Web site tweaked... opinions appreciated

[gmen]

I've had a basic site for a while now, but recently I have given it an overhaul. The new version is up and running now and I'd appreciate some feedback on its current appearance, user-friendliness etc.

A bit of background information:

The site allows me to post images from the football/cricket/rugby matches I cover for local newspapers (NOT the ones that I give to the papers). The target audience is made up from the players involved, the supporters, club officials and local sporting enthusiasts as well as showcasing some of my pics to potential media clients. I am gradually building up a mailing list and notifying all interested parties every time I add a new set of photos.

The site is hand-coded in notepad - I've dabbled with wysiwyg editors but have found them cumbersome to use. My own remit was to keep the site very simple and easy to navigate.

The action picture galleries (for example: Swifts vs Seniors) use a (free) flash plug-in that I have customised and XML for the captions and image data. There is XML elsewhere too and I have learned an awful lot implementing this part of the site (although I do realise that there can be some problems with data islands in Netscape). The galleries open in a new window and have between 8-12 pictures - this allows visitors to open more than one gallery at once if they wish.

I have used a blog (courtesy of blogger.com) for the home page - I think this keeps the site dynamic and it also means I can update that page quickly and easily from anywhere at all - even if I don't have access to my laptop. I have even updated it from an internet cafe when I was on holiday (sad eh?!).

I have used style sheets (one for the site and one for the XML grounds list) - this enables me to change the fonts/colours/spacings/general layout very easily. There is also the opportunity to subscribe to the blog or use it as an RSS feed - something I had never encountered until a couple of weeks ago!

It has been one hell of a learning curve - but stacks of fun! Let me know what you think. The home page is HERE.

All thoughts and suggestions will be readily accepted. if you get a chance to look at the images, I'd be pleased to hear your opinions on them too.

[mjm]

The flash thingy is neat but it will cost you a lot of bandwidth if your site is popular (it looks to be preloading ALL the fullsized images). It also makes linking to a direct photo impossible. I would suggest swapping that out with a simpl PHP/CGI script to just show the thumbnails and then enlarge when clicked on.

Nice photos.

Why do you have soccer pictures in the football section? J/K LOL ;)

[gmen]

Fair point with the flashy dooberry - it does indeed load the images in advance. I have kept the 'full size' images to around 40kb-50kb in size - but you're right to say it may have some impact on bandwith.

At this moment in time though visitors are not coming in huge numbers as it is still early days! I will twiddle with the php idea though too.

I guess if I want to be 'internationally' recognised I'll need to substitute the word 'football' with 'soccer' throughout the site... might put off some of the locals though!

[mjm]

I was just joking around about the football/soccer comment. I work with a guy from the UK and we always joke about that.

[Sebastian]

Do not, under any circumstances, EVER, consider changing it to SOCCER.

Apparently the U.S. is the only place on the planet that doesn't get the concept of calling a sport where a BALL is kicked with a FOOT, football. No, we reserve it for a sport where an egg is thrown and carried by HAND.

If only I had a brick wall to beat my head against...

On a side note, regarding yoru website...

If the site is about images, WHY IS THERE SO MUCH TEXT!? If I visit a site about photography, I would like the photographs to come first, or at least be more prominent.

Just my 2 cents...

[gmen]

The word soccer will NEVER appear on the site - that is a certainty!

Yep, there's a fair bit of text. It's there to satisfy a significant part of the 'target audience' - in the UK, we refer to them as 'anoraks' or 'numpties' - I'm not sure there is an equivalent term in the US. These are individuals who are not only interested in the images but also the events surrounding them. However, I am sure there is still room to 'streamline' it - I suppose I am aiming for some sort of cult status with the blog approach.

If a player or a club contacts me with regard to pictures, I give them the addresses of the relevant galleries - they can see the pics without the 'text clutter' and a good few do purchase from me. Even if I am at a match and hand out my business card, I can give them the web gallery address in advance as all the URLs and image details follow a simple rule.

However, it IS a tricky balance and your feedback will help me get there!

Maybe there should be two entrance points: (i) the blog page and (ii) a simple gallery version? Hmmm.

[gmen]

And 'HANDEGG'... will that ever catch on? I wonder....

[ckozo]

...Fair point with the flashy dooberry - it does indeed load the images in advance. I have kept the 'full size' images to around 40kb-50kb in size - but you're right to say it may have some impact on bandwith.

At this moment in time though visitors are not coming in huge numbers as it is still early days! I will twiddle with the php idea though too.

...

i'm getting the following message for visiting your site:
"Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
The server is temporarily unable to service your request due to the site owner reaching his/her bandwidth limit. Please try again later."

also, you can use flash and not preload all images in advance. my photo-based web site uses a flash slideshow element which communicates with an XML file that fades-in images but loads only the image about to be viewed. i have over 66 images, each 50-60 kb, and the total load time is only for a single 50-60 kb image.

check out www.flashkit.com (movies and/or tutorial sections) for various methods to do this. however, if you're going this route, you should be comfortable with coding actionscript.

cheers!