Feedback on my SBI (Site Build It) Site

[stevo75]

Hi all,

Any feedback you can give about my site would be greatly appreciated!

Backpacking Tips and Gear Reviews - for Beginners to Ultralight Backpackers

I think the concept is straightforward enough. I've backpacked over 3000 miles in my life; including a hike from Mexico to Canada along the Pacific Crest Trail in one summer. So I feel like I have a lot of advice to share in this area.

I know I need to upgrade my template. That's on my to do list. But any feedback would be great.

[michelle1]

Had a quick look around. From your writing style/content it is clear you know what you are talking about. I have been invited on an 11 day hike in March, so your topic is of interest to me right now.

Honestly in the early days, it is just good to get content and traffic rolling... you can change the look a bit later. You have a lot of information per page (at least the ones I checked out). It may benefit you to break them up to slightly smaller pages.

I would love to see more pictures on your pages. I am sure you have stack-loads of great ones from your trips.

One small thing, the term "backpacking" must be used differently in the states (which I am presuming you are from) to where I am from (New Zealand). When someone says backpacking I think of traveling with a backpack, staying at backpackers and hostels.

Maybe you could try out some of these seed words for additional keywords "tramping" "hiking" "tramp" "hike" "overnight walk" "3 day walk" "4 day walk" etc. (You may already be using these, but just in case!!)

A favorite quote of mine:

"A year from now you may wish that you had started today." - Karen Lamb

You have started - so Congratulations!

In a year you will not believe how far you have come. I know I couldn't at the end of my first year with SBI. I am still working on my writing skills, sometimes have coding issues and I am always learning new things - but just doing something is half the battle!! All the best with Backpacking Buzz.

[stevo75]

Thanks for the feedback! I think "more photos" is the most common suggestion I'm getting.

It's true "backpacking" has different meanings in different places. I think it'll be obvious to Google which version of the word my site is about. Plus I have plenty of words like hiking and camping in there to solidify it.

And you're right, more content needs to be my focus right now. I just wanted to make sure I'm not missing anything big before I keep moving forward.

[Curtis2011]

I too would say to include more photos. If you want some site-design inspiration, you can check out Taiwanese-Secrets.com, one of my favorite-looking SBI sites.

The site includes tons of pictures, and even a bunch of slide shows that change automatically.

I can imagine backpacking could include tons of pictures as well.

[wbindia]

Stevo75-

Nice site and a fellow SBI'er! Keep building pages, conent content and more content, also integrate content 2.0 as well.

One thing I would also do, is to inlcude a site or two about back packing gear (day packs, weekend packs, etc), whih brand nanes (REI vs Mountain hard ware), etc. Also include a page or two about most favorite hikes or trails. If you're n the US, you's have to break down by geographical area (Northwest, Soutwest, Northeast, souteast) as an example.

Don't give up!

Best

Wayne

[Zaphod]

Interesting content. For now I would just unclutter that sidebar a little; if possible, I would move "about me", "contact", "privacy policy", and "disclaimer" down to the footer or somewehere to make a separate section - because those aren't really "the goods" of the site. Instead of "the basics" I would write "getting started", and I would make a section for specific hiking trips, although you are probably getting to that.

[stevo75]

Originally Posted by Zaphod

Interesting content. For now I would just unclutter that sidebar a little; if possible, I would move "about me", "contact", "privacy policy", and "disclaimer" down to the footer or somewehere to make a separate section - because those aren't really "the goods" of the site. Instead of "the basics" I would write "getting started", and I would make a section for specific hiking trips, although you are probably getting to that.

Will do. I'm sort of waiting to upgrade my template. I'm a newbie to this stuff and I have not idea how to customize my site. I can't move those items down to the footer because there's no automated option.

But within the next month or so my plan is to upgrade to a new template (either buy one from Rebecca - from World-of-Lucid-Dreaming) or use one of the new 3 column SBI designs. And to start using DreamWeaver to write my pages. I think those two things combined will give me what I need to customize and then I'll move that stuff down to the footer.

Anyone know if the new SBI templates will allow you to customize the templates? (Beyond just changing the graphic along the top...)

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by stevo75

Anyone know if the new SBI templates will allow you to customize the templates? (Beyond just changing the graphic along the top...)

Hey Stevo

I asked Pete about this because he designed one of the new SBI templates that will be on offer. He reckons you should be able to customize things like the color of the menu buttons, fonts sizes and styles and of course the header image. But certain elements like the background and dimensions of everything will be fixed. This is just his assumption - but we will definitely be having a play around with the new designs when they come out to see how this affects our design offering.

