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View Full Version : Finally a new design ! Would like some opinons please.



Harold Mansfield
04-08-2009, 12:37 AM
I finally got a new design on my music blog, with a few modifications.
This is kind of a continuation of a thread about Private advertising on this site, so I would like some straight forward opinions on the layout, and the overall impression.

If something doesn't look right, I really want to know.

Know issues :
The excerpts run past the border, because the section is smaller on this theme, and those are previous posts.
Nothing on the advertising page...working on rates now.
Feature Images don't take up the full area...also previous posts, the old area was smaller.

Everyone here has always said that there was too much going on, so this is an attempt to organize the information better.

Thanks in advance :) The link (http://www.124bpms.com)

vangogh
04-08-2009, 01:43 AM
Looks good. Feels less crowded than before, though you still manage to get quite a lot in.

The drop downs under Dance Music Festivals and New Releases are way too long. They're unusable. You have to scroll to see the full menu. Find a way to group them into some categories and go an extra level deeper if you have to. You could also try the new mega menus that are becoming popular. Right not though those drop downs aren't usable. Worldwide is kind of big too.

On the contact page I'd left align the form instead of having it be centered. It looks off the way it is.

I don't see the excerpts issue. Not sure if you fixed it or if it's simply not a Firefox issue.

I'm not sure what the xhtml link to show the site validates adds to your site. I assume the navigation links at the bottom of the sidebar are there just to balance the space. Anything else you could add instead. Those links don't seem all that useful in that location.

Overall it looks pretty good. I'm doing what I can to nitpick above.

SteveC
04-08-2009, 02:04 AM
Ditto what Steve said, also in IE7 your main drop down goes behind the video box... making it impossible to click on aything in this area.

Harold Mansfield
04-08-2009, 02:31 AM
Ditto what Steve said, also in IE7 your main drop down goes behind the video box... making it impossible to click on aything in this area.

Yeah, I know. I have always had that problem. Maybe I'll try what Vangogh suggested and break them up into A-K, and J-Z or something.
I could probably break up the Festivals into "U.K.", "Netherlands", and the rest of Europe, and split up "New Releases" as well....been kind of avoiding reorganizing the categories, but I suppose I can't ignore the fact that it's pretty obvious now. (Crap! :()

What is this "Mega Menu" you speak of ?

vangogh
04-08-2009, 03:21 AM
Here's a link to a Jakob Nielsen alert box on mega drop downs (http://www.useit.com/alertbox/mega-dropdown-menus.html). Nielsen has always been against the typical drop down because testing he's done has shown them to be less than usable. The mega version seems to be testing as much more usable.

rezzy
04-08-2009, 11:19 AM
I really like what you have there!

My only concern is its a little slow, and the main reason I see is, your images are big and then resized in the code. A much better way is to resize the actual image and there dont have to worry about downloading a full image and the browser sizing it down.

Harold Mansfield
04-08-2009, 11:32 AM
I really like what you have there!

My only concern is its a little slow, and the main reason I see is, your images are big and then resized in the code. A much better way is to resize the actual image and there dont have to worry about downloading a full image and the browser sizing it down.

I am not sure if I get you here, are you saying to resize the image before I insert it ? Or to insert the image and then resize it ?

I do use a lot of images, the average post is going to have (1) Featured Image - 530x285, (1) Thumb Image-, and at least 2 article images- maximum width of 580, and a video when ever available...but I need a little more clarification on what you are saying is the best way to use them.
I have always had issues with load times on this blog, and I can never get a wp-cache to work properly. As you can see, I don't actually know any design "rules", but I would like it to load faster.

vangogh
04-08-2009, 11:49 AM
A lot of your images look like they haven't been optimized for speed. You could keep them the same width and height, but reduce the file size a lot. If you have Photoshop of similar save the images for the web instead of just saving them.

Harold Mansfield
04-08-2009, 01:59 PM
A lot of your images look like they haven't been optimized for speed. You could keep them the same width and height, but reduce the file size a lot. If you have Photoshop of similar save the images for the web instead of just saving them.

I use gimp. I don't understand "Save them for the web". How do you optimize them for speed ?

vangogh
04-08-2009, 03:02 PM
Saving for the web reduces the file size. The image loads faster and that's how you optimize for speed. I think the save option is still called save for web in GIMP. It should open a window which lets you adjust the file size of the image by adding some image compression. Just saving that way will probably have your page loading about twice as fast.

Harold Mansfield
04-08-2009, 04:35 PM
Saving for the web reduces the file size. The image loads faster and that's how you optimize for speed. I think the save option is still called save for web in GIMP. It should open a window which lets you adjust the file size of the image by adding some image compression. Just saving that way will probably have your page loading about twice as fast.

Ah Ha ! "I see" said the blind man. I never knew that:o.

I did take care of the categories. They are now broken up so that the drop down menus are now usable...I also changed out the contact form with a different one, the other one was kind of ugly.

vangogh
04-08-2009, 06:30 PM
Learn something new everyday :)

The menu looks better. You may want to use a different color than black for the background of the drop downs. They get lost in the Flash below.

Harold Mansfield
04-08-2009, 10:05 PM
I just threw up a rough draft of my advertising page (http://www.124bpms.com/about-us/advertise/) if anyone wants to chime in on it.

vangogh
04-09-2009, 12:40 AM
That's good. I like how you show all the ad spots on the image. The one thing you may want to show is some hard numbers. How many visitors and page views, etc. I do like the breakdown of countries, but the hard numbers would be good to see for potential advertisers.

Harold Mansfield
04-09-2009, 07:22 PM
That's good. I like how you show all the ad spots on the image. The one thing you may want to show is some hard numbers. How many visitors and page views, etc. I do like the breakdown of countries, but the hard numbers would be good to see for potential advertisers.
Thanks. It just seemed logical. I have been looking at other peoples advertising page, and it's always just words, no layout of where the ads will be displayed...so I took a lesson from the old long sales pages that I hate so much.

I actually have been using a new stats program that I installed towards the end of last month, once I get a full months stats, I will probably throw something together.

Are potential advertisers actually looking for Unique visitors (Do they even understand the break down of why they are called Uniques?), Page Views, or are people still reporting Hits ?

Happy Birthday , by the way :)

vangogh
04-09-2009, 11:03 PM
Thanks for the b'day wishes.

I think the only site I see showing the ad blocks is Shoemoney's site. I think it's his at least. I might have seen it once or twice before. I forget whether he lists prices for each spot or makes you call. DoshDosh has a nice advertising page too.

Guess it's hard to show stats if you just switched to a new program.

Will people care about uniques? Depends on the person I guess. If it were me I'd want to know as much as you'd be willing to tell. Some probably just care about pageviews. I'd probably want to get some demographics too if I could.