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Hi!
This is my latest site. The guys from Xara are still figuring out why some images won't be edited in the cloud, but they also cannot find anything wrong with the document, so we decided to publish it to the world.
I would love to know if you see or notice any issues/fixes
ThnX!
http://www.be-schmaal.nl
Posts with links in this forum are moderated. I approved the post.
I like the site. The black and white background images load a little slow but that might be because you are in the Netherlands and I am in the other lands of New Mexico USA. :)
The site works well on the technical side, so if there were issues, your fixes have worked. There is a slight gap at the top of each page, but that may be intentional. I'm really trying to find the issues you are referring to.
If you're asking what people think about the design, or artistry, then that's subjective. I always try to make the background a contrast to the foreground and either blur or fade it. But my daughter, who is much more artistic than me, often sticks her nose in and tells me it's boring. See? Subjective.
On the Teksten page I would make the background a Parallax scroll and not mirror the image, but overall I do think you've matched the look of the site with the look of the artist, which I personally find hard to do.
I have tried to be honest. Please remember I typed 'subjective' on numerous occasions :D
Zucht dr goud oet,alleneg de achtergrondploaties benn te groot en loadn nait zo vlot
Translates to: Does look well but bg pics take some time to load
The image carousel fights with the text that sits above it and the flying "Moi" because the images either clash with the text (text overlaying text in the picture) or just make for a background that makes the text hard to read. Not a fan of the flying "Moi".
Surprised (and disappointed) to see in 2019 an image of a guy with a cigarette in his mouth being used for promotion. It's old-school cool rather than modern cool.
It would be nice to give some of your boxed text some room to breathe - the text is right against the enclosing boxes in places. Some text (click here) ends with a colon for some reason.
Foto's need no apostrophe.
Looks poor at mobile sizes.
Good luck.
It's because that's the subject/title of the songQuote:
Originally Posted by pauland
In Dutch the plural of foto is written with an apostrophe.Quote:
Foto's need no apostrophe.
Maybe do some research Paul, before commenting.
It's honest feedback and now I've learned something so it's all good.Quote:
Originally Posted by haakoo
I don't think your tone is warranted.
The site language is set to be English. I suspect that's why Chrome isn't offering me the option of translation.
How very convenient that it is <html lang="en" >
But you're from the British isles and you couldn't see it isn't English?
It's just a blah blah response because you were jumping conclusions.
And subjectivity joins the game.
The photo with the cigarette and the head in the hands, dark mood are my two favourite photos. The observation about the mobile site is correct, I didn't look at that, you're not as lazy as me pauland.
My comment about the language setting wasn't with regard to the Dutch language issues, just a mention of why Chrome wasn't offering any translation.Quote:
Originally Posted by haakoo
Are you having a bad day or something? I've made what were intended to be constructive comments in good faith.
I grew up with two heavy smokers as parents, so seeing people smoking is never a good look for me. I know what heavy smokers sound like in the morning and how much they stink and discolour the house.Quote:
Originally Posted by Chris M
Since it's to do with the subject of the song I guess it fits but, it's not a great role model or cool look these days.
That's not constructive but plain commenting and a personal view about the subject and what you thought was a misspelling.Quote:
Originally Posted by haakoo
Hence "Maybe do some research Paul, before commenting"
Maybe do some research yourself before telling a fellow countryman his site looks good when it has a number of issues to address (besides the cigarette and apostrophe).Quote:
Originally Posted by haakoo
Wow, you're turning tables,
I didn't comment on the technical side of the site just that it looked nice in my browser but the background pics were slow loading.
But that wasn't why I commented ,now was I?
You had a personal view and commented from that view.
Pot,.....Kettle,.......Black
Bye
The problem with the text not being easy to read on top of the picture backgrounds and clashing with text in the images is not some personal view, it's a fact.Quote:
Originally Posted by haakoo
The flying MOI is my opinion, but I stand by it - from a UX point of view it's an annoying distraction.
The apostrophe comment wasn't relevant in this case, my bad, but big deal.
The text layout in boxes would benefit from some spacing inside their panels. Fact.
The cigarette comment is still my opinion - it's generally out of touch, but fair enough if that's relevant to the song, so be it.
The site is poor at mobile sizes. Fact.
The language setting is wrong. Fact.
I have no regrets about my feedback on the site.
Guys! Guys! No need to rip eachother's head off!
I just wanted some feedback, and that's what I got. Thank you all. Valid points. I will remove the cd photos from the cover slideshow. Then the "Moi" (Goodday, hello and bye in Gronings) won't clash.
Also, the slow loading of the background will be fixed, or so I hope. And I can give the text in the boxes some more space, no problem.
The not being good on a cell....could you elaborate more on that please?
