My website

[mjr]

All,

I have my music website up. Except for the content.
Just want some opinions. What does everyone think?

The only problem I have is that I'm stuck as far as content goes.

the URL is www.monterichardson.com

[Freeform]

well the content could help my only opinion so far is that it seems like a lot of empty space, not just content wise but visually. like at the top there is an empty staff, and the right side is completely empty. i guess just find stuff to fill that space

[alexspetty]

terrible site.

you need to get photoshop7 from kazaa (for trial purposes) and start creating a cool layout. photoshop will allow you to slice up your layout and automatically generate html code for the layout out you put together.

sorry to be harsh, but your site needs some work and i am trying to be constructive.

-alex

[mjr]

Ok.

First, a couple of things:

1. I AM a web developer/designer. I know several technologies, and built the site according to input I have received from other developers. I have been in the IT/web dev/designer industry for about 4 years.

2. I have a good friend who is an artist. He has given me advice on this site, and he is a very talented artist. He likes the site.

3. I don't need Photoshop or DreamWeaver to write my code. I can do it myself (and it's much more flexible).

I built the site to be flexible, and easy on the eyes. Cool, flashy colors and animations aren't everything. Flash isn't everything, either. Lightweight and speedy is the way to go.

Trust me, everything will come together once the site is finished.

All criticisms are taken constructively, trust me, they are.

[maryslittlesecret]

I'm not a web developer, graphic artist, etc. -- and our site certainly isn't anything to write home about -- but you should seriously consider adding a little more personality to your site. It looks very much like a generic 'music site' template right now. No offense, but I'm not sure why you would even tell us (or anyone else) about it yet -- there's nothing there to see, hear or read.

I fully agree that flash intros, blinking images, etc. are overused and distract as much (or more than) they entice, but your site is very possibly your first and only chance to capture someone's attention and say, in an instant, 'this is a visual representation of myself and my music'. Right now it says nothing...

Maybe consider using your album cover as a background or at least blowing it up so we can see it -- it looks like there was some design put into that...

Just my opinion -- feel free to take it or leave it...

J

[mjr]

Thanks! That's a much better response than "Your Site Sucks!!".
I am aware that I have very little content on my site. That's the big problem I face right now! I don't know exactly what to say.

The advice on the album cover is a good idea. I may do something similiar to that.

I will be doing some serious marketing with this site after I put up all the content.

I'm also trying to appeal to a specific genre.

[tanlith]

OK to elaborate on the album cover idea...

Why not have it a little bigger and tiled as a backdrop...

OK currently on your site there's blue down either side... why not take advantage of the unused space by tiling your album cover there? And leave the whitespace as is for all the text....

... just my 2 cents worth... which if converted from Canadian to US Currency would mean I owe you about 4 buck$ still...

- Tanlith -

Webmaster: Super Loop Library

[mjr]

Tanlith,

That's a good idea, but my original design was meant to be flexible. Since a number of people like the album cover, I should probably find some way to make it stand out a little more, without being intrusive.

Who knows? Maybe once I get the site finished (complete with sound clips), I'll get signed! Aren't there indie record execs who visit this site??

[sae]

You can keep the site flexible while still having a background image. Just name your background image "bg.jpg" or "bg.gif" then when you don't want it anymore just delete the file and nothing will show up. You could also make the file transparent but that would require you to make the original file "bg.gif" as jpeg files don't support transparency (but i'm sure you knew that)



And if push comes to shove you can always change the source code on your page. Depending on how many pages you are going to have (5 or so, I'm assuming) the code could be changed to remove the line about the background image fairly quickly

[Myx62]

I am a pro developer. Dreamweaver and Photoshop are invaluable tools. I also like PSP 7 a lot. You really can't use DW effectivly if you dont know code. Notepad coders have been left in the dust. Im not trying to flame you, just giving you a reality check. If you need some help just PM me.

P.S. I do despise flash movies, but like flash text and buttons...They are great for updating.
Myx

[tanlith]

Originally posted by Myx62
I am a pro developer. Dreamweaver and Photoshop are invaluable tools. I also like PSP 7 a lot. You really can't use DW effectivly if you dont know code. Notepad coders have been left in the dust. Im not trying to flame you, just giving you a reality check. If you need some help just PM me.

P.S. I do despise flash movies, but like flash text and buttons...They are great for updating.
Myx

Sort of true and sort of not...

"Notepad" coders can usually keep the code al LOT tighter than any of those packages you mentioned... which means faster loading sites for those with slow connections. Yeah I know most people today have high speed, but there's still many out there who don't... for example my rhythm guitarist/background vocalist... he lives way out in the county... he's stuck on an old POTS dialup that barely supports 56k... manys the time when he and I would be looking up something here from there and go make coffee whist we wait...

Hand coded web page = fast tight code. Dreamweaver web page = slow(er) bulky code...

