New website

Robert Benda · December 22nd, 2013, 10:25 AM

I just finished a new Wordpress website and do still have some things to finish like posting all the weddings to the new blog. However, I'd like any feedback and criticism you may have.

RNB Weddings | DJ or Video for Weddings

Fire away!

Jim Michael · December 22nd, 2013, 11:03 AM

Nice job. There's plenty to keep one's interest on the site and your contact info is handy. I like the availability calendar.

Jeff Harper · December 22nd, 2013, 11:41 AM

Nice for a first attempt. Lots of things that I would address if I were you. Please keep in mind I understand the difficulties in putting up a site and I sympathize.

You should resize photos on reviews page and everywhere else. They are much much too large. You have chosen photos that are quite large and are fitting them into a box so that they are resized by browser. You need instead to resize the photos yourself, remove the old ones and reinsert them into WP. You can use the same names, but I would change the names as well to be safe.

Your home page photos take much too long to load. The photos are probably not optimized for the web.

One particular photo on your blog is 5400x3600, it probably doesn't need to be wider than 500 pixels, though I have no idea what it should be. Just giving you an idea of what you need to look at and adjust.

Your header images are rather unclear/blurry. Wedding wire award thingys look very rough, but really all of the images in header look of very poor quality. You might consider updating your logo or going to a logo without an image in it.

Websites are a ton of work, so hang in. I'm in the process of putting up a new site myself. Even though I'm working with a web site builder it's been so time consuming!

Last tip, don't forget to use alt tags for your photos, I notice you are not using them on any of your photos.

Your site can work for you, but I'd look at more sites and start to get an idea of what you can do to clean things up.

.

James Manford · December 22nd, 2013, 05:41 PM

I thought the website is brilliant. Plenty to look at, loaded fast and it was informative without information overload.

Robert Benda · December 22nd, 2013, 06:31 PM

Jeff, may I ask what you used to view the site: desktop/laptop or a tablet or mobile device? I ask because the header *shouldn't* be blurry. In any case, thank you. I can't believe I didn't notice the picture sizing.

As for ALT tags, Wordpress keeps claiming it's doing it for me so I may have to code the HTML for that myself.

Just to be clear, this is my first wordpress site, not my first website. I am used to coding HTML sites, but needed to upgrade since it's not 2006 and we need to have a responsive site that resized for iPads and such. I have never worked with CSS before so it's a very different experience.

Jeff Harper · December 22nd, 2013, 06:50 PM

Yes, James, I agree Robert's site has many good features. And if a viewer has a high speed connection, the size of the images won't be a problem. Those on phones and those with slower internet connections speeds will notice the issue more.

The rotating slider has one image ("Sunshine") for example, that is 5.47mb in size, for example. That image could easily be reduced to below 1/20th that size.

Jeff Harper · December 22nd, 2013, 06:58 PM

Robert, I viewed it on a phone and my desktop, on both Chrome and IE. BTW, if you are going for responsive, you know the slider is currently not resizing for phones, right?

My site did the same thing, the slider would not downsize properly. I don't know how my web guy fixed it, but he did.

I understand going from HTML to WP is challenge. I hated trying to figure it out, so I'm having my new site done for me, then I'll learn as I go whilst doing maintenance on the finished site.

Robert Benda · December 22nd, 2013, 07:52 PM

The header issue I'll have to work on, but the picture sizing is easy.

As for the slider, the great thing about wordpress is you can find your answer via Google. I'll work on it in the morning.

Jeff Harper · December 22nd, 2013, 08:33 PM

my hat's off to you for even attempting A WP site. I found the interface so confusing, it's supposed to be easier to use but I was just so used to Dreamweaver. Good luck with slider!

Rob Cantwell · December 23rd, 2013, 06:05 AM

it looks grand and yeah optimise for web use, in Photoshop export for the web - that'll give you the opportunity to shrink the file size way down but keep the IQ pretty ok, it can be done with Fireworks too.

As far as WP is concerned I too couldn't make anything out of it at all!! I'm a single page Dreamweaver operator ;-)

David Barnett · December 23rd, 2013, 10:07 AM

I too agree the header image looks blurry. IMHO I'd just go with H1 tags for your company name, maybe a logo pic but I think the current logo is a bit hmmmmm. Well I just don't think you need your names & where you live, let alone your ph# & email address up there, usually that's in the footer. Secondly I would change your background color to a light grey (#CCCCCC or #999999), rather than white. And finally I think your have too many selections for your main menu, I would keep it at 4-5 & put is as

Home
About Us
__Reviews
__Availability
__Rates
DJ
__Lighting
Videography
Photo Booth
Wedding Blog
__How to Hire a DJ

The indented ones are submenus. Just go into your Dashboard & goto Appearance > Menus & then drag your sub menu into the main menus tab, it should auto adjust. Finally in your Reviews section I would change up the text of the couples names versus the words they are saying. Try pasting their names and when & where in between the following <h4 style="font-weight:bold"> </h4> or change it to h3 or so. You've got the foundation, and that's the nice thing with WP, tweaking it while tedious can be done mostly with alot of trial and error, and google searching. Just my $.02 but I think it would help tidy it up a bit.

December 22nd, 2013, 10:25 AM	#1
Robert Benda Trustee Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Crookston, MN Posts: 1,353	New website - criticism wanted I just finished a new Wordpress website and do still have some things to finish like posting all the weddings to the new blog. However, I'd like any feedback and criticism you may have. RNB Weddings \| DJ or Video for Weddings Fire away!

