If anyone needs help with basic web-related services, I'm here to help you out. I know many of you have websites or blogs you maintain. I've been doing this stuff for a while and I just thought I'd put myself out there and let you know I'm willing to assist you on the technical side or by answering any questions you might have. I don't have the time for any major design projects, but anything short of that is fair game. Edit: If you prefer your project remain private, feel free to PM instead of posting in this thread.
Oh my gosh, that is fantastic. I've been looking everywhere for help on something, and I can't find it anywhere! I'm using Wordpress, and I'm trying to make borders for my containers to make my content look neat. I'd like them to turn out something like the metal border here: http://na.leagueoflegends.com/ Would you happen to have any idea on how I'd do that? My photoshop skills aren't terrible, so from the art side I can make what I want. But I don't know whether to make the border in pieces, or if it needs to be a particular size, if I need to measure each content box I want them around. It's all very confusing to me ._. Thank you so much for any help!
@Infel are you referring to the horizontal golden borders on the flash home page? Or are you talking about this: If the first, it can be accomplished in two basic ways - photoshop or CSS. The later is definitely image-based and would require you designing an image. I recommend against using images whenever possible because it's slower to load and is more difficult to modify. CSS is the best route in most situations. If you're trying to accomplish something similar to the later image, you need to create it in Photoshop. What I would recommend is: 1) Create a high resolution .psd file 2) Add each piece of the image border as a separate layer 3) Make sure you save the original .psd with layers for future modification 4) When finished, export to web as a .png It doesn't need to be a particular size, just make sure it's wide enough and large enough to display well on large screens. I recommend making it very high resolution - you can always resize or compress the images later. I can help you do this with CSS. If you're trying to create boarders with fancy corners like the second image, it could get a bit trick as far as measuring each content box. You could split this in to separate images. However, it's best done by adjusting the images CSS height (the ability to do this will depend on the actual design). This may be able to be done automatically based upon the content type. If you could clarify which exact area you're trying to replicate - and/or if you want to post (or PM me) a link to your Wordpress site so I can identify the type of area you're trying to add borders too - I can get more specific and possibly help with some CSS code, especially if you're trying to replicate the first attachment.
Daniel, when you get a chance, visit www.lewis-mcintyre.com and make me some recommendations. I built it myself on squarespace, first one ever.
@Daniel, can you get me a couple of readers over on Drysailorboy.wordpress.com? I have one reader, and it gets kind of awkward for us. She's really nice, she doesn't actually believe she is my only reader. But statistics don't lie, eh, or the tracker, or the private detectives. I just want a sprinkle of people @ twenty dollars a year, for now, is my best offer. Year two, I'll give you half-shares in my Subaru, the book collection, seventy-four pairs of socks. Love Mat
@Lew I'm on mobile now, so I'll take a look on my big screen tommorrow and hopefully I'll be able to offer better feedback. The mobile version looks great. Very clean and professional. Not much I can offer for improvement in the design field. I'll let you know what I think about the full screen version. Some general thoughts on the design: 1. I'll have to compare on the desktop, but the mobile version of the page title banner may be a little too big. Generally the most important part of a website is what viewers see first: the above-the-fold space. Viewers shouldn't have to scroll too far to get to the meat of the content. That said, it does look good as is. 2. I noticed The Eagle and the Dragon page displays the title twice in large font. This isn't a problem but I would consider only displaying it once. 3. I think the book description pages are very good - well written and well displayed. I noticed at least one displays the date below the title, I'm not sure if it's necessary unless it's serving a function. 4. On the same page, the way the book description, image, and Amazon purchase option are segmented is a little odd, I might consider some changes there, perhaps incorporating the cover within the description. I'm not sure if this is true for desktop. 5. I do really like how you introduce the book. Generally in e-commerce it's good to make purchase options easy to find, and normally I'd suggest linking to Amazon in the first two paragraphs. However, in this instance I think the personal introduction, book description, and endings in a soft sale is very smooth and very professional. 6. I noticed you don't have a website footer, other than the Powered by SquareSpace branding. Though not a necessity, it may be something to consider adding for navigational purposes. I'd include important links there, such as home, books available in Amazon, and possibly social media links. These are just things to consider, nothing glaring that absolutely needs changed. I think what you have now is very good. Depending on the primary purpose of your website, I might add additional website functions. Is it's primary intent to provide personal biographical information, to generate book sales, etc.? It's a general question to consider with any website like this; what is its goal and what is its function. If you want to build and maintain a fanbase, I would eventually consider adding a opt-in Newsletter and authors blog. I think your website is great and better than some big name author websites I've visited in the past. I would also ask: are you using Google Analytics? I'm not sure what SquareSpace offers but analytics are a must.
