Friday 1 March 2013

My Website - change is in the air


When I set up my website a few years ago, I thought I knew what I wanted - but do we ever? Moreover, do we always want the same thing? I don't think so, because human nature being what it is, we are restless creatures, always wanting something more, wanting new things.
Carol Lee Beckx website screenshot
Bigger,better, brighter, faster are the driving words of our society. Technology helps us do many things at top speed.
My original website, designed to showcase my paintings, was set up in the months before I left South Africa. I was a complete novice and didn't really know what questions to ask. The website looked good but from the word go was not the most user friendly beast. Consequently, I would be loath to try to change images or text as it was time consuming and frustrating.
The young guys who helped with the development were a little out of their depth. That was confirmed when suddenly last year my website did a disappearing trick and someone else had my domain! They had forgotten to renew the domain account.
Another big problem was that the landing page required Flash which is a complete no no for IOS. So unless someone had the URL to one of the other pages my website was effectively a closed door to all mobile devices.
Fortunately a swift move on the part of my website host, restored the domain and no harm was done. Recently when links to the various pages started breaking - I realised it was time for an overhaul.
My chief requirement was that it should be easy to use and elegant. I need to be able to make changes and additions myself. Much as I enjoy the drama of the black with white text, it's hard to read.
Anyway I feel like a change...
Sold Portfolio page
Soon there'll be a whole new look. For the moment and most likely permanently, this blog will remain where it is. I like the idea of not having all my eggs in one basket. working with two separate platforms seems to make sense to me, as the experience with the website has shown.
I'll be interested to hear what you think of the new design when it's unveiled.

3 comments:

  1. I will look forward to you new one. I agree with you. I keep my blog separate then if there is trouble with one you still have the other.

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  2. Looking forward to seeing your new site.

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  3. Keep us posted - change is good. I keep meaning to give my blog a 'face lift' but have not gotten around to it yet! Too many distractions.

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