# Website check please.



## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I've just re-tooled my website in order to reflect my new "best work" and in the process have changed over to all web-friendly" fonts and tuned up a few other areas. As any of you who design your own sites will know, all servers do not display the same data the same way so you don't always know how your site is playing on other screens.

I would greatly appreciate it if some of you would do a quick peruse of the site and let me know if you see any anomalies like buttons that don't work, fonts that aren't consistent from page to page, obviously missing words or parts of words…. that sort of thing.

I know that it's a PITA but it will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

Paul


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## waho6o9 (May 6, 2011)

Now I can read it, thanks.


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## gbear (Mar 6, 2007)

Hey Paul…I checked out the entire site and everything was working great. The projects all look terrific with
good descriptions. I really liked the oops and chevalet (sp?). Love the boats, that's on my bucket list!
Anyway, very nice site…well done.
George


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## matt1970 (Mar 28, 2007)

I am not as enthused with the "home" page that should wow us…I think the page that sets your work apart is the veneered cabinets page…those projects are so unique they catch my attention the most…

Having said that ALL your work is incredible…and the hall tables, boxes and everything else is such fine art it all works…but what will set you apart is that you have the combination of incredible skill WITH incredible creativity an vision…

Since all your work shows incredible skill level-show off the ones that add the creativity as well…

I hope this does not sound like a put down…all your work is amazing!

matt


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## longgone (May 5, 2009)

Paul…I went through your website and it looks very nice to me. I did not see any errors, bad links or anything that would be noticable. It looks better than my website as I am always trying to figure out this computer stuff.
I do better with things I can feel, smell and touch…but I like what you have done with your website…your creativeness spills over to your website skills.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

BTW, I use IE v8xxx under Windows Vista Home Premium.

Errors: 

"prm designs" at the very top is cut in half. I can't even see the top of the 'r'. It is a solid white line across the page. Funny thing, that text is lowered on all the other pages. However, the other pages still have that 5/8" of solid white horizontal wasted space. 
A whole page of blank space at the bottom of Artist Statement page. 
On 'Facets' page, the navigation buttons are off to the left of the slideshow. Actually, the navigation buttons for many of the slideshows are not consistent.

Likes: 

I really like the apron at the top. It catches the eye. However… read the dislikes below. 
On the 'Hall Table' page, even though the Music writing table is on a white background, it looks ok here(unlike the white/pink mismatch mentioned below). 
Lots of blank space at bottom of 'Contact me' page. Almost a page worth. 
I appreciate your consistency with putting the page title on the top right side. Maybe a little large, but it serves its purpose.

Dislikes:

Regarding your banner, I know you want to showcase your new piece but it takes up half of my viewing window. Its not worth that much real estate. You could even put "Marquetry and Woodworks" overlaying the apron and it would not take away too much from it and you'd gain more vertical space. Maybe replace that shot of the apron of "Music" with a smaller row of various shots throughout the "Music" project. Reduce it to half its current height. The picture is just too large as it is. 
The oval tray to the right of the table is tilted and looks like you just threw it up there. Crop it or remove it.  Sorry, it just looks out of place. 
On 'Watercolor dye technique' page, the bottom left photo looks out of place with the white background. Can you make it pink to match the rest? Also, the sorta folded leaf on the mid right is the only zoom I like. The other three either use Flash or some other animation that makes them painstakenly slow. IMO, you should REALLY get rid of the animation. It serves no purpose. 
On 'A Little Cabinetree' page, the pictures overlap. Maybe you designed it that way. It is not that bad, but a little odd. 
On the 'Boxes' page, the 'Reversible Box' pictures are not both vertically aligned. The left one is about 1/16" higher than the right one. 
On the 'Misc.' page, either remove the word video or say "Albatross Reveal(w/video)". Same for Seiner.

Nit pics: 

The corners of the serving tray and ship(dscn1124.jpg) on the home page should have the corners cleaned up. You know, the part where the contrasting traingle patch is. A little photo-shopping would do the trick.

Conclusion: I'm not overly fond of the overlapping pictures on some pages but it seems to work. You have a nice variety of your work shown. Not too many pages and well organized. I did not read much of the text. I assume you spell-checked it all.

Sorry for being so 'matter of fact'. It is late and I'm in a hurry to get to sleep.


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## cathyb (Jul 8, 2009)

Paul you are an amazing artist. I want the rest of the world to know that. I don't believe your website completely captures the depth of your talent and your generous personality. Let's start with the home page: the header on the top of the page was cut off on my computer (a Mac). That was not the case on any other page. It might be a sizing issue. If I didn't know what a gentleman and thoughtful soul that you are, I might have been a bit put off by the initial statement. I know what you are saying, "Hey, I'm an artist. This isn't an e-commerce site. I do this because I must release this gift within me." Rather it seemed a little too formal. Just my opinion.

