Well, after dinking around with my site since last October, I unveiled this past week. The new website is substantially different in feel than my old one and for at least three months I kept trying to recreate it to no avail. Finally coming to terms with the reality that it was going to have to be a new look and feel I got down to business and many hours later I am actually quite happy with the results. It is a much cleaner look than I had before and I changed the font to correspond to my new feel. There was a lot going on with tweaks for which I thank the Dgrin supporters who were kind enough to allow us to copy their code. When I got stuck with getting some of the kinks out of the practical problems associated with watermarks, etc. in every instance (and there were many) the folks at the Help Desk/SmugMug Heroes got back to me right away and patiently worked through some of the knots quickly and efficiently. A shoutout to the Smugmug Heroes.
I hope you're aware that if you go with the basic plan you will lose your customizations - no menu...
If I click your "galleries" navbar entry to get to the browse page I see what appears to be a bunch of empty folders. Is this what you intended? Until you add some galleries to those folders you might want to set the folders to unlisted.
--- Denise
I am aware of all that.
I have not been able to complete finishing the galleries. I'll probably hide most of them as some of them are mostly personal photos.
My new year's resolution was to finally get off my butt and rebuild an aging website. Since I've been "retired" for a few years it needed to be one I could afford. Scott Kelby suggested Smugmug as a great portfolio site. So I bought into this tool back near the beginning of the year. I've been lurking since sometime in February. And I want to thank all the participants on these forums who have unknowingly answered so many questions as I poked and prodded this thing into existence.
I finally pushed my site "live" over the weekend (richbeaubien.com). While it's a little thin right now on project themed pages. I'll add more work as the weeks go by. Plus I need to add more tweaks (keywords, searches, meta-tags, etc). I also need to improve the look of my Tumblr photoblog to be more inline with the rest of the pages. Still it's looking good to me and it's live.
I finally pushed my site "live" over the weekend (richbeaubien.com). While it's a little thin right now on project themed pages. I'll add more work as the weeks go by.
Very interesting.
The one thing that jumped out at me is that it takes a very long time for your slideshows to start. I understand that is probably to give the viewer time to read the text, but I would be likely to just close the site assuming there is something wrong. I'm also a bit biased - I hate slideshows, preferring to wander through the photos using my own time interval.
I'm always surprised when I'm on a site and the hover color for the menu blends in with the background. The menu item should always be readable; I'd recommend changing the hover color for your site.
A couple of suggestions though...
Your text color is so light as to be difficult to see against the white. This is particularly noticeable in the breadcrumb. I would recommend changing it to something other than light gray.
You have allowed access to the Original sized images. This means that anyone who wants a copy of one of your photos can get the full-sized image for free. Is that what you intended? I'd recommend choosing the largest display size as anything smaller than Original. For best web viewing I recommend using X3Large.
You have locked your logo and menu to the browser window so whenever a viewer scrolls a gallery (like this one - http://slegars.smugmug.com/Paysages/Payolle/) - the logo/menu is overlaid on the photos at the top of the page. I understand wanting to keep those on the screen but as a viewer I don't like anything that obstructs the photos.
I'm new on smugmug, this forum is very helpful for customization !
Here is mine : http://slegars.smugmug.com
Advices are welcome !
Thanks
A nice clean, simple site. Personally, I'd make the S Le Gars logo just a little larger. The layout format for Poul-Fetan is different to the other places - was that intentional?
Denise : I just fix the maximum size at x3Large, the color of breadcrumb and my profile photo. I was proud of my top menu, your point of view makes me doubt
Macromeister : I've to work on a real logo i've changed the gallery style : collage landscape for all galleries
Denise : I just fix the maximum size at x3Large, the color of breadcrumb and my profile photo. I was proud of my top menu, your point of view makes me doubt
It isn't your top menu that bothered me, it is the fact that you pinned it in place so your photos scroll under the menu. I'd prefer to see the photos without any text obscuring parts of them. That's a personal view though; you need to make a decision that is right for you not for me.
