Is my site ok at this point?

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Ok - there are no photos of finished pieces.
Just my main logo files and image/url links.

www.silverfroth.com

I am just learning html - and for how simple my site is (and will continue to be) I had a serious problem with the code for a variety of beginner reasons...

I haven't worked out a decent style sheet to obey me for the tabled contents on top of each sub page. I'll work on it some more and swap things out when I get it right - but for right now each table is inserted seperately on each page.

The things that I have had problems with:
1) Getting each img/url-link to appear equal in size and spacing. (The font I used wasn't a proper font - just a decorative font in a plain jpeg image, I had to break it down and manipulate each letter into place and blah blah. I rendered them with what's suppose to be a 3d/metallic effect with a prgram that doesn't quite work right - and after file conversion to gif the images were distorted, so I kept them in the png format. I just hope that's not a real problem.)
2) Clarity of image/url (what is it really called?)
3) Sizing everything so the main page is scroll-less - for me I don't need to scroll to view the bottom, but what about everyone else?
4) Is the grey background to dark? I had it one shade darker, but it blended in with the text too much.

And, no, my jewelry I sell isn't the run of the mill beads on strings that everyone sees and does all the time - I do a lot of maille and precious stone work.

*edit*...
Ok, after some feedback from people - I will be starting over with the basic size of the font/etc - and once I actually get all of my photography done and in place I can put my efforts into finalizing rather than code-picking.
 
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A pointer/critique:
Your fonts are way too big. Larger fonts make your website look old and out-dated, or cheap, even. The red font should be between 12-16px. The silver text towards the bottom, keep at around 18-20px.


1. The logo type is cool, I'm diggin' it. However, there are a lot of jaggies on the curves, try to resize the image to get rid of them. PNG is a little better than GIF about jaggies, but PNGs are large files, so watch out.

2. See #1. They're getting really jaggy around the curves.

3. You're working on a big screen to not have to scroll on that page. Most users are still at 1024x768, and with that res you must scroll. You'll have plenty of room if you take my advice about the font sizes and scale your images a little smaller.

4. The background isn't too dark for me, it works.

Overall, it's a great start, especially for a beginner!

EDIT: Also, you misspelled "apologize" on the Home page.
 
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Ok - so I'll resize and see how that goes- decrease by 100px height for the larger, 15px height for the smaller and see what that does, which should also take care of the jagged-line problem - at least a little bit.

Now - the front page, once I get my inventory resituated I'll be putting in two photos - one on the left, one on the right. And that's all I plan on adding.
But, if I size-down things a bit do I need to add something more? Perhaps two smaller photos on either size of the logo at top?...Or something non-photo but decorative?
Once I get my pieces photographed and such I'll take another thought as to the main layout - without any photos to hold things in perspective I keep thinking "but the text needs to take up all the space"

Thanks for the headsup on the misspell...and I'll resize everything and see how that turns out.

You know - for such a simple layout it sure was impossible to find a pre-set templet to use. But that's fine, I'd rather learn and know all of my code so I can fix it if there's a problem.
If you don't need certain programs then fixing issues is easy to do no matter where you are.

One great thing I found is a free program called 'free ruler' - it's two rulers that measure your on-screen pixel count for you, vertical and horizontal.

If I wasn't so stubborn about using this particular font then the entire thing would be easier to get done.

*edit*
Ok - I bumped the sizes down just a bit on the main page, fixed the spelling.
I've had "application" programed into my typing, it seems.

Thanks for looking it over.

Here's the font without the grey in the back and the added marble - the grey/white contrast lets the 3d effect stand out a bit more, I think...So I'll bump the background grey down just a bit - or maybe give the background a marbeled look, very faintly, as well.
SilverfrothMainYes.jpg


and here was my rather crappy amatuer attempt to 'render' a computer-sketched necklace for one of the link images..an idea that I liked for a little while, but after a few days it suddenly looked so childish - and inaccurate. I don't make any pieces that look like they're done in round little pearls, it would have been misleading.
Untitled.jpg
 
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Hmmm
Even after reducing a bit more on the large logo someone said the same level of jagged is still there.
Is this because my original file size is so much larger? do I need to resize that file itself to the size I want?
 
