Grumpy old git's observation on the latest fad for 'parallax' scrolling sites.

[Seabatt]

I would have to agree with most of you. It seems that in today's strange new world...the designs seem to be nothing but a super large image, with un-necessary scrolling needed to actually view any relevant information. It just shows me that if you force a "fad" on people,they will take it as the must have thing. A current client of mine insists on having a large graphic,filling the entire browser window. AND...If I may say...I hate wordpress. The templates all seem to be following the same "fad". Super large images, scrolling...no "in your face" navigation, and easy to find/use content. But hey, Im old school.

[DanFelix]

I would have to agree with most of you. It seems that in today's strange new world...the designs seem to be nothing but a super large image, with un-necessary scrolling needed to actually view any relevant information. It just shows me that if you force a "fad" on people,they will take it as the must have thing. A current client of mine insists on having a large graphic,filling the entire browser window. AND...If I may say...I hate wordpress. The templates all seem to be following the same "fad". Super large images, scrolling...no "in your face" navigation, and easy to find/use content. But hey, Im old school.

Sorry for the delayed reply. I agree. I remember the same fad in the '90s with drop shadows and animation. The support for the use of parallax is that the majority of first-time viewers are not premeditated seekers, but instead curious/accidental onlookers. For that group the site provides an initial positive (read entertaining) experience. Unfortunately, a visceral experience usually works better than an intellectual experience - in the beginning. I also agree about WordPress. Four years ago I converted a half-dozen sites to WordPress, with two being commercial using WooCommerce. Yikes. The sites are, by design, a cobbling of the WordPress code plus a theme plus multiple plug-ins. Even more so for WooCommerce. I found myself spending most of my time just updating all manner of stuff and I was constantly frustrated by the design constraints. With the advent of the latest Xara, I have shifted them all back. As Kramer in Seinfeld would say, "And I'm loving it." There has been no material restraints placed upon any of the sites as a result of the shift. Automattic owns WordPress and they bought WooCommerce in spring 2015.

Dan