I got my website finished!

[EmptyNest]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

Beautiful sites!!!! Heads up for aspiring innkeepers! Number 5 was for sale the last time I looked and you won't be disappointed in it!!!!
.

You can buy it here http://themeforest.net/item/metropolis-responsive-wordpress-theme/2284171
But it hasn't been updated since June 2015. I would search for something a bit more up to date.

 

[EmptyNest]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links

I am replying to this in hopes it will stay right here.
From a seasoned innkeeper:
If I had to do it over again I would hire Dumitru (or EN if she is available) but in those days neither of these were doing what they do here now. I would advise any aspiring or new innkeeper to consider this as a super revenue raising effect vs doing it yourself. It is your storefront to your business. Hands down this is an investment, just like rugs in the parlor, hire this out. Hire out the photography unless you are very professional, then you can make updates and blog/social media to your hearts content based on a strong footing.
We didn't have templates and wordpress going in, we had very costly webdesigners, way out of reach for most inns and then diy attempts to emulate those designers. Now it is everyone's game, so you can pay and have something professionally created for you that is not JUST eye candy but also technologically correct, today, not yesterdays standards...or you can stress and struggle and never get it right. My 2 cents. HIRE DUMITRU as long as he hands the site (ownership) and allows updates (in certain areas) over to the end user/innkeeper.

.

You can't imagine what a pleasure it is to read something like this
But yes, I remember back in the day (~2003-2009) how long, difficult and expensive it was to build a website. Even when I was doing something very simple for myself, it still took ~2-3 weeks to get something out. And now thanks to turnkey themes - it takes (realistically) 4-8 hours.
.

You can't imagine what a pleasure it is to read something like this
But yes, I remember back in the day (~2003-2009) how long, difficult and expensive it was to build a website. Even when I was doing something very simple for myself, it still took ~2-3 weeks to get something out. And now thanks to turnkey themes - it takes (realistically) 4-8 hours.

What is a price range for these?
.

Most themes range $40 - 150.

 

[muirford]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links

I am replying to this in hopes it will stay right here.
From a seasoned innkeeper:
If I had to do it over again I would hire Dumitru (or EN if she is available) but in those days neither of these were doing what they do here now. I would advise any aspiring or new innkeeper to consider this as a super revenue raising effect vs doing it yourself. It is your storefront to your business. Hands down this is an investment, just like rugs in the parlor, hire this out. Hire out the photography unless you are very professional, then you can make updates and blog/social media to your hearts content based on a strong footing.
We didn't have templates and wordpress going in, we had very costly webdesigners, way out of reach for most inns and then diy attempts to emulate those designers. Now it is everyone's game, so you can pay and have something professionally created for you that is not JUST eye candy but also technologically correct, today, not yesterdays standards...or you can stress and struggle and never get it right. My 2 cents. HIRE DUMITRU as long as he hands the site (ownership) and allows updates (in certain areas) over to the end user/innkeeper.

.

And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links

We didn't have templates and wordpress going in, we had very costly webdesigners, way out of reach for most inns and then diy attempts to emulate those designers. Now it is everyone's game, so you can pay and have something professionally created for you that is not JUST eye candy but also technologically correct, today, not yesterdays standards...or you can stress and struggle and never get it right. My 2 cents. HIRE DUMITRU as long as he hands the site (ownership) and allows updates (in certain areas) over to the end user/innkeeper.

Oops. I SO agree with this. I have tried over and over to get an owner that I worked for (who has enough money to spend on anything she wants) to transition her Inn's page to wordpress using one of the hermesthemes, and customize the content. Instead they are relying on their homegrown web designer and the test website looks like it.

 

[Lee2014]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

Beautiful sites!!!! Heads up for aspiring innkeepers! Number 5 was for sale the last time I looked and you won't be disappointed in it!!!!
.

You can buy it here http://themeforest.net/item/metropolis-responsive-wordpress-theme/2284171
But it hasn't been updated since June 2015. I would search for something a bit more up to date.
.

You can buy it here http://themeforest.net/item/metropolis-responsive-wordpress-theme/2284171
But it hasn't been updated since June 2015. I would search for something a bit more up to date.

Uh, I meant the B&B was for sale. You can buy it here
http://www.bbonline.com/forsale/almondyinn3/?type=state&refstate=ri

 

[dumitru]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

Beautiful sites!!!! Heads up for aspiring innkeepers! Number 5 was for sale the last time I looked and you won't be disappointed in it!!!!
.

You can buy it here http://themeforest.net/item/metropolis-responsive-wordpress-theme/2284171
But it hasn't been updated since June 2015. I would search for something a bit more up to date.
.