Moving on to the galleries. I honestly didn't know there was a British and American spelling of jewellery/ jewelry. Even my word checker thinks that jewellry is incorrect. Probably a British word program would switch that. The point is that the word took my eyes away from the box. Let's face it, the box is wonderful.

It's hard to know the scale of your casework from that gallery. One of the most incredible accomplishments of those pieces is that they aren't 8" by 8", but rather large functional pieces of furniture. You need to add some shadowing to give it some more depth. I had the same problem when I was setting up my website, although the quality of your photos far exceeds the photos that I used. There has to be shadowing to give the piece weight.

Otherwise, I think the site is great. There's nothing wrong with letting the world know that in addition to being a phenomenal artist that you have a personality. That's my two cents. Best of luck my friend!


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

I know you are changing it even as I type. The serving tray picture angle still looks out of place given that all the other pics are square.

Home page 'prm designs' text is larger, and not cut off at the top, but the solid white line at the top is still there taking up valuable space.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Thanks so much for the comments.

*Matt*, (and others) I agree that the home page has no snap to it. I've made a big change to it. How do you like it now. The cut off lettering was exactly the kind of thing I was looking for…. fixed.

*Rance* Thanks for the thorough look. The photo background colors would be very hard to change, I'm not crazy about them either. I can clean up some of the vacant space and the alignment issues but some of the subjective stuff was on purpose… my quirky nature I guess. Thanks again.

*Cathy* Thank you too. I never thought of the non-commercial comment as aloof but maybe I can rephrase it… something to think about. I'll re-check the spelling of joolrie as well, I'm a bit dyslexic.

Don't know what I can do about the photos. They were done professionally for the better pieces and shadows were avoided on purpose. I may have to live with it.

Thanks again everyone.


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Paul, I sorta converted the top of this one to pink. Is it too lop-sided? Don't use it if you think it is worse.










PS: So this pink you are using looks a lot like LJ-pink. Is it true? Ha ha.


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## WoodenFrog (Jun 4, 2010)

Sorry I can't help you with your website but I did go check it out!
Let me say I have been living under a rock not to have seen or looked at some of your work!
Beautiful work I must say…*Just Outstanding!!!*
I normally only check out the project pages and not the blogs or forums pages but I had to ask a question and somehow I found your page and I am just so glad I did. 
I will now try to keep and eye on your work.. that is just way to cool!
Talent I must say…talent!
Thank you!!


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

OK, I'm done for tonight. I've incorporated several of the suggestions and fixed the glitches so far (most of them).

I have to say thanks again. This is a really big help.

*Rance* how did you do that? photoshop? I guess I could do that…...... over a period of time.
The white bar was in the photo . I deleted it and replaced it with a re-cropped one. Thanks!

You call it pink, I call it beige… It's supposed to match the lighter wood in the apron on the masthead.


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## Schwieb (Dec 3, 2008)

Paul, I doubt that I could find anything that hasn't already been mentioned. From here I thought the site was very nice and I am again totally in awe of your talents and energy, not to mention creativity and diligence. I am sending the link to the gentleman who I have found to teach me about marquetry to share my inspiration for wanting to learn about the process.

Best wishes,
Ken


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## apprentice (Jun 27, 2012)

Hi Paul

As a web master I like it very much, all the information on one page and your tallent as the header. I use Android a lot these days and it all fits nicely onto my HTC screen.
If your using Html, make sure to itemize all your keywords and meta-tags into your header on every page, so searches by the Jbots can hook onto them easily without having to find just the home page, that way you will get more hits.
when the IPV6 comes online you will be able give each of your pieces their own isp which they fully deserve.

On the quality of the pictures. The shots are best taken in diffused light rather than direct sunlight, be careful not to alter images in software because it changes things to what they are not, I like to keep things natural and in a similar setting.

If your selling your wares best to explain this in the description rather than altering things, if your already a photopro then one will understand.


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## HalDougherty (Jul 15, 2009)

Paul,

Your website is typical of your work. It's outstanding on my computer. (Windows 7 & Firefox).


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## JR45 (Jan 26, 2012)

Hi Paul
Excellent site now bookmarked! You should now add web design to your many other talents. One small comment, I think you may have a surplus "u" in spaulting - Oxford Dictionary shows it as spalting. All pages appear ok on my iMac
Jim


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## Jim Jakosh (Nov 24, 2009)

Paul, very nice make over of your web site. That last table is a real star attraction!!!!!!!
I am humbled at your talent!

