What do you think of my Photo Gallery?

[todd2000]

I kinda got tired of all the online photo galleries available, that have all kinds of extra stuff that I don't need. I just wanted a simple page that puts the emphasis on the photos. So I made my own I admit I can't take all the credit I used a jAlbum skin, and modified some files/images to customize it. Do you think it looks good? Anything I should change? Do you like the pop-up windows having white backgrounds, or should I change it to black, or maybe a dark grey? I think the white is a nice contrast to the black on the main page. Also is it obvious enough that the Prev/Next links at the top of the index page link to another page, or should I change them to say Next Page/Prev Page? Also I think the thumbnail pages could use a little something, but Im not sure, what do you think? Any other thoughts/advice would be helpful. Thanks

Please let all the images load before clicking on a thumbnail.
http://home.comcast.net/~tms2010/albums

 

[jczubach]

just before you put me to sleep? plants, really? can't i just go outside?

 

[todd2000]

just before you put me to sleep? plants, really? can't i just go outside?

Gee thanks! I wasn't asking you what you thought of the images, just the design.

Anyone have anything HELPFUL to add?

 

[1020]

Is that Lightbox? I personally hate the use of javascript for image galleries. I would much rather open images in new tabs. I see a lot of sites use this script and it really irritates me.

 

[jczubach]

Gee thanks! I wasn't asking you what you thought of the images, just the design.

Anyone have anything HELPFUL to add?

no i am still feeling sleepy

sorry to be a stick in the mud, but wow this does not grab me, opinion does count, and in my opinion, you are an onion. and i think you can't even figure that out...whoaaa

 

[ecksmen]

IMO when you load the full size image, it shouldn't be as low down as it is. On my lappy I need to scroll when there's really no need as it could fit all on my screen.

 

[Fleetwood Mac]

I'm disappointed at all the negativity in this thread. This forum is for posting suggestions and helpful criticism, not slamming other's work. Good on you, ecksmen, for making a useful post.

Personally, I think you've made a very good start. I especially like the photos with insects. I love the depth in this photo.

One thing you should do, and I know its hard, is pick one image from each set of similar photos. Less is more in the case of an album, and your viewers are only want to see the best.

I wonder why the N and P in Next and Previous are underlined? Usually this indicated a keyboard shortcut, but none is active on your site.

That's all from me. Keep up the good work, and keep taking photos.

 

[todd2000]

sorry to be a stick in the mud, but wow this does not grab me, opinion does count, and in my opinion, you are an onion. and i think you can't even figure that out...whoaaa

I never said opinion doesn't count, I simply said I don't care about your opinion on my images. I was asking about the site in general. If you dont like nature photography thats your problem. Now why don't you find someone else to bother.

IMO when you load the full size image, it shouldn't be as low down as it is. On my lappy I need to scroll when there's really no need as it could fit all on my screen.

Are you refering to all of the images or just the vertical ones? The windows should be centered in the browser window, but the long ones still scroll. If I can figure out how I'll see if maybe I can make them load at the top, but I kinda like them centered.

I'm disappointed at all the negativity in this thread. This forum is for posting suggestions and helpful criticism, not slamming other's work. Good on you, ecksmen, for making a useful post.

Personally, I think you've made a very good start. I especially like the photos with insects. I love the depth in this photo.

One thing you should do, and I know its hard, is pick one image from each set of similar photos. Less is more in the case of an album, and your viewers are only want to see the best.

I wonder why the N and P in Next and Previous are underlined? Usually this indicated a keyboard shortcut, but none is active on your site.

That's all from me. Keep up the good work, and keep taking photos.

Thanks for the CONSTRUCTIVE critisim . Really these albums are meant mostly for my friends, and they like to see all of my pics, I usually whittle it down a bit though, I just threw this up real quick as a test. As for the underline, thats what the images looked like in the skin I used. I just remade them for a black BG insted of a white one. I kinda like the way it looks, but I can make any image I want, I might play with that some more tomorrow.

