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Whit Haydn V.I.P. 5449 Posts |
Just put up our new site reconstruction. Check it out at http://www.schoolforscoundrels.com
Let me know what you think. There will be lots of glitches and mistakes to fix over the next week or so, so if you have any suggestions, gripes, or discover any broken links, etc., let me know. We've been wanting to do this for a long time, but other things have taken precedence. I hope you will like what we have done. |
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Clarioneer Special user Ferndown, Dorset, UK 624 Posts |
Whit - Good web design is a true skill that requires a flair and simplicity that does not come easily to most. I am a professional software programer/system designer and after years of maintaining my own site my web site skills are still only average at best.
I would suggest you contact a professional or friend with good web design skills to kick you off in the right direction. You might like to try these guys who I have personal experience of. It would be well worth the money. http://www.gitanosoftware.com/webs.htm Once they setup your standard web design theme you will find it easy to maintain the web site yourself.
catch you later
Clarioneer |
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Bradley Morgan Special user 702 Posts |
Hey Mr.Whit,
The site looks very good. I really like it. Much better than the old one. Best, Bradley
"I do not know with what weapons World War 3 will be fought, but World War 4 will be fought with sticks and stones." - Einstein
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T. Joseph O'Malley Inner circle Canada 1937 Posts |
I like the overall feel of the site. The only complaint I have is that it seems, well, very large on my monitor. Admittedly, I have a very small old monitor, but it really seems like the page itself is much larger than my screen, and thus I have to do a lot of scrolling. I like the wood panelled texture and old-timey feel of the whole thing though.
tjo'
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Larry Davidson Inner circle Boynton Beach, FL 5270 Posts |
I like the feel of it too, but I have the same scrolling issue.
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hou_dini Regular user 103 Posts |
Like it very much, especially the "scoundrel" ambience.
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Whit Haydn V.I.P. 5449 Posts |
Thanks for all the input. I am working hard on it. It would be more professional if we hired someone who really knew what he was doing. But what's the fun in that?
We put up the new front end before we worked on the rest of the site because, well, it was better than what we had. What we have now is most of the old with a new facade. I will work to create the look and feel that I want, and then we will probably have a pro take over and fix up all my mistakes. I am sorry if anyone experiences difficulties during this switch-over, pm me if you have a problem. This will be a big help. I will see what I can do for those of you with small monitors. Things seem pretty compressed as it is, but I am sure there will be ways to make it more friendly for people with different hardware and browser requirements. This site is definitely best viewed in IE. We will try to fix compatibility as quickly as possible. I am learning as I go, so please bear with me. I know that some of this will not sound professional to some, but to Chef and I, this sideline is not so much a big business proposition as a labor of love and a lot of fun. Our product line is way too specialized to be huge moneymakers. We do enjoy learning all the things we are learning. And we think most of the shops on line have too much of a "slick look." We wanted something a little funkier, and that felt like us. |
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Clarioneer Special user Ferndown, Dorset, UK 624 Posts |
Whit,
You spent years producing your 3 card monte DVD and years producing your 3 shells DVD (which we all await with baited breath), a true labor of love. But you spend 10 minutes on your web site and publish it. Does this make sense ? As a world class/world famous magician, this should also be reflected in your shop front to the world anything less doesn't befit the great man you are. The fairground/bunko booth concept is great but you really do need a professional to help put the concept into practice. You have the concept for your web site. Get a professional to design the template (put the theme into practice) and take it from there yourself. Trust me when I say it will be more fun enhancing/maintaining a web site designed right and you are proud of than continually having to hack around a flawed site without a consistent theme (nav bars headers/logo's etc. - standard pages) I, in business do my own bookkeeping however, I employ the services of an accountant to produce my end year accounts and process my returns.
catch you later
Clarioneer |
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Review King Eternal Order 14446 Posts |
I like the site and of course Whit's products are top notch. If Whit is having fun designing and fixing flaws, why not suppoort him?
