New website

John Miller · March 10th, 2007, 06:13 PM

I'm not sure if it is an iWeb thing, but when I load a page, I see the nav bar items appear at first with a light bluish background along with some spacer items. After a few seconds, the background to these changes to black.

Looking at the HTML source, it probably has to do with using transparent PNG files. There's also an awful lot of HTML code to describe the nav bar.

All told, on my ISDN connection, it makes for a somewhat clunky appearance when loading the page.

If you can, I'd recommend coding the nav bar differently - you could achieve the same visual effect much more easily - and with less bandwidth - using CSS. This is especially true since your nav bar is, in effect, text only.

The iWeb nav bar relies heavily on JavaScript. This can be a problem for anyone browsing your site without JavaScript enabled.

By way of comparison, here's the HTML code for just one item in your nav bar:

<a style="display: block; height: 29px; left: 55px; position: absolute; top: 10px; width: 57px; z-index: 2; " onmouseout="NBmouseout('0');" href="Home.html" onmouseover="NBmouseover('0');"></a>
<div style="background: transparent url(About%20Us_files/navbar_1_normal.png) no-repeat scroll center; height: 36px; left: 212px; position: absolute; top: 7px; width: 96px; z-index: 1; " id="navbar_1_normal"></div>
<div style="background: transparent url(About%20Us_files/navbar_1_rollover.png) no-repeat scroll center; height: 36px; left: 212px; position: absolute; top: 7px; visibility: hidden; width: 96px; z-index: 1; " id="navbar_1_rollover"></div>

In contrast, here's one item from the nav bar on our website:

<td align="center"><strong><a href="index.htm">home</a></strong></td>

John Miller · March 10th, 2007, 06:25 PM

The Google thing....

You don't need to create a link in your main pages for the Google link. All the Google file does is tell Google that you own the site. It just needs to sit in the root directory of your site.

What you should do is create a site map (basically, a list of files on your site), and submit that to Google. Every now and then, Google's robot will drop by and survey your site.

There are a number of free tools you can use to create your site map.

e.g., http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/

Just enter your website address and it will create the file for you online (an XML file). Download it and put it on your website. Then go to Google and "register" it.

Jim Stork · March 10th, 2007, 08:10 PM

John thanks for your detailed advice, it means alot. I'll look into making the nav. headings more effiecent, and look into the google sitemap. thanks again!

Heather Darling · March 10th, 2007, 10:43 PM

Not a bad site overall but I do have one suggestion. Since the second video on your samples page is really more of a promo clip, it would be better served to have that on your homepage. Make it a smaller file, take it out of the player and use it on your homepage in place of the photo.

Jim Stork · March 11th, 2007, 01:21 AM

Thats a really interesting idea Heather, thanks for your input! I will be adding additional pages that cover other services, live music production, educational, etc . By having a wedding video on my front page I may be tying myself down. I do have to admit that I tend to skip through flash intro on other ppls sites.

March 10th, 2007, 06:13 PM	#16
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	I'm not sure if it is an iWeb thing, but when I load a page, I see the nav bar items appear at first with a light bluish background along with some spacer items. After a few seconds, the background to these changes to black. Looking at the HTML source, it probably has to do with using transparent PNG files. There's also an awful lot of HTML code to describe the nav bar. All told, on my ISDN connection, it makes for a somewhat clunky appearance when loading the page. If you can, I'd recommend coding the nav bar differently - you could achieve the same visual effect much more easily - and with less bandwidth - using CSS. This is especially true since your nav bar is, in effect, text only. The iWeb nav bar relies heavily on JavaScript. This can be a problem for anyone browsing your site without JavaScript enabled. By way of comparison, here's the HTML code for just one item in your nav bar: <a style="display: block; height: 29px; left: 55px; position: absolute; top: 10px; width: 57px; z-index: 2; " onmouseout="NBmouseout('0');" href="Home.html" onmouseover="NBmouseover('0');"></a> <div style="background: transparent url(About%20Us_files/navbar_1_normal.png) no-repeat scroll center; height: 36px; left: 212px; position: absolute; top: 7px; width: 96px; z-index: 1; " id="navbar_1_normal"></div> <div style="background: transparent url(About%20Us_files/navbar_1_rollover.png) no-repeat scroll center; height: 36px; left: 212px; position: absolute; top: 7px; visibility: hidden; width: 96px; z-index: 1; " id="navbar_1_rollover"></div> In contrast, here's one item from the nav bar on our website: <td align="center"><strong><a href="index.htm">home</a></strong></td>

March 10th, 2007, 06:25 PM	#17
John Miller Major Player Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Hillsborough, NC, USA Posts: 968	The Google thing.... You don't need to create a link in your main pages for the Google link. All the Google file does is tell Google that you own the site. It just needs to sit in the root directory of your site. What you should do is create a site map (basically, a list of files on your site), and submit that to Google. Every now and then, Google's robot will drop by and survey your site. There are a number of free tools you can use to create your site map. e.g., http://www.xml-sitemaps.com/ Just enter your website address and it will create the file for you online (an XML file). Download it and put it on your website. Then go to Google and "register" it.

March 10th, 2007, 08:10 PM	#18
Jim Stork New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: WA Posts: 13	John thanks for your detailed advice, it means alot. I'll look into making the nav. headings more effiecent, and look into the google sitemap. thanks again!

March 10th, 2007, 10:43 PM	#19
Heather Darling Regular Crew Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 37	Not a bad site overall but I do have one suggestion. Since the second video on your samples page is really more of a promo clip, it would be better served to have that on your homepage. Make it a smaller file, take it out of the player and use it on your homepage in place of the photo.

March 11th, 2007, 01:21 AM	#20
Jim Stork New Boot Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: WA Posts: 13	Thats a really interesting idea Heather, thanks for your input! I will be adding additional pages that cover other services, live music production, educational, etc . By having a wedding video on my front page I may be tying myself down. I do have to admit that I tend to skip through flash intro on other ppls sites.