New Web Site

[Nostrodamus]

As part of our wintering we have redesigned our website totally (keeps the grey matter working over winter)

I have no IT skills so have been learning as I go along.

Please can someone have a look at the site, tell me if it works or if you can suggest anyway to make it better.

I still have a lot to add and change in converting old posts but any help would be welcome...

Thanks in advance.

The site is ...

Cygnus III | A family who sold everything to buy a boat and sail around the world.

[BandB]

Originally Posted by Nostrodamus

As part of our wintering we have redesigned our website totally (keeps the grey matter working over winter)

I have no IT skills so have been learning as I go along.

Please can someone have a look at the site, tell me if it works or if you can suggest anyway to make it better.

I still have a lot to add and change in converting old posts but any help would be welcome...

Thanks in advance.

The site is ...

Cygnus III | A family who sold everything to buy a boat and sail around the world.

It's beautiful but......

It has one of my pet peeves. Writing on dark backgrounds. This shows up differently on every computer, tablet and smartphone. But on many it's terribly difficult to read. Look around at Yahoo, Google, MSN, Amazon and others as successful. They would never do that. Change that one thing and you'd have a beautiful site I believe. But as it is, I find it too annoying to read and on the first computer I went to I actually have to highlight what I intend to read to make it stand out so I can read it.

[Nostrodamus]

Thank you so much for taking the time to look at the site.

I tend to agree with you but the only writing I have on a dark background is on the home page and then I have made it extra large.

I do take your point though and may have to look at changing it.

Once again thank you for taking the time to look and reply.

[MickBeth50]

hi,

after joining this forum a few weeks ago and reading and reading and reading...you are my first reply to a post.

i had a look and it is a nice site...well laid out...intuitive

i am on my laptop and had no trouble reading the text (as the 1st responder noted) - but i am inside and it isn't super bright in the room.

i am not a web site designer or expert - so i can't give any technical advise.

overall i'd give it an 8 or 9

sorry i can't rip it apart! or tell you how to make it a 10.

m

[Nostrodamus]

Mick,
Welcome to these forums. I am sure you will find so much information on them.. sometimes too much.
If there is anything I can help with just let me know.
Well thank you for taking the time to look and reply. To us having a blog is essential as we have forgotten half the amazing places we have visited so it help us dribblies to remember.
Hopefully the site may help or give some inspiration to others that this live aboard life is truly one of life's best kept secrets.
I do value your feedback so thank you for taking the time to read and making me your first reply.
Now you need to post your own questions on the forum.
Good sailing my friend.

Originally Posted by MickBeth50

hi,

after joining this forum a few weeks ago and reading and reading and reading...you are my first reply to a post.

i had a look and it is a nice site...well laid out...intuitive

i am on my laptop and had no trouble reading the text (as the 1st responder noted) - but i am inside and it isn't super bright in the room.

i am not a web site designer or expert - so i can't give any technical advise.

overall i'd give it an 8 or 9

sorry i can't rip it apart! or tell you how to make it a 10.

m

[mgstich]

Hi Mark,

I was not familiar with your first blog version, but I love this one.

I understand the comment about difficulty reading white on black, but I didn't find your home page difficult. As you answered, the type is large enough and sparse enough that it isn't off putting, in my opinion.

I find navigation of the site very easy and a bit unique, at least to my inexperienced eye. I really like the way you have divided the information. Specifically, I love the map with the points you have visited. My only question is; do the different colors represent different years? You might put a reference, green = 2011, red = 2012 etc.

I also enjoyed your writing style. I went back to read your first few entries so I could get an idea of where you started. Sounds like you have come a LONG way since the original purchase and moving on board Cygnus III. Great for y'all!

Eventually my husband and I will live aboard as well and the blog will be my responsibility. Can you recommend a good source for learning about creating/maintaining blogs? Unfortunately, I didn't grow up with computers and I have not taken any classes, so I will have to teach myself. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I do have a FB page and a wordpress blog, but trust me when I say they are minimal!

Again, LOVED your blog and will add it to my Feedly page!

Mary Grace

[rockDAWG]

1. Beautiful photography, no doubt.
2. Too much scrolling needed to read thru. Way too much white space. Condense your text and help the reader read thru easily. Negative space is good in photo, but here.
3. You have a lot to say and tell the reader, that is good. But OTOH, it is a bit disorganized and all over the place. Focus each page with one main

This is just a N=1 comments. Discard as needed.

[BandB]

Homepage was not the problem. White was vivid. But as you scroll down. Reading the Jack Sparrow Quote. Reading about the boat, random blog posts and comments at the very bottom. The vivid white on black is readable. Obviously the black on white is. But it's the other colors type which are medium on dark or dark on medium that are difficult.

Great site. Just don't want any of it's beauty overlooked due to font and background colors.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by rockDAWG

1. Beautiful photography, no doubt.
2. Too much scrolling needed to read thru. Way too much white space. Condense your text and help the reader read thru easily. Negative space is good in photo, but here.
3. You have a lot to say and tell the reader, that is good. But OTOH, it is a bit disorganized and all over the place. Focus each page with one main

This is just a N=1 comments. Discard as needed.

Totally agree with you about the white space and scrolling.
The blogs on the site are ported across from my old site where formating was very limited. They do no sit right on the new site so one of the things I have to do is go through the old blogs and reformat them to the new site.. a lot of work but someone has to do it.
It is also why the blogs are all over the place.

Thank you though for taking the time to look at the site and reply.. it means a lot and will make sure I will get back to work on it.
Thanks again.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by BandB

Homepage was not the problem. White was vivid. But as you scroll down. Reading the Jack Sparrow Quote. Reading about the boat, random blog posts and comments at the very bottom. The vivid white on black is readable. Obviously the black on white is. But it's the other colors type which are medium on dark or dark on medium that are difficult.