With the DVD's, etc. once the project is out there, that's it: you have to live with what you've done. But, the website can change all the time. As long as his usual excellent products and customer service is there, I say go for it!
"Of all words of tongue and pen,
the saddest are, "It might have been" ..........John Greenleaf Whittier |
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Clarioneer Special user Ferndown, Dorset, UK 624 Posts |
I would have fun producing a magic teaching DVD and selling it but everyone here would righfully slate it for the trash it would be. Just as magic might be your field mine is software/design and based on this I am giving an honest opinion and advice. Privately I have fun with magic but I don't inflict my own personal magic movies on the world.
Please read my original response. Great web design is an artform it requires a natural skill that is almost impossible to learn. For me the knowledge to produce a web page is childs play. Putting that knowledge into practice isn't and without the right tools it's impossible. Whit is a world class magician. Whit is the worlds foremost expert on shells/monte. Whit's shells are the best in the world. Whit is clearly a great guy and takes time to help this community. Whit can't design/build good web sites. That's life. I will never be a world class magician. I will never produce world class magic Teaching DVD's. I will never produce better shells than Whit. I will never be an astronaut. Such is life and sometimes it really sucks. The question was "Let me know what you think." The honest answer is - it sucks. I wish it didn't but it does. It's an honest opinion but sometimes you really have to be cruel to be kind.
catch you later
Clarioneer |
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Pete Biro 1933 - 2018 18558 Posts |
I too found the need to scroll sideways and I have a large monitor.
Narrower columns of text are far easier to read. That's why newspapers do it with several narrow columns.
STAY TOONED... @ www.pete-biro.com
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S2000magician Inner circle Yorba Linda, CA 3465 Posts |
There is also less wasted space with narrow columns.
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Clarioneer Special user Ferndown, Dorset, UK 624 Posts |
The problem is not the columns, columns should auto resize (if you know how) but the fact he has 4 pictures in columns across the page. Images can't wrap when you resize the page hence the problem. Whit overly uses images on his web pages. This creates not only this problem but slow load times (unless you use broadband).
It also doesn't help he uses frames, uses any number of different fonts/font colours, doesn't have a consistent theme, doesn't have a consistent main menu or common nav bar, header, logo et al ad nauseum. His pages are too long, contain too much info, and it is hard to navigate. His opening heading talks about inspiring confidence. The site does the opposite. This logo even takes up valuable space meaning you have to scroll down to even see the complete main menu options.
catch you later
Clarioneer |
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Whit Haydn V.I.P. 5449 Posts |
Thanks for all the input Clarioneer. Many of your comments are undeniably true. But I think you misunderstand the use of the word "Confidence." ;-)
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KingStardog Inner circle 2134 Posts |
I think the products speak for themselves. As long as the link to the pay button works, doesn't matter what anyone says.
I would recommend Netobjects Fusion. You can get an older version V3-V4 for pennies on the web and import everything you already have right in to work with it. Drag and drop. One button publishing anytime you feel like it, once a day or 20 times. It takes a couple days to learn and after that minutes to update a site. No need for high priced web designers. No need to pay for changes or updates. (Spell check though) BTW Whit, I like the old west theme. Inspiring confidence, that's good.
...think not that all wisdom is in your school. You may have studied other paths,but, it is important to remember that no matter who you are or where you come from, there is always more to learn.
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Kjellstrom Inner circle Sweden, Scandinavia, Europe 5203 Posts |
Good Luck ! I like your new web style.
Your products are just great. I'm making lot of cash with your Street Shells Sometimes I need to run fast, the cops in my country are very fast |
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Clarioneer Special user Ferndown, Dorset, UK 624 Posts |
My apologies Whit. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world if we could all be brilliant at everything we did?
