New Web Site

[AirBoyzT]

Just started one myself if you wish to follow mine as well Nostradomas. It's fun reading other blogs, I look forward to reading yours!

Mine is S/V Catharsis

[mgstich]

Nostradomas, I asked my 22 year old to look at your site, just for the visuals, he didn't go into the site and look in depth. I told him I loved your blog site and that you had had negative feedback about the scrolling.

He assured me that the scrolling was very current and probably this site has "an older crowd" who didn't appreciate the format.

Thanks for the thoughts on blogs. I do have a "Wordpress" blog, but it is just pictures with captions at the moment. As we get closer to living aboard, I will begin recounting my thoughts, preparations and experiences.

In the mean time, I will begin looking into Wordpress and learning what I can do with it.

mg

[Nostrodamus]

Thanks MG. If you have any problems with it or want to know where to look just send me a message from the website. I will do what I can to help.

[Nostrodamus]

Well thank you all for the feedback.I did take into account what you all said and changed the first page a lot to stop too much scrolling.
As a result of what people said I find there was a problem with the theme not working properly on tablets but this should also be fixed. I may well change the fron page but we have added more photos and I am still trying to reformat the old blogs.
Your help did make a difference as I have more of an idea what to do, fixed many problems and a few other things.
Thank you to all who contributed and If I can help any one else with my limited knowledge just ask.

[jostalli]

Well, it's clearly a wordpress theme you purchased (on themeforest perhaps?) so if it is from a decent developer you can usually get free assistance from them. Also, many other purchasers have probably pointed out known issues and glitches so check back often. If you need changes outside of the theme you can always post the job on oDesk or guru.com for a few dollars.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by jostalli

Well, it's clearly a wordpress theme you purchased (on themeforest perhaps?) so if it is from a decent developer you can usually get free assistance from them. Also, many other purchasers have probably pointed out known issues and glitches so check back often. If you need changes outside of the theme you can always post the job on oDesk or guru.com for a few dollars.

Thanks Jostalli,
You are right about wordpress
I asked for advice it the beginning as I have no design or IT skills so I didn't know if it all worked properly. I cannot code so I have to use a theme but it seemed to turn out OK. If I can do something then most others on here can if they wish. I enjoyed keeping the grey matter turning over during winter as we are on the boat full time. There is still a lot to do and I always welcome advice.
Thank you for your view.

[Sondor]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

As a result of what people said I find there was a problem with the theme not working properly on tablets but this should also be fixed

It's a great looking and modern styled site in many ways, however, I suspect the issue noted above is due to your theme not being a "responsive" theme.

Simply meaning that the website should scale based on the screen size of the person viewing your website. This includes tablets, and smart-phones.

While I wouldn't encourage anyone to abandon a legacy non-responsive site just to add that functionality, given that this is a new site it may be worth considering before you have too much time invested in this theme.

This may be an especially wise move when one considers your audience. Tablets, and smartphones are becoming ubiquitous in the regular world, and I suspect even more-so amongst sailors.

Here's a link to Elegant Themes for WordPress. All of these 21 examples are responsive: www.elegantthemes.com

All that being said, I'm not a website guru. Heck, I don't even play one on tv.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by Sondor

It's a great looking and modern styled site in many ways, however, I suspect the issue noted above is due to your theme not being a "responsive" theme.

Simply meaning that the website should scale based on the screen size of the person viewing your website. This includes tablets, and smart-phones.

While I wouldn't encourage anyone to abandon a legacy non-responsive site just to add that functionality, given that this is a new site it may be worth considering before you have too much time invested in this theme.

This may be an especially wise move when one considers your audience. Tablets, and smartphones are becoming ubiquitous in the regular world, and I suspect even more-so amongst sailors.

Here's a link to Elegant Themes for WordPress. All of these 21 examples are responsive: www.elegantthemes.com

All that being said, I'm not a website guru. Heck, I don't even play one on tv.

Thanks Sondor,
The site is responsive so should now work on everything. It is also retina ready so images should show in high quality on I pads and mac stuff.
The problem I had was with some Parallax stripes not being responsive and throwing the site out.
I had originally done something different with them which even the theme designer didn't know you could do. They did offer to try and fix it but it meant too much scrolling so I took that part out.
Thank you for taking the time to look and to reply Sondor.

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Mike.

[David_Old_Jersey]

Overall it looks very modern....but I think the top half of each page would have been better used for content rather than a banner(?).....style over substance might be a bit harsh, but.........