 

[timmillwood]

sorry to be a stick in the mud, but wow this does not grab me, opinion does count, and in my opinion, you are an onion. and i think you can't even figure that out...whoaaa

I love taking photos of flowers, 1- because they stay pretty still so its easy, 2-there is so much detail to be captured, i like getting a bee on flowers in macro mode and you can see all the fur.

Anyway back to the site, i think it is a great site, the only problem i can see is the domain name. If i wanted to tell my friend, "Oh i saw some great photos online" there is no chance of remembering that.

 

[Mitthrawnuruodo]

Opinions are like... well, large flesh-filled parts of the human anatomy primarily used for sitting on, and everybody has one. That doesn't mean that it's always appropriate to shove yours into other people's face whenever you feel like it.

If you cannot be nice, or at least give some constructive criticism, then just don't post.

 

[Wild-Bill]

Is that Lightbox? I personally hate the use of javascript for image galleries. I would much rather open images in new tabs. I see a lot of sites use this script and it really irritates me.

Well then you must be completely clueless as to the future of web design or the Internet. Lightbox is the way forward. If you can't see that, well then you are short-sighted.

 

[1020]

Well then you must be completely clueless as to the future of web design or the Internet. Lightbox is the way forward. If you can't see that, well then you are short-sighted.

I didn't mean to offend. It's just that I don't like being forced to do things a certain way. I like to open several images at once, in new tabs, so I can look over them quickly. If I can't do that, I'll go to another site.

 

[todd2000]

I love taking photos of flowers, 1- because they stay pretty still so its easy, 2-there is so much detail to be captured, i like getting a bee on flowers in macro mode and you can see all the fur.

Anyway back to the site, i think it is a great site, the only problem i can see is the domain name. If i wanted to tell my friend, "Oh i saw some great photos online" there is no chance of remembering that.

Yeah flowers are easy to take photos of, as long as it's not windy. I hate wind I love Macro shots myself (as you can see ) As for the domain Im working on that, I just threw this on Comcast cause its the only web space I have right now. Thanks for the compliments.

Opinions are like... well, large flesh-filled parts of the human anatomy primarily used for sitting on, and everybody has one. That doesn't mean that it's always appropriate to shove yours into other people's face whenever you feel like it.

If you cannot be nice, or at least give some constructive criticism, then just don't post.

ROTFLOL

Well then you must be completely clueless as to the future of web design or the Internet. Lightbox is the way forward. If you can't see that, well then you are short-sighted.

Heck even Apple uses it on their site.

 

[Fleetwood Mac]

I didn't mean to offend. It's just that I don't like being forced to do things a certain way. I like to open several images at once, in new tabs, so I can look over them quickly. If I can't do that, I'll go to another site.

Well then. You'll be happy to know that a simple right click on the image, and a tap of Open in New Tab will do just this for you.

Completely free of Lightbox Goodness, all in a tab just for you.

 

[mkrishnan]

I think the basic idea of the lightbox is okay... I can't say I like it either, but it could be worse.

- The layout of the initial page is kind of bland (in that the images aren't matted or boxed or anything) and overwhelming (in that there are way too many thumbnails on the screen at once). It might be better if you implemented a grid of perhaps 2x5 or 3x5 thumbnails centered on the screen with side scroll arrows. You talked about placing the emphasis back on the photos; when you put so many thumbnails onscreen at once, you (unintentionally) send the subtle message that most of them are probably not worth looking at, and encourage the viewer to just skim to one or two they want to see and move on.

- The lightbox configuration right now is just slightly too tall for Safari in a full height window on a 1024x768 iBook with the bookmarks and tab bars active (i.e by about 50 pixels). Since you're this close, you ought to at least adjust it so that it supports 1024x768, since there are plenty of people still surfing the web at that resolution, and you'll (probably) be safe for people with larger resolutions who don't make their browser window full height.

- I don't know if you can customize the bezel overlays for the prev/next or not, but I would change them if you can... they're not very visually appealing, particularly in the way they overlay the white matte (I do like the white matte).