Lol @matwoolf would you mind telling me more about this site? I checked it out (again, on mobile) and it's not clear for me. What is the nature of the project? You have one subscriber that comments on everything? I'd be happy to discuss promotional strategies on how to generate more readers/subscribers but I require Subaru shares up-front. Tell me more about your project and what you've already tried to reach new readers and I'll see if I can offer any productive suggestions. Year #1 is free of charge.
Hi Daniel. It's a personal blog, come writer's blog, sometimes working properly as a 'shop front,' other times more of an outlet for screams. The current front story is fairly indecipherable - just me exercising the writing muscle...[yesterday]. Sometimes these jottings turn to fiction... ... ... if somebody looked behind my diary entry [of yesterday] he'd find the more weighty stuff, other times I use Wordpress like other people use facebook. No, the reader person - I was kidding about - she's fine, very enthusiastic. I mean that's what you want, eh? She actually cobbled together some of my writing & posted a tribute: https://sonmicloud.wordpress.com/2017/02/18/matty-one-of-the-chosen-phew/ ...the kind of thing I should really do for myself. I suppose it would be best to have a scribble pad as one website, and another for professional presentation. I just find it curious how I collect a single reader at a time. I'm sure it's not supposed to be that way. Beforehand it was Brian from Canada, but... ... he left me.. All the best
... I haven't tried to reach new readers...I am my own worst enemy...sometimes I think it's just fine to have my own fairly eccentric place in space...nobody's business if I write something stupid by mistake...and that profile, all that - comes through submission success, publication - there's about six of those about the place... On the other hand I do have the Youtube ... Thanks very much for your offer, that's very kind of you, partner...
@matwoolf I see, I figured the blog was something of that nature. I totally understand the idea of having your own eccentric place just for you on the web. I have my own. I think you do need to decide if it's going to solely be your sanctuary or if you want a lot of people to read what you write. If you want the later you need to be active on networking and exposure. As for having a scribble pad versus a professional website, it could be best to have both, but it may not be. That's twice the promotional and networking work. I would suggest reviewing your menu, categorization, and other navigational structures if you want to better differentiate your content types. These changes (and other design or technical improvements) may make viewers more likely to stay once they land on your blog. I can offer some general technical and design suggestions, but if we're focusing on exposing your blog to new readers that will involve some trial and error. I haven't run a blog with subscribers in about six years. Since your blog is hosted on Wordpress.com, I suspect there are some integrated options for networking and promoting your blog. I'm not super familiar with the platform, but I would probably start by reading other blogs with similar interests and writing authentic, relevant comments with your name linking back to your blog. Don't force it; you're not spamming, you're networking and adding to the discussion. Make personal, authentic connections. I would also network with similar blogs both on and off of the Wordpress.com platform and suggest blogroll link exchanges. Both of these are old school methods but are fairly organic and may help a few new readers trickle in. There may be other on-platform promotional options. Beyond networking and promoting on Wordpress.com and other off-site blogging platforms, there are a few basic ways to get new viewers (who will hopefully turn into reoccurring readers). There are of course additional approaches, we're talking basics here. You can find new viewers by getting readers to your blog on social media, websites like this very one, blog post exchanges, blog comments, and methods where you link to your blog somewhere someone will see it. Both direct and indirect referrals. You can also work on finding readers via search engines. This is a long-term project, basically relying on you creating well-written unique and specific content that is linked to by other websites, and optimized to meet search engine standards. There's a lot more to it than that but even one we'll-ranking blog post can get you hundreds or thousands of views. I could go on and on, maybe offer more specific things to try. Any questions?
