Mallette Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) Complete revision of site with much leaner, more responsive code. Please take a look and let me know your thoughts! Let me know how it fairs on phones and such (sideways only, I am told). Revision is courtesy of a VERY kind fellow forum member. I haven't ask if it's OK to reveal his identity, but if he wishes to do so that's great. This is the BEST bunch anywhere! Only YouTube videos at the moment as this is all HTML4, but hope to upgrade very soon to HTML5 so I can restore the music files. Music site without music isn't quite right, but Rome wasn't built in a day and this whole thing is only a couple of weeks in. Patience (I tell myself). Dave Edited April 4, 2016 by Mallette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) I'm viewing on Firefox, latest version. I'll check some other browsers later. Rather than compare to the Version 1, let me share some impressions speaking as a consumer, not a pro web site guy, starting with my conclusion; Wow! Super clean look Easy to read Highly organized Good use of pics Good use of white space Edited April 4, 2016 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LarryC Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) Wow! Super clean look Easy to read Highly organized Good use of pics Good use of white space Boy, what an improvement! all the above are true IMO. Even the dubious green looks much better with the larger seal and more standout gold graphics. I still don't like that green ... The color matching still doesn't catch on for me, and I wonder if a little time with a color expert could help -- complementary colors, etc. Maybe color consultation would could help spill over to the other pages. And, still no definition or tie-in to the term "swampdoodle." That term and the page just hang there without said tie-in. IOW, still not much continuity from page to page. Edited April 4, 2016 by LarryC Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 I still don't like that green Get over it... It's "Swampoodle" Term first used for any low lying area subject to flooding. There is a Swampoodle district in Loudoun county Virginia, one in Philadelphia, one in Washington, DC, and one in Paris, TX. And one in Texarkana. The "Swampoodle" bass line, a variant of the Marshall, and kin to the Texarkana and Northern bass lines, is by far the most recognized boogie woogie bass line. The Swampoodle area of Texarkana flourished from about 1875 until the 1960s as Texarkana's red light district. It lay along Cedar Creek, but that creek is now called Swampoodle creek after the district. More info at the Boogie Woogie Foundation. No time yet to explain everything on the site. I'd guess it's maybe 10% of where it will eventually be as it is to grow into an authority on these matters. Only one page on PWK, fer cryin' out loud. So much to do! Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) The image took a long time to load. I made it smaller and jpeged it. Now it's less than 10% of the size. What you are doing is sending a large uncompressed image to users and asking them to resize it smaller. What I did is make the image close to the size you are displaying so you can just pop it in without asking the user to resize on his hardware. Here is the link to your image: http://i.imgur.com/QzBk6LU.jpg In case you want a slightly better quality (less compressed) image, here is one at lowest jpeg compression. It is still 20% of the original file you are using: http://i.imgur.com/lTf8xkr.jpg edit: Oh, and the new version 2.0 looks great! Edited April 4, 2016 by mustang guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Thanks. Haven't had time to "right size" everything, and my bandwidth is so good I never see any lag. Maybe need a "realism" filter for viewing. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Checked that image, and it is sized precisely to the page. Not sure why it loaded slow. There are some images, like maps, I do at 150 dpi PNG to ensure people can zoom on them for detail. May slow down loading on slow connections but the ability to see detail if you want is worth it, at least IMHO. We'll see. Webmaster is yet another niche for this generalist "jack of all trades, master of none." Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) It could be server lag. I have 100mbps, so I usually don't experience lag on this end. It is good to be able to zoom into images. Typically a PNG file is better when you have text but are large, so if you want smaller files then JPEG's are better for photographs. Checked that image, and it is sized precisely to the page. Not sure why it loaded slow. There are some images, like maps, I do at 150 dpi PNG to ensure people can zoom on them for detail. May slow down loading on slow connections but the ability to see detail if you want is worth it, at least IMHO. We'll see. Webmaster is yet another niche for this generalist "jack of all trades, master of none." Dave The file that is sent is not precisely sized to the page. If you use Chrome, right click and inspect. You will see that it is 1200 pixels wide (Natural) and is displaying at 632. What's more, the image is a PNG so it isn't compressed very well. It sounds as though your webmaster is a real renaissance man. Edited April 4, 2016 by mustang guy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Downsized to about 800 wide. DPI at 120 to allow for a bit of zoom. Let me know how it performs, and provide more feedback as well in other areas. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Google Chrome loaded some of the pics bit-by-bit for me, still less than a couple of seconds. +++ I searched for Regional Music Heritage Center on Google. It did not return your site, but there were several references to Dave Mallette and the Klipsch.com site! +++ In your Scott Joplin section it would be uber cool if you could point to this Youtube vid, played by Scott Joplin himself! (read the liner notes for how this is possible) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Have that roll in the audio files that aren't working on the new site yet. Much better audio quality, 320kpbs MP3. Hope to have it going soon. BTW, while Joplin played that, it was embellished by the producers, a common practice that should be recognized by those who hate the meddling of producers in today's performances. