New web site

B

Burt Foster

Joined
Jul 1, 2003
Messages
270
Hey everyone,

I wanted to make a little announcement about my new web site. My old site was done by a professional, but my guy got a little cost prohibitive, and I wanted to try my hand at it to save some dough. Not ever having done web design before, I consulted my dear friend Rik Palm who said it was easy, and that I would have no problem. Well, just like he said, with very little effort, I totally fried my old site the first time I uploaded a change. When I asked him what I could do about it, he said very casually, "Well, I think the best thing to do would be to start over and redisign it from scratch." No, he wasn't kidding.

So, after many nights keeping my wife awake with the little clicking of the keyboard into the wee hours of the morning, and "tech support" calls to Rik, my site is alive again and mostly done. I still have a lot left to do in terms of content, but at there's enough there to probably warrant a visit. It is, as before, www.burtfoster.com.

One thing if I may: Since I've never done this before, I would appreciate any feedback anyone may have, especially related to the navigation and things like that. I know things look different depending on what each computer's setting are, so if you have trouble opening pages or whatever, please let me know.

Thanks for the collective help and for all the past business from so many of you.

Burt
 
Very nice. Well layed out and easy to navigate. Beautiful knives too of course. ;) :D
 
All those knives are flawed! Best that you send them all to me, so that I can properly dispose of them! ;) :p :D

Seriously, Burt, The new website looks great, and your knives keep on getting better and better(pretty scary, actually).
 
Burt,

It's a wonderful site filled with clear navigation and outstanding photos. Five star rating. :D

It *IS* missing something, though--YOU! We talk all the time of the value of the relationship with a knifemaker as being paramount in full appreciation for any knife. Especially from a good Mastersmith. Just a simple photo of yourself would give a face to the knives. I think it makes the non-personal internet that much more personal. But that's me. You asked. :)

Good work, and good luck.

Coop
 
About damn time Foster! I have been clicking that link five times a week. I even clicked it last night. Glad to see you up and running again. Looks good to me . Look forward to seeing more available items. Kevin Fox,Tucson
 
Hi Burt Foster,

Nice site! ...Especially from someone who says he's never done web design before. It's simple, intuitive, fast downloading, good-looking and full of content - really about all that a website should be.

As someone who does a fair bit of web design himself, I hope I won't annoy you if I make some suggestions.

Would you consider centering all your pages? For some people with large resolutions, having your website stuck in a corner doesn't seem as nice and balanced as it would be if it went in a column down the center. Also, you may want to change all your links/filenames so that they are lowercase, with no spaces. It makes it easier to link to specific pages, and generally looks nicer in the address bar of a browser window - you may notice lots of "%" signs in the current url's. It's probably more compatible with older browsers as well.

Good work overall. Oh, and nice knives! ;)
 
Lookin' good Burt - nice to see some new knives up there on the new site and I look forward to seeing more. Terrific backpack bowie you've got there also. ;)

Roger
 
Hi Burt,

Seems like your first foray into webdesign is as successful as your sudden appearance on the knife industry radar.

Very nice site. Clear, concise, and fast loading.
 
Very nice Burt!

I like it a lot. I don't think I can add to what's already been stated.

Did I sense a hint of an accent forming in the text??? ;)

And like Dan said, you just keep getting better...
Nick
 
Congrats, Burt. I like the way it is set up and how user-friendly it is. Utterly beautiful knives as always. If you've never done website development before, I can't tell. Skilfully done. Jason.
 
Burt Foster said:
To Coop,

Yeah, I tried to bury the photo so only the truly bored would find it. It is at http://www.burtfoster.com/The%20Craft/Bio/Bio.htm

Hoping I don't lose customers over it....
Click to expand...

He he he! Well, after I saw your link I went into the home page to try and find it again. You aren't kidding! That little link is *buried* in deep. Well at least it's in there. :) Oh, the name of the website is 'BurtFoster.com' right??? ;) ;) ;) I think you deserve top billing, my friend!

That's enough critique. I wish you the best!

Coop
 
Your site is superb and I hope you don't mind me posting this spectaculer piece pictured on it to illustrate a 'Japanese-style clay hardening line'...............most excellent! :D

standard.jpg
 
Hey Burt
Congrats on a wonderful showcase for your incredible work.
cant wait for my hunter!
 
Nice knives. I'll give you a couple of tips about the website stuff.

If you plan to do much web building you might want to get rid of that nasty MS Frontpage thing that you're using and get hold of a more professional web editor like Dreamweaver.

You might also want to insert a more meaningful 'title' into your page too. It's not vital but it's what shows up at the top of the browser window when somebody opens your page.

You'll find it between the <head> </head> tags. Currently yours looks like this:
<title>New Page 1</title>

What you want it to look like is something like this:

<title>Burt Foster Knives</title>

Good start though.
 
Burt, great site and knives! I noticed you are in Bristol, my girlfriend's family lives there too. Small world :).

Matt
 
I spent a little more time looking around this morning. I've got to say that I really LOVE the slide show on "Making a Damascus Hunter" - very informative and visually appealing. Nice job.

Roger
 
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