- If you can make the heading (Bicentennial gardens more prominent), that would be good. I'd move the prev/next buttons to the side edges vertically centered with the heading, and I'd make the page so that the heading (and possibly the footing) are not part of the scrolling component of the page (so that only the thumbnails scroll).

 

[CoreWeb]

In my opinion, the page looks pretty good, but there are a few minor issues:

1. The black background is a little strong - a bit lighter (not much) might be nice. But this is highly subjective, black may be better for you.
2. Perhaps a border around the images? I'm not sure, it could overwhelm, but a hairline white border might help set the images apart. Perhaps a border that only appears when you mouse over?
3. Perhaps have all the images faded out until you hover over them. I have something similar on my website (though some unnecessary animation is added). It helps make the impression, overall, a bit less overwhelming.
4. A point mkrishnan made: perhaps too many thumbnails. A smaller grid might be nice. And, maybe, smaller thumbnails, with more space between the thumbnails.
5. When the page loads, the "alt" text is visible for each of the images. Unfortunately, this alt text is generic ("thumbnail"), and it is colored blue. Something a bit more descriptive and a white color might make the site look better while loading.

These are just suggestions you may want to fiddle around with. I am, by no means, saying that you should do any or all of them - they are just food for thought.

When I design/redesign parts of my (or anyone's) website, I think of many ideas. I then try them, re-try them, and try them again in tons of different ways until I reach the way I like best.

 

[1020]

Well then. You'll be happy to know that a simple right click on the image, and a tap of Open in New Tab will do just this for you.

Completely free of Lightbox Goodness, all in a tab just for you.

Right, let's say I want to view 10-20 images. Thanks to Lightbox, I have two choices:
1. View the images one by one
2. Hold down the control button, click, select "Open in new tab" for every single image (you can't cmd+click)

Why make things harder for your visitors? Shouldn't ease of use be your first priority? In a normal gallery: Cmd+click on all the images you want to view. Done.

I don't want to derail this thread any further, but some things get on my nerves. Not a huge fan of sites that use Flash either. Ease of use > appearance.

 

[todd2000]

Thanks for the suggestions mkrishnan, and CoreWeb. I redid a few things based on them.

First I made the grid 4x3, so theres only 12 thumbnails on the screen at once. Your right it looks less cluttered, and also avoid scrolling on the main page.

I added a white border around the thumbnails, and put more space in between them

As for the "alt" text, the white background in the tables makes it so you can't see the "alt" text anyway so that solved that problem

I moved the Prev/Next links to the edges of the screen

Also made the images a little smaller to avoid scrolling on 1024x768 (hopefully) except for the vertical images anyway.



Things to work on

The image overlays for the lightbox if I can, do you think I should just make them so they don't overlap the white matt? Would that make them better?

As for making the title more prominent, how would you suggest I do that? I can't use images Im limited to text (Unless I want to make a new image by hand every time I make a gallery (which I don't)

Here is Photo Gallery Ver. 2 http://home.comcast.net/~tms2010/test/albums

Better??

 

[Fleetwood Mac]

I like the changes. I'm not crazy about having the prev/next on the side, but once again this is something that's quite subjective. Good show.

 

[mkrishnan]

I think it's much improved this way! Cheers.

The fit is also good (from my screen) at 1024x768.

As far as the title, perhaps play with fonts. Look for a boldfaced sans serif font (and consider changing all the serif text to match, so that you're only using 1-2 fonts) to make it stand out more. White on black is already pretty high contrast... Just a minor change. Maybe up it one step in font size. Nothing much more dramatic than that....

 

[todd2000]

Alright me and my friend have been hacking a bit more, here is the latest version.

I moved the Next/Prev buttons, I think they look better then they did on the edges

We added file names under the thumbnails, cause it's a lot eaiser when im trying to tell someone to look at a specific image. Im still not sure I like them there, but we shall see...