Clean
A simple showcase; no messaging, no bells, no whistles.
This latest iteration of www.jlsPics.com makes it that much easier for those who follow my photography to see what's new… while maintaining easy access to what's old. Well, more or less.
A simple showcase; no messaging, no bells, no whistles.
This latest iteration of www.jlsPics.com makes it that much easier for those who follow my photography to see what's new… while maintaining easy access to what's old. Well, more or less.
Hoping you enjoy the site, the photos, the video!
JLS
Not sure you realize it or not, but you have downloads turned on for anyone on your Chesapeake Bay photos.
I finally got around to trying to customize my site. I just relocated to Hong Kong and the creation of a blog was what prompted me to finally start customizing. I am still trying to fumble my way through it so I am glad I found this site. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated as I want to keep making improvements!!!
I finally got around to trying to customize my site. I just relocated to Hong Kong and the creation of a blog was what prompted me to finally start customizing. I am still trying to fumble my way through it so I am glad I found this site. Any feedback will be greatly appreciated as I want to keep making improvements!!!
! You have quite a few race-horses in your 'stable' (I'm only envious)
Site seems fine generally. A couple of things though.
1. The width of some of the text pages looks very wide on my wide screen and is not very readable. Perhaps you could narrow them? See my 'about' for example.
2. Not sure what font you are using for headers but parts of some letters are dimmed which looks a bit odd.
3. Your images don't seem to have titles. Is that intentional?
! You have quite a few race-horses in your 'stable' (I'm only envious)
Site seems fine generally. A couple of things though.
1. The width of some of the text pages looks very wide on my wide screen and is not very readable. Perhaps you could narrow them? See my 'about' for example.
2. Not sure what font you are using for headers but parts of some letters are dimmed which looks a bit odd.
3. Your images don't seem to have titles. Is that intentional?
Thanks for the input. This is the first time I've actually spent any kind of time getting a site up that is presentable so the input is welcome. Up until this point, it was just simple galleries. I'll definitely re-evaluate the text, font and how it all presents on screen.
Hello world! There are still a few bugs I need to clean up, but love to hear what everyone thinks: http://www.visionsbybaker.com/
Thanks
You asked for comments, so here goes. . .
I hate to say it this way, but the home page just reminds me of something from 10 years ago -- from the "business card" logo, to the different fonts in different colors, to the textured background with designs in the corners. If you're after the old fashioned look, great. But if you want a site that looks a bit more modern, you may need to rethink your approach.
The bright blue text on an orange background is not an appealing color combination to me.
The personal photo - 2nd one down - on your Who am I page is blurry -- not a good thing for a wedding/events photographer.
The "certified photographer" stuff I think will make people a bit skeptical. This isn't like being a plumber, where you need a contractor's license. When I see that, I immediately think it's a marketing gimmick.
On the What do I Do page, I think it would look much better if you used left-aligned text. Center alignment should be used sparingly, and almost never on long chunks of text.
I hope on all those publicly accessible galleries showing young children, you have the parents' permission to show them. It is pretty apparent that you have images of children under the age of 13. Since you are in the U.S. and you are a commercial enterprise, make sure you are in compliance with COPPA. If you don't know what COPPA is, look it up. In the meantime, I would set you galleries containing images of children under 13 to private, with a password required.
I'm not sure why you call your Pricing page "Investment". Paying for photographic services is not an investment; it's an expenditure of money for a price. Also, on that page, you use some images that are either very low resolution or out of focus, e.g., the very first image.
In this age of GPS and Google Maps, the Where Am I page seems like massive overkill.
The Contact form takes you out of the site completely. Unless you can embed a custom form on your site, I would just use the default SmugMug form.
Sorry to be so blunt, but I hope some of this helps you develop a better site.
Thanks Tom
I hate to say it this way, but the home page just reminds me of something from 10 years ago -- from the "business card" logo, to the different fonts in different colors, to the textured background with designs in the corners. If you're after the old fashioned look, great. But if you want a site that looks a bit more modern, you may need to rethink your approach.
