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Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)I turn to you web designer friends to give me your opinions - Yeah or Nay: is this mumbo-jumbo, which-cup-is-the-ball-under, tap dancing from my webbie?
The set-up: Fair Shelli developed 5 banners for me to use as Headers for my web pages (BeyondBasicBears.com is still grinding slowly forward. When a bit more info is needed from me I go back to the bottom of his writing duties pile.
All of the pix were actually taken by my DH and his cousin, and I proudly display their work!
One of the banners, a striding black bear, was used on 6 of the 12 main pages.
(I treated the catalog pages he refers to as one.) 2 others were used twice and the last 2 used only once. There are two Error pages; I'm going to insist he put one of the lesser used bears on those 2 as headers, but does his explanation make sense, in the current way that the web works and designers accommodate it?
Our email exchange:
Bobbie: "I was scrolling through the headings and noted that the walking Black Bear banner was used on about 7 of the pages, while some of the other polar and panda banners appear only once or twice."
A: This is because I can only use one banner on the catalog pages ... all the same ... the rest of them have been equally distributed amongst all the other pages ... BTW it is not usual to have different banners on your website pages as this only increases download time ... if you look at any of my other websites, you will note that only one banner is used (2 on Flash sites), because once a client's computer has downloaded the first page, all graphics are placed in the user's cache and load much more quickly from there rather than having to re-download from the web each time.
Bine-TeddiesHi Bobbie,
for me it loads fast, no matter which banner or how many, but I am on an extremely fast broadband connection. I agree with your web guru though that the banner shouldn't change. In this case the banner is used like a title and keeping it the same makes it easier for the visitor to feel at home on a site. That's why the layout is often the same (title, links, frames etc.), while only the contents of a page changes. Don't get me wrong, I love all your banners, but when they change I almost feel as if I left your site. The same applies to the shifting place of links to different pages (sometimes below the banner, sometimes on the right side). The "header" and if applicable footer of a page (or its sidebar or whatever) should best be the same on all pages, just a little different highlighting to mark where you are.
At work we had a hard time understanding that at first, because everybody wanted to be creative and design their own pages, but now we have a great site with similar design elements, but different content. Maybe it helps if you look at the site at http://www.nrm.se
mmm Bobby, this is an area, that is way out of my league,
I looked at your site, and to me it is fine, downloads fine too, but that could be with my connction. Reminds me thou that I still have lots of work to do on my site.
Lynette
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)Thx for your input, girls. I'm on fast broadband too.
Sabine, you have no idea the number of times I must email my webbie, reminding him about my list of 'needs'. He fights me on a lot of them but I've had the courage of my own convictions after you all chimed in that "the one who pays should play."
I'm sorry that the changing banners are unsettling - Don and his cousin took them in different parts of the world and I wanted real bears to reflect the realistic feel of my current work. I thought that there was enough continuity of the style, text and layout that it would all co-ordinate. Not that you thought negatively about their formatting but I thought Shelli did a brilliant job with the textures, colors and bear images I sent her.
On that Order page - this is one that he insists on keeping. He says that to use his commerce software the 'buttons' must be along the top and arranged like that, not along the right side as I want.
It's EXTREMELY JARRING to me.
I hate it but don't know the veracity of his statements.
It's been a year now in progress with him, my 7th or 8th webbie, in about 10 years. I've never, in all of that time, had a completed, functional site. Several of them were also bear arists and were learning web design along with building mine - which I didn't know at the time. They've all left the bear world.
That's why I chose him: because he's well-known, knows how to write code and his wife is a bear artist so I figured he had a good handle on this work. Well, live and learn. Some day, the many thousands of dollars I've spent on web work will pay off....
Bobbie,
This is something I find just as frustrating, I have got someone doing my site, and also sit and sit. Unless I get him on the phone at his pc, I can pull my hair out.
I thought of doing a course in web design, but to do it 100% is going to take time, then practice and that is not what I am about, so I pay someone and pay and pay.
As you say we live and learn.
Lynette
Creative Design Studio (RKR4CDS)This is something I find just as frustrating, I have got someone doing my site, and also sit and sit. Unless I get him on the phone at his pc, I can pull my hair out.
I thought of doing a course in web design, but to do it 100% is going to take time, then practice and that is not what I am about, so I pay someone and pay and pay.
Amen! It's most frustrating that we're half a world apart; he's 18 hours ahead of me. Talk about a time warp - It's difficult to think in terms of the future ("What time is it where he is?")
Baird'sBears
Bobbie, your pages download lightning fast on my broadband too.
And I love the different banners. The bears change, but the design doesn't.
Your webbie's reasoning isn't clear to me, but I think he's saying that a repeat visitor loads the site faster the second time because the graphics are stored on her cache.
But I've got my internet set to load the current version of each webpage I visit, not the stored version, and I clear out my cache often.
I don't see the point of his objection to using the various banners.
Canna Bear PaintI'm with your webbie on this one, one banner is the usual and there are good reasons for it. It is confusing to see it change in a random way throughout the pages. My suggestion would be this... choose ONE banner for the top of your general pages. Choose ONE other banner for the top of your catalog pages, and add a word (or words) to that banner indicating that it is your catalog... the change of banner will make more sense that way (as in "oh, I'm in another section of the site"). If you wish, take the other banners and put them at the BOTTOM of the pages (near your copyright statement), one per page and feel free to use them randomly on different pages if you like. That way, if people scroll down a long page, your branding will still be at the bottom for them to see... and that banner doesn't need to match what's on the top.
Regarding the menu buttons on the catalog page, yes, it's jarring to move your main menu sections from the right to the top on those pages. However, I don't know what tool he's using to create that catalog... it may be entirely true that his catalog menu must go to the right and that he is in no position to over-ride that. Consider treating the catalog section like a truly different part of your site, as it already "looks" different (it helps if you can make it look like you did that on purpose!). With a different banner indicating that it is your catalog, consider also eliminating your main menu navigation (all those links that got moved from the right side to the top only on the catalog pages). Put one link instead to guide them back to the rest of your site, "return to main menu" or something along those lines.
Just my $0.02
Kelly
Posts: 3,177I like the 'freefall' approach to web building Bobbie - if you wanna use different banners on different pages then go for it girl.......he's a bit of a bossy boots is'nt he? ha ha
It's nice to see someone doing something different with their websites don't you think? It can be easy to get stuck in a rut with website design and there really are'nt any 'set in stone' rules about appearances are there? Or have i missed the "Webmasters 10 Commandments on design layouts"?
:crackup:
I have fast broadband connection and have no problem with your alternating banners - once the images has been loaded into your visitors cache it stays there until they remove it so if your visitors are regulars there should'nt be any hassle with loading the pics. That is just my humble opinion.
Tell him to do as he is told Bobbie - you is the boss baby! :crackup:
Penny 