Wow, that makes me feel good! That is quite literally my very first web page. So let's see, purpose. Originally hosted when I was attempting to go traditional so I would have at least some on-line presence. Now I would like it to generate more sales, visibility and so forth. My boosted face book page (lewis mcintyre) is doing much better in reach (20K so far) and some sales, not sure how many... four in Australia for sure, royalties in AUD. The website gets about 20 or so views in a day, max, so I am open to suggestions on that. I am thinking of setting up a blog page, perhaps for discussion on historical fiction, types, how to research, etc. I avoided a blog page at first, because I was still writing and editing. With navy.mil, corporate, and personal e-mails, two face book pages, my own and author page, this site (which has been EXTREMELY helpful, I recommend to all new writers) and writing, keeping up with blog posts and replies did not seem to be a good idea. If someone has to wait a week to see a reply to their thread, I suspect they will lose interest and go elsewhere. Thanks for the compliments on the site. I find most authors' websites to be dark and too busy. I based this on .ppt briefings which I prepare professionally... my emphasis is on simplicity, high "signal to noise ratio" and minimal distracting and non-informative artwork. I just wrote that as though I were doing one of my briefing slides. I was pleased that the mobile app came through prepared totally by squarespace. I did nothing whatsoever to adapt and it is slightly different. The banner is bigger (on screen it is about 1 ", landscape page width) and the menu is the three bar dropdown rather than page names horizontally across the top on the on-screen version Thanks for your help, Daniel, and I look forward to your recommendations and suggestions to improve the reach.
@Lew, great job on your first web page. I think you did a pretty good job on having a high signal-to-noise ratio as you intended. I'm definitely a fan of the mobile version. Sorry for taking so long to get back with feedback on the full page version (non-mobile version). I just took a look at your website on a larger screen. On desktop view: I would reduce the size of the title bar on full screen as well as mobile. I think it's way too big and takes up too much of the space. I would reposition the "f" Facebook image on the homepage (above the title bar) to somewhere above the navigational menu. It isn't symmetrical and pushes the main content further down (remember, above-the-fold!). I would place it to the far, far read of the logo/header, above your main menu. I would consider putting a little more information on the homepage. As is, the content is a little thin. Perhaps a few paragraphs below the main paragraph on the homepage; a short biographical second paragraph that links to the biography page and a short about/description paragraph of The Eagle and The Dragon linking to the full description page. Again, I'd encourage you to use and monitor some type of analytics software, though I recommend Google Adsense. Have you tested your contact us page? Make sure it works! Let me know if you want clarification or help with any of these changes or my mobile recommendations. Generating more sales from a personal author website is going to be a long-term goal, keep that in mind. I think you're taking a decent approach with Facebook. To gain visits to your website you really need to promote it on other websites and hopefully develop some good search engine rankings. The later is difficult, takes a lot of time, and has no special formula. I think a blog would be good, but not if it takes away from your other responsibilities. It's possible you're at a stage to early for a dedicate blog. If you do create a blog on historical fiction, it's should would be to 1) draw in readers of historical fiction through search engines and social media. Hopefully these readers would eventually turn into readers. As for improving reach, could you clarify? Are we talking about getting website visitors, Facebook likes, purchases, etc? Do you mean the website exposure in general? Internet marketing is a little outside the scope of this thread, I'd like to focus on technical suggestions and improvements. I'm still happy to discuss the topic, but I'd encourage you start a new thread in the book marketing forum. You may also want to check out my post here on book publicization.
Initial thoughts: I think it's very clear the type of website it is: a personal website and blog with personal opinions/thoughts/notes, book reviews, and information on your writing/publishing pursuits. This is good - viewers should know right away what the site is about. I love your color scheme; cool header image, and the light green background compliments the white, blue, and black well. I think there is some room for minor improvement. The theme your using seems a little dated in design/layout/functions. This is absolutely fine, but you may what to consider some changes. My suggestions: 1. Extend the blog post cutoff preview significantly. As is, after 2-3 sentences viewers will the [...] link. I would highly recommend extending this. I personally prefer full blog posts to display on the homepage, but depending on your personal preferences and length of blog posts, that might not be ideal. I would recommend at least three paragraphs in preview, I would prefer four. We're talking 600-800 characters I believe. 2. If you choose to keep the cutoff preview, either at the current or extended length, I'd highly recommend changing the link. The [...] link is an older blogger style and it's not immediately clear it's a link. I would change it to something more clear like "Read More" or "Continue Reading" or "View Full Post" (more modern). 3. I love that you have the email subscription form at the top of the sidebar. Great positioning for great results. I would recommend removing the Meta widget (or moving it to the footer or bottom of sidebar). I would also recommend you consider adjusting the archives widget: either display categories by month without the dropdown menu (and archive title) or possible replace with blog posts by category. 4. You footer is okay as is. Consider adding links to the homepage, about, published works, books, archives, and/or social media to the footer. You don't want to make it too clutter, but it's a good space to display important links. If you have the authority to do so, you might want to consider removing the links to Wordpress and theme name. Option, depending on if you want to give credit. 5. Since you don't have much other sidebar content, I think your social media blocks are okay - though a little dated in general style. Generally I'd recommend icons in the header or links in the footer. 6. When you click your username/author link, it shows a link of all your posts with summaries. This may be personal preference, but I'd use a plugin that converts them to a list format - easier to browse entries faster. 7. I don't have any immediate suggestions for your sidebar, but there may be ways to further utilize the space. I love your use of images, and I think your About Me and Books page look great. All in all a decent blog with not much I can offer in general feedback. Let me know if you have any questions, happy to answer them.
