After months of work....would love some feedback if you guys get a chance!!

[dlopezphotography]

Have spent the little bit of free time over the last few months putting together my proper website.....if you guys have a minute id love for you to check it out and give me some feedback. It houses the best of my work in several different categories...a bit laggy on slow connections so if you have any problems just refresh the page....youll need the latest version of Flash Player to view it.....enjoy and thanks for taking the time to check it out!!!

http://www.danlopezphoto.com (http://www.danlopezphoto.com/)

-Daniel Lopez-Paullada

[dlopezphotography]

And for those wondering as to how I made this.....the site was created 100% with Lightroom's LRG Web Module Plugin Pack......plus a little html/xml tweaking here and there.....very user-friendly interface.....I highly recommend it!

http://www.lightroomgalleries.com (http://www.lightroomgalleries.com/)

[Silverpenguin]

Just had a quick look, my initial impressions...

1) I really don't like sites that auto play music. Visitors might be listening to their own music etc, and having something else start playing is annoying, and if it isn't to the taste of the visitor they may just leave.

2) The word portfolio along the top, I click it and get a little loading animation pop up, followed by a message telling me to use the navigation at the side of the screen! I'd loose that 'portfolio' link along the top, or have it as a drop down of portfolio categories rather than a link that does nothing other than waste a visitors time.

3) Every portfolio category has a drop down to reveal a 'digital work' link. If you plan on having a 'film work' section under each portfolio too then fine, but right now it's just another click I have to make before I can see your images.

So, so far I've clicked 'portfolio' and been told to use the nav to the left, so I then clicked a portfolio and then had to click a third time before I get to see any images - and can be totally eliminated to make for a much freer flowing browsing experience.

4) I'd have the blog open in the same window, with a clear link back to the main site from the blog. The only links I would have open in new windows are those to other sites, so that visitors don't potentially forget where they came from.

Hope I don't sound too harsh, I really don't mean too. I just think websites should be all about getting the viewers attention and keeping it for as long as you can, and the quicker a site can be navigated the more chance there is of someone exploring it. Multiple clicks before you can see an image and having to find the volume or turn off the music at the same time is all a bit too much for me personally...

That aside, the overall site is nice with some lovely images. Just a few too many pointless clicks to get around at the moment :)

[saturnin]

music doesnt work for me.. and the site has all these drop downs.. i only clicked one before i shut the page down... too many things going on... keep it simple...

[AlphaChicken]

way to slow at loading and I have a 1.2m DL rate.

[evilryu530]

took me days to load your website. i closed it and didn't look past the main page. rule of thumb is you have 3 seconds max for your viewer to get to the information they want on your site.

[Ferrari_Alex]

Photographs - rated 9 out of 10, website 4 out of ten. I think your shots deserve a better presentation:-)

[dlopezphotography]

Thank you all for taking the time to review the site and for your suggestions. The loading speeds have indeed been killing me. Any suggestions on what I can do to speed up the site a bit? Image size maybe? Resolution? Eliminating some flash elements/animations? As far as extra clicks to get to digital galleries, I am in the process of adding a film section in each category as well, just taking a bit of time to scan all the images. Ive gotten mixed reviews about the background music from different people but for the time being it stays....could the speed have anything to do with the site being hosted on a slow server?

[dlopezphotography]

Photographs - rated 9 out of 10, website 4 out of ten. I think your shots deserve a better presentation:-)

Thanks Alex, I feel the same way....it frustrates me to move through the site so sluggishly

[Ferrari_Alex]

Thanks Alex, I feel the same way....it frustrates me to move through the site so sluggishly

I was going through the same pain several months ago and started playing with the same software as you did. I did not like it - it is not up to the task. I was not able to find any open source software that could have me building professional website. I have purchased my domain and hosting....

Finally, I decided to go for SmugMug and I need to say that I am happy. It will give you so much more vs what you have now and it doesn't cost a fortune.

www.dylikowski.com

I am happy:-) It gives you statistics, they have support, you can change the skin, you have communities, etc. What else do you need?

[dlopezphotography]

Just had a quick look, my initial impressions...

1) I really don't like sites that auto play music. Visitors might be listening to their own music etc, and having something else start playing is annoying, and if it isn't to the taste of the visitor they may just leave.

2) The word portfolio along the top, I click it and get a little loading animation pop up, followed by a message telling me to use the navigation at the side of the screen! I'd loose that 'portfolio' link along the top, or have it as a drop down of portfolio categories rather than a link that does nothing other than waste a visitors time.

3) Every portfolio category has a drop down to reveal a 'digital work' link. If you plan on having a 'film work' section under each portfolio too then fine, but right now it's just another click I have to make before I can see your images.

So, so far I've clicked 'portfolio' and been told to use the nav to the left, so I then clicked a portfolio and then had to click a third time before I get to see any images - and can be totally eliminated to make for a much freer flowing browsing experience.

4) I'd have the blog open in the same window, with a clear link back to the main site from the blog. The only links I would have open in new windows are those to other sites, so that visitors don't potentially forget where they came from.

Hope I don't sound too harsh, I really don't mean too. I just think websites should be all about getting the viewers attention and keeping it for as long as you can, and the quicker a site can be navigated the more chance there is of someone exploring it. Multiple clicks before you can see an image and having to find the volume or turn off the music at the same time is all a bit too much for me personally...

That aside, the overall site is nice with some lovely images. Just a few too many pointless clicks to get around at the moment :)


You dont sound harsh at all....these are all exactly the types of comments i was looking for.....I need to get every end of the spectrum when it comes to opinions, so that hopefully i can make the necessary changes to please at least everyone in one way or another with this site.

[Hikin Mike]

If I were a customer, I would have left because I don't like music on a website.....I don't even bother trying to turn it off. You have some nice photos, unfortunately it takes too long to load, so again....I would have left.

You do realize that your site isn't very SEO friendly.

[Imagineering]

I am not rying to be rude, but I agree with the music and dont think it adds to the site. I found it pretty slow loading too. The automotive and sports I may separate too just because they have no correlation with each other, nice shots though!

[benny g]

hey there...
like the design of the site but it aint to user friendly. i lost the portfolio settings when i went to click through to them.

Don't believe the hype with the music. Alot of potential clients like music, it breaks from the norm when looking through endless arrays of websites that are potentially all from the same mold. i have music on my site and have been complemented by more than half about not only the choice, but the fact that i have it. just make sure that it is easy to turn off so people that dont want to listen to it can whack it off just as quick.

True what the others have said about the s.e.o. Again i originally didnt have a good seo built site. do you have the chance to add a seo friendly cover page? that is all you need really. and thats not just me talking... thats from the guys at google!

benny


All in all i like the design, maybe just work on the little bits...

benny