CLD Kevin Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 FYIUser name...I changed my user name from “Cracker” to “CLD Kevin” since being an official LOR Partner. The CLD stands for “Creative Lighting Displays”. You can still refer to me as Cracker, Kevin or whatever else you may call me...I can take it. All my previous post and PMs will remain except for the user name changes...so none of the info will be lost.Now about my website...Well, I have been having issues with my web designer. I lost the original, and then my second has been MIA for about a month. I got tired of waiting to make the simplest updates. So instead of hiring another for the 3rd time...I hired myself even though I don’t quality. I’ve never built a website before, so I was concerned the learning curve was going to take forever. I used GoDaddy WebSite Tonight...it has me total sold. It was very easy once you know what button does what. It comes with a ton of templates so all you have to do is add your content, pictures, videos, ect and you up and running.I somewhat mirrored what I had previously, but unfortunately most of it was not cut and paste. But now I know how the website works, I can make my own updates anytime. This is what I have so far in 2 days. Let me know if it’s up to par.http://testweb.creativelightingdisplays.com/Online Store...I’m about a 1/4 of the way with the online store. This one is taking me a lot longer. I need to built each and every product with SKUs, quality, description, pricing, images, figuring out shipping, ect, ect...takes flippin forever. This one is giving me a headache and I wish I had someone else building it. I received many emails asking when the store will open, so I will keep you posted on my progress.Big Thanks to Don (LOR Partner - Synchronized Christmas) for getting my forum info straighten out and other important stuff. ThanksKevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
evan.a Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Very nice site Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pstigerfan Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Kevin,The new website looks awesome. I have used that GoDaddy Website Tonight tool before for other websites and it is one slick and easy-to-use tool. If you are not an expert at building a website, that is the tool to use.If you need a hand with anything "technical", shoot me a PM and I'm willing to help out. I've been building websites for about 5 years now and run my own website design business here in Michigan. Let me know if I can be of any assistance.Looking forward to seeing the finished product.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
james campbell Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 looks good but............. not as good as your lmfao sequences:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLD Kevin Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 james campbell wrote:looks good but............. not as good as your lmfao sequences:DGood one James Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 Looks really great to me Kevin. Really love how you used the scrolling option via GoDaddy's nice little tools.You're definitely on your way, but it does take time.I maintain a website on GoDaddy for an individual and when it comes to photo's and interactive stuff, it can be very time consuming. So I can relate to your headaches with that aspect of it.You'll get there, you just have to treat it like you do your sequence, give it all you can, and eventually the site will match or surpass your sequences. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffl Posted June 1, 2012 Share Posted June 1, 2012 I'm not a web builder by trade, but one thing I noticed was the initial load time. You might want to optimize the background image. At 1,878.19 KB it was noticeable the first time I hit the site. I use Photoshop but there must be cheaper tools that will optimize the image for the web.Other than that, you have a great start. I have a background in programming, but building web pages is not an easy task so keep at it and it will come. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLD Kevin Posted June 1, 2012 Author Share Posted June 1, 2012 jeffl wrote:I'm not a web builder by trade, but one thing I noticed was the initial load time. You might want to optimize the background image. At 1,878.19 KB it was noticeable the first time I hit the site. I use Photoshop but there must be cheaper tools that will optimize the image for the web.Other than that, you have a great start. I have a background in programming, but building web pages is not an easy task so keep at it and it will come.Thanks for the feedback. I have Photoshop CS5. Do I save the background image as something else? I see there is a "Web & Device" option. But the size of the file didnt change when I tried it? It only change to a gif file. Currently the background is a jpeg. And the current background file size is 800KB. My internet speed is 35down/35up so maybe this is why I'm not seeing the slow load time?Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilliamS Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 The background files try to keep to a sutible size. On main pages try to keep the entire page under 1 meg this will greatly speed up the process. As for other media pages do what you feel is best. If you can as most run a 1280x1024 screen resolution or smaller that should be your photo size as well make sure its Jpeg not BMP. Also making a smaller but pattern that easily repeats itself seamlessly is a great way to save bandwidth. 