My new website is up

[fototrotter]

Hi, Eric...

I've been reading some of the posts, but didn't get through all of them, so excuse me for writing double comments,...

*The pictures on your website appear to me as very small, long edge 550,... I would like at least a 640 or even a 750 longest edge, for descent previewing.
* Also the image quality looks poor, there's a lot of loss in detail, due to sizes. But I also seem to notice JPG artifacts,... Do you resize the pictures yourself or do you let the browser resize them? In my opinion images can easily get to 150kb with bandwiths having increased substantially over the years. And resizing pictures yourself keeps the image quality on a higher level,...
* And this one is very personal, I tend to find the layout boring, flat. I got the feeling to scrol through as fast as possible, to enable me to close the webpage. Times new roman is a basic font that will be recognized by 99.9% of the computers, but looks awefull on webpages... It is designed for printing books and essays that need printing.

My critics are not there to offend nor blame you, but are just my opinion,... I have programmed my own website in full HTML and know how much work it is, so I respect the work you put in.

greetings
Steven

[Chris_T]

2.   Chris_T suggested that distinguishing between visited and non-visited sites isn't important. So I will either go for the lighter shade of blue you suggested, or make "visited" the same as "non-visited". Do you have a preference?

Since no one has responded to this, I'll explain my rationale.

Let's start with the *reason* for marking a visited link. Such a link obviously reminds a visitor that he (to keep it simple, I do mean he/she) had been there already. But why? You either want him NOT to return again, or you DO want him to return, or you want him NOT to return to some AND want him to return to others.

I think it started in the good old days when web pages are primarily text based, and still works well on pages that are text based, such as on Craigslist. These pages can have dozens of links. But for simple pages like yours with relatively few links on a page, it becomes less useful, and may be problematic. For instance, two viewed galleries would both be marked read. Upon returning (months later), a visitor is not likely to remember which is the one to return and which to avoid. You are making him THINK, something to avoid as advised by the BOOK! Also, if one gallery has been updated since his last visit, will it be marked as read or unread?

[Chris_T]

Chris_T has suggested that having thumbnails show on the same page as the main image is preferred by many. I am open to suggestions about the desirability of doing it that way. My initial thought was that while looking at one image, I don't want to be distracted by having thumbnails nearby. If there is much sentiment in favor of doing them on the same page, I'll switch. But I think I'll wait a while before making many more changes.

Some sites take this approach, and a few Lightroom web gallery templates are implemented this way. So I assume that some do prefer it. In the very old thread, I touched upon why I prefer it, and how few sites implemented it well (not easy to code by hand). I have also e-mailed you about my rationale in more detail.

Making such choices are subjective personal decisions, and should not be based on "votes".

[Chris_T]

Good. Maybe a couple of the tweaks I did in the last day or two fixed something. Let me know if anything else suspicious crops up.

Eric

There are way too much unused space at the right on these pages. CENTERING all the contents will minimize this problem. I promise not to repeat this.

http://myrvaagnes.com/bwgalleries.htm
http://myrvaagnes.com/cgalleries.htm

On this and other index pages, shouldn't the "Galleries - B/W" link in the menu remain bold? Marked read is not supported for a visited image on this page. I like the position of the breadcrumb on this page, much better than on other pages. All these variations among different pages make me THINK whether the inconsistency is intended and why. (THINK is a dirty word, according to the BOOK.)

http://myrvaagnes.com/RockMusG/index.htm

One solution to getting search engine attention is to provide text, such as on this page. Centering the image title and the text paragraphs with reference to the image will look better though..

http://myrvaagnes.com/blanket.htm

Have you considered including your artist statements from you exhibits and provide descriptions for each gallery? I think they will enhance the visitors' experience and bait the engines.

This page left me feel like being short changed with a wasted click. It is dying for an artist statement, which you already have.

http://myrvaagnes.com/XNeedham/aboutThis.htm

By now, you must be sorry that I'm back   But then, I'm sure I'm bringing hordes of visitors to your site!

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Hi, Eric...

I've been reading some of the posts, but didn't get through all of them, so excuse me for writing double comments,...

*The pictures on your website appear to me as very small, long edge 550,... I would like at least a 640 or even a 750 longest edge, for descent previewing.
* Also the image quality looks poor, there's a lot of loss in detail, due to sizes. But I also seem to notice JPG artifacts,... Do you resize the pictures yourself or do you let the browser resize them? In my opinion images can easily get to 150kb with bandwiths having increased substantially over the years. And resizing pictures yourself keeps the image quality on a higher level,...
* And this one is very personal, I tend to find the layout boring, flat. I got the feeling to scrol through as fast as possible, to enable me to close the webpage. Times new roman is a basic font that will be recognized by 99.9% of the computers, but looks awefull on webpages... It is designed for printing books and essays that need printing.

