Show us your sites!

**pauland** · 13 May 2009, 09:45 PM

Hi Peter, interesting subject. I hope you managed to catch the programme that was on TV about a week ago about the "collective" intelligence of ants and bees and how the colonies worked - some really interesting stuff.

Paul

**harrismail** · 14 May 2009, 08:22 AM

Wow was I glad to find XWD as I was just about to make a site for my second holiday cottage and wasn't looking forward to it using after the first one with Dreamweaver.

Now I actually look forward to using it :-)

http://www.theoldchapel.co.uk

Let me know what you think - thanks to forum member John for the excellent "popup tuner tweak" to enable the customisation of the popup background, frame and text etc - excellent.

I also must mention Swishmax which is the program I created the flash in - a truly awesome program - although the flash on the "Places to Visit" page did take me a rather long time to make..
and also worth mentioning is "Jotform" which I used to embed my contact form. It's fabulous for form sumbissions (and free)

Steve

**steve.ledger** · 14 May 2009, 08:27 AM

The Chapel appears to have some relationship with Xara?

Check your .web file, you may have deleted images from the bitmap gallery that were necessary for the site.

**harrismail** · 14 May 2009, 08:32 AM

Don't worry - The Chapel renovation isn't finished yet and neither is my site :-) I'm still playing with all the elements.

It's a reall "Chicken and egg" situation as I can't finish the site completely until I have all the pictures - which I'll have in a few weeks (hopefully).
But the point is I'm so glad that I found XWD NOW and not after I'd created this site with Dreamweaver ..

Steve

**steve.ledger** · 14 May 2009, 08:52 AM

Originally Posted by harrismail

Don't worry - The Chapel renovation isn't finished yet and neither is my site :-)

Oh I'm not worried

You didn't mention your site wasn't incomplete in your post so I thought I'd better let you know about those images just in case you were unaware

Good luck.

**Ross Macintosh** · 14 May 2009, 09:34 AM

The chapel pics are showing now.

Seeing the chapel site has me now thinking about vacation time next year. Yesterday, after first seeing your site, I mentioned the chapel to my bride. Hopefully you'll give discounts to your Xara-WD friends!

You should have a link to your other rental as perhaps it would suit a potential guest even more. I also think it could be helpful to have info about yourselves. Potential guests would likely be more comforted to commit their money & vacation plans if they have a sense that you and Cathy are real folks they can trust. The product looks great but the purveyors are an important piece of the puzzle.

Good luck with the business!

Regards, Ross

**pauland** · 14 May 2009, 10:35 AM

Originally Posted by harrismail

http://www.theoldchapel.co.uk

Let me know what you think

Hi Steve,

Nice property and good work on the website.

Here are a few suggestions to think over..

1) The strong colour scheme is a bit overpowering - the blue slab is just too strong for me - I would mute it down into pastels - I would be looking for something to compliment the colour of the chapel, not the union jack. Similarly the yellow text is not a good idea either. Basically brash and bold mixed with a nice holiday let property isn't a good combination. I think the website should reflect the ambience of the property or lifestyle you are trying to offer.

2) The union jack/flashing price combination may show some animation skill but it's way too gimmicky and distracting attention away from the rest of the page so that it becomes irritating.

3) Where to visit. The whole mainland map and combined with destinations up to 100 miles away and tiny text and thumbnail images just doesn't work for me.

In particular, the whole site makes me think it's just targeted at Americans with the union jack, bright blue and visiting destinations over England. I can't personally remember going on holiday and travelling 100 miles to visit a destination from my holiday base. I suspect that if you suggest London as a visitable destination from the cottage you may well make people think a holiday in London may be a better proposition. Alternatively you may be suggesting there's not much in the immediate area.

If you're after UK renters, I think I'd concentrate on what there is to see and do within 20 miles or so.

OK, that's my 2p. Good luck with the site.

Paul

**pauland** · 14 May 2009, 10:48 AM

Steve,

I hadn't looked at your picture gallery and I think you need to rethink what you're about. The thumbnails are small and look dark on my screen - this is probably partly because they are swamped by the heavy blue around them.

If I want to rent a property for a week I expect to see pictures of warm relaxing and welcoming rooms and nice pictures of views from the window or the old mill down the road.

Currently I see bare unfinshed rooms which might be fine as an amusing 'work in progress' statement for your friends but don't make me want to rent the place. I don't want to see cardboard on the floor, the brush handle lying against the units or bags of rubbish on the floor.

Don't publicise the property with pictures until you have dressed rooms, well lit with fruit in bowls in the kitchen and brooms and rubbish tucked well out of sight. I need to believe I can walk in and feel welcome, not to see the mess that was there before.

Lastly - "the chapel on a sunny day!" - you have basically told me that sunny days aren't that usual. Not so good for a holiday let..

My comments are meant in good faith - I'd like your business to go well.

Paul

**harrismail** · 14 May 2009, 11:22 AM

Thanks for your pointers Paul,

The website isn't ready by a long chalk and the pictures in the gallery are just for testing - you don't think I'd leave pictures like the cardboard in the kitchen :-) - they're purely for making sure the mechanics work OK in various browsers etc. To all intents and purposes the site isn't "live" yet - and it certainly isn't for potential customers to look at it yet. This is my second holiday cottage (the first is www.thecroftcottage.co.uk) and so there will be no links to The Chapel until it's final ;-)

Regarding colour schemes etc... What can I say but my first site (which I basically wanted to recreate with XWD) has been going for 6 years and the main target is for retired couples who generally like the simplicity of the site - but I do take on board your comments - thanks (the Union Jack is going for this website and will be rejigged based on the 1871 plaque!)

It was very interesting making this site in XWD as opposed to DW which I used for the first.. I know which was easier and more satisfying.. and Ross, no problems - definite discounts for XWD friends :-))

Steve

**pauland** · 14 May 2009, 11:39 AM

Hi Steve,

Glad your business is going well. Myc omments about the colour etc, don't mean the website won't be visited or that you won't get bookings, but I'll stick to my comments about it not being optimal. I tend to think that a lot of businesses like this gain popularity via word of mouth and repeat business.

Might be interesting (given your 'places to visit') to try and find out what people do/where they go to see if the attractions list matches the clientelle.

Paul