I changed a lot of things again and I reduced the sizes of the gallery pictures almost in half. Would those with dial-up connections please recheck and see if things are loading better (average for dial-up). Thanks!
[ March 21, 2003, 02:09 PM: Message edited by: Amy Brown ]
Posted by Dave Cox - That Sign Guy (Member # 3517) on :
Looks great! I love the colors used... the green, black, and gold really work well together... Load time is unnoticeable... but I am on DSL...
looks great!
Posted by bronzeo (Member # 1408) on :
Amy, I agree,,, the clean black background is a great choice to get full potential of out your photography. Loads fast with DSL. Hope you can load it up this year....
Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
Very nice looking site ... you do some nice signs too.
The gallery pages do hang though ... time depends on how many images your preloading for each slide show... when I click "faux antiques" it took about 20 seconds before the page even switched ... the "sandblasted" page over a minute before "any" activity.
Dialed on around 50k
Posted by bill riedel (Member # 607) on :
I like it. Your work has elegance and class.
Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :
Amy,
At 45333 bps, it took about 30 secs to load main page. I tried your sandblasted page & 1st pic loaded in about a minute & after a couple more minutes of waiting, the other pics never showed. Sorry I didn't stick around to wait. Looks good otherwise. Easy to read & navigate.
Posted by Linda Silver Eagle (Member # 274) on :
Amy! Wow! I really love your new look!
Call me lazy but I adore your gallery! Not only all the fabulous work you've done, but the way I can sit there and hit the arrow button. I don't have to race around in circles with the mouse to go through your site. I think it's perty much flawless!
You have done an exquisite job with every aspect your site! The black background not only looks really sharp with your logo and your photographs, I realized that it was probably easier to match backgrounds when you uploaded them to the site. What a genius you are turning out to be!
We get to say "We knew you when!"
Your site really exemplifies a talented individual with a strong eye for design and exceptional taste! I am just SO impressed!
Miss Amy, I dare say you've done Dixie proud!
OOPS...I can't give a dial-up reading...but on cable, this puppy rocks!
[ March 22, 2003, 07:20 AM: Message edited by: Linda Silver Eagle ]
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Thanks everyone! Guess the whole world needs High Speed Internet to take advantage of the new technologies. I'll try to work on the loading but there isn't much I can do. None of the pictures are over 30K so I don't know what the problem is???
: Posted by Janette Balogh (Member # 192) on :
Unfortunately, I'm back on dial-up this week so far, as my dsl is down.
The slideshows took a very long time to load. The good news is, that once it is loaded, the photos are very snappy in their presentation. It goes very swift after the initial load.
One suggestion I'd make is to have your logo more apparent on each page. I know you have it on the bottom, but smaller screens need to scroll to see it. I would like to see it even small on the page somewhere, so that you are always reminded of your company name while browsing your great stuff!
Nice site!!!, Nice work!!! Nettie
Posted by Suelynn Sedor (Member # 442) on :
Nice site Amy!!
You have some really nice work posted! Makes me want to get at a website.
Suelynn
Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :
Amy,
What you could do is mention on the slow (dialup) loading pages that it might take a while to load & ask that they be patient because its well worth the wait; or something like that.
Although I can't explain how, you could set up a preloader to kick in when a dialup connection is attempting to load pages. It could show increasing percentages at spaced out intervals until it reaches 100% & loads. It would let them know that something IS happening & that they are not just stuck somewhere.
Sounds like it might be the slideshow, that some have mentioned, that's causing the delay. Is that some sort of plugin that if everybody had already, there would be no delay?
Just asking.
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Thanks again everyone!
Bill, Tony B. told me about the slide show yesterday. It is a javascript which was created using Dreamweaver Extensions. I'm not very good with it so I won't act like I know how it works!!
The javascript has it preloading images which is causing the slow load I guess. I don't know how to change it! Posted by Kelly Thorson (Member # 2958) on :
Very Impressive site, Amy. I didn't have to much trouble with loading the site and I have painfully slow internet service. The only thing that took longer than I normally have patience for was the sandblasted & 3-D Gallery (almost 2 mins). The other galleries all loaded quickly (5 - 15 secs). Perhaps you could split that gallery into 2 parts to speed it up. I think the work there is more than enticing enough to get people to view them both, and it would be a shame to have people miss that because it takes too long to load. I think it contains your most impressive work - not that it isn't all impressive! Great testimonials, very asthetic and professional design. Great Job!!!!!
