Using lightbox for a website.

[danwiz]

Hello!
Anybody else using the slimbox variety of the lightbox software for their photo website? It is so very cool. Now your website visitors don't have to ever leave the page where the photos are to see the larger size photo. I have implemented the slimbox version of lightbox and if you would like to see some photos of Japan - mountains, flowers and etc. I would like to invite you to peruse our website at http://danwiz.com. Feedback is always appreciated and any feedback talking about lightbox or problems you experienced with it would be most welcome. If some photos more than fill your browser window (on small computer monitors) then you can use the full screen mode of your web browser - press F11 for both Firefox and IE 8.

Thanks for looking.
danwiz

[danwiz]

Seems strange - 195 views of this thread and not even 1 comment!?

[danwiz]

Can somebody please tell me why it's now 300 views and not a single reply?

[wirehunt]

No problems here using it, nice and fast to load too. On my screen they could go bigger in fact as they are about 6X5 at a guess. That's in chrome.

[AdamW]

I was amazed by your web design.

[danwiz]

wirehunt and AdamW: Thank you for your replies. AdamW, that's the first time somebody ever said that they amazed by my web design - why? I know that there do not seem to be many sites out there which are just photos, but could you give me more clarification please?

[Phill D]

danwiz not sure why so many views & so few comments. I'm no web expert or designer but I'll give you a few simple personal comments as a viewer. The site is very fast & easy to use which is really good but it's very busy and just too bright imho. The colours of the text and boxes detract from the nice bright images. It's nice to have the text though, so many people leave off the story/information that puts images into context. The images themselves are excellent you are obviously a talented photographer, when you click on an image they could display a bit larger though as someone else said. Hope this helps but feel free to ingore me as I said I'm no web designer so what do I know.

[danwiz]

Phill D: Thank you so much for your feedback. The fact that the site is very fast and easy to use is good to know. I never realized that it was too busy and bright though. Do you think off-whites for every month are better as a background, black, any ideas? I use the same color scheme for each month every year - for example January 2007 has the same background color as January 2008 and January 2009 and January 2010 (will have). I think that you are suggesting that for some of the brighter months (maybe June, July, August, November and December that I use more subdued colors, is that correct? I understand that you are also suggesting that I use more subdued colors in text boxes (good suggestion I believe). Thanks for the comment on the quality of the images and my photography skills.

The reason I have the size of the images what it is is because the images do not resize when using lightbox. When I look at my website statistics I see that some people viewing with resolutions as small as 1024 x 600, 1024 x 768 and 1280 x 800 (that's me). With my 1280 x 800 resolution the present size is great, so for people with resolution worse than 1280 x 800 that means only a part of the image, and probably none of the title, is on the screen. So, I am sorry, but the size is the one single thing which I don't feel able to change.

So, it seems that I can use some of your suggestions - more subdued colors for backgrounds and for text boxes. I'll try my best in the future, but I don't want to go back and re-create what is already there (again).

Thanks much,
danwiz

[Phill D]

danwiz I'd wait a bit to see what others think before changing things, they were just my personal thoughts & others may not agree. I understand what you mean about the image sizes & agree leave it alone.

[danwiz]

One more bump. Would still really appreciate some additional comments.

[AdamW]

Okay, I'll give it to you straight. Your site looks like it's from 1998. On the main page, the background photos are distracting. They're too small for a site about photos. The center-aligned text, font, text color, and text box colors are hard to read. The page is too long, it should be broken up into sub-pages. The other pages I looked at had too many bright colors and graphic elements--they distract from the photos. There was no obvious way to return to the main page.

Basically, I think that a web site about photos should highlight the photos. I feel that in graphic design, less more. Don't be afraid of white space. Limit your use of colors to a simple scheme. Use an easy to read font. Stick with black text. Look at Google's main page: it is sparse, simple and has lots of white space. At least I didn't see any animated gifs.

[danwiz]

Thank you AdamW, I do appreciate your honesty. Now I have to do some serious thinking.

To respond to your "There was no obvious way to return to the main page" - On every photo page there is a "HOME" button at the bottom, did you give up before you got to the bottom? Should the home button be at the top of the page, or should I make it so that clicking on the "title" takes you back to the home page, or both?

At least you were able to find one good thing - no animated gifs.

[AdamW]

I hope I didn't come off too harsh.

I missed the home button, sorry. Most users don't scroll a lot, so it would be a good idea to put one at the top as well.

My best suggestion is to try to copy the design of sites that you like--in terms of both appearance and usability.

Oh, and to answer your original question, Lightbox works very well!

[danwiz]

Ah, it was a bit harsh, but I don't mind - I am 62 years old, I can take constructive criticism. I'd appreciate it if you'd take a look now - at the remodeled index page and at least one year page. And, I have already changed the upcoming Feb pages so that clicking on the "title picture" will also take you to the home page - seems many people are doing that now - including this page right here! I don't plan to change the month pages for past months, but for future months I'll try to keep the design simpler and more "pleasing to the eye".

Oh, and thanks for letting me know that Lightbox works well for you.

[AdamW]

Well, I think the main page is a huge improvement in both looks and usability. The sub-pages still have too much color, which I think distracts from your photos, but I think you're on the right track!

[danwiz]

Okay - MAJOR CHANGES back through all of the 2009 and 2008 photo pages - let me know what you think! PLEASE!!??

[danwiz]

Well, the entire site has now been changed in major ways! I hope that it is much more appealing as a photography site.

The best photos of February 2010 have also now been posted.

The 2011 calendars are now also available from the Special Items page - I admit that I've had too much free time on my hands - this economy sucks!

Could I get some feedback about the changes to the site from a few of the 1,400 persons who have looked at this thread - PLEASE?