And no, that website doesn't use the Metropolis theme from ThemeForest None of my themes are available on TF

 

[dumitru]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links

I am replying to this in hopes it will stay right here.
From a seasoned innkeeper:
If I had to do it over again I would hire Dumitru (or EN if she is available) but in those days neither of these were doing what they do here now. I would advise any aspiring or new innkeeper to consider this as a super revenue raising effect vs doing it yourself. It is your storefront to your business. Hands down this is an investment, just like rugs in the parlor, hire this out. Hire out the photography unless you are very professional, then you can make updates and blog/social media to your hearts content based on a strong footing.
We didn't have templates and wordpress going in, we had very costly webdesigners, way out of reach for most inns and then diy attempts to emulate those designers. Now it is everyone's game, so you can pay and have something professionally created for you that is not JUST eye candy but also technologically correct, today, not yesterdays standards...or you can stress and struggle and never get it right. My 2 cents. HIRE DUMITRU as long as he hands the site (ownership) and allows updates (in certain areas) over to the end user/innkeeper.

.

You can't imagine what a pleasure it is to read something like this
But yes, I remember back in the day (~2003-2009) how long, difficult and expensive it was to build a website. Even when I was doing something very simple for myself, it still took ~2-3 weeks to get something out. And now thanks to turnkey themes - it takes (realistically) 4-8 hours.
.

You can't imagine what a pleasure it is to read something like this
But yes, I remember back in the day (~2003-2009) how long, difficult and expensive it was to build a website. Even when I was doing something very simple for myself, it still took ~2-3 weeks to get something out. And now thanks to turnkey themes - it takes (realistically) 4-8 hours.

What is a price range for these?
.

In the WordPress community people sell themes from $20 up to $300, I don't think I've ever seen generally-available themes for over 300.
The problem with the price is that historically the first developers were pricing their themes at $40-50, because very little support was provided, and most themes were very simple at that time (2008-2009). It was very easy money. Everyone else who came after them were afraid to increase prices, as they thought it would be difficult to compete. So even now all the new shops that open up price their themes around the $50 mark. The ones that have plans for 1 year - sell for $30 with unlimited everything. Those that are smarter - sell for at least $50 and with limited-time support.
When I opened HermesThemes 3 years ago I priced my themes at $199 a piece and with included support just for 1 year. People called me crazy... Since then some of them closed up shop, while I'm still here, fortunate to work with incredible properties all around the world.
Now I sell my themes for $129.95 per theme, after trying $99 for a couple of months (didn't work out too well).
Yes, I can't compete with ThemeForest themes that have 1.000 sales per month, but at least I can put my face and name on the work I do, without outsourcing anything

 

[Morticia]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links

I am replying to this in hopes it will stay right here.
From a seasoned innkeeper:
If I had to do it over again I would hire Dumitru (or EN if she is available) but in those days neither of these were doing what they do here now. I would advise any aspiring or new innkeeper to consider this as a super revenue raising effect vs doing it yourself. It is your storefront to your business. Hands down this is an investment, just like rugs in the parlor, hire this out. Hire out the photography unless you are very professional, then you can make updates and blog/social media to your hearts content based on a strong footing.
We didn't have templates and wordpress going in, we had very costly webdesigners, way out of reach for most inns and then diy attempts to emulate those designers. Now it is everyone's game, so you can pay and have something professionally created for you that is not JUST eye candy but also technologically correct, today, not yesterdays standards...or you can stress and struggle and never get it right. My 2 cents. HIRE DUMITRU as long as he hands the site (ownership) and allows updates (in certain areas) over to the end user/innkeeper.

.

And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links

We didn't have templates and wordpress going in, we had very costly webdesigners, way out of reach for most inns and then diy attempts to emulate those designers. Now it is everyone's game, so you can pay and have something professionally created for you that is not JUST eye candy but also technologically correct, today, not yesterdays standards...or you can stress and struggle and never get it right. My 2 cents. HIRE DUMITRU as long as he hands the site (ownership) and allows updates (in certain areas) over to the end user/innkeeper.

Oops. I SO agree with this. I have tried over and over to get an owner that I worked for (who has enough money to spend on anything she wants) to transition her Inn's page to wordpress using one of the hermesthemes, and customize the content. Instead they are relying on their homegrown web designer and the test website looks like it.
.

Oops. I SO agree with this. I have tried over and over to get an owner that I worked for (who has enough money to spend on anything she wants) to transition her Inn's page to wordpress using one of the hermesthemes, and customize the content. Instead they are relying on their homegrown web designer and the test website looks like it.