---

Just as a Ken-esque side note: We'll still run our Cre8ve template service because it offers something that SBI can never automate -- a professionally designed header image, that is unique to your niche. While the new templates will allow so many SBIers to upgrade to something a lot slicker, there will still be some SBIers scratching their heads because there isn't something that exactly fits their niche...

For instance, I don't remember seeing any entries that would suit my lucid dreaming concept as adequately as I would like. We felt a lot of the designs were very nichey but of course that's understandable - you can't possibly make 140 templates fit the thousands on thousands of specific niches out there!

One possible benefit of the new 3-column templates is that we will be able to provide Cre8ve designs for BlockBuilder users, who can just slot our image into one of the new style templates. That's what we're hoping anyway. Up until now, anyone who has wanted a Cre8ve template has to upgrade to uploading their own HTML pages (which I think is TOTALLY WORTH IT!!) but not everyone has the techie skills or the inclination to learn HTML.

---

[stevo75]

Thanks Rebecca!

There are still a few things that I'm a bit confused about.

1) Are the new templates out? Someone on here mentioned they were but I haven't seen anything about that on my SBI page. Admittedly, I'm not up to date on the SBI blog, so maybe I'll just read those.

2) I'm not sure what I'll be able to customize when I start uploading my own html. I don't really know what that involves.

Here's what I do know. (Keep in mind that I'm an engineer, have a ton of computer experience, and a lot of programming experience. It's just that none of that experience has ever been in the web design area).

I know I'm frustrated with the SBI block builder and I know there must be quicker and easier ways of doing this. From the research I've done, I've figure out that there are two options: 1) Use something like Wordpress or Joomla, or 2) Use an html editor like Dreamweaver. It sounds like option 2 is the only option if I want to stay with SBI - which I do.

Second, I don't want to be limited by my tempate. I know I want to change to a better template, but I want to have the freedom to customize it. For example, maybe the template is set up to have 4 header links across the top (horizontal nav bar). What if I want to add a 5th? Can I do this if I use dreamweaver? Or is this something, if I wanted to customize this sort of thing, that I would need to do by learning html and CSS and modifying the template source code?

I've already made the decision to start learning to upload my own html. And I decided to use dreamweaver to do that. But I'm still unsure about what I need to do/learn if I want to customize my template. With the new SBI templates, I know I'll be able to find something that I like better than what I have now, but I'm concerned that I'll become frustrated because I can't do something that seems like it should be a simple customization.

Any thoughts?

[stevo75]

One more quick thing...

I've already learned some html because, even using the block builder, it seems necessary in order to change fonts, change colors, make a bulleted list, etc.

It doesn't seem complicated, but it does seem pretty cumbersome. I've caught myself thinking that there must be a better way to do this than modifying an html tag, hitting the preview button, making an html mod, hitting preview again, etc. just to get a heading or photo to land in the right place and be the right size, color, etc.

I'm guessing DreamWeaver will take care of that, but let me know if I have all this wrong...

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by stevo75

1) Are the new templates out? Someone on here mentioned they were but I haven't seen anything about that on my SBI page. Admittedly, I'm not up to date on the SBI blog, so maybe I'll just read those.

Not that I'm aware of... No mention in the SBI newsletters and the Look & Feel still shows the old templates. I was thinking they'd be out by now, I'm sure it can't be much longer.

Originally Posted by stevo75

2) I'm not sure what I'll be able to customize when I start uploading my own html. I don't really know what that involves.

Here's what I do know. (Keep in mind that I'm an engineer, have a ton of computer experience, and a lot of programming experience. It's just that none of that experience has ever been in the web design area).

I know I'm frustrated with the SBI block builder and I know there must be quicker and easier ways of doing this. From the research I've done, I've figure out that there are two options: 1) Use something like Wordpress or Joomla, or 2) Use an html editor like Dreamweaver. It sounds like option 2 is the only option if I want to stay with SBI - which I do.

Second, I don't want to be limited by my tempate. I know I want to change to a better template, but I want to have the freedom to customize it. For example, maybe the template is set up to have 4 header links across the top (horizontal nav bar). What if I want to add a 5th? Can I do this if I use dreamweaver? Or is this something, if I wanted to customize this sort of thing, that I would need to do by learning html and CSS and modifying the template source code?

I've already made the decision to start learning to upload my own html. And I decided to use dreamweaver to do that. But I'm still unsure about what I need to do/learn if I want to customize my template. With the new SBI templates, I know I'll be able to find something that I like better than what I have now, but I'm concerned that I'll become frustrated because I can't do something that seems like it should be a simple customization.

