New minimalist website

Get some feedback on your site or ad from other rental owners and techies. Also a library of online resources so you can make DIY improvements to your web presence.
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dwtmill
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New minimalist website

Post by dwtmill »

I would welcome any feedback on our new revamped website. The content is more or less the same as the old website but I have tried a minimalist approach (clean design, fewer pages, availability on Home page and Contact Us).

http://www.hillhousellanrhidian.co.uk

Thank you in advance your feedback.
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Tournesol
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Post by Tournesol »

Very extensive site, beautifully done. Maybe a tad too much detail? What do others think?

If you'll excuse my English teacher tendencies...

Just the odd typo or two...
On the front page:

"... rest assured that this it will provide you ..."
"... it provides snug haven..."
"... locate within the Gower..."
"...classic british..."
"Hill House Terms Conditions"
"...promenade that stretching for five miles..."

On the "Accommodation" page:

"... described in the follow sections..."
Second sitting room has " ...flat scree LCD TV... "

On the Gower page:

"...map at the to of this page..."


Don't have time to proof read it all now, maybe someone else could check the other pages? )...and tell me all my mistakes too!)
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COYS
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Post by COYS »

I like it. Clean, easy to navigate, good quality info.
On (my) iPad some of the sidebar content is off kilter, running down the middle of the page.
This time next year Rodney, we'll be millionaires.
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dwtmill
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Post by dwtmill »

Thank you Tournesol and COYS for your prompt responses. Proof reading and spelling is not my strong point and I have corrected the errors. I will look into the iPad issue - what size screen does your iPad have?
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Martha
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Post by Martha »

All looks good! I would move the first paragraph down the page quite a long way. It's really good info to have, but not the first thing anyone needs to know. I'd move it to the end of the text, and begin with 'Standing in its own grounds..."

It's quite a big chunk of text to read...maybe add some links so that you can read more about things that interest you?

Why can't I copy and paste?
"Beds made up on arrival" sounds a bit odd to me - do you need to say this?

The PDF documents are useful but I wouldn't put them in a lightbox like that...hard to read and to print. I think they'd be better as just a link.
Looks lovely!
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russellt
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Post by russellt »

A fine site. Well done!

I didn't read it all, but a couple of things:
1) The modal doesn't open on launch of first pdf. So, you then need to use the back button to get back to the site. That may confuse some visitors. (The next pdf then opens in modal).
2) The maroon coloured links don't respond to page resizing or viewport size. So they kinda scrunch up. Should be an easy css fix.

But this is nit-picking. Very informative site. Full of info.
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newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

I have a slow connection and it took 15s to load. I'm not quite sure why it's so slow.
COYS
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Post by COYS »

dwtmill wrote:Thank you Tournesol and COYS for your prompt responses. Proof reading and spelling is not my strong point and I have corrected the errors. I will look into the iPad issue - what size screen does your iPad have?
Air2 9.7”
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dwtmill
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Post by dwtmill »

Thank You Martha, russellt and newtimber.

The order of the paragraphs was more or less as you described in the old site - I thought that I would change it for the new site - I will have a rethink.
Pages are copy protected to prevent plagiarism and image theft.
Most owners in the area only provide bedding - we provide bedding and make up the beds. I will try and think of an alternative form of words.
I decided to use the lightbox popup for pdf's to keep visitors on the page.

What device and browser are you sing russet? I haven't seen the problems you describe during my testing. I haven't been able to test on all screen sizes. Thanks for the link to holidayviewsdirect - haven't seen this site before - I will sign up today.

During testing I was getting a fast load time with Google page speed insights and GTmetrix. I am having some issues with the live sight but it is still scoring a fast load time.
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russellt
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Post by russellt »

dwtmill wrote:
What device and browser are you sing russet? I haven't seen the problems you describe during my testing. I haven't been able to test on all screen sizes.
Chrome Version 62.0.3202.94 (Official Build) (64-bit)
Firefox 57.0.2 (64-bit)
Full size desktop.

I don't think it's a browser issue, as i have replicated on different browsers. I think it may be a cache issue, or the code is causing the initial pdf to load before the modal is launched/ready(thus the next pdf launches properly inside the modal, i presume because the modal has been cached by then).

You may not see the problem because the browser you are using has already loaded/cached the modal feature.

To replicate: open a new browser window as a new visitor(use Chrome's Incognito feature or Firefox's Private Window feature - available in the options dropdown at top right. These will launch new tabs/windows and ignore existing cookies/cache - so you act like a new visitor).

Then visit your website url and launch one of your pdfs. I think it will load outside of the modal window.

As I say, it's not a big deal, but it may confuse some. Certainly, given my current experiences with building HVD, visitors are incredibly nervous/suspicious of functionality that doesn't do what they expect. The challenge is to be innovative and different without frightening the horses. :)

dwtmill wrote: Thanks for the link to holidayviewsdirect - haven't seen this site before - I will sign up today.
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newtimber
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Post by newtimber »

Following up on my own post, I see from Firefox that the page downloads 2.97MB. On a 2Mbit/s ADSL, this takes 12 seconds. For those of us in the sticks, we won't wait to look at a site that takes this long to load. It also doesn't display anything until the whole page has been downloaded which magnifies the problem.
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dwtmill
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Post by dwtmill »

russellt

I couldn't replicate the problem exactly as you described but there did appear to be a problem with chrome. I have put in a fix that I think has removed the problem.
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dwtmill
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Post by dwtmill »

Newtimber.

My maximum broadband speed is 3 Mb/s but I normally get around 1.5 Mb/s. I haven't experienced any download issues even with very large sites.
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dwtmill
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Post by dwtmill »

COYS
I can see the problem with the iPad Air2.
I will investigate.
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dwtmill
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Post by dwtmill »

COYS
I think that I have solved this problem - It was caused by a css issue.
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