Tutorials - Need opinions - Help Dgrin

sbrandphotogal

ivar wrote:

I'm going to be working on the tutorials for a while; before updating the actual tutorials, I wanted to update the 'index page'. I think the current version requires too much scrolling, and doesn't give a clear view of what's available.

I have come up with a new idea on the index page, and wanted to see if it is more clear to everyone (most anyway) and not just me.

Old >>>> New

Don't worry about the look/layout of the lists, etc, I'm not done with them yet. I just need to know if I'm going the right direction as far as general idea/ease of use/clearness/etc.

As a Newbie to Dgrin and SmugMug, I have a couple of thoughts. I very much think that you are going in the right direction. I'd consider putting the section on uploading before the section on customization (as in, you can't customize if you haven't uploaded anything!) I'd also consider letting people know in your little intro to the the tutorials section that they tutorials fall, generally, into 3 (or more) catagories: taking better images, digital darkroom tutorials, displaying images both on line (SmugMug) and elsewhere (photo projects). That way the items at the bottom of the page don't get lost...
Stephanie

ivar

Allen wrote:

Could you lose the link underlines? Makes it difficult to read. Maybe just a
hover color.


.gallery_6800599 #albumDescription a {
text-decoration: none;
}
.gallery_6800599 #albumDescription a:hover {
color: white;
}

The formatting of the lists still needs to be finished, but I prefer other ways of making it more legible. This because it's such a universal thing that hyperlinks are underlined. Nearly everyone browsing a web page will expect an underlined word/sentence to be a link.

ivar

smilephotography wrote:

Hi Ivar

Can anyone submit a tutorial for inclusion on your tutorial pages? I have been teaching photoshop to retired folks for several years now and have some that always go down well.

I am new today and may not be asking the right person, please have mercy!
Helen

Yeah, of course! Anything that you (or anyone else) think can help/benefit others, feel free to share. Please do

If you have a SmugMug account, you can use a gallery to create the tutorial, and when you are done, give me the link. If you don't have a SmugMug account, you can create it locally as well, and email me. PM me if you need more info

If you are not sure how to create it, or if you want some help, guidance, also let me know

ivar

baldmountain wrote:

Another possibility is to have 2 pages. One for Digital Grin and SmugMug site customization/help tutorials, (the top 3 groups) and the other for photography and image processing tutorials. This would make the separation between the groups distinct. It also allow adding more tutorial sections. I wouldn't mind seeing groups of tutorials on Lightroom and Aperture to go along with the Photoshop tutorials.

It would make it more distinct indeed, but it kind of falls in the same category as Awais' post, and my reply to that unfortunately.

The index page is linked in many help posts on the forum, and in emails from the SmugMug helpdesk, too. Splitting the page would mean that some of the links would make no sense anymore.

ivar

sbrandphotogal wrote:

As a Newbie to Dgrin and SmugMug, I have a couple of thoughts. I very much think that you are going in the right direction. I'd consider putting the section on uploading before the section on customization (as in, you can't customize if you haven't uploaded anything!) I'd also consider letting people know in your little intro to the the tutorials section that they tutorials fall, generally, into 3 (or more) catagories: taking better images, digital darkroom tutorials, displaying images both on line (SmugMug) and elsewhere (photo projects). That way the items at the bottom of the page don't get lost...
Stephanie

Good stuff, thanks

Trevlan

Ivar:

For some reason, I like the flow of the "old" version better. The "new" version looks too cluttered.

And as previously mentioned, I would also revise the order of appearance of these tuts. Starting from basic all the way to advanced.

baldmountain

ivar wrote:

It would make it more distinct indeed, but it kind of falls in the same category as Awais' post, and my reply to that unfortunately.

You're right. Sorry I missed that post.

ivar wrote:

The index page is linked in many help posts on the forum, and in emails from the SmugMug helpdesk, too. Splitting the page would mean that some of the links would make no sense anymore.

Well updating the email that comes from the SmugMug help desk shouldn't be a problem. But trying to update all the help posts would be a big job and probably not worth the effort. You're right, one page is the right way to go. I think we are getting into details and you can probably consider it "done".

BradfordBenn

I like and I feel your pain...
I like what you have done with the new layout. I also understand the problem with keeping the old links still working. I think that new layout is much more intuitive and navigable.

I have been dealing with this stuff for work and it has had me scratching my head for three weeks now. I really like what you have done... back to writing my tutorials.

smilephotography

I will get to work!

ivar wrote:

Yeah, of course! Anything that you (or anyone else) think can help/benefit others, feel free to share. Please do

If you have a SmugMug account, you can use a gallery to create the tutorial, and when you are done, give me the link. If you don't have a SmugMug account, you can create it locally as well, and email me. PM me if you need more info

If you are not sure how to create it, or if you want some help, guidance, also let me know

Thank you Ivar - I will get some ready and contact you if I need to know where to put them, as yet I do not have a smugmug account - Helen

Trevlan

smilephotography wrote:

Thank you Ivar - I will get some ready and contact you if I need to know where to put them, as yet I do not have a smugmug account - Helen

I don't want to hijack Ivar's lovely thread, but on the main page of The Big Picture, there is an essay/photo contest for new memebers like yourself. One of the prizes is a year's subscription to smugmug standard. I would check it out if I were you.

sbrandphotogal

Trevlan wrote:

I don't want to hijack Ivar's lovely thread, but on the main page of The Big Picture, there is an essay/photo contest for new memebers like yourself. One of the prizes is a year's subscription to smugmug standard. I would check it out if I were you.

thanks!
s

ivar

Awais, Geoff, and others; How about making an index page, and splitting the tutes like that? Something like this?

DavidTO

sbrandphotogal wrote:

thanks!
s

We also have a special smugmug account set up for folks like you that want to create a tutorial but don't have a smugmug.

sbrandphotogal

ivar wrote:

Awais, Geoff, and others; How about making an index page, and splitting the tutes like that? Something like this?

LOVE this idea!!
Stephanie

baldmountain

ivar wrote:

Awais, Geoff, and others; How about making an index page, and splitting the tutes like that? Something like this?

Yeah! That's the ticket!

ivar

Thanks to all who have contributed

I've made the change! The new index page.

I hope this will work better for everyone.

Please continue to give any suggestions here if you have any, please. Things can always be improved

ivar

Trevlan wrote:

Ivar:

For some reason, I like the flow of the "old" version better. The "new" version looks too cluttered.

And as previously mentioned, I would also revise the order of appearance of these tuts. Starting from basic all the way to advanced.

Trevlan, how do you feel about the new index page? is this better? If not, what can you suggest to make it better?

Nikolai

ivar wrote:

Trevlan, how do you feel about the new index page? is this better? If not, what can you suggest to make it better?

I'm not trevlan, but I like it! I would only swap SM and Photo, making it
dgrin - SM - photo

catspaw

LOVE it