My critics are not there to offend nor blame you, but are just my opinion,... I have programmed my own website in full HTML and know how much work it is, so I respect the work you put in.

greetings
Steven

Thanks for the comments, Steven.


I am hot on the trail of a replacement for the Times font, and it looks as if I will need to use a sans-serif font to get a decent look on the web. 

I actually started with larger main images and reduced the size to be considerate of people with laptops, but I would prefer larger images myself. I think I will go to either 750 or 800 pixels, and then resize (and sharpen) the originals in PhotoShop before reposting them.

I'll report back here when I've done the next remake.

-Eric

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

There are way too much unused space at the right on these pages. CENTERING all the contents will minimize this problem. I promise not to repeat this.

http://myrvaagnes.com/bwgalleries.htm
http://myrvaagnes.com/cgalleries.htm

On this and other index pages, shouldn't the "Galleries - B/W" link in the menu remain bold? Marked read is not supported for a visited image on this page. I like the position of the breadcrumb on this page, much better than on other pages. All these variations among different pages make me THINK whether the inconsistency is intended and why. (THINK is a dirty word, according to the BOOK.)

http://myrvaagnes.com/RockMusG/index.htm

One solution to getting search engine attention is to provide text, such as on this page. Centering the image title and the text paragraphs with reference to the image will look better though..

http://myrvaagnes.com/blanket.htm

Have you considered including your artist statements from you exhibits and provide descriptions for each gallery? I think they will enhance the visitors' experience and bait the engines.

This page left me feel like being short changed with a wasted click. It is dying for an artist statement, which you already have.

http://myrvaagnes.com/XNeedham/aboutThis.htm

By now, you must be sorry that I'm back   But then, I'm sure I'm bringing hordes of visitors to your site!

Welcome back to the LL forums, Chris! I guess my getting you locked out didn't work.    


Actually, I really do welcome your comments, and I'm delighted to see you posting again, even though it means more work for me (again).

As for the inconsistencies: Some of them result from the fact that whenever I make changes to the navigation column, I have to go back and re-edit every page, and sometimes I miss one. This has made me realize that I need to find a way to use an "include" file for the repetitious parts (i.e., headers and navigation column). My intention has been to have the URL for the current page bold-face, but include only the main pages in the nav-column (so, for example, "Galleries -- Color" appears, but individual galleries (and there "about this" pages) do not (I could perhaps add something like ">..." after "Galleries -- Color" to indicate that you are somewhere below that page.)

In order to use an "include" file, which AFAIK I cannot do with HTML or Javascript alone. It looks as if I will need to throw in a little PHP into the mix (ho ho ho), to get an include file, and then some more javascript to get it to customize for each page the file is included in. I think I've figured out the pieces, but it will take me a while to implement them.

I will also move, as you have sugggested (but slowly, slowly) toward adding more meaningful content, better centering, etc., etc.



Now if I could only persuade everybody in the world to install my favorite fonts, I could perhaps keep you and Steven and me all happy.  



-Eric

P.S. I did get out to do some photography yesterday, at one of my favorite locations, Plum Island.

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

OK loyal critics, I'm back with the latest redo of my website. 

Many of the recent suggestions for improvement have been implemented (I think). Individual images are now 800 px wide (landscape), and resized and resharpened for the web (that may be too big for Ipod users, but I don't see how anyone can view an image on an Ipod). The fonts are, I hope, more legible and attractive, and there is a bit of texture to soften the previous blank-white background effect.

Most notably (for me, anyway), the navigation panel at the left now works (I was chagrined to discover that the links were dead in the previous version on pages of  individual galleries and images -- that is now fixed). Better yet, the navigation panel is a single file (included in all pages) that I can make changes to without having to redo a couple of hundred individual pages (boy, am I learning web coding fast   ).

There are a couple of new galleries, photos added to a couple of the older galleries, and, as Chris_T suggested, each of the exhibit pages includes the Artist's Statement for that exhibit (click on "About This Exhibit" on each exhibit index page). I've also added a small self-portrait to the "About Me" page, so you might be able to recognize me at a meeting or opening.

What I intend to do next on the website, probably around the start of April, is add a few more galleries: New Mexico, new Plum Island images, more of my film-days B&W images, earlier trips to the Canadian Rockies, Sierra Nevada, and Acadia National Park.

If any of you can stand to check out the newest iteration of the website, I will gratefully consider all additional critiques and comments.

Cheers,

Eric

[kikashi]

Eric,

How could I not like it, given that you've implemented all my suggestions (bar the one which could have fixed your spelling!)?

One small suggestion: I think the thumbnails on your "print of the month" page could usefully be links to larger versions of the images.

Jeremy