Yes! I finished our website!

[lisa_spyder]

Can't rush these things ...

A week of the flu, stuck at home with a household of sickies (including me)...just what I needed to get off my butt and build the site!

I have more to do for sure, like build the gallery (slow process with all the pics we have) but most of it is there.

I'm happy - I am a novice at this stuff really and contemplated giving the job to a pro; except that I couldn't adequately explain what we wanted to someone else. We knew what we didn't want; which was all the bells and whistles...

So, (drumroll.........)

here it is: www.spyderautomobiles.com.au

Cheers,

Lisa

[Jim727]

Very nice! I really like the absence of crap like flash and popups. Clear and to the point.

What software did you use to create the site?

[Hugh R]

Very nice looking.

[HardDrive]

Looks nice. Very clean and to the point. Easy to find contact information. Looks very professional.

[lisa_spyder]

Thanks guys ,

The whole idea was to keep it clean and to the point as you have said.

Jim, I mucked around with Dreamweaver for quite some time and probably have enough skills to have built the site with that (slowly). But I got impatient with my limited knowledge in the end and bought Web Page Maker. I wanted a wysiwyg program and this one is good. Has some limitations certainly, but nothing that bothered me too much. I found it really easy to use, help guide is good and the whole thing loaded to our server without a problem. Bought it over the net for about $50.

Cheers,

Lisa

[Jim727]

Thanks - my wife wants to get a site running but she doesn't want to have to become a webgeek in the process. Will check it out.

[kstar]

Looks really nice, great job.

First place I went was "Gallery", as I like to see pictures, especially of customer work! My only criticism would be to add more pictures.

I would also alert folks that the "performance engines are our speciality" link on the "Services" page is actually a PDF download.

FWIW.

Best,

[azasadny]

Good job!!

[lm6y]

Looks great Lisa! I especially like the History page.

Lean, mean, and to the point. I could find anything I wanted quickly. That's a big thing with me, If I can't find it quickly on a site, it's off to the next one where I can.

I think the rest of us should pick a time, and see if we can crash your server

[nostatic]

It is a nice clean site. Are you interested in some constructive criticism?

[lisa_spyder]

Originally Posted by kstarnes

Looks really nice, great job.

First place I went was "Gallery", as I like to see pictures, especially of customer work! My only criticism would be to add more pictures.

I would also alert folks that the "performance engines are our speciality" link on the "Services" page is actually a PDF download.

FWIW.

Kurt,

Thanks - I should and will do that (and the pics will come, I promise!).

[lisa_spyder]

Originally Posted by nostatic

It is a nice clean site. Are you interested in some constructive criticism?

Todd,

I wouldn't have posted here if I wasn't . Just go easy OK...kids are getting better and my headache is more related to their screaming and yelling now than my flu ...

Cheers,

Lisa

[nostatic]

ok...i'll preface with the fact that I'm kinda anal about various aspects of design, so take or leave the following.

Main comment - white space is your friend (and "white" just means open space). I feel like things are a bit cramped. A little more room would let the elements breathe.

The bottom large text needs space at the edges - it shouldn't be be touching the edge of the gray box.

I'm generally not a fan of bevels in graphic elements, but that is a personal choice. Similarly I usually don't like gradients in text areas.

Use the "title" tag in the head so that you get your biz name instead of the url address showing in the browser box

The red is a bit vibrant - I'd tone it down just a tad.

The red extending to the right of the screen looks like it could be a mistake, and it cuts in half an entire right margin that isn't being used. I'd either stop it with the other block elements of use that right area for something.

Your rotating photos below the menu buttons should all be the same size and position so the swap out seamlessly.

Don't code your live email address onto the contact page - it'll get harvested by spam bots. Either spell it out (me (at) something (dot) com or better yet use some scrambling java script (check here: http://www.golivecentral.com/pages/txttut/scramble.shtml)

hth

[LakeCleElum]

Lisa - A really great job, makes me want to stop in on my next trip to OZ. Todd has many great ideas, but an to us rookies, it's a fantastic job. U should be proud....

[M.D. Holloway]

You Go Girl!

[svandamme]

updated pic for intro page
it will look cleaner

edit, hold on, posted the wrong one, and lost the good one
i'll re-do it and post again

[svandamme]

simply replace
images/img44311906.jpg

with this one


it will take that darker background out, so the engine sits seamless in the rest of the page

[lisa_spyder]

OOOH....I like posting here! Look at all the help I get !

OK, first to Todd - you can be as anal as you want my dear...I will take it all on board.

White space - I understand this and will probably play a little with sizing and spacing in the coming weeks. I have looked at it all so much in the past few days I want to leave it a while so I can "see the wood for the trees".

The bottom large text is in fact part of our logo design. It doesn't have the impact if there is a border at the edges (my anal designer side coming out now ). I know as I designed it and have played with it every which way.

I like the bevels, but I am still considering changing the text box backgrounds to not include gradients. On my monitor though they looked very "dead" as flat grey (big flat panel HD monitor).

Use the "title" tag in the head so that you get your biz name instead of the url address showing in the browser box

whazzatyousay??? Jeezus...apart from meta tags which I am only just working out, I have noeffenidea!!!

Vibrant red - OK my monitor is really great on colour. I should make allowances for other monitors...

The red extending on right of screen is no mistake. I am quirky. I like it...plus you've hit the nail on the head. It's there for later on usage (like on the Nickies page).

I did have all the photos under the menu bar sized and positioned the same as I know about what you're saying (yey something I do know ). I changed some when moving some of the text boxes after editing etc. It's on the list of fixes.

Hesitated big time about coding our email address as this is another thing I knew. Just have to work out the coding into the program to scramble it as you have suggested (and thanks for that link).

Stign,

Angel! Thank you - I am so slooooowwwww with photo editing stuff and this was the first pic I played with. It was on the list of fixes (go back and make the background transparent to see if that would work)...

Bob,

You're welcome to visit anytime you're down here . We are spoilt with great food, wineries & breweries, fantastic scenery and Porsche perfect roads all round us. We love to show it all off to P-car friends .

Thanks for all the encouragement guys - site is working already as I have spent a lot of the day answering email enquiries generated from it from new people. The only danger now is getting too busy and our business getting in the way of our country lifestyle .

Cheers,

Lisa

[Jim Richards]

Very nice website, Lisa.

[svandamme]

Lisa, to be really cool with the pic, you'de have to get it with a transparent background

that way, if you change the background of the website, the background of the engine pic would not need any editing..
But it's harder to do afterwards, once you set the backgroun color in the pic
it's difficult to go back unless you start over

this is because the original edit, already has antialiassing in the background to engine
and it's near impossible to get those little specs of red out of the engine edges again

If you can post your original picture, i'll do it for ya