Oh, and the issues in the cloud remain....they're still trying to figure out what that is, In Designer itself and online these issues are nonexistent. Go figure.
And....as for the man smoking a cigarette.... that's only for the cover. He doesn't smoke,nor has he ever (in fact he is a physical therapist and athlete at 60), and in the song he also mentions he hates the smell. Zwait en zwoare sjek (sweat and strong tobacco) is a song about the hard working men like his dad who smelled like that after a days work. So...no glamourising the old smokes. It's all about context right?
I'll get to work on the issues now, and please.... play nice kids!
The pictures can work, but ideally don't have any text on them. You will often find that text overlayed over pictures will either have some subtle embossing, subtle shadows, or a transparent screen behind to help it stand out from the background.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spitsoor
As for Moi. any chance of removing the animation altogether?
Was fine for me.Quote:
Also, the slow loading of the background will be fixed, or so I hope.
See the attached - just inset the text a bit and make boxes equal height so the bases align. The two-line headings have excessive line-spacing.Quote:
And I can give the text in the boxes some more space, no problem.
The not being good on a cell....could you elaborate more on that please?
Instead of aligning the lower box centrally, align it to the left under the upper box, that will let the image behind be more prominent.
Attachment 123153
Absolutely - great to know and I understand it from personal experience.Quote:
And....as for the man smoking a cigarette.... that's only for the cover. He doesn't smoke,nor has he ever (in fact he is a physical therapist and athlete at 60), and in the song he also mentions he hates the smell. Zwait en zwoare sjek (sweat and strong tobacco) is a song about the hard working men like his dad who smelled like that after a days work. So...no glamourising the old smokes. It's all about context right?
The issue with mobile (cell) site is that the content is overly large for a mobile screen. Narrow the width and extend the length and see if you prefer the look. The menu is very 'in-your-face', but that may suit the style of the artist if the lyrics are hard hitting and confrontational.
Thank you both. Will get working on it!
Okay. I believe I fixed it all.
http://www.be-schmaal.nl
Better???
Famous last words!Quote:
Originally Posted by Spitsoor
Definitely better.Quote:
Better???
The site still has problems at mobile/tablet sizes in particular - problems with the menu/footer being too big and images not properly sized to fit and even empty sections. See the attached screenshots.
I can see that the panels look better, but there are new problems with the desktop home page. Moving the text to a second section over the guitar background solves the readability problem (still hate the flying Moi) but the first section images are just too big so on my laptop they never look good (cut off badly with parts below the fold or at the edges). Aim for an image size that looks good on a screen 1200 pixels wide and 900 pixels high, then you shouldn't go too far wrong.
I don't think the images I see when opening the site are really showing the artiste in the best way.
I hope others will have some opinion.
Attachment 123154Attachment 123155Attachment 123156Attachment 123157
Try to reload if you will
This is not how you should see it at this time.
Little change.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spitsoor
Attachment 123160Attachment 123161Attachment 123162Attachment 123163Attachment 123164
It's looking fine for me.
If anyone says the pop-up menu on the mobile isn't working it's because the settings on the pop-up layer is set to 'Close Pop-up Automatically'. I stumbled on this a while ago and it only seems to affect some devices. Not sure if it's a browser thing or a screen thing. Yes, you have the cross to close the pop-up, but tapping to navigate closes the pop-up anyway. The only time anyone would need to manually close the pop-up is if they decide to remain on the current page. Not a big deal, but if someone mentions it, you have an answer.
Sorry Paul, I don't mind the Moi. Another subjective point...on the Foto's section the thumbnails cover the artist's face. I immediately thought 'The Face of Music'. I am now going to steal that idea, credit Spitsoor and become internationally famous overnight.
I imported your background guitars image and it is PNG and 3MB which is why there is a delay before the image reveals.
I exported the image from Xara as a JPEG 100%, probably 90 or 95 would be just as good, and the file size at 100% is 1.63 MB. At 85% this drops to 1/2MB and the quality is about the same. You might replace the PNG with a JPEG version. The whole page will load faster as well.
Hi Spitsoor. Nice site, however none of the background images loaded for me and I have a super quick computer and fast broadband service. I just got grey blocks where the photos should be... so I didnt get to see the bloke with the fag in his mouth. All the pages loaded very very slowly. Because you have many sound-grabs and videos on the website, this will also slow the loading of it. Perhaps consider making a plain black or plain white background on all pages so all site visitors can enjoy the experience of actually seeing the website and not waiting for the site to load. Your home page took over three minutes to load on my computer, mainly because my Kaspersky virus control tried to block it. Other than that, great site and well done.
I see you're in WA, Brisbane here, standard NBN at 24Mbbs down and the home page took 4 seconds to load for me. I'd say there's definitely something at your end making it load so slowly.Quote:
Your home page took over three minutes to load on my computer