...........Jim


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## SPalm (Oct 9, 2007)

Hey Paul,

I think it looks marvelous overall. Lots of content and info. As far as artistic content, I am not the one to ask for help.

But I can seriously appreciate the work that went into creating this. Looks good from here in IE, Chrome, Safari, and Mozilla on Win7.

Steve


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## Nick_R (Jul 7, 2012)

Hi Paul,

I am new to the wood world but I lived in the digital world for many years, I have designed web pages for 20 years and mostly did programming and database work.. Your website is good but is not as professional and beautiful as your work. That said I could recommend a few server side programs that would aid you with the pictures and layout of the products.. If you are interested drop me a message.. For an example got to www.chefbonanno.com or richardstoop.com


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## Kentuk55 (Sep 21, 2010)

Everything seems to work fine. Really nice site Paul. Of coarse your superior projects are outta this world.


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## CharlieM1958 (Nov 7, 2006)

As of this morning, everything looks great on Chrome, Windows 7.

I know how much work goes into a website, and I think your layout and organization is very good.


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## Bluepine38 (Dec 14, 2009)

Checked the site, and it looks great from here. Your work and projects are great and as a lot of us have said
are a little to a lot above out skill level, but we can still appreciate your ability. Thank you for sharing with us
and letting us enjoy your work.


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## b2rtch (Jan 20, 2010)

Paul your site displays just fine fro me and your work is outstanding.


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## JulianLech (Jan 13, 2011)

Great looking website. I found it very user friendly; easy to navigate. I was curious about the veneer dying process. Does the dye penetrate deep enough so that if need to do some sanding the color still remains?
Your work is very inspiring. I had my local library find the Marquetry book by Pierre Ramond and made copies of several designs that I plan to incorporate into a future project. Looking forward to seeing your next project.


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## secureplay (Jun 3, 2010)

Paul -

I'm still seeing the "white band" at the top of your non-home pages in Firefox (Windows 7). I do agree with the comment above that you are using a lot of real estate for your top banner. I am on a netbook laptop, and have to scroll down to see pretty much any of your content.

If your web tool allows it, I would recommend renaming your web pages to something useful:

vacuum-press.html instead of page19.html etc. Search engines will like you better.

I see the same white band on my Android browser. The pages do scale nicely, but they are really small. The question is whether you care about mobile readers. In Android, my browser scales the whole page to fit in the screen… which is mighty tiny. Not readable without zooming.

As above, I think your projects are the best way to show your design skills. I'd personally use your marquetry to create a logo rather than a full banner to preserve real estate.

All my best.

Steve


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

Just got the notification in my mailbox. Content is informative. Pictures tell me about you. Some detailed criticism here, which may be helpful. I think you site is likefurniture. Mistakes or intended make the piece unique. If you wrote the material maybe it should be more personalized prose. Then it is more about you? Just another personal view.

Interesting as I asked you whether you can sell your personal pieces?  on Cathy's recent project page.

Hope it works for you. I have been told that direct contact is the key to marketing your work. Gives an intimate feel to the buyer who will be spending big bucks for a piece made by you. This is until the artist is known. The sad part is it may require more time away from your passion. Krenov use to get peturbed by how much the gallery was charging for his work, but at the same time he might make a piece for someone at cost. LOL! He was not a professional..LOL!

But I digess LOL!

Do you have work in a gallery? Has anyone interviewed you?


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Thanks again All

*Steve*, That's a cropped photo as of last night. I just checked. I can't figure out how the white band can still be there


> ?


Got you on the page names. didn't know that. I'm not writing HTML. I use a drag and drop program called Serif X5 that writes it for me and the page numbers are its default. I will change them.
I don't use small screen devices and hadn't thought about banner size until now. I really like the scale of banner / page but I understand the problem.

*Doc*, I am rubbish at selling art. Boats, I had more experience behind me and more confidence in my work. I would love to have a gallery interested but in this area "art" seems to mean paintings and scuplture.

Thanks again

Paul


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## stefang (Apr 9, 2009)

I think your website is exceptionally well done with regard to user friendliness and content Paul, and just the right balance of text and photos. My only criticism is that in my opinion the artists statement should be written in first person style. Since no one else reacted to this, I assume it is no big deal, just my own preference. Apart from that, there are so many outstanding projects shown that it boggles the mind.


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## Gene01 (Jan 5, 2009)

Paul-
Everything displays well in Google Chrome on my Windows machine.
Surely there are galleries who would love to display your work in Victoria. No?