-- Yup, maybe it's wrong, but it doesn't look like every other site. Now that customization is easier, I will probably tweak it more regularly.
The bright blue text on an orange background is not an appealing color combination to me.
-- OK, you're probably right. I modeled it after my old site built in 2009. I like the blue, but perhaps if I mute the background a bit.
The personal photo - 2nd one down - on your Who am I page is blurry -- not a good thing for a wedding/events photographer.
-- Replaced
The "certified photographer" stuff I think will make people a bit skeptical. This isn't like being a plumber, where you need a contractor's license. When I see that, I immediately think it's a marketing gimmick.
-- I don't agree. In a time when anyone with a phone can call themselves a professional, I worked hard to educate myself and earn my certification. We have traveled different paths, but I see you are educated. Click the "certified" link. If you're still skeptical, let's agree to disagree.
On the What do I Do page, I think it would look much better if you used left-aligned text. Center alignment should be used sparingly, and almost never on long chunks of text.
-- OK, updated.
I hope on all those publicly accessible galleries showing young children, you have the parents' permission to show them. It is pretty apparent that you have images of children under the age of 13. Since you are in the U.S. and you are a commercial enterprise, make sure you are in compliance with COPPA. If you don't know what COPPA is, look it up. In the meantime, I would set you galleries containing images of children under 13 to private, with a password required.
-- Yes, I have a release for everyone. Please notice that full names are not used and sometimes, family names are even changed. No other personal info is included such as addresses and/or phone numbers. I also do not use Geo-tagging. Password protection is always offered.
I'm not sure why you call your Pricing page "Investment". Paying for photographic services is not an investment; it's an expenditure of money for a price. Also, on that page, you use some images that are either very low resolution or out of focus, e.g., the very first image.
-- If you think of what we do as simply taking pictures, you're right. Commissioning the art of portraiture is an investment.
-- The background of the image is suppose to be out of focus, but yes, it could be sharper.
-- Perhaps you might be able to tell me why the "Powered by Smugmug" is always out of place on this page...
In this age of GPS and Google Maps, the Where Am I page seems like massive overkill.
-- Clients love it. GPS and Google Maps to my mailing address will get you lost everytime. That's why my mailing address is not listed.
The Contact form takes you out of the site completely. Unless you can embed a custom form on your site, I would just use the default SmugMug form.
-- I think the default form sucks. Yes, it takes off my site, but on a new tab so my site is still there. Besides, I haven't figured out how to embed it yet.
Sorry to be so blunt, but I hope some of this helps you develop a better site.
-- No need to be sorry. Thank you. I'm grateful for your honest opinions.
Jeffery A. Baker Sr., CPP
When Excellence Matters, and Good Enough, Isn't. www.VisionsbyBaker.com
Hello world! There are still a few bugs I need to clean up, but love to hear what everyone thinks: http://www.visionsbybaker.com/
Thanks
I'm going to have to agree with Tom there. Your site looks like something from the 90's. The color combination hurts my eyes. If I were a possible client, I would have left. I would get rid of the "Who am I?" text and use most of the "About Visions..." part.
When I hover over the images on your home page your captions pop up. That's not a problem but it shows that you seem to be tagging many photos with "utah wedding photographer" or similar. Seems to me that's a bit of overkill and can in fact work against you from an SEO standpoint.
Using dark gray text against black does not provide a pleasant reading experience.
The slideshow on your pricing page pulls the viewers eyes away from the text. If the purpose of the page is to present text why do you have a slideshow there?
Clicking "blog" takes me to a different browser tab and a site totally outside of your smug site. Once I get to that other site there doesn't appear to be anything to return me to your smug site. And... if a site opens a browser tab that I didn't explicitly request I usually close the new tab and the site. It should be my decision to open another tab, not the decision of the site.
The "more" menu entry pops up a list of clickable menu items. The top entry is partially cut off at the top of the browser window.
Your "about" page covers personal aspects and does not focus on your business. Don't you think your potential clients will be more interested in your experience as a photographer?
