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I made this entirely in Xara Web Designer 11 Premium. I love the full-page sites that have an impactful image that fills the browser width and I wanted this site to have that. It took forever, but I was happy with the result. Take a look!
www.ResoundFour.com
Nice design. :)
Very nice looking site.
Whilst not sharing the views of the site, I must say I think it is really well designed - beautiful, in fact.
Bob.
I appreciate the kind words. Not being a coder myself, for years I lamented the fact that I couldn't create my own site from scratch with my graphic design skills alone. Xara changed all that, and it's getting better with each new update.Quote:
Originally Posted by iamtheblues
The site looks great... but why did you only created the landing page with Xara?
I'm afraid I don't understand the question. I didn't only create the landing page with Xara. I created the entire site with Xara. Or perhaps you mean something else? Could you clarify?Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesd
I think I see what the issue is. There's nothing on the landing page that makes it obvious that the icons are clickable. That's an issue I need to correct. It should be made more obvious. A friend of mine who I showed the site to had a similar response to yours, and I just put two and two together. I guess I have to sacrifice a little on my "minimalist" design! Thanks for the response.
There, I added a little finger pointing to the first icon for direction and clarity. And halos around the selected icon (on desktop version). Check it out now. www.ResoundFour.com
I visited the site on my mobile and this is what I see. So I clicked the logo at the bottom :)
https://dl.pushbulletusercontent.com...2013.01.48.png
I think JamesD means that the site seems to be created on software other than xara, I see that it is based on the Mozernizer library and php and there is nothing to indicate that it is xara, not in the source (a line from the source code - 'http://www.resoundchurch.com/main/wp-content/plugins/ indicates wordpress plugin, and xara uses <span class= for text, but yours uses <p>, as far as I know now one has been able to put lines of text into a <p> to create proper paragraphs in xara) the site's even using woocommerce, strictly a wordpress plugin. In which case this should be moved to another part of the forum, I have been told that in this part of the forum the thread is moderated so surely the moderator must be checking if a site is created in xara or not, if not then maybe I can post some of my adobe muse sites here as well - :D
The circular resound church logo does link to a site that is made in Wordpress. So maybe that's what you're seeing? It's definitely made in Xara. The only exception I forgot, is I did use the Gimp to get the Gassian Blur effect on the background image. I could upload the .web file if you like?
As far as the text goes, I simply copy-pasted it out of a word processor and subsequently tweaked it within Xara as needed. As I recall, Xara asked me if I should keep the original formatting or not. So I guess technically it wasn't made 100% in Xara if you count the text and the background image, and the embedded YouTube videos.
I know that the site is a wordpress theme called artlqd as shown here https://themetix.com/artlqd/ .
Yes the initial landing page is clearly xara as shown by the source code, but once you click on the circular logo it takes you to a wordpress site as you have said, but then the question is why is a website made with wordpress in this section of the forum, the site is nice and everything but should really be in the Site Design and Publishing (non-Xara) section which is where the rest of us creating sites using software other than xara have to post, so the question is not targeted at you but the moderator for this section.
Again well done on the site itself.
My bad on this, I thought that the wordpress site linked using the circular logo was the site you were showcasing.
The problem with unconventional navigation is that it is confusing and sometimes frustrating, that is why User Experience is far more important than User Interface, user interfaces look pretty but when done in an unconventional style they take away from the user experience. Forget everything I said in my other posts but be aware that without the presence of the right pointers to information it can lead to very high bounce rates, also a home/index page can contribute significantly to seo but only is there is actually any information on it. I did this a few years back and the site got nowhere in search results, once I got rid of the landing page and moved to a more conventional home page I saw an increase up the rankings within the month.
That's what I done too Cloud :)
So, I added a pointer to the landing page to try and make it more obvious that the icons are clickable. Do you guys think that's enough? Any ideas to make it more obvious while still preserving an elegant design?
I personally don't like landing pages. If it was me I would ditch the landing page ;)
So, now I am seeing quite a different site from earlier. I really liked the first one (which apparently has been removed) and, to be honest, I don't really care for this one.
A huge thumbs-down on both presentation and content.