Also added a comment section to the bottom of the pop-up, the comments also show up as "alt" text, and when you hold your mouse over the thumbnails.

Added Date/Time to the pop-up as well.

Also added a link at the bottom of the pop up to download the full size (6MP) version of the image. (Only the first 6 have full sized, cause I only have 25MB of web space with Comcast)

http://home.comcast.net/~tms2010/albums

 

[CoreWeb]

Alright me and my friend have been hacking a bit more, here is the latest version.

I moved the Next/Prev buttons, I think they look better then they did on the edges

We added file names under the thumbnails, cause it's a lot eaiser when im trying to tell someone to look at a specific image. Im still not sure I like them there, but we shall see...

Also added a comment section to the bottom of the pop-up, the comments also show up as "alt" text, and when you hold your mouse over the thumbnails.

Added Date/Time to the pop-up as well.

Also added a link at the bottom of the pop up to download the full size (6MP) version of the image. (Only the first 6 have full sized, cause I only have 25MB of web space with Comcast)

http://home.comcast.net/~tms2010/test3/album

Again a small disclaimer: these are only ideas!

I'm not sure about those changes... the popup has begun to look a bit cluttered; Perhaps if you cut down some of the text. The "right click to open full size" could be replaced with just "Open full size", the color of the link could be changed to something a bit nicer than blue, though I'm not sure what, and maybe it might look better under the "Close" button (but I'm not sure).

Also, putting the names under the images also clutters things a bit. Perhaps some Javascript could be used to make the name show up when the user hovers over the image? If you look at my site, I do that for the images on the left (as you can see in my attached file).

However, I DO like the new placement for the previous and next buttons on the gallery page itself. That is much better!

 

[todd2000]

Again a small disclaimer: these are only ideas!

I'm not sure about those changes... the popup has begun to look a bit cluttered; Perhaps if you cut down some of the text. The "right click to open full size" could be replaced with just "Open full size", the color of the link could be changed to something a bit nicer than blue, though I'm not sure what, and maybe it might look better under the "Close" button (but I'm not sure).

Also, putting the names under the images also clutters things a bit. Perhaps some Javascript could be used to make the name show up when the user hovers over the image? If you look at my site, I do that for the images on the left (as you can see in my attached file).

However, I DO like the new placement for the previous and next buttons on the gallery page itself. That is much better!

Yeah like I said Im not so sure of the file names under the thumbnails my-self, but their there for a reason, and pop-ups wouldn't quite accomplish the same thing. Im gonna see what I can do to make them look a little nicer, maybe a different font or something.

I don't think the Pop-Up looks too crowded, there is also going to be a line for comments, once I add them to the photos. I might move the link to the original, or the date next to file name, just so there aren't quite so many lines.
We shall see, I'll probably play some more tonight.

 

[todd2000]

Alright some more changes.

Changed it so that when your viewing a slide show in the pop-ups, it automatically advances to the next page of images instead of stopping at the end of the page, That wasn't easy to do with this script. It also forced me to link to pages at the top, and get rid of the Next/Prev buttons. Im gonna make the links look a little better tomorrow, and probably get rid of the file names under the thumbnails. I give my friend full credit for most of these hacks, since their way to advanced for me.

http://home.comcast.net/~tms2010/albums

 

[CoreWeb]

Alright some more changes.

Changed it so that when your viewing a slide show in the pop-ups, it automatically advances to the next page of images instead of stopping at the end of the page, That wasn't easy to do with this script. It also forced me to link to pages at the top, and get rid of the Next/Prev buttons. Im gonna make the links look a little better tomorrow, and probably get rid of the file names under the thumbnails. I give my friend full credit for most of these hacks, since their way to advanced for me.

http://home.comcast.net/~tms2010/test

Well, I'd say definitely change the link color for the page numbers to white. Blue doesn't go too well on black. Actually, you could hide the links completely (use "visibility:hidden"), so that they are only there for the script's reference and then keep the PREV and NEXT links.

By the way, you said that the filenames were there for a reason... out of curiosity, what reason?