Topic: website testers needed

[LT]

I've had a re-jig of my website  - not a total overhaul, but a slightly different layout and quite a few new pictures.

Seeing as I am totally self taught in all this stuff, can you have a look and tell me how you find it?  let me know if you find any mistakes or broken links etc.

http://www.leontaylor-photo.co.uk/index.html

Thanks

Leon

[chricela]

Looks good Leon.

[Francois]

I noticed Ed's link is down     

[Ed Wenn]

Damn...you even beat me to that piece of info, Francois!! I just dropped in to impart this nugget of info and here you are already. Impressive  I appreciate you taking the time, though; thanks.

Leon, I don't really have a photo site at the moment, so you may as well drop the link for now. I'll contact you when I get a site set up.

[Nigel]

Hi Leon

I like it, I think the fairly minimalist style suites the b&w work really well.

If I were going to be really picky I think where you go into the galleries the first set of thumbnails are just a touch to small. I think you've got 80x80px, maybe 120x120. Also you might want to put some keywords in your meta tags so it's easier for Google to find.

regards
Nigel

[synj00]

Yeah I'm all about minimalism too. I like the layout. Very clean.

[Sandeha Lynch]

Good stuff ... but two typos.   

[gothamtomato]

I also like the simplicity.

I would add a picture to the biography page (it doesn't have to be of you - it can be anything).

[Artsyken]

Hey Leon,

Great site.  Always have been a fan of your photographs!

Here are a few points I would say that would improve your site:

- ability to click on the photos in the gallery to move on to the next photo
- if you are going to sell your photos, you may want to put that capability (ie. shopping cart)

Hope this helps.

Ken

[LT]

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

[Phil Bebbington]

Very nice, Leon. Clean, functional, easy to navigate - everything that you need in a site. Your images are presented really nicely. Top job.

[eyecaramba]

Hey Leon!  First the work is great.  Really great.  Second, thanks for the link too!  I will certainly return the favor when/if I get a links page put together at my site.  Have lately been thinking about a redesign...

Now for ideas about the site...

In the portfolio, Moving Water, you have the thumbnail set to the left and then above the image you have the 'next images' hyperlink... I think I would put this link under the thumbnails because I almost missed it.  It seems intuitively more like an image title or attribution or something and the second set of thumbs may be ignored by some. 

It would be also good if this device was used in other portfolios, namely having work in them.  The flowers portfolio could be folded into Miscellaneous set to make a larger set, that is unless you are planning to add a mess more of the flower images.

I would rather see a 'Stones' series maybe too than a 'Flowers' series but they are nice flower images... I am not sure how you feel about the stones but you do them well and they would have curb appeal too for anyone with a mind to collect your work  I would think.  Not suggesting you pander to anyone, just saying I like those images as well as they are likely a popular sort of image...

[db]

Hi Leon
Lovely work of course. I only had the one moment of confusion on the 'moving water' gallery when I failed to understand that the 'next images' 'previous images' arrows referred to the next set of thumbs. I hit 'next' thinking it would take me to  the next thumbnail on the list of 8 - but when an unexpected image appeared I was thrown. Maybe placing the arrow above or below the thumbs would help me (like Gordon already mentioned I think)

The other choice could be to have a second 'moving water' gallery itemized on the main Gallery list.. er  'moving water two'?

I got tired of having to reload the gallery list to select a new gallery- could that become a drop down list when you hover over it?

I would like to have seen the image name appear under each image ie. bloody big rock ?Leon etc rather than having to look for it on the URL bar. I do look for titles for a pointer toward an image's meaning, or at least a location so I can go rip off the same shot    Also, it helps to make it easy for people to identify the shot when they email you and tell you which one they want to buy.

[LT]

thanks guys - all extremely helpful tips.  I'll have another go at it in the next few days and try to incorporate what you've all said.  Definitely move the next images links and also a link from each large image to the next by clicking on the picture.  I'll have a think about the image names ..... I was trying to get away from having individual titles on the site, but I take your point db.