Can I trick Google into looking more favourably upon me?

[pauland]

There are basically three different menu arrangements with a vertical side menu on most pages and a horizontal arrangement on some of the introductory pages. The Song Menu page has its own alphabetical menu bar.

Users like consistency. I've had to hunt on a page because I couldn't see any menu because it was at the bottom. All pages should be consistent with navigation.

I've always thought these to be legible on mobile devices if you turn the phone through 90 degrees and view in a landscape mode

..not on my phone - barely legible at any orientation.



..and..



..easier to read!


Put the URL in your signature!

https://www.waterwaysongs.info/index.html

[IanB]

Thanks again.

Consistency is good. I'll aim to be more so.

I've started the process of creating mobile versions of the entry pages :
https://www.waterwaysongs.info/index.html
https://www.waterwaysongs.info/introduction.html
https://www.waterwaysongs.info/updates.html
I may change the menu button layout at a later date. Maybe I'll have to opt for a drop-down menu.


I'll see what can be done with the reference section next. Then the 300+ song pages which currently have a side menu. If the text if to be more legible this may have to be changed.

Ian

https://www.waterwaysongs.info/index.html

[pauland]

I'm waiting for someone to suggest I just zoom the page, but that should not be required to read text easily.

Unfortunately the big disadvantage that Xara has is that it does not use a templating system like Wordpress or a CMS based system, where essentially you'd just be designing four or five pages that would control the layout and formatting of your 300.

My opinion is that Xara is not well suited to sites with a large number of pages because there is no concept of templates or master pages.

[Initiostar]

Ian,

The main song menu might be better in a grid format for your mobile variant. I would be conscious too that the mobile font size IMO should be at least 20px. Text styles across variants is really useful here (e.g. Normal text desktop might be say 16px whereas you can set Normal text in the mobile variant to be say 20px).

The attached screenshot is from an AV demo (still WIP); it was derived through a piece of work earlier this year on audio plugins.

https://initiostar.co.uk/demo/JukeBoxv5/

In the demo only letters A & B are active, A has the option of immediately highlighting additional info about the song, where as B provides an info popup as an option.

Maybe some ideas to think about - 300 hundred pages in a shed-load of work; I would get the basic mobile framework sorted and tested on real devices, Android and iOS, before you plough on - best done entirely on a test site.

Gary

[pauland]

Ian,

The main song menu might be better in a grid format for your mobile variant. I would be conscious too that the mobile font size IMO should be at least 20px. Text styles across variants is really useful here (e.g. Normal text desktop might be say 16px whereas you can set Normal text in the mobile variant to be say 20px).

The attached screenshot is from an AV demo (still WIP); it was derived through a piece of work earlier this year on audio plugins.

https://initiostar.co.uk/demo/JukeBoxv5/

In the demo only letters A & B are active, A has the option of immediately highlighting additional info about the song, where as B provides an info popup as an option.

Maybe some ideas to think about - 300 hundred pages in a shed-load of work; I would get the basic mobile framework sorted and tested on real devices, Android and iOS, before you plough on - best done entirely on a test site.

Gary

Excellent points.

[IanB]

Thanks for all the help which I will take on board.

I think I'm a bit too fond of my menu buttons but may have to jettison them. Also the side menu may have to be changed to the top or drop down. Also the videos will need to be resized. Also, also, also ...

There will need to be so many changes that making them on a parallel test site seems to be the way to go. I may be away for some time.

Ian

[IanB]

Though I have modified some of the introductory pages, producing a mobile friendly version and increasing the text size, I have come to a decision, for the moment, that creating a mobile friendly version of the whole site just to appease Google is not worth the effort.

There are many websites which were designed to be viewed on computer screens - this one - talkgraphics - being an example.

If users of my site are interested enough they may be prepared to turn their mobiles through 90 degrees and even zoom in - or get out a decent sized tablet - or blow the cobwebs off their laptop.

I've had enough of technological changes dictating what I should do. Now, where's that papyrus and quill?

Ian