Check out my website

[efinque]

Hello DJF,

here's my website designed using Wix. I recommend this service to those that have little to no experience in html, although basic skills are a plus.

http://efinque.wix.com/efinque

How would you improve it?

-ef

[Puregroove]

I'd make it properly responsive. But then, I'm not sure that is a service offered by Wix?

[Baller95]

Doesn't work when viewing from my iPad.

[efinque]

I'd make it properly responsive. But then, I'm not sure that is a service offered by Wix?

It's made in Wix editor,yes.


Doesn't work when viewing from my iPad.

I'm working on making it mobile compatible too :)

[Baller95]

Looking forward to seeing it done :tup:

[efinque]

Looking forward to seeing it done :tup:

Well it's pretty much done... I'll keep up****** it from time to time with releases and blog posts etc.

[Marc S]

make the facebook/insta/twitter buttons half the size, looks cheesy

also, that yellow text box clashes with the colours behind it, so make it white

[efinque]

make the facebook/insta/twitter buttons half the size, looks cheesy

also, that yellow text box clashes with the colours behind it, so make it white

Thanks Marc! I changed the animation as well..

[efinque]

I wish I had access to the CSS files so that the color scheme of the text could be altered when necessary but I now that I'm unemployed I have spare time to tinker around with the editor..

[Marc S]

looks better

[efinque]

I did some tweaking again... it's addictive as hell.

[niarta]

Blah. This website would drive customers away. I'll be upfront about it.

A few things to keep in mind: Less is more. Make it simple stupid for clients to find your contact and find out what you do.

The background page on the site does not go well at all with your blog thing on the front. Change that to something flat, maybe?

I'm assuming you're also going to be picking up a domain soon. If I remember correctly wix was kinda expensive to add a domain and get rid of the tramp stamps.

Keep working at it, it's not easy :tup:

[efinque]

Blah. This website would drive customers away. I'll be upfront about it.

A few things to keep in mind: Less is more. Make it simple stupid for clients to find your contact and find out what you do.

The background page on the site does not go well at all with your blog thing on the front. Change that to something flat, maybe?

I'm assuming you're also going to be picking up a domain soon. If I remember correctly wix was kinda expensive to add a domain and get rid of the tramp stamps.

Keep working at it, it's not easy :tup:

Thanks, I'll keep those things in mind but I'm after a rather visually stunning yet simplistic design for a reason. I had a premium plan and a domain but my card got declined...

[Puregroove]

yet simplistic

Yeah but the social media stuff is always going to destroy that IMHO. Let's take the contact page for example. I've never been a believer of these silly Twitter feeds. They're ugly, they go against the branding of your site, they're pointless, and if I want to read your Twitter feed, I'll go to your Twitter account. I have an icon for that in the top right.

Also, do you think I'm more likely to join you on Twitter if I read your Tweets on your website, or if I actually go to your Twitter account?

Point no 2 : Your ''Blog'' page takes an awful long time to load. It sticks a bit. 9 out of 10 users I bet you will just close the browser at this point with an expletive.

Are you sure you can maintain a blog? These things always get off to an enthusiastic start, and then dwindle. Why not have a seperate blog? But if you do, actually do stuff on it over the long term. Nothing says amateur like a badly maintained out of date blog (except maybe point 3). And if you must have a blog type thingy on your site, call it ''Latest News'' or ''Latest'' or something that fits into the feel of the site. ''Blog'' to me always smacks of someone about to talk about their latest trip to Morocco or something.

Point 3 : ''Interact'' page - Ditch that straight away. Nothing says amateur like ''0 comments'' (except maybe point 2). And no one will comment. This is an albatross.

Point 4 : ''Discography'' - This is not a discography. This is a page with links to your mixes. Not productions you have made. And to me the word ''discography'' conjures up the impression that you have had stuff signed and pressed out on wax or plastic. Perhaps a digital-only release but I'm not sure that tallies with the word ''discography'' to me. This is potentially not a bad page and one you should keep. But it should be entitled ''Mixes'' or ''DJ mixes'' or whatever as the current title is misleading.

Point 5 : The home page - why are you putting up in public updates which state what work you've done on the site? This section should contain a call to action, a latest mix, latest gigs, a strapline, etc. etc. - again, this makes you look a bit amateur IMHO.

Point 6 : As mentioned before, sort those social media icons out.

Point 7 : Nothing says amateur like a WIX site. You need your own domain and I would advise a Wordpress site, but on your own domain. Lightweight with a friendly interface and bolt-on parts. And then also, you could have a proper email contact address at your own domain rather than a gmail one. And nothing says amateur like a gmail mail address. Nothing says professional like a proper domain address, example : yourname@enfinque.com or enquiries@enfinque.com.

Point 8 : This site is not responsive. It does not display properly on all screen resolutions. Horizontal scroll bars are a big no-no.

Point 9: Where's ya contact form? I don't want to open my email client up to contact you.

Sorry about the seemingly harsh critique. I thought I've give this a proper look now. I'm in the web trade, as it goes, front end design and development (coding, UI, etc) so I trust you realise I'm not just talking out of my behind, rather basing these points on strong personal beliefs based on experience.

Now as to the actual visuals, I think these are ok as it goes, I mean a visual ninja like (edit - I want to say 'ATrain' but my memory's crap - who's the guy on here that does the wicked artwork? I think there's a couple of them actually, but anyway...or maybe it's Crushgroove) could probably come up with better, but I think they serve their purpose well. No desperate need for a visual redesign. But they are spoilt by all the Twitter feed BS and so on and so forth. Stripped down and given a bit of attention to detail and planning, this could be a good sharp site. The bird with the headphones is a bit canned (geddit? Headphones? Cans? I'll get my coat...) but she serves her purpose. However, she does conjure up shiny people EDM, not exactly Berlin Techo. I'll trust you are happy with that. I think she looks ok for your average punter. I would say you could happily leae this for now anyway. The only thing that is visually not acceptable currently is point no. 8.

