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just finished my site ... critique appreciated
hi all ... have just finished my photography site i any comments on load times / design etc appreciated ..
craig
http://www.craigwilsonphotoart.co.uk
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OGC
First off, i'd ask why you built your site in flash. I dont think you did anything that a standard HTML/javascript site couldnt do.
The main problem i see, is that you're a photographer, and this is your portfolio site to showcase your photographs. But when i look through them, all i get is tiny thumbnail size images to look at. Hardly showing off your work. You need to show larger images that show the detail and focus that make your shots good. Take a look at http://www.phtgrphy.co.uk/portfolio/ for a nice solid photography portfolio that uses flash.
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 Originally Posted by creativeinsomnia
First off, i'd ask why you built your site in flash. I dont think you did anything that a standard HTML/javascript site couldnt do.
The main problem i see, is that you're a photographer, and this is your portfolio site to showcase your photographs. But when i look through them, all i get is tiny thumbnail size images to look at. Hardly showing off your work. You need to show larger images that show the detail and focus that make your shots good. Take a look at http://www.phtgrphy.co.uk/portfolio/ for a nice solid photography portfolio that uses flash.
He used Flash 8 to load images using xml variables. The main reason why his site loads fast is because he uses very light graphics at the start..and his site seems to stream off from there on. I am sure its easy to do.
I found an error on that site...when you zoom in and then click on show all the images dont actualy zoom out and you are stuck.
But the site is very easily done with actionscripts. You can find out more about using xml to load images here: http://www.gotoandlearn.com/
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OGC
Originally Posted by raveneye
He used Flash 8 to load images using xml variables. The main reason why his site loads fast is because he uses very light graphics at the start..and his site seems to stream off from there on. I am sure its easy to do.
He didnt necessarily use Flash 8 as you can load images via XML in flash 7 as well. Thats the smart way of doing it anyway, then you just throw your photos in a folder, update the XML file and flash will just pull everything in.
Still, its exactly like i suggested above...breaking the site up for an easy load, then loading things in as needed. Makes it much smoother and seamless to the user.
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I think that site is beeeeaaaauuuutiful!
I use Flash all the time, regardless of whether i could use javascript or HTML - i just like using it and find it so much quicker, with a nicer finish!
But i agree with the comments about the pictures - they load lightningly quick!...superb!
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Re
Gotta say that is a top site !! so how did the designer get those images so big without huge filesizes ? also the site loaded in like seconds !!!
the reason i have kept the images small is to keep the overall movie size down - averaging on 25 - 20 k per image ... even then that adds up when there are thirty or so pics ..... whats the secret there then ?
the reason the site is in flash is purely that i am better in flash than html really .... any tips appreciated ..
cheers
craig
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OGC
I'm not exactly sure how he did everything as i'm not the developer who built it but I was merely pointing you to the site for inspiration.
I dont think he kept the filesize down too much with his images. If he compressed them a lot, you wouldnt see the color and clarity in his images. The key is using a good preloader. Dont put all the images into one swf file...load them all seperately, that way the initial site load is small...and the user will just have to wait a little bit in between each image they view.
Another thing, if this is your portfolio site, you shouldnt worry so much about keeping file size down...especially for a photography portfolio. People expect them to be a bit on the large side, because they want to see big imagery. I mean, dont go overboard, but i'd say between 100-200K per image is good enough.
Good luck
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Banned
Well, yeah the site is simple and could have been done easely in HTML or anything else, but if you liked Flash, your choice... I would only comment upon your font... IT'S TINY !!! I can't read "****" on the ABOUT section... Maybe my glasses aren't good anymore but it's hyper tiny and blurred...
Regards,
Biro
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cheers for the comments guys ... will get back to work on it i think ! re the text size , i have had a problem regarding individual users screen res - if you view it at 1024 x 768 then the text size is ok .... anything bigger then not only is the text smaller but the movie isnt centred in the browser - if you have smaller screen res then there a heap of scrolling to do to see the whole movie !!! stuck on this apart from using java to go for a large pop up !!! the fullscreen actionscript appears to to resize to fit browsers !! any tips on this ?
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I agree with makeing the images a bit bigger. I have been cruising a heap of photography sites recently and they do have biger pics on them, so you notice the hard work in one glance 
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