Website critique.

Energize · 9 Aug 2011 at 21:02

Ok, thanks, I've got it up now. Are there any themes that you can recommend that would be suitable? I have looked at a few black one column themes but they seem designed for blogs rather than websites like this.

unwashed potato! · 9 Aug 2011 at 21:18

what ones for instance have you seen? it's diffuclt to say good designs as the site you have at the moment is just black so any design is good in comparison

what we're looking for in the design could be different to what the owner is.

you may find the design is tailored to a blog style but only because that's what is set up, if the site gets set to a website style then the theme may look less bloggy if that makes sense.

unwashed potato! · 9 Aug 2011 at 21:19

what ones for instance have you seen? it's diffuclt to say good designs as the site you have at the moment is just black so any design is good in comparison

what we're looking for in the design could be different to what the owner is.

you may find the design is tailored to a blog style but only because that's what is set up, if the site gets set to a website style then the theme may look less bloggy if that makes sense.

Energize · 9 Aug 2011 at 21:24

Epione 1.3
Modularity Lite 1.3

First couple of ones that stood out on the page I was looking at.

For some reason when I switch to visual editing mode some of the content I entered in code view disappears, infuriating to say the least.

3dcandy · 9 Aug 2011 at 22:49

what code are you entering? really shouldn't need to enter code with wordpress...

Energize · 9 Aug 2011 at 22:54

Honestly I find it easier developing by code then visual editors.

I was just entering some of the unordered lists from this page and then they disappeared when I switched to visual mode.

3dcandy · 9 Aug 2011 at 23:20

right...like I said, no need to code in Wordpress. The visual editor has an unordered lists button just for you...

Energize · 9 Aug 2011 at 23:34

Yeah but it's a bit of a hassle not just being able to paste the code in.

3dcandy · 9 Aug 2011 at 23:40

right..well there you go then. try pasting code then saving post in html mode, and then go back to post in visual mode. If it disappears you ain't done it right!

Emphacy · 9 Aug 2011 at 23:42

Try the eDegree Theme by Top Blog Formula. It's one of the more website looking themes...

3dcandy · 9 Aug 2011 at 23:44

why don't you use the built in twentyeleven theme? Go to appearance>theme options choose dark colour scheme, and then change default layout to one column no sidebar???

Energize · 9 Aug 2011 at 23:48

3dcandy said:
right..well there you go then. try pasting code then saving post in html mode, and then go back to post in visual mode. If it disappears you ain't done it right!

I paste it in html mode the page works just fine when I update and preview it, but every time I switch to visual mode it gets removed.

3dcandy said:
why don't you use the built in twentyeleven theme? Go to appearance>theme options choose dark colour scheme, and then change default layout to one column no sidebar???

I'll try that.

Energize · 10 Aug 2011 at 00:06

Ok, I've put on the twenty eleven theme, and it looks ok at the moment but the width of the page is absurdly small, 690 pixels.

EDIT - Is it really necessary to use the visual editor? It's torturous, I move a picture and text goes flying over the place, can't get stuff to align properly. Reminds me of using the gui builder in the netbeans ide, every time I see mention of visual builders in programming user interfaces it seems there is universal condemnation of them in favour of hard coding.

Sherbs · 10 Aug 2011 at 00:56

Just use HTML?

Energize · 10 Aug 2011 at 01:02

Sherbs said:
Just use HTML?

That's what I planned to do originally, but then I have people telling me there's no need to code when there's wysiwyg.

If it just comes down to personal preference then I'd rather stick with hard coding.

unwashed potato! · 10 Aug 2011 at 09:33

i think in the settings you can disable the visual editor so that it doesn't play with your code. can't remember exactly where but it should be there some where in the options

under settings -> writing -> is "WordPress should correct invalidly nested XHTML automatically" ticked? that's the only thing i can find. maybe a quick google will give better idea

3dcandy · 10 Aug 2011 at 11:43

Energize said:
Ok, I've put on the twenty eleven theme, and it looks ok at the moment but the width of the page is absurdly small, 690 pixels.

EDIT - Is it really necessary to use the visual editor? It's torturous, I move a picture and text goes flying over the place, can't get stuff to align properly. Reminds me of using the gui builder in the netbeans ide, every time I see mention of visual builders in programming user interfaces it seems there is universal condemnation of them in favour of hard coding.

Right, the visual editor is tied into your theme. You can disable it, but I don't recommend it. Some plugins tie into the visual editor and when it's disabled they do a mass fit. To change the width of the twentyeleven theme is easy, but google it and there are plenty of answers. If you aren't enjoying Wordpress and would rather code then perhaps you should devise your own theme?

Sherbs · 10 Aug 2011 at 12:43

Energize said:
That's what I planned to do originally, but then I have people telling me there's no need to code when there's wysiwyg. If it just comes down to personal preference then I'd rather stick with hard coding.

I don't like wysiwyg. Adds bloat to the code.

GravyMonster · 10 Aug 2011 at 12:56

Energize said:
I have people telling me there's no need to code when there's wysiwyg.

These people are not looking out for your best interests.

Energize · 10 Aug 2011 at 18:26

Ok, I will stick to coding then.

Looking at the content rather than the design of the old site, what more do you think needs to be added/changed? My hands are nearly destroyed from removing superfluous capitalisation.