Website dos and don'ts

[Biomech]

Wordpress is win

Just a quick look, haven't clicked or read anything :P I'd say ditch the background too widen the middle box of content and change the black background to something like... #333 grey, it might just be me, but I'm finding straight black harsh and horrible at the moment, even my work documents aren't in black text :P just very very dark grey :P

Give this a read too:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_theory

[ChrisAdval]

I found a good layout for free but it's actually extremely confusing and I know a good bit about web design and manipulating code a bit. - Portfolio ... for some reason I can't seem to figure out on how to add photos to the slides.

[Biomech]

Normally have to add them as a custom field at the bottom of the post

[thegarageblog]

That is a great list of WP themes for photo sites!

My 2 cents. NO FLASH and NO MUSIC!!!!

For some reason many photographers use both and they are unbelievably annoying!

[Ariana Murphy]

Wow, this is great stuff, everybody. Thank you for your time!

I got rid of the wallpaper (yeah, it was way too "busy") and figured out how to make it wider. I'm wondering, though, what happens when people with smaller screens take a look? That's why I kept it at 780. But I think most people have a wider screen now.

I also had a good hard look at the black background. I know there are pros and cons either way, but the photos just pop with the black. I'm going to work with it a little and decide later. It's a template service, but there's quite a bit of latitude with what can be done.

Now if I can only find more time to work on it .....

By the way, what is "flash"? Everybody keeps saying don't use it, but I don't even know what it is!

[BigFuzzy]

By the way, what is "flash"? Everybody keeps saying don't use it, but I don't even know what it is!

Also, it would be MORE helpful that everyone that preaches this also give suggestions as to what to use as an alternative.

[BigFuzzy]

That is a great list of WP themes for photo sites!

My 2 cents. NO FLASH and NO MUSIC!!!!

For some reason many photographers use both and they are unbelievably annoying!

Am I mistaken or don't your galleries have/use flash?

[BuddhaPi]

Also, it would be MORE helpful that everyone that preaches this also give suggestions as to what to use as an alternative.

jquery comes to mind

[karen_s]

By the way, what is "flash"? Everybody keeps saying don't use it, but I don't even know what it is!

From Wikipedia ...

Adobe Flash - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I am by no means an expert in this area but have done some flash work in the past so here is my take ...

In a nutshell, it's a way to get animation, interactivity, and rich content to the web. It's often used to create web based games, banner ads, interactive forms, photo galleries, animations, and all kinds of things for web use. I think the reason some will advise against the use of this technology for a business website is because many popular devices like the iPhone and iPad inherently do not support it. Since it's not supported, potential customers cannot see your content. More and more, people are using these devices for everyday surfing (I know I now use my little Pixie phone more for surfing than my desktop) so if you are putting out content that can't be seen by the device of choice, well, you may lose some potential customers.

If you decide this is an issue, there are alternatives to deliver rich content to the web so you just have to look for options that aren't Flash based. (This is where I KNOW I am no expert so can't really offer a better suggestion.)

Hope that helps. If nothing else, you have some new terms to take to Google.

[thegarageblog]

Am I mistaken or don't your galleries have/use flash?

Nope - mine are done with the WP-cycle plugin which uses jquery.

Here is a good post explaining some of the differences.
Flash vs jQuery : Which is better for me? | Unleashed Technologies

One thing he does not mention (that I can see anyway) is that jquery is much less likely to crash a browser.