I hate the background graphic and the page layout is just one thing after another and loads of text.
The content itself seems more about preaching a particular religious agenda at the visitor rather than engaging them in a partnership with god.
Definitely open to feedback here. The message is what it is, but do you have suggestions as to how to present this better? I agree there is loads of text, and I'm not interested in taking out any content. The idea is for people who are new to our church to find out about our vision and values, for the purpose of deciding whether it's a good fit for them. The video is brief, and the text expounds heavily on what is presented in the video. Thanks for any honest feedback.
My feedback is this
1) Don't lecture people
2) Keep the message simple
3) Make the church approachable and friendly
4) Say what you do
The current page is none of that.
On the index page of the site be ultra simple. Let people decide if they want to know more. Don't ram it down their throat. You aren't writing a book or presenting a sermon.
People will come if they want to know more. Don't scare them off.
It's just my opinion.
Thank you for the feedback, Pauland. That's quite a bit to digest, even with the few words you used. I have some ideas for how to implement these so the site better reflects 4 those values you mentioned (which I fully agree with). I'm thinking a synopsis on the landing page wouldn't be a bad idea, then they can click through if they want to get the details. Your comments made me think, about this: the contrast between the simplicity of the landing page vs. the complexity of the content pages is glaring, and might be jarring to the user. And here I was thinking I was finished! :) Thanks again.
Personally, I find the use of many different font sizes off putting. I would prefer to see ALL the text in a standard size. Simple titles/headers could be in Bold or a different size, but I would much prefer NOT to see paragraphs in different sizes.
Sorry to say this, but it looks like you've cut and pasted the text from many different locations, and not changed any of the original formatting.
I didn't have any problem with the original navigation, but do dislike the little hand pointer. It makes me think that only one section is clickable. Again, personal preference, but I would lose the hand.
Okay folks, I never thought I would change the site up THIS much based on these suggestions, but the input has been SO solid! I did away with the uncertain landing page...it now has real information on how to use the site, and what the site is for in the first place. Also, I took ss-kalm's suggestion and ditched the multiple font sizes. I'm using bold for emphasis in certain areas, but that's it. I also figured out that my background image was waaay too big and was causing slow load times. Fixed that too, or at least it's better.
Much better, guys, so check it out now: ResoundFour.com. Thanks again!
It's not clear to me what the relationship is between http://resoundfour.com and http://www.resoundchurch.com. They look very different, the latter looking pretty nice and the former, sorry to say, still messy and 'loud'.
I agree completely with Boy.
Hi Bob,
I'll be retired in Spain, near Montserrat mountain, as soon as possible, surely this autumn. I plan to meet you, near Granada, of course if you accept it, because my aim is to create a small home decoration office based on vectorial/photo drawings printed on wall.
I have to know the limits of the total graphic chain, including my own limits. I'm sorry to intersect in this blog, I have no other choice to contact you.
Un saludo
Friends: I have had the website up and running for a couple of weeks now. Suddenly, without any changes having been made on my end, I cannot access the site. When I type the url resoundfour.com, I get "403 Forbidden nginx". Does anyone have an idea of how to fix this? I tried going into my Taskpilot page to resolve it, but I simply don't know my way around the admin end of it well enough to be of much help to it. Help, please!
Since http://www.resoundchurch.com/ is still working, it may be a sign from above about the design path that you were taking..
Seriously though, what is going on with your website and the other one?
It's clear that you are struggling with design issues while the alternative website is really good.
What is going on here?
I'm a little confused here. This is your first post. You don't use Xara software, which is what this forum is for. So what is your point?
I'm afraid you're going to tell me.
Quote:
Originally Posted by dasiefiedo
Let me guess. You join within a day of each other. You are using almost identical IP addresses from the same service provider. You both do not have any declared Xara software. You both hit the same stale Thread.Quote:
Originally Posted by Tymuss
Coincidence?
Acorn
Nah. ;)Quote:
Coincidence?
As the original site has been dead in the water for 7 years and the other mentioned site is not a Xara design, there is no point in people commenting on a dead site.
I am closing this Thread as it is attracting pointless interaction.
The most recent Posts will also be pruned.
Acorn