Finally!

I’m finally happy to announce that I was able to send live the code I’ve been hashing and dreaming up for the site is now live. You can see a footer now on every page, in addition to a few other minor changes to the site. Also, this past weekend we upgraded to WordPress 2.8, and activated Akismet in order to control the spam comments we receive.

It feels very good to update the code for the site. As it stands, it was getting pretty stale, and I’m one who always tries to keep things up-to-date. Granted, we weren’t necessarily out-of-date, so much as there were many changes that I felt needed to be done, namely tweaking the comments page and adding in the footer. This site will always be an on-going project for me; as should all designer’s sites.

Your site is never truly finished; there are always ways in which a site can be improved. Granted, I’m one which enjoys constantly remaking her site; I’ve always got some kind of design idea in my head which is bigger and grander than any site idea I’ve had before. I love to create new sites; the feeling of opening a new page and starting from scratch is filled with a thrilling excitement. The problem with this mentality, however, is that it means that this ongoing project will always be in its infancy.

A balance must be found between new designs and updating older designs. Sometimes it is nice to give a site a breath of fresh air; if you’ve had your scheme for years and it’s never given you any shape or form of return, it’s probably time to redesign. However, an older design for a site with returning visitors can create less complaints, in addition to retaining a very familiar feel. There’s an unlimited amount of corporate sites (Last.FM, Facebook) which have updated to a new design only to have an outcry of protest of people which preferred the older version of the site.

Perhaps the best alternative while switching to a newer scheme for such large site such as the two mentioned before would be to offer users the option of switching to an older scheme, similar to what LiveJournal has done over the years (although it must be noted that they no longer support their older schemes where newer features or addition to their navigation, as is noted when the user switches to an older scheme). The majority of users will most likely keep the newer scheme and see it as new and exciting (or not even notice at all), while other users will be happy with the option to switch back. This does not mean that you should constantly have to update your code for newer schemes (though I’m sure your users will like it), given that you should be working on newer features to offer to keep things interesting.

But how to know when to update the scheme or create a new one? In the realm of designers and developers, the answer lies in how fast your design skills grow and evolve. My designs tend to reflect my design skills at the moment which the theme was conceived; each design has shown my growth as a designer. The best choice when it comes to deciding whether to update or change is to listen to your instincts. If your current scheme does not reflect the level of design seen in what you are currently working on, then it is time to change.

When contemplating a new design, always keep the following in mind:

1. Make it navigable. Users shouldn’t need to be designers, developers, or even rocket scientists in order to figure out your site. Have a clear-cut navigation, no matter whether your site scrolls vertically or horizontally.
2. Don’t overuse graphics. Simply put, it shouldn’t take an aeon to load your site. Other than my portfolio page, which utilizes thumb nails to link to larger screen shots of my work, this site uses very few graphics at all. Where I could, I used text. This not only makes the site more relavent to search engines, but also allows users to navigate faster.
3. Please, PLEASE do not use Flash unless you are an animator. So you can use Flash, that’s great. The problem here is that now I can’t copy and paste your text, nor can I bookmark your individual pages. In addition, the majority of people skip Flash intros; they are pieces of work which often go unnoticed because they are too lengthy, or just simply put… I’m in a hurry and I really don’t care to see your animation skills if I just want a logo design.
4. Write for people, not search engines. One of the problems I’ve seen with some sites is that they do not always write for people. You see bolded words at random, or content and internal links which are awkward to viewers, just to get a few ranks. Link intelligently.

These are just a few things I’ve seen with websites from designers, mostly. With corporate sites these are less noticable; the major problem with corporate site designs I’ve seen will certainly have to be saved for a later post.