CREATING WEB SITE WITH DEMOS

Nonie Craige · **Voice Talent** Joined: 12 Aug 2006 Posts: 25

HELP! I have alovely talented young man, Steve, who put a site together for me but he downloaded my demos and the site takes waaaaaaay too long to open. He does not know how to put demos on my site...LIKE EVERY OTHER SITE I VISIT so that it opens normally! HELP! Steve is very knowledgable and should be able to do this, I think it's just the first time and he is really at a loss.

HE IS STILL WORKING ON THE SITE BUT OH MY!!!

Freddie Molina · Posted: Tue May 29, 2007, 18:16 (GMT) Post subject:

Hi Nonie,

How is it done right now?(I mean, how is he setting up the demo playback), do you have a link we can check?

Nonie Craige · **Voice Talent** Joined: 12 Aug 2006 Posts: 25

Hi Freddie, Never again will I assume someone knows what he or she is doing just because they say so...
the url is Creativevoiceover.com ....not usre if you need the www. it might work both ways. Just got off the phone with Steve and he said he can make it so when someone clicks they get a blank page with the action bar and then he can have the site load in seconds....so for right now that is what he is going to do...not sure if the site is still availble.....thanks. Steve's email is : smarra427@optonline.net in case you want to give him a shout.
Thanks Freddie, I'm ready to have a heart attack here.

Joe J Thomas · **Voice Talent** Joined: 16 Nov 2004 Posts: 1521

Nonie,

For me, there's a bit of a disconnect between "very knowledgable", and the fact he doesn't know how to get your site to load quickly.

Here's a few bits.

First, the site is all Macromedia Flash, with no preloaders. Have him look up "preload". If you really want your site to be lighter, lose the Flash entirely, or relegate it only to play your media.

Second, give the user a way to control the audio (stop, start, etc). And I'm a big opponent of playing something as soon as the site loads. Really ticks me off (and that's not the reaction you want Wink

)

Third, are you sure he's "very knowledgable"?

My 3 cents,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

p.s. if you look at my site, it's mostly HTML, with a bit of flash to play the audio on the "Audio" page...

Grant Holmes · **Voice Talent** Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 265

Is this the same post as: http://voiceoversavvy.com/ftopic1938.html??

Seems a shame to have two posts going.

I totally agree with Joe on FLASH. Flash is generally a testiment to the designer and rarely to the person paying for the site. There are plenty of ways to do great HTML sites.

Yes, ALWAYS have a way to start/stop ANY audio that plays. The only way to stop your voice is to exit the browser. Nasty.

Also, posting your email on your site in raw HTML is inviting SPAM like crazy. A contact form should be used.

Love your voice!!

Freddie Molina · Posted: Tue May 29, 2007, 22:07 (GMT) Post subject:

Hello Nonie,

Unfortunately do not believe the site is close to what it needs to be. As Joe mentioned you need to have a preload script, also the welcome demo is too long and the quality is too high (even for broadband), there needs to be a mute or play/stop button.

I do not see the need of going with Flash on all the site (bad for SEO), the same site could have been develop using html/php and maybe include the pictures or flash animation where needed. Flash is mainly used to manage animation or spacial transitions on your site (not the case).

The problem with the audio is very simple, all the files are being downloaded when the site opens, they need to be related to a streaming with controls (I think you had some answers regarding that in the other topic)

Nonie Craige · **Voice Talent** Joined: 12 Aug 2006 Posts: 46

JOe, definitely questioning the knowledge part....

The demos will now not be downloaded when the site opens, but I will have an ugly blank page with demo control for each one. I'll have him work on it next week or so.

Grant, didn't realize that about the email. I hope he knows just what to do in creating the contact form.

I am shortening my welcome intro, the site is short and sweet, well short anyway...I hope by tomorrow it will look and act a lot better. The placement of the pics is not right yet either.

Can anyone suggest a web designer out there who knows our industry and what we need!!!

Amy Snively · **Voice Talent** Joined: 04 Jul 2005 Posts: 1028

Frankly, Nonie, ANY real web designer would be able to do this for you. I just think you got the short end of the stick this time around. This is web 101 stuff. I did my site (warts and all) all by my little self and was able to figure it out, so I would expect at least as much from someone who is calling him or herself a pro web designer!

Debbie Deutsch · **Voice Talent** Joined: 25 Oct 2006 Posts: 1338

Nonie...your website is very nice...when the blank page finally goes away and we see the site! Yes...dump that blank page!
And just a curious question...why is there a picture of a UPS truck in your collage? Doesn't seem to fit, or am I missing something??
Looking good! Cool

Thom Wilkins · **Voice Talent** Joined: 02 May 2005 Posts: 587

Grant Holmes · **Voice Talent** Joined: 02 Oct 2006 Posts: 265

Nonie,

There are several interface things your designer has done that don't make any sense in "good" or "normal" web design.

For instance, when I click on your "contact" page, he opens another browser window when there is no reason to do so. When I click on the UPS truck (I agree, why is that used??), it goes to your radio clip but doesn't open a new browser window (when arguably it could/should).

Then there is no way to navigate back to your home page. Yes, you can "back button", but this is really poor design work. If that opened a new window, you could just close it and be back on the home page. AND it's opening a full size window (Something I've seen on a lot of VO talent sites)- and it really only needs a window big enough for the player. That leaves the previous window in view.

When I do navigate back to the home page, the original demo starts to play again.

I'm not trying to be negative, just help with what could be a great site. It's always a shame when poor web design overshadows good content.

I'm new to the VO world, but have been developing web sites for years. I'm not sure I understand the need for progressive loads as described above. I assume this means when one clip stops, another will start. Can you then stop/start other clips at will?

After the initial demo load/play, why not just allow the visitor to decide what they want to listen to? The problem with the images (UPS truck-Blocks-Mountains), is- what am I going to hear? This may be artistic, but could just confuse the visitor. Even just a little text note on the image would help.

I just had another thing happen... I had your site open in another window as I was typing this. After a delay, the original message played again. Then again... (annoying).

If you've been involved in these decisions with him telling you why/why not and you're agreeing, that's one thing- as you may have a given reason to do what you're doing. However, I get the feeling that he's just doing stuff without even knowing he's doing it and/or involving you in the process.

I HOPE I'm helping!

Joe J Thomas · **Voice Talent** Joined: 16 Nov 2004 Posts: 1521

Amy: Yep, I do my own web work too. Been doing it since before there were browsers! (no, literally!)

Grant: I think by "progressive downloads" he means "on demand", ie it only loads when you click.

Nonie: I'd offer my services, but I'm on the pricey side for a simple site. You should definitely be able to find someone cheap. Even a college student these days should be able to handle this level...

Web Designer, Nuclear Physicist, and Touring Member of the Bolshoi Ballet,
Joe J Thomas
www.JoeActor.com

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007, 16:18 (GMT) Post subject:

Joe J.... One slick page w/Demos.... how much? (Wow is that rude... you don't have to answer if you don't want to.)

Joe J Thomas · **Voice Talent** Joined: 16 Nov 2004 Posts: 1521

Colin Campbell · Posted: Wed May 30, 2007, 16:59 (GMT) Post subject:

Yeah, it's just that my page that I did myself sort of sucks. I'm jealous of some of the VO talent's sites I see.