Pyrenees website in need of feedback!

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katiebythesea
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Pyrenees website in need of feedback!

Post by katiebythesea »

Hello
I put together my website last year with a wordpress theme and have tweaked it a few times but not really sure if it is doing the job!
I would love it if you coud say what works and what doesn't - please be brutal, I need to get it sorted :)

www.pyreneesvacation.com

Thanks a million
Katie
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

Just a quickie Katie!

Nice looking generally, so well done! Just what I'm planning to do myself, but never enough time!

Home page, a little bit busy at first viewing? But you're advertsing several properties, so not sure what you can do! Several different type faces and lots of words at first, maybe the spacing could be changed a little?

Gallery - has the word gallery twice?

The Villas, the type face seems to change colour in the paragraph between the two top photos?

News - Vis has got the "a" missing for visa.

Hopefully others will give you some more productive feedback!
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

Not got much time fora fuller reply at present. But to over come the advert of so many properties how about a map. With pins locating properties. Click on the pin and it goes to the relevant section on your website. Thus all the information is per property, including the availability and price.
BTW I do not like the wallpaper much, does it have any significance with the properties, or is it just the standard for the theme?
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
katiebythesea
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Post by katiebythesea »

Thank you - I know what you mean about the spacing the theme I am using though makes it hard to change it - have tried to do it and will try again and make sure the typeface is consistant - again something I thought the theme was meant to sort for me!
Will sort those typos too.

I like the idea of a map and links - will look into doing that - there are maps of where the properties are on the travel info page but they have to be found!

The wallpaper is something I chose because I thought is fits in with the look of the website - but guess its not to everyines taste.

Begs the question is it better to keep websites a bit bland or to have splashes of colour?
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CSE
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Post by CSE »

splashes of colour :D :D :D :D
Never try to out-stubborn your guests.
e-richard
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Post by e-richard »

I know absolutely nothing about WordPress, but the most most "brutal" thing I can say is that you probably started with a great theme and have "tinkered" too much.

It looks like you have modified the font manually and that is why the interline gap has gone awry and looks horrible. WordPress themes are usually excellent at setting the interline gaps to fit each font size very well and that's why they usually look so good.

I think the flowery wallpaper is a distraction. Does it add anything ? Common wisdom today in web design suggests that less is more, and unless it adds to the story, remove it.
Here is some excellent reading on that subject. Its long, its definitely not too technical, but well worth the effort.

Now a couple of constructive suggestions:

1. When presenting multiple pictures side by side, you can really improve the overall look substantially if you make them all the identical height and equally spaced. You may have to tinker with some photo editing software on your computer to achieve this, but the effect is well worth the effort. (e.g. on The gites page, La Grange is good, but Les Jet is messy). Personally, I'd have put a teeny bit more space between.

Similarly on the Villas page, when presenting pictures underneath each other, make them identical in width.

When I say "identical", I mean precisely the same number of pixels - pedantic, yes. Worthwhile ? Undoubtedly.

2. Availability calendar. Why not choose a colour scheme that matches your website. I happen to know that you can do that ;-)
** Richard
PIMS: Holiday Rental Management system
They say we learn from our mistakes. That makes me a genius !
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

Just had another look - I'm liking it Katie so well done!

It feels crisper and more elegant some how. Just the subtle change for the background, vistors comments and typeface etc has worked.

The headings and subheadings are not all consistently set from page to page, and to each other?

Availability there is a typo of an o instead of a "0" in 30 October. Spelling in fully "equiped" kitchen, should be "equipped".

Work in progress regarding photos? They are not all set correctly next to each other and you have a couple of different styles? Perhaps keep the style consistent with borders etc, unless you definitely want to create a different feel for the villas from the gites.

Lovely. :D
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marcus
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Post by marcus »

Hi Katie,

i notice you use www. in your signature but not on the site itself - it's better to choose one and stick with it (i think you can change it in 'general settings' if necessary).

Cheers
Marcus
katiebythesea
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Post by katiebythesea »

Thanks for the extra feedback - not sure what I have done with the fonts need to reset them to the default ones I Think for the theme and see if that sorts them out!
I will spend the next week or so fiddling around with it and ask after that for some more feedback I think, photos need some updating too. Trouble is I have taken so many photos over the last year or so I lose track of the good ones sometimes :o
Wendy@NorthIdaho
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Post by Wendy@NorthIdaho »

Katie, I'm not very good with website critiquing but I looked at your site when you first started the post and just rechecked. I think you've made a huge improvement, much easier to read and not distracting by the side decorations.

Good job!
Wendy
New Vacation Rental called DayStar Lodge! (Sold Narrows Cottage now have a rental management company called A-List Rental Management)
Jenroy
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Post by Jenroy »

With reference to e-richard's comments regarding the sizing of the photos, which I have to agree with, I have just started with Wordpress and am experimenting with the Photosmash plug in, which will automatically resize your photos to your own requirements.

As I have just started I am not aware of any pitfalls that there may be, but I think it is worth looking at.
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

katiebythesea wrote: Trouble is I have taken so many photos over the last year or so I lose track of the good ones sometimes :o
Nobody would do the weekly supermarket shop and then neglect to put the produce away in appropriate places but I’m surprised at how often this happens with photographic shoots. Valuable (maybe unrepeatable) picture files are scattered around in odd places on miscellaneous computers, hard drives or memory cards and it’s a Sherlock Holmes task to track them down.

Even professional photographers are guilty of such crimes. I’ve had cardboard boxes of thousands of transparencies and negatives thrust at me by a new client, when taking over a contract, with terse instructions to ‘sort them out’. Complete nightmare. Proper archiving and backing-up is next to godliness in any careful photographer’s life.

Jim
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Post by la vache! »

If I was clever enough, I'd use lightbox for the photos, it enables them to be enlarged when you click on them from thumbnails. I think it is quite easy with Wordpress, but with my old version of Dreamweaver, not so easy :(
katiebythesea
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Post by katiebythesea »

I have lightbox as its a wordpress one - but think I will be installing the photosmash plugin and just hope that doesn't muddle things up!

I have half sorted photos Jimbo but need to get them more in order......one of those jobs that never seems all that important but would actually save me lots of time if I did it!
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Nemo
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Post by Nemo »

katiebythesea wrote:I have half sorted photos Jimbo but need to get them more in order......one of those jobs that never seems all that important but would actually save me lots of time if I did it!
Snap! I think many of us are guilty of that!

I'm following in your footsteps and taking my first steps with a wordpress site, but I'm a bit daunted at the moment! Looks like I have to start with a theme and that already has me stuck! Maybe I'll pick your brains, if there's time at the summit!
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