Any thoughts?

Dreamweaver is fab. I have been using it for a while now. But if you want a free HTML editor, you can find free downloads with the same basic functionality. They should all be able to present your web pages in preview mode, as well as HTML mode and split screen mode. Being able to edit in preview mode is what makes it a WYSIWYG editor.

I'm probably the wrong person to ask about customizing templates in HTML... beyond simple stuff like fonts and colors, I don't know how to do any of it myself. However I can say this...

Adding an extra button on a vertical menu is easy. (For instance, Sheltie Planet: my menu file is a text Include File, and every time I add a new bullet point, my CSS creates a new button.) However I'm not sure about horizontal buttons (do the new SBI designs have these?) because the dimensions would be affected.

I think you will have to play around and see what's possible. This might be a dumb suggestion (remember I'm not THAT techie!) but would it be worth copying the source code from Sheltie Planet, which is fully derived from the new SBI template, and seeing how you can customize that in Dreamweaver, just for fun? I could send you the CSS if you want.

[Rebecca800]

Originally Posted by stevo75

One more quick thing...

I've already learned some html because, even using the block builder, it seems necessary in order to change fonts, change colors, make a bulleted list, etc.

It doesn't seem complicated, but it does seem pretty cumbersome. I've caught myself thinking that there must be a better way to do this than modifying an html tag, hitting the preview button, making an html mod, hitting preview again, etc. just to get a heading or photo to land in the right place and be the right size, color, etc.

I'm guessing DreamWeaver will take care of that, but let me know if I have all this wrong...

HELL YEAH! BlockBuilder IS cumbersome, which is why it's really only suited to complete newbies and techno-phobes. If you can handle a little HTML (of course you can!) then you will save yourself a lot of fuss down the line.

[east]

The first thing I did was look for your blog. I would replace "What's New?" with "Blog" if this was my site. I'm assuming you want to create a high-traffic blog or you at least want to consistently update your blog. Let people know its there if you aren't going to put it on the opening page.

I really enjoy the content and find it interesting. The masthead image is pixelated and looks low-quality on both of my monitors. PM me if you would like me to create a new one for you, I would love to help.

[ValerieM]

Originally Posted by wbindia

Nice site and a fellow SBI'er! Keep building pages, conent content and more content, also integrate content 2.0 as well.

One thing I would also do, is to inlcude a site or two about back packing gear (day packs, weekend packs, etc), whih brand nanes (REI vs Mountain hard ware), etc. Also include a page or two about most favorite hikes or trails. If you're n the US, you's have to break down by geographical area (Northwest, Soutwest, Northeast, souteast) as an example.

Hi Stevo,
I also looked around... I think it's amazing you've been backpacking so much! I agree with this feedback as well. Usually the first thing I do is look for articles and other content that catches my eye before I decide I want to read the About Me page or contact the admin. From the way your sidebar is set up it doesn't appear to have a lot of content (unless you look around harder).

Keep it up though! I am also a member of SBI and seeing people's progress with this is very inspirational!

[stevo75]

Originally Posted by east

The first thing I did was look for your blog. I would replace "What's New?" with "Blog" if this was my site. I'm assuming you want to create a high-traffic blog or you at least want to consistently update your blog. Let people know its there if you aren't going to put it on the opening page.

I really enjoy the content and find it interesting. The masthead image is pixelated and looks low-quality on both of my monitors. PM me if you would like me to create a new one for you, I would love to help.

Yeah, SBI has a limit on the photo size. I think it's 100 KB which is really annoying. I'm sure there must be some way to get around it.

Let me know if anyone knows anything about that...

[AdamA]

Originally Posted by stevo75

Thanks Rebecca!

There are still a few things that I'm a bit confused about.

2) I'm not sure what I'll be able to customize when I start uploading my own html. I don't really know what that involves.

Here's what I do know. (Keep in mind that I'm an engineer, have a ton of computer experience, and a lot of programming experience. It's just that none of that experience has ever been in the web design area).

I know I'm frustrated with the SBI block builder and I know there must be quicker and easier ways of doing this. From the research I've done, I've figure out that there are two options: 1) Use something like Wordpress or Joomla, or 2) Use an html editor like Dreamweaver. It sounds like option 2 is the only option if I want to stay with SBI - which I do.

Second, I don't want to be limited by my tempate. I know I want to change to a better template, but I want to have the freedom to customize it. For example, maybe the template is set up to have 4 header links across the top (horizontal nav bar). What if I want to add a 5th? Can I do this if I use dreamweaver? Or is this something, if I wanted to customize this sort of thing, that I would need to do by learning html and CSS and modifying the template source code?