Yes, their site could be a heck of a lot better for not a whole lot of money. Less than a stay in a room for a week if they're doing it in house but with a gorgeous theme.
BTW, newbies, it sometimes helps to think about the website in terms of how many room nights it would take to pay for it. If you're doing it yourself, that's fairly simple math, except you don't take into account what you're NOT doing while you're trying to figure out your website design.

 

[happykeeper]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links

I am replying to this in hopes it will stay right here.
From a seasoned innkeeper:
If I had to do it over again I would hire Dumitru (or EN if she is available) but in those days neither of these were doing what they do here now. I would advise any aspiring or new innkeeper to consider this as a super revenue raising effect vs doing it yourself. It is your storefront to your business. Hands down this is an investment, just like rugs in the parlor, hire this out. Hire out the photography unless you are very professional, then you can make updates and blog/social media to your hearts content based on a strong footing.
We didn't have templates and wordpress going in, we had very costly webdesigners, way out of reach for most inns and then diy attempts to emulate those designers. Now it is everyone's game, so you can pay and have something professionally created for you that is not JUST eye candy but also technologically correct, today, not yesterdays standards...or you can stress and struggle and never get it right. My 2 cents. HIRE DUMITRU as long as he hands the site (ownership) and allows updates (in certain areas) over to the end user/innkeeper.

.

From a seasoned innkeeper:
If I had to do it over again I would hire Dumitru (or EN if she is available)

Absolutely. We are sssssssssooooooooooooo grateful for the work EN did with us. That's a key word "with". She allowed us to get exactly what we envisioned based on what we knew about us, our area, and our message. Combined with some brilliant professional photography, the results (business went up and reservation resistance melted away) confirm that we nailed it.

 

[jiseanhenric]

Congratulations on completing your site. I would like to check out website, if you don't mind can you share the website link here or PM me.

 

[EmptyNest]

Congratulations on completing your site. I would like to check out website, if you don't mind can you share the website link here or PM me..

No she did not get it finished. I am working with her but she broke her ankle..so work has stopped for now :-(

 

[Morticia]

Congratulations on completing your site. I would like to check out website, if you don't mind can you share the website link here or PM me..

No she did not get it finished. I am working with her but she broke her ankle..so work has stopped for now :-(
.

Thanks for the update!

 

[Tamelon]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

Wow, Dimitru! I sure hope no one deletes these links...what an array of absolutely stunning sites! Bravo!
.

Thank you, but I haven't done anything for those websites, that's how the themes are the moment you install them (minus the logos and the content). And if someone wants to change something - they do it little by little, without actually breaking stuff or building from scratch
.

Sorry if this is an obvious question -- but you sell the them and then the b&b owner populates it with text and images? What platform does it live on?
Thanks,
Tamelon

 

[Morticia]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

Wow, Dimitru! I sure hope no one deletes these links...what an array of absolutely stunning sites! Bravo!
.

Thank you, but I haven't done anything for those websites, that's how the themes are the moment you install them (minus the logos and the content). And if someone wants to change something - they do it little by little, without actually breaking stuff or building from scratch
.

Sorry if this is an obvious question -- but you sell the them and then the b&b owner populates it with text and images? What platform does it live on?
Thanks,
Tamelon
.

Sorry if this is an obvious question -- but you sell the them and then the b&b owner populates it with text and images? What platform does it live on?
Thanks,
Tamelon

It might be easier to DM dumitru, in case he's not monitoring this thread.

 

[dumitru]