Thanks Denice. I made some quick changes based on your suggestions. I switched my color scheme back to white and adjusted my about me and pricing page. I'm trying to decide what to do with my image titles. I can see how the repetition hurts more than helps. I guess google is looking for descriptive image titles but honestly I don't think my clients really care if there is a title ore not.
As far as the blog, that's a job for another day. I'm trying to decide what to do with my blog and secretly hoping smugmug will unveil some easy blogging solution in the near future. I think I'll just unlink the sites until I'm ready to put some more effort into my blog.
When I hover over the images on your home page your captions pop up. That's not a problem but it shows that you seem to be tagging many photos with "utah wedding photographer" or similar. Seems to me that's a bit of overkill and can in fact work against you from an SEO standpoint.
Using dark gray text against black does not provide a pleasant reading experience.
The slideshow on your pricing page pulls the viewers eyes away from the text. If the purpose of the page is to present text why do you have a slideshow there?
Clicking "blog" takes me to a different browser tab and a site totally outside of your smug site. Once I get to that other site there doesn't appear to be anything to return me to your smug site. And... if a site opens a browser tab that I didn't explicitly request I usually close the new tab and the site. It should be my decision to open another tab, not the decision of the site.
The "more" menu entry pops up a list of clickable menu items. The top entry is partially cut off at the top of the browser window.
Your "about" page covers personal aspects and does not focus on your business. Don't you think your potential clients will be more interested in your experience as a photographer?
Comments
http://www.equidigital.com
Elisabeth (Beth) Harpham
I am aware of all that.
I have not been able to complete finishing the galleries. I'll probably hide most of them as some of them are mostly personal photos.
I finally pushed my site "live" over the weekend (richbeaubien.com). While it's a little thin right now on project themed pages. I'll add more work as the weeks go by. Plus I need to add more tweaks (keywords, searches, meta-tags, etc). I also need to improve the look of my Tumblr photoblog to be more inline with the rest of the pages. Still it's looking good to me and it's live.
Any and all feedback is welcome.
The one thing that jumped out at me is that it takes a very long time for your slideshows to start. I understand that is probably to give the viewer time to read the text, but I would be likely to just close the site assuming there is something wrong. I'm also a bit biased - I hate slideshows, preferring to wander through the photos using my own time interval.
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
Thanks
well, almost have them matched:
http://www.paulconrad.photography
http://blog.paulconrad.photography
Photojournalist
Pablo Conrad Photography
Seattle, WA, USA
c: 206-450-8632
Hello,
I just created this website, trying to keep it clean and simple.
However, it seems to need of something, and I haven't been able to put my finger on it.
Any thoughts?
Thanks,
David
www.davidimages.smugmug.com
I would remove the Smugmug header and footer. I would also increase the slideshow size by two, at least.
Images in the Backcountry
My SmugMug Customizations | Adding CSS to Your Site | SEO for the Photographer | Locate Your Page/Widget Number | SmugMug Help Desk
Also, fill in your SEO info...
Account Settings > Discover > Search
Images in the Backcountry
My SmugMug Customizations | Adding CSS to Your Site | SEO for the Photographer | Locate Your Page/Widget Number | SmugMug Help Desk
I appreciate the feedback.
I'd recommend setting a profile photo so your contact form uses a photo of you rather than the stock image. See http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/1230262-new-my-profile.
I'm always surprised when I'm on a site and the hover color for the menu blends in with the background. The menu item should always be readable; I'd recommend changing the hover color for your site.
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
Hello everybody,
I'm new on smugmug, this forum is very helpful for customization !
Here is mine : http://slegars.smugmug.com
Advices are welcome !
Thanks
A couple of suggestions though...
Your text color is so light as to be difficult to see against the white. This is particularly noticeable in the breadcrumb. I would recommend changing it to something other than light gray.
You have allowed access to the Original sized images. This means that anyone who wants a copy of one of your photos can get the full-sized image for free. Is that what you intended? I'd recommend choosing the largest display size as anything smaller than Original. For best web viewing I recommend using X3Large.
