Review of site, mid-stream

**theIpanemic** · 04:24 PM

I'm in the midst of a redesign of my site and visitors aren't quick to give a lot of feedback although I have had some. So now is really an ideal time to get feedback for me as I'm not sold on any one notion necessarily.

The gallery doesn't match the layout of the rest of the site and I'll more than likely change it so that it's consistent, but just as a general layout, I would appreciate any feedback that anyone might have.

Thanks!

(Oh, here's the address: http:www.ipanemic.com, sorry. )

**Plugin-Developer** · 05-03-2008, 01:45 PM

First, your link is incorrect. Try http://www.ipanemic.com.

So, I'm assuming this is a personal site. As such, it seems like it conveys information in a way that is accessible to an audience of your peers. As you said, though, you need to integrate the gallery better.

As far as visual appeal goes, I'm browsing on a widescreen monitor and there is a black to white gradient on the right that is just killing me. Other than that, the colors look good and you look like you've got a good site on your hands, there.

**theIpanemic** · 05-03-2008, 04:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nickohrn

So, I'm assuming this is a personal site.

Not really. It's also where I'm directing people for photos; people whose photo I take on the street. And it's where I direct models to preview their photos. And it's where I direct people on flickr both in my profile and on my watermarked photos.

So it's personal in the sense that people that find there way there (either by way of the SoFla blogosphere, through flickr, through business cards or through whatever site I have a story or photos published on) and then, in addition to the photos, they get a the look into the daily life of me (whether I'm friend, acquaintance or the photographer that took my photos or took those photos or writer that wrote that story). The home page is obviously personal and doesn't go straight into the galleries. That's by design, obviously, but I may change it. Don't know.

But should any visitor opt to be a patron (an option I'm nearly done integrating into the site), then they get more behind-the-scenes looks at specific model shoots as well as more full sets of photos. This is really the only code I haven't implemented fully.

Does this clarify? Thanks for pointing out the link, btw.

**VOID Pheonix** · 05-09-2008, 06:28 AM

White on black is very hard on the eyes and the current content is just a personal heart-thrash which makes no sense as a stand-alone post. The only reason I stayed long enough to read it was because of your review request. What is the point here? Why am I going to stay here? There is no "in it for me" quotient. This is a whine page for YOU; what benefit do I get from being here? That is, after all, the ONLY point worth a bookmark.

**theIpanemic** · 05-09-2008, 09:03 AM

Thanks for the comment about the white on black. I've used that style before on another site and opted against it because of the readability. I'm still undecided for now.

As for the "what's in it for you" question: for you personally, it sounds like nothing. Most people that come to the site come because they have either been photographed by me or like my photography, have read something that I've written somewhere or live within SoFla.

Whine page: funny description. Any site with a bent toward the personal, I think, is going to come off with some negativity. On your own site, in fact, the top post is kind of whiny. I try and avoid it and REALLY don't like posting anything negative at all. But it reflects the daily life of me, so it comes out from time to time. If it's overly negative, I usually review it and end up deleting it a day or so later.

Like I said, the blog portion of the site is a look into my life, the photographer/writer's life. Some will be interested. Some clearly won't.

Thanks for your input.

**NaughtyGirl** · 03:01 PM

The blue link text is unreadable. You can change this color in your 'style' file.

I would also recommend changing the text in the graphics for example 'models' to the left. I can tell you tried to make it look cool by making the text go into the photos but the text is white and the tops of the photos are light colored so really half your text is being lost in the photo making it look rather weird.

Other than that I think it looks good.

**TheGeekyOne** · 05-12-2008, 08:35 PM

The topic headlines of your blog posts need to stand out more.

**Lpspider** · 05-13-2008, 01:36 AM

Your site hurts my eyes, to be quite honest.

The main thing I dislike about your site is the background. The gradient looks awkward and stand out. I'd recommend you consider one color for the background. Either white or black is preferable, not both, though you could create a new color scheme based off a different color altogether. Moreover, I'd recommend you work on centering the webpage. Currently, it floats to the left.

**theIpanemic** · 05-13-2008, 07:34 AM

NaughtyGirl, TheGeekyOne, Lpspider,

Thanks for you input. I think I agree with all of you. The layout of the site prior was such that the text was black on white, and the area where there was a gradient was a nice brown that flowed with the site; text links were green. The headlines really stood out much better and there were even little stars beside them.

When I decided to redesign, it was primarily because of the galleries, and I just changed my style sheet to match, to a degree, the color scheme in the gallery of white on black because I liked that.

However, I think that you are all correct; it's not working like this. I need to get the text back to black on white, axe the gradient, and possibly consider centering it.

I've been wanting to restructure the menu and the header, and so doing that, too, I may, in fact, NEED to center it.

Thanks all of you for your valuable input. I really appreciate it!