I've already made the decision to start learning to upload my own html. And I decided to use dreamweaver to do that. But I'm still unsure about what I need to do/learn if I want to customize my template. With the new SBI templates, I know I'll be able to find something that I like better than what I have now, but I'm concerned that I'll become frustrated because I can't do something that seems like it should be a simple customization.

Any thoughts?

stevo,

I'm don't have the technical background you do, and I was able to do fine in learning what I needed to know. With SBI as your host, I think joomla is out because SBI doesn't allow php to run on its servers/hosts.

The template I'm running now (FYI - the person who designed it had a lot to do with the new SBI 3-column templates if I'm not mistaken) is an easily customizable 3 column template that uses CSS (you can find the template here Help for those with an SBI website ~ tips and tricks). If I want to modify the horizontal header on my site for instance, essentially, I just add or subtract another list <li> element in Dreamweaver or another HTML editor (see code below). Piece o' cake. The template/CSS automatically ensures everything is the right font-size/color/etc.

If you use what's called an SBI-include (there's an article on this in the TNT HQ I forget where exactly), you just have to change it in one file (the include file) and upload it. Then SBI will automatically change all your pages over to the new header.

 <ul>
        <li><a href="http://www.yoursite.com/index.html">Home</a></li>
        <li><a href="http://www.yoursite.com/page2.html">What's New?</a></li>
        <li><a href="http://www.yoursite.com/page3.html">Free Report</a></li>
        ...
      </ul>

I haven't played with the code Rebecca is suggesting, so I don't know how easy that will be yet (though I soon will be since I'm having the company Rebecca suggested redesign my logo, so you can always email me if you want a 2nd opinion).

Also, I entered the SBI 3-column template competition (didn't win) but I was able to make a fairly basic design and able to modify their CSS code. It was very similar to the current template I'm running on my site.

Bottom line, if I can do it w/o a solid engineering/programming background, I'm fairly confident you can. Hope that helps.

[stevo75]

Thanks AdamA!

I'm sure I'll be able to figure this stuff out. I just don't know where to start. I just bought Dreamweaver so I'll learn how to use that first.

Where did you learn to modify the CSS templates? Is this something that's easy to do through Dreamweaver, or did you learn this through SBI?

I guess the first steps would be to go through all of SBIs action guide videos about uploading my own html. But let me know if there's a resource I should be aware of. Eventually I want to be able to modify either the SBI 3-column templates or an SBI-compatible template (from Rebecca for example).

[AdamA]

Originally Posted by stevo75

Thanks AdamA!

I'm sure I'll be able to figure this stuff out. I just don't know where to start. I just bought Dreamweaver so I'll learn how to use that first.

Where did you learn to modify the CSS templates? Is this something that's easy to do through Dreamweaver, or did you learn this through SBI?

I guess the first steps would be to go through all of SBIs action guide videos about uploading my own html. But let me know if there's a resource I should be aware of. Eventually I want to be able to modify either the SBI 3-column templates or an SBI-compatible template (from Rebecca for example).

Hi stevo,

Mostly I learned by trial and error from working with AJ's template (it also comes with a manual that kind of walks you through what you can modify and what you shouldn't) that I pointed you to earlier (and using Google whenever I came across something I didn't know). Now that SBI is rolling out their own 3 column, I'm sure you can learn from them - plus they'll be instructions on how to modify it with the action guide most likely. Essentially, CSS is composed of classes (and id's, but to keep it simple for now, I'll just talk about classes). When you assign a class to an HTML element (such as a paragraph <p>), you're telling the browser to render that particular element as defined by the CSS class. So defining a class in a stylesheet as:

.stevoclass {
text-decoration: underline;
}

and then specifying in your html page, say stevo.html:

<p class="stevoclass">Hi my name is Stevo.  This is all underlined</p>

The above sentence would be underlined when you view stevo.html in your browser. Whenever I came to a property I didn't know in whatever template I was working with, I just Googled for it. I have to say I've taken an interest how much easier a website is to manage using CSS. The 2 column Blockbuilder was a pain to use....(I built about 10 pages when I started before I realized it was slowing me down).

Now for modifying any templates you have, it is good to know about what is called SBI includes - it will save you a lot of work in the long run - you just make a change to an include file and every one of your web pages that has an "include tag" will change automatically. Go into the SBI HQ and just search for "include" - you'll see there's a step by step guide that walks you through SBI includes.

Hope this helps, and let me know if you have any other ?'s.