agaveweb.com
Bilingual web design, translation and more from Alameda, ca
Archive for April, 2008
I need a website, what’s next?
Author: Gwyn24 Apr
I just read an excellent article that explains what the various options are for your website and also has good definitions of terms like CMS, Platform and pros and cons of various approaches.
Click on over there, then come back and if you have any questions.
Photography Portfolio Wordpress Site
Author: Gwyn19 Apr
As you’ve probably gathered I’m very much into photography. I upload most of my photos to Flickr, but I wanted a site to showcase my favourites. Presenting www.agaveweb.com/photos !
It uses a theme called Monochrome Gallery and uses custom fields to display the photos and thumbnails. Notable features for this site included:
- Making the RSS feed include those custom fields.
- The E-card section where I adapted a send-to-a-friend plugin to fit a photoblog.
- Minor tweaks here and there to the layout.
Overall, it’s a great theme which didn’t require much in the way of adaptation and I LOVE the javascript image gallery on the front page. There are also pro (paid for) versions of the theme which have lots more configuration possibilities through the admin panel.
Check it out and leave a comment if you either there or here if you want to know more about the ins and outs of photoblogging.
Banner ads don’t have to be annoying
Author: Gwyn17 Apr
Here are some I designed for a nifty little gadget - a powerful LED flashlight that recharges in your car’s cigarette lighter… If you’re interested in buying a lighter, try lighterlight.com. If you’d like me to design some web ad banners for you in a range of sizes, call me or shoot me an email!
Futurist Web Site
Author: Gwyn17 Apr
My latest site has involved working very closely with the site’s executive producer who has very clear ideas on visuals and organization. Here’s a screen grab of how it USED to look on the right.
The original site was created in 2000. It served as a place to publish articles and hold information about a series of events on predictions for life in 20 years’ time.
While modern enough in Y2K, 8 years on it needed a rethink and also a way to make it editable by the owner rather than having to rely on the designer whenever anything needed changing.
WordPress to the rescue, once again.
Version 1: February 2007
This used the increasingly popular MIMBO template to show featured stories and articles in various categories. Clicking a “featured” box and uploading a thumbnail populated the front page’s stories. Drop down menu items removed clutter displaying all the pages in the side bar, and Google AdSense was added to monetize the whole enterprise. There are multiple ways to navigate: through the categories, tags, search, RSS and via the featured stories.
Though slick and clean, this design didn’t really stand out and we decided on going for some premium, royalty-free stock images from StockExpert and a change in the theme to Digital Pop.
Current Version
Now, rather than Mimbo’s built-in features, we’ve gone the plugin route to display most popular stories & featured articles along with the standard areas you’d expect in any WordPress site such as tagging, categories and a powerful search. There are also customizable forms for submitting articles and contact. All the articles have an “Email to a friend” link and the large amount of outbound links are getting this site noticed and daily there are more and more subscribers.
If you’re interested in what the future holds or just want to check out the latest agaveweb site click on over to The Next Twenty Years Series. I’ll be hassling the client for a testimonial soon…
