
 
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