[JGarrick]

Things I liked:

• The blog is great reading, both informative and very entertaining.
• Love the map page.
• Nice photos.
• The About Mark and About Angelina pages are especially fun. I'm still chuckling over the Ways to claim life insurance on Mark skill rating.

Things I didn't like:

• Big photos at the top of the main nav pages that don't really provide any content and require scrolling. Not a big deal really, and an OK bit of styling, but I'd rather just get to the fun stuff.
• The boat photos on the About Cygnus III page were very low res and didn't navigate right.

Things I'd like to see more of:

• I haven't read though all of the blog, so maybe it's there, but I'd like to see more about the highs and lows of doing this with a whole family aboard. An About page on that would be a great addition.
• More detail about the boat on the About Cygnus III page would be interesting reading. Also, although there are plenty of other photos throughout the site, a more thorough photo tour there would be nice.
• Some of the linked sailing blogs were also very good. Keep adding them.
• Video?

All things considered, this is a really great sailing blog.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by JGarrick

Things I liked:

• The blog is great reading, both informative and very entertaining.
• Love the map page.
• Nice photos.
• The About Mark and About Angelina pages are especially fun. I'm still chuckling over the Ways to claim life insurance on Mark skill rating.

Things I didn't like:

• Big photos at the top of the main nav pages that don't really provide any content and require scrolling. Not a big deal really, and an OK bit of styling, but I'd rather just get to the fun stuff.
• The boat photos on the About Cygnus III page were very low res and didn't navigate right.

Things I'd like to see more of:

• I haven't read though all of the blog, so maybe it's there, but I'd like to see more about the highs and lows of doing this with a whole family aboard. An About page on that would be a great addition.
• More detail about the boat on the About Cygnus III page would be interesting reading. Also, although there are plenty of other photos throughout the site, a more thorough photo tour there would be nice.
• Some of the linked sailing blogs were also very good. Keep adding them.
• Video?

All things considered, this is a really great sailing blog.

Mr Garrick,
I really do thank you for taking the time to look and the website and for giving your comments. They are all very valid and I take your points.
I have cut the website scrolling down a lot from what it was but I will see if I can cut it some more. The trouble is websites are moving towards the scrolling type because tablets are used so often to view websites now that scrolling is often the easiest way to navigate. Sailors who are usually at the mature end of website browsing prefer traditional click site with little scrolling. I tried to balance the two but maybe it didn't work.

The photos of the boat interior are very low re as you say and do need changing.

The highs and lows are in the blog but I do like your idea of a separate page for this and I will add one. It is a bit of a roller coaster ride at times so your idea of adding a section for this will be of value to others wanting to live aboard.
I can certainly add the full specs of the boat with no problem and photos of various bits we had done prior to setting off. A good idea and I will add it.

I am still converting the old blogs to the new format and adding lots more photographs. I does take a while to format the photos and link them to the blog but I am trying to do it for all the places we have been.

The map still needs updating but you can click on a Placemark and go strait to the blog for that place but I think I just need one clear simple page listing the places we have visited and links to the photos and blog.

I was considering adding ratings to the blogs and photos so people could read the most interesting ones.

I would also like the site to be more interactive so I was also considering adding a page where others could upload their best sailing/ water related photos for others to see and have them rated.

It would be interesting to hear your and others thoughts on this.

Once again, thank you for taking the time to read and make some very valid comments which I will introduce.

[JGarrick]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

...Sailors who are usually at the mature end of website browsing prefer traditional click site with little scrolling. I tried to balance the two but maybe it didn't work.

I really wouldn't worry about it much. The scrolling isn't really a big issue.

The map still needs updating but you can click on a Placemark and go strait to the blog for that place but I think I just need one clear simple page listing the places we have visited and links to the photos and blog.

The map is definitely a great feature. That's worth repeating.

I was considering adding ratings to the blogs and photos so people could read the most interesting ones.

I would also like the site to be more interactive ...

Anything interactive is usually a plus, so long as you remember to keep up the great writing.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by JGarrick

I really wouldn't worry about it much. The scrolling isn't really a big issue.

The map is definitely a great feature. That's worth repeating.

Anything interactive is usually a plus, so long as you remember to keep up the great writing.

Thank you for your advice Mr Garrick.
It has been noted and I am implementing some of the things you said...
I am getting there.. like our sailing ...slowly

[nimbex1970]

What I enjoyed:
I loved the black and white theme.. witty, timeless and classic.
Again the maps page is great
Your style of writing and detail of ports is refreshing

would prefer:
still less scrolling or a smaller header per page
more pictures... have to live vicariously through you

I always appreciate the time and dedication spent on a blog so that others like me can "experience" adventures, thank you for sharing