,,, now if someone were to use Dreamweaver and then go in and clean up the crap and tweak it...

- Tanlith -

[mjr]

Well, I don't use Notepad, but I don't use DreamWeaver either. I hard code, so that I can get the code to do exactly what I want.

[sae]

how do you hard code? I thought the only way to do this was by notepad, or some other simple text word editor

[Myx62]

Originally posted by tanlith
Sort of true and sort of not...

,,, now if someone were to use Dreamweaver and then go in and clean up the crap and tweak it...

- Tanlith -

As far as I knew, it was the graphics that made sites slow. Thats why I use PS7 and PSP7-they have optimizers. I dont believe in Flash movies although I can do them. Dreamweaver has a great FTP program and a multitude of other tools built right in that saves major time. I always clean up the crap and with DW there isnt much like Frontpage or others I've used. I do have 2 close friends that are Notepaders and they just seem set in their ways.
Im doing a business site right now and they are not concerened with dialup customers, seeing their main customer is HP.....
My own Music sites were designed for dialup so I do understand optimization. Just my 2 pennies........
Myx

[mjr]

I usually use Visual Studio.
What would be a good clip length to put on the site as far as "teasers" of the songs?

[tanlith]

Originally posted by mjr
I usually use Visual Studio.
What would be a good clip length to put on the site as far as "teasers" of the songs?

Clip length? Hrmmm.... 60-90sec depending on what you want to showcase from the particular song...

For example: if it has a real nice intro, then you'd wanna include that, the first verse & maybe the chorus = around 90 sec

Or if you want to focus on the chorus (which is usually where the title comes from) then you'd want to include maybe all or part of the verse before it around 60 sec

Again, I guess that would be a matter of what part of the song you want to showcase.

One question though: is this a matter of storage space/badwidth? Or do you just want to keep people from "downloading" a copy for free? if so, take a look at what Greenshoe did for his site...

www.greenshoemedia.com/

...when you load up the lyrics page, the music plays in the background... kind of a neat idea. It streams without using Real Player or anything... somehow. I think it's a Flash or Dreamweaver trick, but I'm sure a vet code junkie like you could figure it out (Belive me, I mean that in a good way. I have loads of respect for those with the patience and skill to code raw.)

- Tanlith -

[mjr]

I'll have to take a look at it.
I have a maximum transfer rate of 4GB per month maximum. As the site grows, and I get more hits, I can always upgrade.

Anyway, I was thinking of having some type of "streaming" audio. I do not know for sure. I know I want clips, and I don't want end users to be able to download the entire song. I also want it to be light enough to work over a 56K.

[tanlith]

Originally posted by Myx62
As far as I knew, it was the graphics that made sites slow. Thats why I use PS7 and PSP7-they have optimizers. I dont believe in Flash movies although I can do them. Dreamweaver has a great FTP program and a multitude of other tools built right in that saves major time. I always clean up the crap and with DW there isnt much like Frontpage or others I've used. I do have 2 close friends that are Notepaders and they just seem set in their ways.
Im doing a business site right now and they are not concerened with dialup customers, seeing their main customer is HP.....
My own Music sites were designed for dialup so I do understand optimization. Just my 2 pennies........
Myx

Yeah... I what I meant was more bandwidth... not slower. For example: if make a site in Dreamweaver and it totals out at 250k in size, than that's counted against your allowed monthly bandwidth/month. But a good code warrior could probably cut out all the redundant code and comments etc to make the same site at around 175k.

Doesn't sound like a big deal, but if you do manage to make the site REAL popular than the numbers add up quick. If you're allowed 1GIG UP per month, then with the 250k site you'd be allowed around 4000 hits per month before you get forced into a more expensive "package" from your host. Whereas a 175K site would be allowed around 5715 hits per month.

250,000 * 4000 = 1,000,000,000
175,000 * 5715 = 999,950,000

Grandpa used to say "Mind your pennies and the dollers will take care of themselves". he may have been frugle, but he left grandma over $1,500,000 when he passed on... and all he did was drive a beer delivery truck most of his life.

Tight code = good
Loose sloppy code = $$$$ out the door

- Tanlith -

[Jblount]

I know nothing about IT, except that that site sucks big time. Sorry man, it just has nothing to hold my interest. And I have a better that average attention span. You do need graphics, you do need photos, you need to find someone to help you that dosnt just agree with you. Someone to tell you the truth.

[tanlith]

Originally posted by Jblount
I know nothing about IT, except that that site sucks big time. Sorry man, it just has nothing to hold my interest. And I have a better that average attention span. You do need graphics, you do need photos, you need to find someone to help you that dosnt just agree with you. Someone to tell you the truth.

??

