new website up and running

SDS

SDS

Joined
Oct 22, 2007
Messages
1,389
I know that this won't be very exciting compared to most of the websites of the makers I've seen around here but for me this is a big step. I have been trying to get this thing off the ground for quite awhile now.

I still have a lot of work to do on it but at least now it is functional and it SHOULD give folks a little more information about me.

I'm open to critiques and thanks for taking the time to look.

http://www.sdsknifeworks.com

SDS
 
In your gallery there is a problem with the picture/text wrapping on the word "knife" next to your Nessmuk. In your "about" page, second paragraph, end of first sentence, you need a period after "waned." Maybe add a tiny bit more of your early history, then begin a description of your style and preferred steels, etc. in the next paragraph. Kind of an abrupt segue there. Just some nits to pick, and small ones at that. Otherwise, I think it is a very welcoming site. I like the color scheme, the pictures, and your knives, especially that mustang knife. Good work!
 
Hi Shawn,

Great start. I too love your color scheme. The photos in the gallery loaded pretty slow for me. Are they large size files with high resolution (dpi)? I remember when you did that mustang knife. It's nice to see it again. Keep up the good work!

All the best, Phil
 
I will go back and work on the things you noticed Vorpalknives. They may seem small but I think it is things like that that give an overall impression. When I read a website and it doesn't make sense, has grammatical errors or doesn't "flow" then I usually view the site, and it's products, as lower quality. I'm headed out the door right now but I will come back this afternoon to work on this.

Phil, I will work on trying to resize the pictures. I think ideally I'd like to have the gallery as a thumbnail gallery but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. I'll need to get in touch with my tech guy.

As far as that Mustang knife, I have another knife along that same style in the planning stages. It's still a ways off and I'm working out the final design. I'll post up pictures in my sub forum when I get going on it.

Thanks for the comments guys.
SDS
 
You can use most photo editing programs to reduce the number of pixels and keep the same size. You really wont be able to see a change in quality on the screen. This will be real important when you add more pics to your gallery.

Nice site welcome to the web.
 
I went back and edited the text and reduced the size of the pictures. I will play with the pictures on my computer to see if I can figure out how to reduce the number of pixels like you suggested Patrickknives. If I can figure that out I will change the pictures out. I still think that thumbnails would work better but I don't know how involved it is to go to that instead of what I have now.

Thanks again,
SDS
 
Galadduin, I'll check to see if I can change that as well.
Thanks,
SDS
 
SDS said:
I know that this won't be very exciting compared to most of the websites of the makers I've seen around here but for me this is a big step. I have been trying to get this thing off the ground for quite awhile now.

I still have a lot of work to do on it but at least now it is functional and it SHOULD give folks a little more information about me.

I'm open to critiques and thanks for taking the time to look.

http://www.sdsknifeworks.com

SDS
Click to expand...

Nice work. I like it. As someone mentioned, your photos are HUGE which is making them load slowly. For the web, you should set your images to 72 pixels/inch and try to resize the dimensions as closely as possible before adding it to your website. I don't know what kind of image-editing software you have, but most of them will do this pretty easily. If you can't, email them to me and I'll resize them and shoot them back to you. I'm in/getting into graphic design.

my email: nachoscotto@gmail.com
 
SDS said:
I still think that thumbnails would work better but I don't know how involved it is to go to that instead of what I have now.

Thanks again,
SDS
Click to expand...

What program did you use to build the site? Basically, with thumbnails, you just make a simple page and put the full-size image on that. Then, on your thumbs page, link the image to that page. It's as simple as that, if you're using Dreamweaver, and I assume most other programs.
 
SDS said:
I will play with the pictures on my computer to see if I can figure out how to reduce the number of pixels like you suggested Patrickknives. If I can figure that out I will change the pictures out. I still think that thumbnails would work better but I don't know how involved it is to go to that instead of what I have now...
Click to expand...

Got a little tutorial about resizing pictures that may be of some help on my site:

http://www.lemeeknives.com/pages/tutorials_a.shtml

You can use the same principle to create thumbnails.

You should also add your website to your profile so that people who click on your username get a "Visit my Homepage" option.

Good work, keep it up.

Patrice
 
Eminart, the guy that is doing my hosting supplied the software and to be honest I don't know what it is. I just go in the back door and change things to what I want. I will contact him to ask about thumbnails. By the way, there is nothing simple about this for someone like me. I'm glad there are guys like you around that enjoy playing with these things.

Patrice, thank you for the information. I have resized the pictures that were on the site and the PIXresizer was easy enough that even I could use it!! Thank you very much.

I hope that some of the load delays have been fixed now. It's obviously a work in progress. I still need to add a for sale page and I will be working on the gallery too.

SDS
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top