I guess the only consolation you have is that you are merely world famous at something. Your Wild West/bunko booth concept is a great idea and you have some wonderful pictures that perfectly match this theme. In the right hands your web site could be what befits a man of your renown/stature. As soon as the right page design has been setup it is quite simple to literally copy it and simply replace the main content from your old pages (copy/paste). All it needs is a good designer to create an open web page with a simple/cheap menuing/nav bar system you can edit yourself et voila. You'll be churning out pages in no time at all. That reference I supplied above, Gitano, can produce for you a fantastic logo, header and nav bar put together on a single page along the theme you specify for peanuts. He has many many years of artwork skill that you are buying for next to nothing. You don't need a designer to create your entire web site only a well designed page which you simply copy. Here's a link to a good menu/nav bar builder http://www.sothink.com/webtools/dhtmlmenu/index.htm
catch you later
Clarioneer |
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Whit Haydn V.I.P. 5449 Posts |
Thanks, Clarioneer. I have access to several good designers, and will probably do as you suggest eventually.
Right now, I am having fun with creating the look I want. It is not so much a desire to do all things, as a need to create a look and feel that suits Chef and me, and reflects the fun and adventure of our project. Plus, it is a good reason for me to play with new programs and learn new things. One of the reasons it takes so long for our dvds and such is that we are learning as we go. I edit the video, author the dvds, and now we are going to be doing our own duplicating and printing of the dvds. We like to have control of our products, even if we could get slicker and more professional help. We will eventually be able to do a lot more small projects by doing it this way, without the huge overhead and capital expenditures up front. Our products are aimed at a small percentage of a small market--magicians, history buffs, gambling experts. We can not keep putting out dvds on the subjects we are interested in if we have to spend a fortune on each one, and have a thousand pressed for each project. There is very little money to be made in the little bailiwick we have established. It is all a labor of love. |
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Clarioneer Special user Ferndown, Dorset, UK 624 Posts |
I am exactly the same and even produce my own stationary and business cards. But having gone through the long process of designing my own web site, I know how time consuming and difficult it is to get it right. And programming is my business. :-(
If you had been only an amateur magician I would have said nothing. It's the price you bear for being world famous and responsibilities expected to go with that. What a heavy cross you bear. So here are a few very simple tips. On your new index page - add a click here. Remove the logo on page two so menu's appear higher up. I would also suggest the two similar images used as menu's be reduced in size so the far right menu/links can be seen on normal sized screens. Also move the scrolling text under the two menu's which will align the top of menu's better. I would also suggest you set your screen to 800x600 and design around this size as it is the size most computer users use hence the scrolling problems for many. Text throughout your site should not be times roman. Eet it to either arial or tahoma it's more readable. The text also doesn't need to be so large. This will reduce your page sizes considerably (people with sight difficulties will have their screens set to large type anyway). Seriously reduce the size of text lower down page 2 to a footnote size (very small). The music is nice but for people taking a peek at work it will get them fired. So music whilst nice is a no no. On most of your pages ensure the table in which you have placed your content does not have a width set. This is what stops the text from wrapping as the window is resized. This is also stopped when you have two pictures or more side by side. So where you really must have two pictures or more side by side reduce their size so they fit on less than 800 width ie. a width of no more than say 350 each (for two side by side). Where you are using a black background on which you place text edit the table/cell so text has an indent left and right so it's more readable. The main trick to web pages is to position using a table made up of rows/columns (cells) just like a spreadsheet this allows for easier positioning. This will allow you for example to have cart and a picture at the same level thus again reducing the height of your pages. I don't know what web site editor you use but something like MS Frontpage might make life for you a lot easier. For creating graphics/resizing graphics, logos headers etc. get xara webstyle it will save you a lot of time. http://www.xara.com/products/webstyle/ There are a few ideas. If you want more I've got plenty.
catch you later
Clarioneer |
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Whit Haydn V.I.P. 5449 Posts |
Thanks, great suggestions. Keep them coming. I am using FrontPage 2003. The four menus are cells.
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