I dodn't remember anyone saying anything about not using graphics on his site?? And considering the lack of content it's obviously a work in progress... All I said was keep the code tight and take advantage of your bandwidth. But I digress...

... Your comment does hold some very valid information. For example: in today's day and age the average person dosn't WANT to be bothered doing alot of reading. They need big pictures that can quickly tell them the whole story without words. People have become too lazy to take the time and effort to use their brains and think about things... heck Microsoft Windows is a testiment to that fact... people would rather use an unstable unsecure product simply because they can "point and click" instead of memorizing a few important command lines.

Anyhow... yes... I agree, You do need to consider the audience to which you are addressing. Perhaps you should consider doing the old "High Speed/Low Speed" site thing and make the high speed link point to a Flash/Dreamweaver Multimedia circus for those who prefer that sort of thing. And make the Low Bandwidth link point to a content only based section. A little extra effort, but may be worth it to increase your audience.

Remember: Intellectual types read books; mindless zombies watch movies. - and we all know the world has far more mindless zombies than intellectuals in it

- Tanlith -

Disclaimer: This post was not meant to flame; insult or spam anyone here. the very fact that people are comming to this site to share and learn indicates a certain level of intelectual prowess. If anyone has taken offence I sincerely don't care. May contain sodium phosphate; void where prohibited by law. Side effects may include dizziness; vomiting; dihareah; constipation and the urge to hump the nearest cooking appliance. Do not take with alcohol or any other prescribed depressant. You must be 18yrs or older to participate. Let there be light! Let there be cable TV so my children will have something to watch while the worship me! Let there be HBO, Show Time, and Comedy Central so that those with no real talent will have a place to express themselves! Let there be The Hansens, Spice Girls and The Back Street Boys; because every generation needs their Partige Family! Let there be Spam! Let my children taste this foul Spam and resolve never to touch it again! Let there be Satan so that people won't blame everything on me! Let there be lawyers so people don't blame everything on Satan! Let there be higher education and learning centers so that my children can spend most of their life learning and not doing! Let there be three classes of people: The rich who will resolve to continually divide up the worlds riches among themselves; the middle class who will do all of the work and recieve none of the pleasures the rich have; and the homless to scare the middle class into continuing with their jobs! Thou shalt not pork thy neighbor's wife (the daughter is OK though)! Thou shalt not kill (unless it is in my name and is reasoned by ignorance and biggotry)! Thou shalt not take my name in vien (unless you hit your thumb with a hammer)! Thou shalt be excellent to one another!

[tanlith]

Originally posted by mjr
I'll have to take a look at it.
I have a maximum transfer rate of 4GB per month maximum. As the site grows, and I get more hits, I can always upgrade.

Anyway, I was thinking of having some type of "streaming" audio. I do not know for sure. I know I want clips, and I don't want end users to be able to download the entire song. I also want it to be light enough to work over a 56K.

OK in that case, you should consider real player... they actually have a free content encoder (it's just hard to find on their site... sec - going to find you the link now:

Ok the product is called Helix Producer from Real Networks. At the bottom of the page is the "basic" version which will get you started. It's pretty versitle for a basic version.

Now I realize that much of the content streamed on Real sounds like ASS, so here's another solution. Requires a small Flash Movie embeded in the page, but it small as far as code goes, and not at all like a media circus. It's a site I'm building where I put a simple but functional player on the site. It allows the user to start and stop the song at will and can't be "grabbed" http://superlooplibrary.50megs.com - now the way I did it involves the song loading completely before play, but it can be configured to stream from an MP3 (Also the song in the sample was resampled for size - gunna change that too - I need it best quality)

Hey if you like the idea, I can copy and paste the code you'd need into notepad and send it as a .txt. file. It can be embedded anywhere in a html doc and would be a breeze for you to edit the colors,text, links etc... (I usually edit my final Dreamweaver docs in notepad)

Don't forget to check out greenshoe's site... you can hear the whole song clearly (even on 56k - tried it at my buddie's house to show him) and there's really nothing to "capture" and download. This would allow people to here the whole song and not grab it from you. I think he's using a similer technique to mine, but without the play and stop buttons.

- Tanlith -

[Myx62]

Originally posted by tanlith
Yeah... I what I meant was more bandwidth... not slower. For example: if make a site in Dreamweaver and it totals out at 250k in size, than that's counted against your allowed monthly bandwidth/month. But a good code warrior could probably cut out all the redundant code and comments etc to make the same site at around 175k.

- Tanlith -

Gottcha, We have our own servers so I dont need to worry so much about that. Now on my own stuff I do. I cheat a little and On my links for MP3's It takes you to IUMA. Let them worry about bandwidth-lol.
I do use Nowhere radio for posting purposes in the MP3 clinic here.
Myx

[Jblount]

lol, great disclaimer

[tanlith]

Originally posted by Jblount
lol, great disclaimer

- Tanlith -