800k is huge for a background file.Im also looking at the code and it would seem theres a lot in there that is not required but your using the GoDaddy tools correct?Dont sweat the small stuff, if people can get to the store or the pages you want them too then dont worry too much about it. Once your happy with the layout have someone do you a favor one weekend and polish it up for optimization. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Caleb Linburg Posted June 2, 2012 Share Posted June 2, 2012 I haven't went to the site on my pc yet, but on my iPad the image scrolling on the homepage looks strange. It kinda lags. I'm sure it is just somthing to do with the iPad. Also you don't have a favicon (I'm really annoying about telling people to have these) it is the little logo you see beside the URL here is godaddys manual for that. http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/3835/adding-a-faviconAnd you can use this to create one. http://www.favicon.cc/Other than that the site looks amazing, especially for 2 days! Keep up the good work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CLD Kevin Posted June 3, 2012 Author Share Posted June 3, 2012 GoofyGuy wrote:The background files try to keep to a sutible size. On main pages try to keep the entire page under 1 meg this will greatly speed up the process. As for other media pages do what you feel is best. If you can as most run a 1280x1024 screen resolution or smaller that should be your photo size as well make sure its Jpeg not BMP. Also making a smaller but pattern that easily repeats itself seamlessly is a great way to save bandwidth. 800k is huge for a background file.Im also looking at the code and it would seem theres a lot in there that is not required but your using the GoDaddy tools correct?Dont sweat the small stuff, if people can get to the store or the pages you want them too then dont worry too much about it. Once your happy with the layout have someone do you a favor one weekend and polish it up for optimization.Yes, I'm using all GoDaddy tools.I also resized my background to your suggestion and also save as "Web" option. Now the file size is 145KB.Caleb Linburg wrote:I haven't went to the site on my pc yet, but on my iPad the image scrolling on the homepage looks strange. It kinda lags. I'm sure it is just somthing to do with the iPad. Also you don't have a favicon (I'm really annoying about telling people to have these) it is the little logo you see beside the URL here is godaddys manual for that. http://support.godaddy.com/help/article/3835/adding-a-faviconAnd you can use this to create one. http://www.favicon.cc/Other than that the site looks amazing, especially for 2 days! Keep up the good work.The pictures also lag on my iphone, but PC is fine. I'll try this favicon.Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyromill Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 Did you pay to get your name changed... ? There is only one reason i ask, temped to change my little girls name to Texas tornado. Why not Cracker Keven? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 4, 2012 Share Posted June 4, 2012 CLD Kevin wrote: jeffl wrote:I'm not a web builder by trade, but one thing I noticed was the initial load time. You might want to optimize the background image. At 1,878.19 KB it was noticeable the first time I hit the site. I use Photoshop but there must be cheaper tools that will optimize the image for the web.Other than that, you have a great start. I have a background in programming, but building web pages is not an easy task so keep at it and it will come.Thanks for the feedback. I have Photoshop CS5. Do I save the background image as something else? I see there is a "Web & Device" option. But the size of the file didnt change when I tried it? It only change to a gif file. Currently the background is a jpeg. And the current background file size is 800KB. My internet speed is 35down/35up so maybe this is why I'm not seeing the slow load time?KevinI must have a really fast DSL connection, it popped up immediately for me. No lags, no slows or anything on my end. Everything changed smoothly from one page to another. The photos scrolled smoothly, all looked really good on my end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JSelph Posted June 6, 2012 Share Posted June 6, 2012 Your site is looking great! Can't wait until your store is open for business. You are an inspiration to us all and the reason I got interested in LOR in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave Pursel Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Just wanted to let you know Kevin that I too am waiting for your store. I've been doing christmas light displays (192 channels) for 4 years now. I added a small Halloween display last year and I owe you the Thanks for your long hours and creativity. Even though I was able to pretty much accomplish what I wanted to last year, I'm looking forward to buying something from your store in order to help you succeed and Thank you for making some of your efforts publicly available (via the forums) to us who are just starting out in the "singing pumpkin" displays. DavePS.In a search for your website, Please tell me that the sequences on ebay I recently saw in a store front is your stuff and not from someone who is trying to captialize on your efforts??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avionics12 Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 I had posted earlier about how and where to create a website; this is good stuff to know! Looks like your website is coming along nicely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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