Landscape photography website - first attempt with modx, seeking feedback

Hi,
I’ve been building a website update in Modx. I have no background in web design / programming, am in full-time employment & have wife & 4 teenage children, so it’s been a steep learning curve in my ’spare’ time. The forums & wiki’s have been invaluable.

The content is a bit sparse at the moment, but when the site is ready more will be added.
The test site is test.radiantglory.com it will replace www.radiantglory.com which was built with wordpress. The modx version seems much quicker, but that may be because of less content(?)

Please let me know what you think. Any comments & suggestions about design & function are very welcome.

Rob

The zoom animation on the home page is a little shaky in my browser (firefox 3.6).

The picture presentation in the wallpapers section is nice. The portfolio part not so much, i suppose that part might be a work in progress.

Overall the new design seems quite similar to the old one but a bit cleaner. The header photo’s are pretty but the rest of the template could use some more graphics i think.

Keep it up, you’re getting there!

Thanks for the feedback!

The shaky zoom aninmation is windows related from what I’ve read. I’m considering using a simpler, non-zooming fade there to allow for quicker loading. The current plugin has to load all the images before it begins.

I’m not sure what to do with the portfolio section. Each photo has it’s own page with TV info to populate the coda at the bottom of the page.

The idea has been to have a simple, clean look - but I hear what you’re saying about a few more graphics.

Keep the comments coming folks.

Hi everyone,
I’ve been working away on the site in my spare time. It’s now almost ready to go.

Would appreciate any comments you might have. Also having others look for the errors that I have invariably missed.

Have to say I’m blown away by the power & flexibility of modx, the deeper I go the richer modx seems to get. Have yet to hit a brick wall where something just cannot be done. Well done to the team!

Thanks for looking. test.radiantglory.com

Rob

Heya Rob,

First impression is a really clean, clear site. Like MrDutchy said, the zoom is quite shaky. I’m also using Firefox 3.6.3 (it’s updating to 3.6.4 now, lol) on Windows Vista.

I also spotted an error. If you go to Portfolio, then use the small images at the bottom to select a gallery, and then click on the big image it returns a 404 error. At least for the waterways section (the link shows /portfolios, while the actual link should be without the s). You should always use links in the form of [~ID~] to let MODx make the correct links automaticly where possible. That way, the links will remain working even when you change the alias.

In the sidebar, showing News & Updates, all the introduction sentences start with a dash (-).. Personally I would’ve left that out.

Another thing.. when you are viewing an image (in my case: http://test.radiantglory.com/portfolio/seascapes/cabarita-beach-sunrise) and change tabs, the screen jumps to the top of the page instead of remaining fixed where it should be.


Anyway. Your design is clean and clear, so that’s not too bad

Hi Mark,
thanks for taking time to have a good look.

I’ve fixed the error on the portfolio page, and removed the "-" in the sidebar.

The problem with the zoom seems to be a javascript thing. I may yet have to use a bit of flash there, or settle for rotating, stationary images.

I’m at a loss of how to fix the jumping you mentioned. I’ve been aware of it, but don’t have the skills to solve it. Any ideas anyone?

Thanks for the feedback - clean, simple & quick is what I’m wanting.

Cheers.

Rob