Looks like I'm late to the party, but I got something to say too (even though I might repeat what other people said before me):
1. Currently you have 11 slides in the homepage slideshow, which is way too much (speaking from experience). Some of these photos should not be there. If a photo is low-resolution (the trees & the flowers), grainy or blurry (the pool), get rid of them immediately. There is nothing more off-putting than low-quality photos.
2. You current homepage weighs 5.28MB and loaded for me in 2.2 seconds. There are just 32 HTTP requests on the homepage, which is very good. Personally I am happy about the technical performance of the homepage. Get rid of the bad photos, optimize the current photos and I will be even happier.
3. The menu design and colors is horrible. Bad padding, bad contrast, bad dropdown colors, bad :hover colors in the dropdowns, etc.
4. The text on the homepage has no headline, no introduction, nothing. Just 7 lines of text with a total width of 1170 pixels. No line breaks, nothing. Incredibly hard and unpleasant to read, and I think many will stop at the first line.
5. There's a lot of inline CSS code for each section of the homepage. A lot of code that starts with "fusion-", whatever that is. Not good in the long run.
6. In the inline CSS you call an image as background, the name of the file contains very-opaque-red-rose-petals, but that image does not exist, so search engines will see a 404 ERROR for it, again not good.
7. Your link color and text color is the same (#333333). This is bad for multiple reasons, both for usability and conversions.
8. The text color on the "Reasons to visit" page is #ffffff, and your background color is #ffffff. Bad for people, bad for search engines. A lot of photos, difficult to scan. Maybe try smaller photos (like on the Rooms & Rates page) and run them in 2 columns? This way people will easier find somethings that attracts them.
9. The Rooms & Rates page is better, as are the internal room pages. Some inconsistencies with the styling and colors, but overall these pages are fine.
------
I know EN will strongly disagree with me, but this is an example of why I don't like too much themes like Avada, precisely because they give users too much freedom. Just like I shouldn't be handling firearms or a welding torch, some people shouldn't be handling web design, at least not the important parts.
Yes you should be allowed to change colors and fonts, but not to the degree when it starts hurting your own business. I've been designing and developing websites for over 10 years and I'm still learning new things every day, about typography, readability, usability, good contrast and bad contrast, optimization, user interface design, etc. And then comes Avada and lets you build a red menu on a red background, just because it can, and people are happy about it.
And now if you don't mind, I would like to show some websites that can be built in less than an hour, without any hair-pulling or hurting the brain: One, two, three, four, five, six, seven. If moderators decide to delete the links, please delete just them, and not all the text above the links .

Wow, Dimitru! I sure hope no one deletes these links...what an array of absolutely stunning sites! Bravo!
.

Thank you, but I haven't done anything for those websites, that's how the themes are the moment you install them (minus the logos and the content). And if someone wants to change something - they do it little by little, without actually breaking stuff or building from scratch
.

Sorry if this is an obvious question -- but you sell the them and then the b&b owner populates it with text and images? What platform does it live on?
Thanks,
Tamelon
.

Hi,
They are "WordPress themes", so they are for WordPress.
Yes, the site admin populates the theme with its own content, that's not something the theme can do automatically.

 

[Mary at Bridgewater Inn and Cottage]

WOW what a BnB, I'am just leftover chopped liver. Congrat's lovely site .

 

[fisicx]

I'm a new member here and just tagging along on the end of this thread but the site isn't loading properly for me.
The slider seems to be the main culprit but other bits don't work as expected. Some bits look like links but aren't, some links don't look like links. Images don't link and there are a few orphan pages.
But the biggest problem (and one in common with many hospitality sites) is the lack of any calls to action. There is the phone number in the header and a link to make a reservation (which doesn't work at all for me) but the booking details and contact information should be on the page I'm looking at. If I find a room I like I want to be able to make a reservation there and then.
And consider this. What makes me want to stay at a B&B is the rooms and the way the owner markets their home. It's not the theme you choose, it's the great content that will get you bookings.
That's enough negativity for now.
Me and wife try to get away once a month so you may even see us coming to your B&B this year.

 

[JBloggs]

I'm a new member here and just tagging along on the end of this thread but the site isn't loading properly for me.
The slider seems to be the main culprit but other bits don't work as expected. Some bits look like links but aren't, some links don't look like links. Images don't link and there are a few orphan pages.
But the biggest problem (and one in common with many hospitality sites) is the lack of any calls to action. There is the phone number in the header and a link to make a reservation (which doesn't work at all for me) but the booking details and contact information should be on the page I'm looking at. If I find a room I like I want to be able to make a reservation there and then.
And consider this. What makes me want to stay at a B&B is the rooms and the way the owner markets their home. It's not the theme you choose, it's the great content that will get you bookings.
That's enough negativity for now.
Me and wife try to get away once a month so you may even see us coming to your B&B this year..

I'm a new member here and just tagging along on the end of this thread but the site isn't loading properly for me.
The slider seems to be the main culprit but other bits don't work as expected. Some bits look like links but aren't, some links don't look like links. Images don't link and there are a few orphan pages.
But the biggest problem (and one in common with many hospitality sites) is the lack of any calls to action. There is the phone number in the header and a link to make a reservation (which doesn't work at all for me) but the booking details and contact information should be on the page I'm looking at. If I find a room I like I want to be able to make a reservation there and then.
And consider this. What makes me want to stay at a B&B is the rooms and the way the owner markets their home. It's not the theme you choose, it's the great content that will get you bookings.
That's enough negativity for now.
Me and wife try to get away once a month so you may even see us coming to your B&B this year.

They are not a B&B nor open yet, thus the lack of call to action. This forum is for aspiring innkeepers as well.

 

[EmptyNest]

WOW what a BnB, I'am just leftover chopped liver. Congrat's lovely site ..

As I mentioned earlier in the thread the site is totally not done. She has a hold on it for now.