Thanks a bunch Daniel, I really appreciate it. You're right about the theme. I've been looking for a new one, but haven't found any that I'm happy with yet, and there are so damn many to wade through!!! Anyway, I made the easy changes this evening. Now, I will have to corner one of my tech-savvy spawn to help dear ol' mom with the rest.
@Daniel, thanks for this. Me, I bought my URLs last summer, one with the name of my DBA publishing house Hendrick Hill Books, and one with my pen name Catrin Lewis. I haven't generated a website using either yet. My excuse is that I'm waiting to indie publish my first novel so I'll have something to feature. I've got a couple or three questions for when the time comes. First, should the publisher site be the primary landing place and my author URL can lead there? Or should it be an author site and anyone who searches for the publishing house will be directed to it? I was leaning toward the former because I also write poetry under my real name, and if I ever throw any of that up online I'd be doing it under the Hendrick Hill banner. On the other hand, I was thinking of incorporating my existing writer's blog, The Writer Sits Down, as a page on my site. Would it look weird to have a blog for one author name and not both? And would anyone expect to see a writer's blog page on a publisher's website? Another quandary: The look I have for the blog probably won't be what I go for on the official website. You can take a look at it if you want--- Would you recommend I redesign it to match the look of the website, whatever that turns out to be? Anyone else can weigh in, too.
You can get a URL for a pittance from Squarespace, where I got mine (www.lewis-mcintyre.com). You could do something similar under your pseudonym. Very attractive blog you have, @Catrin Lewis, might want to join it when I get home.
I want to consolidate/streamline my on-line presence. Right now I have two sites for different author names (katesherwoodbooks.com and catecameronauthor.com) that I keep more-or-less up-to-date (probably more of a "less" than a "more", really) and a third site for a relatively inactive name that I'm planning to reactivate. I don't want to lose all the links people have made to those other sites, but I want one home page to be my base. Like, if someone clicks a link to katesherwoodbooks.com I want them to be redirected to my new master site. On the master site I want to have four options - one that takes people to more information on me as an author (blog posts, contact information, etc.) and then one for each of the pseudonyms. I want this page to be as simple as possible. Like, four options, that's all. No headers/footers/side-whatevers. I don't know where to start! I've been using Wordpress just because it seems to be the simplest, but... do I contact my service provider and ask about... what would it be called, if I turned my existing sites into just sort of bounce-pads to send people to my new site? And how do I find the simplest, easiest theme for the new site that can have just four options and no distractions?
Thanks. That might be an incentive to do an update post. (Meaning, now I get only 90 minutes of sleep . . . )
What name were you thinking your master site would be under? Your real name? Or something that describes your writing overall? Sounds like you want a sort of splash page, or maybe it would be a portal/directory. No reason why you can't do that. Whatever you do, keep it compact so people who work on laptops or tablets don't have to scroll down to see all the options. I get so annoyed at these humongous banner heads that cover half the screen.
I was trying to think of a writing-related name I could use for the master site, but most of the coherent ones are gone, so... I'm still thinking. Definitely not my real name. Is ".com" still the only logical site extension for someone who wants to make things easy for visitors?
Is anyone good at WordPress? I want a really, really simple landing page for my new website, and I can't get rid of one of the bars along the top of the page... The "Living Extra Lives Through Writing and Reading" and the search offer, at http://booklives.com/. I want it GONE. I'm using the Shapely theme, if that matters...
@Daniel I think I've got most of the heavy lifting done. Can you give me a thumbs up or thumbs down on the new theme? Khalielawright.com Cheers!
You might need to go code-hacking. Their support forum seems pretty active, should be able to point you in the right direction: https://colorlib.com/wp/forums/forum/shapely/ Re: turning sites into bouncepads, you can set up redirects wherever you've got those domains hosted. Not sure if you'll need to do that for every URL or not, though - might depend on who you're hosting with.
Do you know what that bar is called? I found a way to get rid of the header and footer at their forum, but I don't know what to even call the thing I'm trying to get rid of now...