You have locked your logo and menu to the browser window so whenever a viewer scrolls a gallery (like this one - http://slegars.smugmug.com/Paysages/Payolle/) - the logo/menu is overlaid on the photos at the top of the page. I understand wanting to keep those on the screen but as a viewer I don't like anything that obstructs the photos.
You haven't specified a profile photo so your contact form is using the stock photo supplied with smug. This is not a good luck - specify a photo of your own to use. See help page at http://help.smugmug.com/customer/portal/articles/1230262-how-do-i-update-my-profile-information-.
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
A nice clean, simple site. Personally, I'd make the S Le Gars logo just a little larger. The layout format for Poul-Fetan is different to the other places - was that intentional?
Denise : I just fix the maximum size at x3Large, the color of breadcrumb and my profile photo. I was proud of my top menu, your point of view makes me doubt
Macromeister : I've to work on a real logo
Regards
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
A simple showcase; no messaging, no bells, no whistles.
This latest iteration of www.jlsPics.com makes it that much easier for those who follow my photography to see what's new… while maintaining easy access to what's old. Well, more or less.
Hoping you enjoy the site, the photos, the video!
JLS
Not sure you realize it or not, but you have downloads turned on for anyone on your Chesapeake Bay photos.
www.jasenreyes.com
Site seems fine generally. A couple of things though.
1. The width of some of the text pages looks very wide on my wide screen and is not very readable. Perhaps you could narrow them? See my 'about' for example.
2. Not sure what font you are using for headers but parts of some letters are dimmed which looks a bit odd.
3. Your images don't seem to have titles. Is that intentional?
Thanks for the input. This is the first time I've actually spent any kind of time getting a site up that is presentable so the input is welcome. Up until this point, it was just simple galleries. I'll definitely re-evaluate the text, font and how it all presents on screen.
http://www.visionsbybaker.com/
Thanks
When Excellence Matters, and Good Enough, Isn't.
www.VisionsbyBaker.com
You asked for comments, so here goes. . .
I hate to say it this way, but the home page just reminds me of something from 10 years ago -- from the "business card" logo, to the different fonts in different colors, to the textured background with designs in the corners. If you're after the old fashioned look, great. But if you want a site that looks a bit more modern, you may need to rethink your approach.
The bright blue text on an orange background is not an appealing color combination to me.
The personal photo - 2nd one down - on your Who am I page is blurry -- not a good thing for a wedding/events photographer.
The "certified photographer" stuff I think will make people a bit skeptical. This isn't like being a plumber, where you need a contractor's license. When I see that, I immediately think it's a marketing gimmick.
On the What do I Do page, I think it would look much better if you used left-aligned text. Center alignment should be used sparingly, and almost never on long chunks of text.
I hope on all those publicly accessible galleries showing young children, you have the parents' permission to show them. It is pretty apparent that you have images of children under the age of 13. Since you are in the U.S. and you are a commercial enterprise, make sure you are in compliance with COPPA. If you don't know what COPPA is, look it up. In the meantime, I would set you galleries containing images of children under 13 to private, with a password required.
I'm not sure why you call your Pricing page "Investment". Paying for photographic services is not an investment; it's an expenditure of money for a price. Also, on that page, you use some images that are either very low resolution or out of focus, e.g., the very first image.
In this age of GPS and Google Maps, the Where Am I page seems like massive overkill.
The Contact form takes you out of the site completely. Unless you can embed a custom form on your site, I would just use the default SmugMug form.
Sorry to be so blunt, but I hope some of this helps you develop a better site.
Instagram Twitter Facebook
I hate to say it this way, but the home page just reminds me of something from 10 years ago -- from the "business card" logo, to the different fonts in different colors, to the textured background with designs in the corners. If you're after the old fashioned look, great. But if you want a site that looks a bit more modern, you may need to rethink your approach.
-- Yup, maybe it's wrong, but it doesn't look like every other site. Now that customization is easier, I will probably tweak it more regularly.