Posted by Dan Sawatzky (Member # 88) on :
Very nice Amy.
THe work is presented in as professional a way as it is done.
Im a fan!
-dan
Posted by Alan Ackerson (Member # 3224) on :
The site looks great Amy,
Love the Brewer's Bold!!! Might be my new favorite font. lol.
There are a few tricks you may be able to pull for the download time issue, you may already be well aware of these.
Check file sizes when exporting to jpg.(photos) or .gif (graphics/fonts). Sometimes there is a big difference between the two when exporting the same image in the different formats. 72dpi is the way to go.
When exporting to .gif you can use the interlace option. This will place the image in the page at a lower resolution and just redraw itself a few times until it hits the 72dpi vs. No image for 20 secs. and then there it is. For the most part it gives the viewer "something" to look at while they are waiting.
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Thanks for all the tips.
Alan, the .jpgs are 72dpi but I may try the other things you said. I made all the picts in a program other than Fireworks so maybe it will work better when I have another spare minute.
Kelly, that is what I was thinking, dividing it into two parts. Again, I'll have to do it when I have time!
Thanks again all! Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :
Since you mentioned Javascript, it might only be a browser issue. If I've read this right (in a book on the subject), Javascript was meant primarily for Netscape; although it works with IE also. It could be that I just might have to upgrade from v5.5 for this particular version to work right.
Incidentally, on occasion, I get these script error messages asking me if I want to continue. Maybe that's why. Just checked the IE properties settings & all Java-related boxes are already checked. Don't know if that means anything since Java & Javascript are not one in the same.
I'll try again when I have a faster connection (usually varies between 38 & 49).
Posted by Randy Campbell (Member # 2675) on :
Very impressive Amy !!!! Posted by Randy Campbell (Member # 2675) on :
Forgot-great colour sceemes and testimonials.
[ March 05, 2003, 11:23 AM: Message edited by: Randy Campbell ]
Posted by John Deaton III (Member # 925) on :
Amy, seems like everytime I read your posts or look at your designs I come away smiling. You do really nice work. Very impressive!
Posted by Tony Potter (Member # 1199) on :
I would say that it is very sharp!
Bravo.
Posted by BRIAN CAISSIE (Member # 2673) on :
Looks Great, My wife said, Oooo she does signs that I like! I guess I'm chopped liver.
Posted by Ed Williams (Member # 846) on :
Very nice. Each page loads in less than 1 second.
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Bump. Please Read initial post. Thanks!
Posted by Mark Matyjakowski (Member # 294) on :
Much better, doesn't "hang" in the gallery anymore
Posted by Bill Cosharek (Member # 1274) on :
At 45333, main page loads in a couple seconds. The sandblast gallery loads in less than a minute. Looks good.
Posted by Kelly Thorson (Member # 2958) on :
Hi Amy, Your web pages loaded a lot faster this time. The home page took about 11 secs to fully download. It took me three secs for the gallery page and the different categories downloaded anywhere from 8 secs to 17 secs, except the sandblasted one which still took me 34 seconds. This time the first image appeared after a few seconds so at least there is something to look at. Great work exhibited there - you have talent girl! Still might think of splitting the sandblasted - 3-D category.
Posted by Amy Brown (Member # 1963) on :
Thanks guys/gals! I guess I still might have to do that split Kelly. But I'm gonna have to take a break. I have a numb shoulder from sitting her at the computer so much! Posted by Robin Sharrard (Member # 388) on :
Sure glad I captured all those gallory pictures when I did...just kidding! Looks and functions very well...real nice. Robin
Posted by Jason Bryant (Member # 3150) on :
nice site. just one thing i noticed is you use font tags, eg. <FONT face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" color=#ffff99 size=1> you should try and use style sheets for this as font tags may not be supported by all browsers in the future.
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