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## DanLyke (Feb 8, 2007)

On the artist statement page, looks like you rewrote this from the third person to the first, there's a "...I started his own…" that's kinda confusing, and the final "emerges" is ¾ cut off (Firefox on Ubuntu).

Spectacular work, and I've linked from elsewhere to try to get you traffic and Google juice.


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## Surfside (Jun 13, 2012)

Never mind the site, you just had artistry to an extreme level Paul!


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## MontanaBob (Jan 19, 2011)

Very nice site… "I started his own" on the artist statement page, that needs to be changed…......everything else looks real nice….


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

Paul, It is simpler than that. MS Paint. cropping the top was easy since it was straight lines. Why do you think I left the bottom?  Photoshop could probably do a lot better job, and quicker too, but I'm not proficient with PS.

Here's a very crude example of my suggested alternative to your big header picture:










I'm not crazy about the layout(its just not ballanced), but you get the general idea. The main thing is that it is shorter. Just a thought.  VERY nice job with all the cleanup since I last looked. Beige? Yeah, that's what I said. It looks like LJ-beige.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

I really like the banner that I have. I think a single photo is cleaner and to me your alternative is "busy". (no offence)
That is all artistic taste however. The real issue is "Is my banner too big?"

Certainly I have no problem with what I see but I'm at home on a desktop with a big monitor. I'm hearing that on smaller screens and mobile devices that the banner takes up too much space.

I guess my answer is that the banner is the most impressive detail shot of my work that I have and if that fills your screen and doesn't encourage you to scroll down and explore further, then I don't have anything to show you that will interest you anyway.

I don't mean to argue, it's just how I feel about it.

More importantly, *Thanks for all the help* with this. I have taken most of your advice if not all.


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## Stephenw (Nov 14, 2011)

I looked at your site with IE and with Safari on my iPhone. It looked great.

My only suggestion is that you make the pictures on your home page clickable. The box in a tree caught my eye, but I had to go looking for it.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Thanks for the thought. 
I had considered it but hadn't done it yet. 
I'm not sure if it's a good idea or not….. Hmmmmmmm (scratches head)


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

Paul,

This really looks great. Your work is out of this world.

I see just a few items in the "super nit" category:

The homepage includes "please contact me via the email link in the menu." Between "me" and "via" there are two spaces, one being a non-breaking space (nbsp). Now that I think about it, I don't understand what you mean by "the email link in the menu".
On the Boxes page, the box titles all have every word capitalized except for "Jack in the box". When you click on that item, the page for it has "Jack in the Box".
On the Music Writing Table page, the first line of text is missing a period between the words "design" and "In".
The first sentence on the Chevalet de Marqueterie has an unwanted space before the period. Also, the use of the word "something" seems awkward here.
The Contact Me page has an expandable Comment window. Is it possible to make this so that the Submit and Reset buttons move to remain below the expanded window?


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## rance (Sep 30, 2009)

No offense taken.  I'm not crazy about my alternative either. It does look too busy.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

*Chuck*, I grew up with a father who owned a small town weekly newspaper. I started proof reading when I was about eight or nine. I'm here to tell you … you are good!

Thanks, I will see to the little nits. ( I hate nits) 
The email link is the "contact me" page and you're right it is confusing.
I usually don't capitalize the little words but I'll have a look.

You must have spent some time. I thank you for that.


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## 280305 (Sep 28, 2008)

Paul,

You are welcome.

In some ways, it is a curse. When I am reading something, I seem to zero right in on the errors. It can actually distract me from the big picture.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

Thanks again Chuck.
All taken care of.


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## shipwright (Sep 27, 2010)

OK Stephen, 
I've linked the home page photos to their respective pages. 
Thanks


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## DocSavage45 (Aug 14, 2010)

Paul,

Been keeping track of you coversation. Just went back to see the results. Excellent!


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## mafe (Dec 10, 2009)

Hi Paul,
What a wonderful site you have made.
I think it works fine and are easy to navigate.
Best thoughts,
Mads


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## mojapitt (Dec 31, 2011)

Not only is your work very impressive, you've done a really nice job on your website. I am just getting ready to overhaul mine, taking notes


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## Gshepherd (May 16, 2012)

Well, Paul

I looked and expected to see some really beautiful work, you know the stuff that makes your blood pump a little faster and say to yourself gosh I wish I could do that. Well I was not Disappointed at all, you do some amazing work and doing it as the old artist did back in the good ole days. Amazing. Enjoyed looking through your site. Your Best Work is yet to come…....


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