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The problem to me looks more like you have those letters in the logo anti-aliased against a considerably darker background than what it's actually being put on. I don't think any amount of resizing will fix that. You have to recreate the images putting the letters on the color of background that you'll end up displaying on the page.
 
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Ok - I think I understand you...I need to start over and fill it in BEFORE I save and convert and all that.

Is it just on the one with the phrases underneath on the front page? Or does the one in the table and the others have the same problem?
Curses for not being able to see the problem myself as i adjust it...But I'll redoit and see how it goes.
I, also, won't do it so large to begin with - Now that I know what size I want it to be I won't overcompenate - I think that has something to do with it, too. The original was gigantic - then I resized, rendered, resized, and then I resized it further when I coded it into the page.
 
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says its updating. cant get around it ?
 
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i find all of the font to still be too big, also in my opinion there is too much script on the page
-chris
 
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I like what you have done with "Silverfroth", i like the font you have choosen, it is very elegant and artistic, very good choice for your store. However, i think you need your photos first. You say you want to have the word in big letters, i supose to keep it in the visitors' mind and memory, but remember that images are more atractive than words and they fix to our memory easier than words. Think about using an artistic photo of one or more products and mix it with the logo. Think also about having an artistic photo for each kind of jewelry (bracelets, rings...) you have for each section.
Also you may want to add another solid color, a dark one. Black is always elegant, you may want to use it.
 
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Yeah, once I get my photos finished I'll start over - that way I can see how balanced things are without guessing.

Thanks all - my biggest concern was the coding, being such a newbie to it - I know that some browsers can't process the same type of code, and that, so far, was my issue. Now that I know the code and how to work it (still shakey, but better) then I can rearrange things and resize things with more confidence.
 
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Thank you - I'm working on it offline, I'll reload it all when it's complete.
Someone pointed out to me that some browsers don't translate the 'transparent' background command as well as others and this might also be part of the problem - easy to fix considering my images are only font--I can use a solid background without any issues.
 
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bump.

Ok - I've worked through a lot of piddly little problems and I have about 1/5 of the site up, but at least that's a start.
However - before I keep going - I can't help but be irritated over the slow-loading of the images.

Now - is that because I'm using PNG images?
Or is it because I didn't resize my thumbnails as seperate files - I resized them using the <heigh="" width=""> tags when linking the thumbs.
...I think it's the second, you agree? ... Im wanting to check wiht people who know about such things before I go off and take the time to change it all.

And the 'silverfroth' at the top - I hate it.
LOL
After all the time I put into getting it to look just right, it just doesn't fit in very well...I like the font, still - but I'm going to rework it - reposition it and remove the border...having it centered on all the subpages is tacky - I'm thinking of making it even smaller and putting it on the left of each page with the horizontal menu out to the right of it, in line with it.

*edit*
I'll be adding a shopping cart, too, I'm just not to that point yet.
 
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It loads fast for me, but I'm on a fairly good connection. I would resize the images instead of using width and height tags.
 
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This site has been helpful to me. http://www.webdesignfromscratch.com/current-style.cfm

And I could be wrong but I think your images should all be jpegs or gifs. I don't even know what a png file is (!) although I know when I take a screen shot, it's a png.

You seem motivated, so keep going and good luck. :)
 
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I have finally come to understand the benefits of different file types...

it goes like this -simply putting it

Jpeg - compresses the file with it's own unique code/conversion whenever it's not in use, takes up less space...the conversion process for a jpeg file takes away a bit of quality for fine-lines (like text).

PNG retains the file's original code, does not compress by the same type of conversion and therefore does not take away quality - though, png files do take up more room than jpeg and some web-browsers have problems viewing them altogether....
They're best for fine-line images (text, mainly).

So - I don't have to use PNG if I don't want to, and frankly I think that saving myself some space and, thusly, bandwidth, is a good idea...I'm converting, again.
 
L

LBmtb

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I'd say the only time PNG's don't work is when they have transparency and under IE. Someone correct me if I'm wrong?
 

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