Church Theme - Methodist Church Circuit site

[IconicImagery]

I've gotten good feedback from the people involved at the Circuit but this this is still a work in progress so I'm a bit reluctant to show it ....here it is.

Still trying to resolve of the problem of the red colour for the RSS Feed Title...


http://www.gwenthillsandvales.org.uk/

[Rebecca Diamond]

it's looking good! The only thing I see that could be problematic is the height of the header graphic - that's a *lot* of screen space "wasted" (even though the graphic is pretty and not a waste per se :smile:)
Have you considered moving the navigation into that top space on the bottom hill? It would require some tweaking to make it work but then it would give people usable content sooner as they scroll...
And I think sidebar a in the stylesheet will fix the link issues :smile:

[IconicImagery]

Originally Posted by Rebecca Diamond

it's looking good! The only thing I see that could be problematic is the height of the header graphic - that's a *lot* of screen space "wasted" (even though the graphic is pretty and not a waste per se :smile:)
Have you considered moving the navigation into that top space on the bottom hill? It would require some tweaking to make it work but then it would give people usable content sooner as they scroll...
And I think sidebar a in the stylesheet will fix the link issues :smile:

Many thanks for that Rebecca - and I agree about the header. It's what the client wanted ("can you make it bigger?" - 3 times) but I can definitely talk them around to *less is more* now that I've had another professional opinion from the template developers directly :D

This is my first ever web project by myself and coding isnt my strong suit so I'm really anxious to make things right :)

[Rebecca Diamond]

you really are doing great! :smile:

For what it's worth, my standard response with issues like that is "Studies show that the more the viewer is forced to scroll, the more your visit length rate decreases" - because it's true. Visitors are lazy :P

[IconicImagery]

you could probably count me as one of them at one time or another!

[IconicImagery]

Originally Posted by Rebecca Diamond

it's looking good! The only thing I see that could be problematic is the height of the header graphic - that's a *lot* of screen space "wasted" (even though the graphic is pretty and not a waste per se :smile:)
Have you considered moving the navigation into that top space on the bottom hill? It would require some tweaking to make it work but then it would give people usable content sooner as they scroll...
And I think sidebar a in the stylesheet will fix the link issues :smile:

Sorry one more question please -

Im using Church 4.0, not the new Genesis/Church Child Theme

And I've identified the following as the source of my problem with the Red Heading Colour

/************************************************
* Hyperlinks *
************************************************/

a, a:visited {
color: #A91B33;
text-decoration: none;
}

a:hover {
color: #A91B33;
text-decoration: underline;
}

I did a quick test and when I made the adjustment the heading was fine as you'd expect but then of course you couldnt see the actually Feed link unless you happened to hover over it. Is there a workaround that I'm just not thinking of (given that I'm learing by doing....).

Thank you...

[NicktheGeek]

Explain to the client the concept of "above the fold" and how you need to have important information above where the average viewer will need to scroll. At the very least the bottom of the image rotator needs to be above the 600-650px mark, which will be your best case "above the fold" position.

[SoZo]

Originally Posted by IconicImagery

Sorry one more question please -
And I've identified the following as the source of my problem with the Red Heading Colour

I did a quick test and when I made the adjustment the heading was fine as you'd expect but then of course you couldnt see the actually Feed link unless you happened to hover over it. Is there a workaround that I'm just not thinking of (given that I'm learing by doing....).

Thank you...

Add this to your style sheet:

h2 a {
color: #fff;
}

And I know you need to please the client but I would really push for adding an actual logo as opposed to the dynamic text. It ruins the entire effect of the header. Also, I would create a little more variation between the hills, i.e. make it look less like two lines of equal height.

[goldkey]

+1 regarding the height of the header graphic. The site is looking great, but it would have just as much beauty with a vertically condensed graphic. (Just trying to give you more ammunition for the client.)

Great work!

Mark

WPCDN

[SoZo]

Originally Posted by goldkey

vertically condensed graphic

[IconicImagery]

Originally Posted by SoZo

Add this to your style sheet:

h2 a {
color: #fff;
}

And I know you need to please the client but I would really push for adding an actual logo as opposed to the dynamic text. It ruins the entire effect of the header. Also, I would create a little more variation between the hills, i.e. make it look less like two lines of equal height.

Many thanks, your help is greatly appreciated.

The logo is there actually - the Sun is a take on the actual logo for the Methodist Church -

http://www.methodist.org.uk/index.cf...ntent&cmid=782


I'll look at what I can do about the text - I do agree that it ruins all my work with the graphic (which I will also review refining):smile:

[IconicImagery]

Originally Posted by goldkey

+1 regarding the height of the header graphic. The site is looking great, but it would have just as much beauty with a vertically condensed graphic. (Just trying to give you more ammunition for the client.)

Great work!

Mark

WPCDN

Thanks Mark

I have to remember that turn-of-phrase for the future

Lisa

[SoZo]

Originally Posted by IconicImagery

I'll look at what I can do about the text - I do agree that it ruins all my work with the graphic (which I will also review refining):smile:

At least give it some text treatment. A cool font or something.

[IconicImagery]

Originally Posted by SoZo

At least give it some text treatment. A cool font or something.

I cant change the font itself - its the standard of the Methodist Church of Great Britain....

[ScanWare]

Minor criticism...the LONG drop down list for the churches in the Circuit is a drag. I had the same problem on one with multiple missionaries. Might be good to break it into two sepearate geographical regions?

Good luck,

Gene
Portland, ME US

[IconicImagery]

Thanks for the feedback.

The circuit can't be broken down in separate regions - a contentious issue that was discussed prior to development. The Wales Synod just had their annual meeting and the site was enthusiastically received (thank goodness!).

The Circuit is happy and the Synod is happy. For the time being at least, the site architecture stays as is.

Originally Posted by ScanWare

Minor criticism...the LONG drop down list for the churches in the Circuit is a drag. I had the same problem on one with multiple missionaries. Might be good to break it into two sepearate geographical regions?

Good luck,

Gene
Portland, ME US