Great site. Just don't want any of it's beauty overlooked due to font and background colors.

Thanks B and B .. i will sort that out. I think you are right.

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by mgstich

Hi Mark,

I was not familiar with your first blog version, but I love this one.

I understand the comment about difficulty reading white on black, but I didn't find your home page difficult. As you answered, the type is large enough and sparse enough that it isn't off putting, in my opinion.

I find navigation of the site very easy and a bit unique, at least to my inexperienced eye. I really like the way you have divided the information. Specifically, I love the map with the points you have visited. My only question is; do the different colors represent different years? You might put a reference, green = 2011, red = 2012 etc.

I also enjoyed your writing style. I went back to read your first few entries so I could get an idea of where you started. Sounds like you have come a LONG way since the original purchase and moving on board Cygnus III. Great for y'all!

Eventually my husband and I will live aboard as well and the blog will be my responsibility. Can you recommend a good source for learning about creating/maintaining blogs? Unfortunately, I didn't grow up with computers and I have not taken any classes, so I will have to teach myself. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I do have a FB page and a wordpress blog, but trust me when I say they are minimal!

Again, LOVED your blog and will add it to my Feedly page!

Mary Grace

Mary I have not forgotten you.

We have to go onto another boat now to socialise and drink the devils nectar but I will reply in full tomorrow. You deserve it.

[ReMetau]

Not a fan of the scrolling design, but I'm old school.

Also, the links to Crew, Maps, etc. on the top of the page open within the existing window, but when you scroll down and click via "On our web site..." they open in new tabs which I am not a fan of. I think that they both should open in the existing tab, because I don't like having to close lots of windows or tabs from one site.

[Prairie Chicken]

I like the look of the site, and your style of writing. I did find some glitches & will mention those I found here as I'm sure you'd like to fix at least some of them.

I noticed were that when I hover over any selection from the menu bar (Home, Crew, Blog, etc.) the selection blacks out completely.

Also, while the photos in Photos were fine (& nice), the ones About our Boat were very pixelated (if that's a word)--not clear at all.

On your Maps page I was having a browse of your impressions of Mallorca and found Negras, No. 92, in the Gulf of Mexico rather than on Mallorca. I'm not sure where it is; your comment aroused my curiosity.

Enough for now. It looks like you're having fun, which is the object of the game!

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by mgstich

Hi Mark,

I was not familiar with your first blog version, but I love this one.

I understand the comment about difficulty reading white on black, but I didn't find your home page difficult. As you answered, the type is large enough and sparse enough that it isn't off putting, in my opinion.

I find navigation of the site very easy and a bit unique, at least to my inexperienced eye. I really like the way you have divided the information. Specifically, I love the map with the points you have visited. My only question is; do the different colors represent different years? You might put a reference, green = 2011, red = 2012 etc.

I also enjoyed your writing style. I went back to read your first few entries so I could get an idea of where you started. Sounds like you have come a LONG way since the original purchase and moving on board Cygnus III. Great for y'all!

Eventually my husband and I will live aboard as well and the blog will be my responsibility. Can you recommend a good source for learning about creating/maintaining blogs? Unfortunately, I didn't grow up with computers and I have not taken any classes, so I will have to teach myself. Any suggestions would be appreciated.

I do have a FB page and a wordpress blog, but trust me when I say they are minimal!

Again, LOVED your blog and will add it to my Feedly page!

Mary Grace

Mary,
Thank you for taking the time to read the website and your comments.
They all do help and as a result of feedback I am going to change the front page to a simpler compact design without all the scrolling.
Writing blogs is fun a helps us remember all the wonderful places we have visited and the amazing people we have met on the way. Without it various places get mixed up.
If you are planning to live aboard don't leave it too long to start a blog. There are some excellent ones out there describing what people go through before moving aboard. There is a lot to do when you change from your grown up life into this one and problems you come across will help others.
I too grew up with quill and ink rather than computers so I have had to learn everything from scratch.
If you want to do a website then I would suggest "Wordpress" which is excellent. You can build a really good site without any programming skills. That is what I use.
The other way is to use some of the excellent free blogging sites on which you can add photos and your blog. They are not as flexible but very strait forward.
Living aboard is a wonderful life and hopefully some of our past blogs will keep you inspired and aiming for that goal.
Finally, put a beer in the fridge for the day we meet out there in this big wonderful world.
Thank you for your reply and feed back

[Nostrodamus]

Originally Posted by Prairie Chicken

I like the look of the site, and your style of writing. I did find some glitches & will mention those I found here as I'm sure you'd like to fix at least some of them.

I noticed were that when I hover over any selection from the menu bar (Home, Crew, Blog, etc.) the selection blacks out completely.

Also, while the photos in Photos were fine (& nice), the ones About our Boat were very pixelated (if that's a word)--not clear at all.

On your Maps page I was having a browse of your impressions of Mallorca and found Negras, No. 92, in the Gulf of Mexico rather than on Mallorca. I'm not sure where it is; your comment aroused my curiosity.

Enough for now. It looks like you're having fun, which is the object of the game!

Prairie,
Thank you for taking the time to look at the site and send your thoughts.
The pictures of the boat were just too small and I need to update them with new ones. You are right, thank you.
Negras was next to a hippie commune where clothes were not worn and the smokes were ...well... way out man. Looks like I put the point in the wrong place so I shall change it but then again the commune was amazing so we don't want too many people finding out.
Your feedback does mean a lot so I can get things right ,,, thank you.