which looks best templates or DIY

[outbackjackie]

I have never used templates as I could never find one that was really me. However as I surf the web I find most new sites are using templates. Do you think my DIY makes my site look unprofessional. Bare in mind however that mine is not a commercial site but an informative site when you give feedback. Also someone told me .info sites were thought of as spammy sites is this true.

One other quick question is anyone else having problems publishing pages at present my site starts the process then quits and gives me an error message.

http://www.outbackjack.info

[outbackjackie]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

oh bother i have put this into the wrong forum how does one delet post and or edit it I can't seem to find out how.

[AJ113]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

Jackie
I'll leave the pros and cons discussion of templates to the experts. However, your website looks unprofessional mainly because it's - well, unprofessional.

You are already doing the right thing in studying multiple sites on the web, try choosing your favourite one, and then re-designing your own site to match the features on your chosen site. I'm not talking about outright plagearism here, I'm just suggesting that you take note of the major sites and try to *******te the style and presentation attributes of one of them.

After a while you will have taught yourself a bit about how a professional website should look, I'll offer one piece of advice though - pay attention to detail, that's the main difference between amateur and professional. IMO of course!

On the other hand, your site is not commercial, and it clearly has your signature all over it - which is nice - so why change it at all?

Can't say I've heard the stuff about .info sites being spammy.

No probs here publishing either.

Adrian

[AJ113]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

oh bother i have put this into the wrong forum how does one delet post and or edit it I can't seem to find out how.

I'm not so sure it's in the wrong place but MODS can you move the thread if approprite please?

BTW Jackie you can edit your posts by clicking on the 'Edit' button in the bottom right corner of the post.

[bill2006]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

I have never used templates as I could never find one that was really me. However as I surf the web I find most new sites are using templates. Do you think my DIY makes my site look unprofessional. Bare in mind however that mine is not a commercial site but an informative site when you give feedback. Also someone told me .info sites were thought of as spammy sites is this true.

One other quick question is anyone else having problems publishing pages at present my site starts the process then quits and gives me an error message.

http://www.outbackjack.info

Jackie,
There are no rules for using templates, look aroud, you'll find that there are a lot of us who have designed our own and otehrs who use the templates and even tweak them with one of several paint programs. Find what you think your target audience will like most.

You can't delete a message thread you start. If neessary it will be moved to the appropriate category.

For publishing:
-what kind of error are you getting?
-download the latest version of BV
-clear your computer's cache, history, etc.

You have a good concept going, let us know if you want us to comment on your work.

Good luck

[whiteshepherd]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

Jackie I like your website ... it epitomises the Australian outback and has a great feel .. having said that there are things you could do to tweak it.

For example, your home page is incredibly busy with a lot of boxes and a lot of vacant space ... maybe think about simplifying the layout ... your pages are a lot wider than 800 and maybe consider putting the menu onto a shape that runs the length of the page and put some of the advertising into there.

Take a look around at a lot of websites and the ones you like ask yourself why and do the same for the ones you don't like ... and take the principles behind that and try and apply them to your website.

I had a bit of a look at your SEO and in some places itwas good and in some not so good ... here's a link to the program I use http://www.widexl.com/remote/search-...-analyzer.html

Keep up the good work ...

[outbackjackie]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

What is SEO? What blank spaces are on my page it's full up when I view it. Where are the holes that you see. Perhaps someone could tell me which pages have a good look/feel in my site and then I can look at what I did and try to copy that.

[bill2006]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

What is SEO? What blank spaces are on my page it's full up when I view it. Where are the holes that you see. Perhaps someone could tell me which pages have a good look/feel in my site and then I can look at what I did and try to copy that.

Checkout Bether's site on SEO - Search Engine Optimization:

http://www.moxie-enter-prises.com/SEO-The-Basics.html

[Dream Lady]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

Hi Jackie! Wow!! you have put a lot of work into your website and I think you are off to a wonderful start! You have a lot of great content there, I can't possibly read it all in one sitting, so I will have to bookmark it and come back when I have more time. Here are a few of my thoughts:
1. It appears that all of your pages have different backgrounds, designs and even navigation menus. I think you should pick one design and one nav menu and have it flow that way on each and every page. Now with that said, you could vary the colors of each page, but use the same design. Right now, it appears unprofessional to me, just because I feel like I am going to different websites with each click of the page. You can make it informative, interesting and fun and still have a more polished look.
2. You do need to spell check your text. You have a lot of text and information that is interesting, but honestly, I loose interest when I see a lot of words spelled incorrectly. So I think it would be worthwhile to double check your spelling.
3. I do think you have over done it on boxing everything in. When you use boxes like you have, there appears to be a lot of blank or vacant space all around the box. I think you could make better use of the space.
4. Some of your pages do not have nav menus on them. I would like to see the same nav menu on each page. Right now most of your pages, I can go back to the Home page, but not some of the others.
5. I would rearrange your nav menu, by what is most important to you and then work your way down. ie. you have sitemap as the first item on your menu. If you homepage is organized well, you wouldn't need to have all the explanation that you do on your sitemap.
6. You say that your website is for information only. I think that is great and you certainly do have a lot of very worthwhile information. But I think you need to entertain right up front on your home page, what the purpose of the site is. It appears to me from first glance, that the purpose is about life in the Outback...if that is the case, I would stress that either in a header on your home page, a paragraph (not in a box) or something, so that people know right away, what your site is about.

