The 2018 Showcases start with

[schpengle]

Yes! this

http://swethtaraorganics.co.uk

This is just a holding page, while I work on their site.

yes, in keeping with my weird/alternative/sub culture usual sort of style, this is my first client of 2018 as I again attempt to get stuff done

feedback welcome. (i suppose) -ie, with regards spacing methods used (paddings/margins etc) where I have tried push a few things up and down.

and by way of interest. I wasnt too sure which way this will go (wordpress, flatfile, static - it will have a shop though) but it is on a windows server (gah!) so I might be limited by what I can do on the iffy back end.

but, hey, there we go. oh and any nice free font selection , let me know. that sort of organic works, but can look a bit miserable on a mobile.

but anyway, this is just the landing page (temporary) honest

[mandarin]

The lilac scrolly text over the top image is impossible to read without a struggle. Why not stick to a recognised font is a recognised colour and perhaps have an overlay on picture to help text stand out a bit.

[schpengle]

yes cheers, challenging text isn’t t! on laptop, that font (a webfont) looks…kind of ok,
on my phone, -pretty challenging! the "a"s and "e"s are very poorly formed on that device. strange.
on tablet, looks much better but,
the buttons span the entire screen.
ive seen a way with a pinegrow vid to prevent that, so it is limited to a nice size. must find< or get a link posted here.

and the font was selected as…a whim something relaxing organic and flowing…although when it appears against the sky, it certainly aint relaxing to read.

and the color, well that was a modified version of what the friend/client wanted, i sort of matched it to the Buddlia plant colours.

doenst quite work but
oh the green!

yeah, that was thier choice too the pea soup green.

and did you try it on mobile devices @mandarin, result?
and thanks

[mandarin]

More hideous on a smaller screen. Simply doesn’t work. Find some one colour blind to have a look,
will not work for them at all.

Sorry, but just don’t like the colours at all.

[schpengle]

lol!
yep, much what i was thinking.
so…what font do you think would be graceful ? which web font has some flair and life to it that would work?

do you think? opinions and all?

[schpengle]

Ok, done some changes
More suitable (and boring, less flowing, but far more legible) font
and changed Colours of font and added an interesting semi transparent background colour.

In keeping with their wishes and …my retinas longevity.

I am rather getting to like the deep purple and pea green combo

[mandarin]

Better than it was for sure.

Still not to my taste, but a lot easier to read now.

[schpengle]

Thanks
not really mine, but…I could send you a screen shot of the colours they WERE using,
but

It might destroy your monitor/retinas/sensibilities.

The site was partially designed by another beginner chap with them using Serif WebPlus x8, that they were advised to buy it by him…earlier this year.
er.
http://www.serif.com/webplus/

[Thomas]

Well - Ian, you wanted it, you’ll get it (certainly nice meant). The point is that design is in everyones eyes. But there are some simple things I allow myself to outline:

Cheers

Thomas

[mandarin]

FWIW, Web Plus has never updated and now never will be to create anything Responsive. Best place for it will be the manure heap.

[schpengle]

Yes, thanks both.
I will give them the good news about WebPlus X8. its a pity as the previous chap advised them to get it and then showed them HIS website built with it…
er…

ah! I cant find it now, but I will at some point.
Let’s just say the design is very 90s… Maybe 1890’s? Im not sure.

So I had to start with this 90’s design and a colour scheme inspired by VERY BRIGHT Hindi/Nepalese tastes.

SO, as for @Thomas’s feedback , thanks! the more white space is a what I intend, but as for white?
er…its now just another bootstap blocks site. along with the tedious british font

I realise that this is required for accessibility but maaaan… where is the design flare?

and , thsi site is also going to have to deal with some other stuf too , like

बहुत बहुत धन्यवाद Thomas

ha! chew that one up with British font
that is Thank you so much Thomas … in Hindi (Devengari keyboard. …used, on a mac)
Yes! so, this is also going to have Hindi/Nepalese versions.

…Well, if your going to go out for a swim in shark infested waters, you might as well head for where the sharks are, just to avoid boredom

so, yes, keep up the feedback, now, does anyone know a NICE Organic, flowing web font that is ACTUALLY READABLE? on devices?

I will play with the spacing as @Thomas suggests, on this holding page as its good practice for working out the bootstrap classes and overiding in custom.css, but I also have to make the Proper site and shop!

Oh! which reminds me. They spent some time building up a shopping cart in their program using minicart.js or simplecart.js, I forget which now, but , alas, both seem abandoned.

so, they are currently stuck on a windows IIS server, so does anyone recommend a nice , simple shopping cart that runs in the browser with no php/server backend?

as, its a windows server, no database and i dont want to touch the thing! yuk

[mandarin]

If it were me I’d dump Windows Server, move to a simple cPanel hosted account and use Stiva Cart from www.phpjabbers.com

Got this running in a few locations, easy to set up, integrate and get people to spend money.

For a nicer font have a look online at Google fonts, all can be incorporated in a bootstrap site without any issues.

[schpengle]

Yep, cheers Mandarin for that. This is the server they currently have, so trying to make do with it- but I do have a reseller account (linux box) so migrating them wouldnt be a problem from 123reg to my own , but that means, the server they have is duff, the program they have is duff, the design they had was duff, the shop they designed is duff. That can be a bit demoralising all at once, so I’m taking it in stages for them

OH, yeah, and the previous designer (who will want paying) walked away as he said somthing was wrong with their passwords/account and he couldn’t upload the site to they site and they couldn’t work it out.

I did.
He was trying to upload to the wrong web root. he was attempting to upload to the sever root, / not the web webroot, /web/content.

which is apparently how it works on a 123reg windows server. (where my /public_html/ is on linux box. )

oh yes, and if ANYONE is thinking of getting a 123reg windows account , DONT.
their control panel , file manager (for upload and download, as well as accessing files to edit ) is
irrevocably broken!

It will constantly time out and say to try again later. since last june.
I contacted tech support to be told that Yep! its destroyed. they can do nothing about it, but they can pay an extra £12 and get thier linux box for the same deal instead as they cant fix the windows one.

oh, and he default page it serves, is … default.htm, NOT index. html. so I had to learn about and create a web.config file to change that, as it doesnt use .htaccess or permissions .
and, it was still broken.
I told them that it still didnt work, they said there was no problem their end. then… the next day it mysteriously started working again.

Im less than impressed with them. I also have a 123reg account for domain registration, but would never touch them for hosting after this.

And I did try a google font - "Stalemate* … everyone screamed at me for it!
OH the noises… I can still hear them in my head…echoing…