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardsweb Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 OK I will step in and say I built the new site. I spent about three days totally rebuilding the site in Dreamweaver to have a responsive site. All the pictures were optimized. The functionality checked across all platforms. I wanted a clean, organized site with continuity across all pages. The code is about a 1/4 of the original site in size and complexity. I am working with Dave to take over the site. He is not familiar with Dreamweaver or all the nuances of current web design, so give us a little time to get him up to speed and have a better understanding of how the changes he has been making to some of the pictures impact the user's experience. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wvu80 Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) Have that roll in the audio files that aren't working on the new site yet. Much better audio quality, 320kpbs MP3. Hope to have it going soon. BTW, while Joplin played that, it was embellished by the producers, a common practice that should be recognized by those who hate the meddling of producers in today's performances. Interesting you should say that. As I was listening to the performance, which I enjoyed immensely, I thought I heard dynamics and accented notes. I did not think those qualities were present in a player piano roll. I know there are those who want unadulterated translations of the music, I prefer a better quality of sound, a better listening experience. Better yet, it's good to have the choice! Here is a cool piece from the movie, dueling pianos. Edited April 4, 2016 by wvu80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mustang guy Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 (edited) OK I will step in and say I built the new site. I spent about three days totally rebuilding the site in Dreamweaver to have a responsive site. All the pictures were optimized. The functionality checked across all platforms. I wanted a clean, organized site with continuity across all pages. The code is about a 1/4 of the original site in size and complexity. I am working with Dave to take over the site. He is not familiar with Dreamweaver or all the nuances of current web design, so give us a little time to get him up to speed and have a better understanding of how the changes he has been making to some of the pictures impact the user's experience. Awesome. I shoulda known that when he was describing his "renaissance man" webmaster, he was talking about you. Nice site. As for the image load, I was only reporting what I experienced. It seemed to be the main page image, and it took a few seconds. Here is what I found out. It was mostly my fault. My wifi adapter was connected to the wrong node, and I was only getting 4.61 mbps. I connected to the correct node (5G), and now I'm at 93mbps. Now it comes up in the blink of the eye even after the cache is flushed.. Edited April 4, 2016 by mustang guy 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 I did not think those qualities were present in a player piano roll. Aw, something I CAN comment on with some degree of expertise. One of the reasons Colon Nancarrrow preferred the AMPICO system was that it provided 12 dynamic levels. The others varied but the AMPICO rolls are easy to spot due to the extra programming information that can be seen on either side. The QRS rolls also were superior in their accuracy. Rolls were often embellished by the recording companies to provide what they felt was extra "pizzazz" and complexity. Dave 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jwc Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 This place is just sexy....right on! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardsweb Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 ...snip... Only YouTube videos at the moment as this is all HTML4, but hope to upgrade very soon to HTML5 so I can restore the music files. Music site without music isn't quite right, but Rome wasn't built in a day and this whole thing is only a couple of weeks in. Patience (I tell myself). Dave We are also looking into an embedded music player. Just need to find one that isn't to big or busy and does not allow the files to be downloaded for copyright reasons. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallette Posted April 4, 2016 Author Share Posted April 4, 2016 Just need to find one that isn't to big or busy and does not allow the files to be downloaded for copyright reasons. Critical to a site like ours! Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardsweb Posted April 4, 2016 Share Posted April 4, 2016 Just need to find one that isn't to big or busy and does not allow the files to be downloaded for copyright reasons. Critical to a site like ours! Dave Embedding a music player is simple. There are many available for free on the web or you can add one with a simple line of code. The issue is finding one that does not link the music file direct. Otherwise it is very easy to download the file once you know the directory path. I may have to do this in PHP or flash so the program calls an ID name and not the file direct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wardsweb Posted April 10, 2016 Share Posted April 10, 2016 The site is pretty much fleshed out now. New info will be added as time goes on. http://www.texarkanarmhc.org 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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