I realise a lot of these points may seem a little out of reach, especially with a low budget, but hopefully you'll store them away as goals. Some are easy to rectify, some not so much.

I'm actually a front end designer/dev - the 'designer' bit of that doesn't necessarily mean graphics, it means the points I make in this post. UI, loading times, concept, calls to action, visual heirarchy, responsiveness etc. so please don't think this post is just me talking BS.

I think in general you've picked your visuals ok, but there's not enough thinking behind the UI and build of your site. This seems to be a common problem.

[efinque]

Well thanks for the pointers. To my defense, I've seen worse.

[Puregroove]

Well thanks for the pointers. To my defense, I've seen worse.

I've seen a fuck of a lot worse. For an attempt by a non-pro web person, it's not too bad of a start.

Sorry, didn't want to bombard you with stuff after you've been fiddling with it and got that buzz, but it stands professionally. Consider it more as a business freebie than a negative criticism. If you came to me in a professional capacity seeking advice on your site, that's exactly what I'd say to you. Except I would have charged you for my time (well probably, depending).

If you want any more advice I'd be glad to give it to you straight, however this WIX site business might prove somewhat of a barrier eventually. A lot of these points are do-able by you though.

You've probably got a very limited budget so the best I/we can do is stay with you on the path of helping you do it yourself.

If you really wanted to cover all of the above points and get it built well, it'd cost you probably in the low four figure mark (in your currency) - probably a lowball in the one grand area - at least.

[efinque]

I've seen a fuck of a lot worse. For an attempt by a non-pro web person, it's not too bad of a start.

Sorry, didn't want to bombard you with stuff after you've been fiddling with it and got that buzz, but it stands professionally. Consider it more as a business freebie than a negative criticism. If you came to me in a professional capacity seeking advice on your site, that's exactly what I'd say to you. Except I would have charged you for my time (well probably, depending).

If you want any more advice I'd be glad to give it to you straight, however this WIX site business might prove somewhat of a barrier eventually. A lot of these points are do-able by you though.

You've probably got a very limited budget so the best I/we can do is stay with you on the path of helping you do it yourself.

If you really wanted to cover all of the above points and get it built well, it'd cost you probably in the low four figure mark (in your currency) - probably a lowball in the one grand area - at least.

I know this web/graphic designer, been throwing parties for their organization.. I asked her once about a website but I was drunk as hell.

[Puregroove]

I know this web/graphic designer, been throwing parties for their organization.. I asked her once about a website but I was drunk as hell.

Graphic designers often make quite dodgy web designers IMHO however they can be brought in to do the graphics. She ideally needs to be proficient in front end development and design as well in order for it to be a good site.

What did she say? I'm guessing you can't remember... :lol:

[efinque]

Graphic designers often make quite dodgy web designers IMHO however they can be brought in to do the graphics. She ideally needs to be proficient in front end development and design as well in order for it to be a good site.

What did she say? I'm guessing you can't remember... :lol:

Yeah and I'd figure it'd cost me a fortune.. I know a few guys too who've been doing websites for ages and I once consulted one of them (he's a fellow DJ too) about exporting the code from Wix to a dedicated domain (ie. using the Wix as a sandbox)

[Rek_Aviles]

Puregroove gave some great points above, the site is not that great and very slow.

Do you have any budget to at least buy a domain? You'd be better off using Wordpress tied to your .com name.

[efinque]

Puregroove gave some great points above, the site is not that great and very slow.

Do you have any budget to at least buy a domain? You'd be better off using Wordpress tied to your .com name.

This pretty much sums it up (something to lift the mood)


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HVfw9U02GB8

On a serious note, I used to have a personal domain under an ISP but it's out of service.

[Rek_Aviles]

@efinque - ever get you site up and running?

[efinque]

@efinque - ever get you site up and running?

Yes I did. On a side note, I nowadays do voluntary translation work from english to finnish for Wix (ie. the editor and the apps) since they were looking for volunteers and I happened to write a magna cum laude approbatur (=approved/accepted with great praise) in English matriculation exam.

EDIT : edited for clarification

[efinque]

https://s17.postimg.org/hnzck60u7/preview.png

I just picked up a HTML5 handbook from the library to pass the long winter.. I used to do some html back in the day. The background is made in Blender (https://www.blender.org/) and retouched & cropped in PS.

What do you think?

EDIT : I read that it's possible to implement .x3d files in HTML5 (there's also way to export Python code from Blender).. however this page is made in Kompozer using HTML4.01 Transitional which doesn't support the technology (I just upgraded from NVU)

[Not Applicable]

Looks pretty good. A lot going on. Kind of hard to know where to look for info. Also, I would not have music automatically played when they arrive on your site. For your content box to the left, you should make the background solid white to let the content be a focal point.

Good work.

[efinque]

Looks pretty good. A lot going on. Kind of hard to know where to look for info. Also, I would not have music automatically played when they arrive on your site. For your content box to the left, you should make the background solid white to let the content be a focal point.

Good work.

Thanks... I've been thinking of modifying/simplifying the wix site.

I've also been goofing with Linux and Apache HTTP (I've been reading a Linux handbook) but it would require a dedicated computer/server to run the website..

[KLH]

What's the track on your site? Is it for Halloween? It seems very ambient and not something you'd want on a DJ site.

[efinque]

What's the track on your site? Is it for Halloween? It seems very ambient and not something you'd want on a DJ site.

It's a soundscape for an art exhibition I did in summer 2016.. it was never used due to technical limitations so I put it up in my spacey showcasing website.

EDIT : But you do have a point though.