The bright blue text on an orange background is not an appealing color combination to me.
-- OK, you're probably right. I modeled it after my old site built in 2009. I like the blue, but perhaps if I mute the background a bit.
The personal photo - 2nd one down - on your Who am I page is blurry -- not a good thing for a wedding/events photographer.
-- Replaced
The "certified photographer" stuff I think will make people a bit skeptical. This isn't like being a plumber, where you need a contractor's license. When I see that, I immediately think it's a marketing gimmick.
-- I don't agree. In a time when anyone with a phone can call themselves a professional, I worked hard to educate myself and earn my certification. We have traveled different paths, but I see you are educated. Click the "certified" link. If you're still skeptical, let's agree to disagree.
On the What do I Do page, I think it would look much better if you used left-aligned text. Center alignment should be used sparingly, and almost never on long chunks of text.
-- OK, updated.
I hope on all those publicly accessible galleries showing young children, you have the parents' permission to show them. It is pretty apparent that you have images of children under the age of 13. Since you are in the U.S. and you are a commercial enterprise, make sure you are in compliance with COPPA. If you don't know what COPPA is, look it up. In the meantime, I would set you galleries containing images of children under 13 to private, with a password required.
-- Yes, I have a release for everyone. Please notice that full names are not used and sometimes, family names are even changed. No other personal info is included such as addresses and/or phone numbers. I also do not use Geo-tagging. Password protection is always offered.
I'm not sure why you call your Pricing page "Investment". Paying for photographic services is not an investment; it's an expenditure of money for a price. Also, on that page, you use some images that are either very low resolution or out of focus, e.g., the very first image.
-- If you think of what we do as simply taking pictures, you're right. Commissioning the art of portraiture is an investment.
-- The background of the image is suppose to be out of focus, but yes, it could be sharper.
-- Perhaps you might be able to tell me why the "Powered by Smugmug" is always out of place on this page...
In this age of GPS and Google Maps, the Where Am I page seems like massive overkill.
-- Clients love it. GPS and Google Maps to my mailing address will get you lost everytime. That's why my mailing address is not listed.
The Contact form takes you out of the site completely. Unless you can embed a custom form on your site, I would just use the default SmugMug form.
-- I think the default form sucks. Yes, it takes off my site, but on a new tab so my site is still there. Besides, I haven't figured out how to embed it yet.
Sorry to be so blunt, but I hope some of this helps you develop a better site.
-- No need to be sorry. Thank you. I'm grateful for your honest opinions.
When Excellence Matters, and Good Enough, Isn't.
www.VisionsbyBaker.com
I'm going to have to agree with Tom there. Your site looks like something from the 90's. The color combination hurts my eyes. If I were a possible client, I would have left. I would get rid of the "Who am I?" text and use most of the "About Visions..." part.
Images in the Backcountry
My SmugMug Customizations | Adding CSS to Your Site | SEO for the Photographer | Locate Your Page/Widget Number | SmugMug Help Desk
http://www.zcphotography.com
My Website index | My Blog
Using dark gray text against black does not provide a pleasant reading experience.
The slideshow on your pricing page pulls the viewers eyes away from the text. If the purpose of the page is to present text why do you have a slideshow there?
Clicking "blog" takes me to a different browser tab and a site totally outside of your smug site. Once I get to that other site there doesn't appear to be anything to return me to your smug site. And... if a site opens a browser tab that I didn't explicitly request I usually close the new tab and the site. It should be my decision to open another tab, not the decision of the site.
The "more" menu entry pops up a list of clickable menu items. The top entry is partially cut off at the top of the browser window.
Your "about" page covers personal aspects and does not focus on your business. Don't you think your potential clients will be more interested in your experience as a photographer?
--- Denise
Musings & ramblings at https://denisegoldberg.blogspot.com
As far as the blog, that's a job for another day. I'm trying to decide what to do with my blog and secretly hoping smugmug will unveil some easy blogging solution in the near future. I think I'll just unlink the sites until I'm ready to put some more effort into my blog.