Your site absolutely has GREAT potential and my mind is running wild with all the possiblities you could do. You say on your site map that it has become so big you are having difficulty organizing it. If you haven't read this piece of information that ***** wrote, I would suggest it, because it may help you to plan your work and then work your plan.

Great start and most of all, have fun with it, which it appears like you are!

Also, I know of a lot of .info sites that are wonderful. I have not heard of them being spammy. And since your site is not a commercial site per se, I wouldn't worry about that.

[Collectors-info]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

Hi, I think the site just needs a simple & single style to every page to create a uniformity that will make the pages look a bit less busy. (with or without a template)
IE: You placed quit a few things in the tables (which is good),. But try it without all the boarders.
Have a think about a header that might say Australia in an image containing??
(Things associated with Australia )
The flag/gum tree/kangaroo/Ayres rock/coolabahs tree/crocks/ & so on.

Only some idea’s

[outbackjackie]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

Wow guys a lot of good info here, will take me all week just to think your suggestions through. About spelling keep in mind that it is Australian and things like colour for example will never look right to an American but there are spelling errors I agree I just get so content focused and so little time with kids and commitments to tidy it all up.

I must admit I have big trouble with uniformity LOL I must be postmodern but I do get what you mean with making it look whole. I guess that some pages are actually hosting for friends and their business so the look of their pages will be different. For example Aon, Outback Adventure wedding, the Outback Colours Art gallery and the Flinders christian fellowship are all for different groups so there is some intentional differences.

If trying to make the rest uniform which look do I use? Maybe the Nav buttons could be the same but the colours of the background I get too bored. I am my own worst enemy.

Things in boxes I didn't start out that way someone suggested it, put things in tables etc so I changed it now it appears not so good an idea.

I don't mind the challenges it is all a steep learning curve but I have redone some pages today with some of your suggestions in mind. I have broken up the Outback Kids section into a couple of pages and have kept the same navigation buttons for that. Also the outback Kitchen is now on two pages one for gardening and one for Cooking, the colours are different but style is similar. Does this look better?

Maybe I could have some uniformity with diversity if I do my different sections Kids - Kitchen - Places in Flinders with a style of their own.

What do you think would that keep us all happy??LOL

Thanks for all your hard work.

[outbackjackie]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

Hi, I think the site just needs a simple & single style to every page to create a uniformity that will make the pages look a bit less busy. (with or without a template)
IE: You placed quit a few things in the tables (which is good),. But try it without all the boarders.
Have a think about a header that might say Australia in an image containing??
(Things associated with Australia )
The flag/gum tree/kangaroo/Ayres rock/coolabahs tree/crocks/ & so on.

Only some idea’s

touble is my head is that busy and it comes out on the siteLOL

[outbackjackie]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

Hi Jackie! Wow!! you have put a lot of work into your website and I think you are off to a wonderful start! You have a lot of great content there, I can't possibly read it all in one sitting, so I will have to bookmark it and come back when I have more time. Here are a few of my thoughts:
1. It appears that all of your pages have different backgrounds, designs and even navigation menus. I think you should pick one design and one nav menu and have it flow that way on each and every page. Now with that said, you could vary the colors of each page, but use the same design. Right now, it appears unprofessional to me, just because I feel like I am going to different websites with each click of the page. You can make it informative, interesting and fun and still have a more polished look.
2. You do need to spell check your text. You have a lot of text and information that is interesting, but honestly, I loose interest when I see a lot of words spelled incorrectly. So I think it would be worthwhile to double check your spelling.
3. I do think you have over done it on boxing everything in. When you use boxes like you have, there appears to be a lot of blank or vacant space all around the box. I think you could make better use of the space.
4. Some of your pages do not have nav menus on them. I would like to see the same nav menu on each page. Right now most of your pages, I can go back to the Home page, but not some of the others.
5. I would rearrange your nav menu, by what is most important to you and then work your way down. ie. you have sitemap as the first item on your menu. If you homepage is organized well, you wouldn't need to have all the explanation that you do on your sitemap.
6. You say that your website is for information only. I think that is great and you certainly do have a lot of very worthwhile information. But I think you need to entertain right up front on your home page, what the purpose of the site is. It appears to me from first glance, that the purpose is about life in the Outback...if that is the case, I would stress that either in a header on your home page, a paragraph (not in a box) or something, so that people know right away, what your site is about.

Your site absolutely has GREAT potential and my mind is running wild with all the possiblities you could do. You say on your site map that it has become so big you are having difficulty organizing it. If you haven't read this piece of information that ***** wrote, I would suggest it, because it may help you to plan your work and then work your plan.

Great start and most of all, have fun with it, which it appears like you are!

Also, I know of a lot of .info sites that are wonderful. I have not heard of them being spammy. And since your site is not a commercial site per se, I wouldn't worry about that.

My problem is that I want to do everything and I can only afford one domain LOL. Everyday I discover something new and think I could share this. My life is like this I belong to SES, Gem Club, Church, Bush Garden society, Kindy Governing Council etc. Trying to narrow down my interests. Maybe I will never achieve professional status

[Collectors-info]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

My problem is that I want to do everything and I can only afford one domain LOL.

Hi. Remember you can have as many sub-domains as you want for FREE. Can sometimes be a good way to organise areas of a site. IE:
http://www.outbackjack.info/ as the main introduction & then……

http://www.wildlife.outbackjack.info/

http://www.stories.outbackjack.info/

http://www.gardening.outbackjack.info/

And so on. Only an idea?

[AJ113]

Re: which looks best templates or DIY

..........I loose interest when I see a lot of words spelled incorrectly. .............

Classic! Very funny Cindy!