December 22nd, 2013, 11:03 AM	#2
Jim Michael Major Player Join Date: Dec 2005 Posts: 895	Re: New website - criticism wanted Nice job. There's plenty to keep one's interest on the site and your contact info is handy. I like the availability calendar.

December 22nd, 2013, 11:41 AM	#3
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: New website - criticism wanted Nice for a first attempt. Lots of things that I would address if I were you. Please keep in mind I understand the difficulties in putting up a site and I sympathize. You should resize photos on reviews page and everywhere else. They are much much too large. You have chosen photos that are quite large and are fitting them into a box so that they are resized by browser. You need instead to resize the photos yourself, remove the old ones and reinsert them into WP. You can use the same names, but I would change the names as well to be safe. Your home page photos take much too long to load. The photos are probably not optimized for the web. One particular photo on your blog is 5400x3600, it probably doesn't need to be wider than 500 pixels, though I have no idea what it should be. Just giving you an idea of what you need to look at and adjust. Your header images are rather unclear/blurry. Wedding wire award thingys look very rough, but really all of the images in header look of very poor quality. You might consider updating your logo or going to a logo without an image in it. Websites are a ton of work, so hang in. I'm in the process of putting up a new site myself. Even though I'm working with a web site builder it's been so time consuming! Last tip, don't forget to use alt tags for your photos, I notice you are not using them on any of your photos. Your site can work for you, but I'd look at more sites and start to get an idea of what you can do to clean things up. . Last edited by Jeff Harper; December 22nd, 2013 at 03:45 PM.

December 22nd, 2013, 05:41 PM	#4
James Manford Trustee Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: London, UK Posts: 1,393	Re: New website - criticism wanted I thought the website is brilliant. Plenty to look at, loaded fast and it was informative without information overload.

December 22nd, 2013, 06:31 PM	#5
Robert Benda Trustee Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Crookston, MN Posts: 1,353	Re: New website - criticism wanted Jeff, may I ask what you used to view the site: desktop/laptop or a tablet or mobile device? I ask because the header shouldn't be blurry. In any case, thank you. I can't believe I didn't notice the picture sizing. As for ALT tags, Wordpress keeps claiming it's doing it for me so I may have to code the HTML for that myself. Just to be clear, this is my first wordpress site, not my first website. I am used to coding HTML sites, but needed to upgrade since it's not 2006 and we need to have a responsive site that resized for iPads and such. I have never worked with CSS before so it's a very different experience.

December 22nd, 2013, 06:50 PM	#6
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: New website - criticism wanted Yes, James, I agree Robert's site has many good features. And if a viewer has a high speed connection, the size of the images won't be a problem. Those on phones and those with slower internet connections speeds will notice the issue more. The rotating slider has one image ("Sunshine") for example, that is 5.47mb in size, for example. That image could easily be reduced to below 1/20th that size.

December 22nd, 2013, 06:58 PM	#7
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: New website - criticism wanted Robert, I viewed it on a phone and my desktop, on both Chrome and IE. BTW, if you are going for responsive, you know the slider is currently not resizing for phones, right? My site did the same thing, the slider would not downsize properly. I don't know how my web guy fixed it, but he did. I understand going from HTML to WP is challenge. I hated trying to figure it out, so I'm having my new site done for me, then I'll learn as I go whilst doing maintenance on the finished site.

December 22nd, 2013, 07:52 PM	#8
Robert Benda Trustee Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: Crookston, MN Posts: 1,353	Re: New website - criticism wanted The header issue I'll have to work on, but the picture sizing is easy. As for the slider, the great thing about wordpress is you can find your answer via Google. I'll work on it in the morning.

December 22nd, 2013, 08:33 PM	#9
Jeff Harper Inner Circle Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Cincinnati, OH Posts: 8,425	Re: New website - criticism wanted my hat's off to you for even attempting A WP site. I found the interface so confusing, it's supposed to be easier to use but I was just so used to Dreamweaver. Good luck with slider!

December 23rd, 2013, 06:05 AM	#10
Rob Cantwell Major Player Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Tipperary, Ireland Posts: 624	Re: New website - criticism wanted it looks grand and yeah optimise for web use, in Photoshop export for the web - that'll give you the opportunity to shrink the file size way down but keep the IQ pretty ok, it can be done with Fireworks too. As far as WP is concerned I too couldn't make anything out of it at all!! I'm a single page Dreamweaver operator ;-) __________________ http://www.robertcantwell.com

December 23rd, 2013, 10:07 AM	#11
David Barnett Major Player Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Philly, PA Posts: 951	Re: New website - criticism wanted I too agree the header image looks blurry. IMHO I'd just go with H1 tags for your company name, maybe a logo pic but I think the current logo is a bit hmmmmm. Well I just don't think you need your names & where you live, let alone your ph# & email address up there, usually that's in the footer. Secondly I would change your background color to a light grey (#CCCCCC or #999999), rather than white. And finally I think your have too many selections for your main menu, I would keep it at 4-5 & put is as Home About Us __Reviews __Availability __Rates DJ __Lighting Videography Photo Booth Wedding Blog __How to Hire a DJ The indented ones are submenus. Just go into your Dashboard & goto Appearance > Menus & then drag your sub menu into the main menus tab, it should auto adjust. Finally in your Reviews section I would change up the text of the couples names versus the words they are saying. Try pasting their names and when & where in between the following <h4 style="font-weight:bold"> </h4> or change it to h3 or so. You've got the foundation, and that's the nice thing with WP, tweaking it while tedious can be done mostly with alot of trial and error, and google searching. Just my $.02 but I think it would help tidy it up a bit.