Website and Forum

[Susan Mouw]

I will be working with the configuration of the forum tonight and tomorrow morning, so you might see something flash, then go away, or it might stay.  The tweaking of the colors is so it will match the new website that will be installed sometime late tomorrow. I wish it was one of those things I could play with off-line, and then just load the finished product, but without loading some heavy software, that's not possible.

I look forward to everyone's comments and suggestions about the new changes, but please wait until it is all done. I will post a comment in this thread when the forum work is complete.

The website changes that will be installed late tomorrow are mostly just appearances - bringing a little more consistency between the pages and a few simple "bells and whistles". After those changes are installed, then the real fun begins! I have lots of ideas about how to bring the website more current and functional.

Thanks everyone...for your much looked for comments and suggestions and for your patience during the transition.

Susan

[Susan Mouw]

Still a work in progress, but the colors are starting to run together in my brain. So..off to catch some zzzs and continue tomorrow!

[Susan Mouw]

Ok...phase 1 of forum changes and website upload is complete. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

The changes to the website, at this time, are mostly cosmetic. So, the content is mostly the same as what it was before - just minor changes in how it is displayed.  However, bigger changes are coming.  Here are a couple of things I will be working on:

Online Membership renewal form and link to paypal.
Online sortable/searchable Breeder's Directory.
Online shopping for the ABC merchandise with payments going to paypal.
Major changes to the gallery - but I need your help with this one.  Some of the pics in the gallery are fantastic - very crisp, clear images of very nice birds - some are not so nice. I would love to expand the gallery to show several birds of each variety and to improve the overall quality, navigation, and functionality of the gallery.  This is where everyone (including myself over the last few years) come to see what a good quality Ameraucana should look like at different stages and I think we should have multiple pictures to show them.

Forum changes are moderate at this time and there won't be a lot of changes. I will still keep working on it, as time permits, to merge it more into the overall website look and feel, but that will be a "as time permits" project and doesn't have top priority.

[John]

It would be nice to have the top logo/banner link back to the website as before.  The logos on the website link to the forum and was done to quickly and easily navigate back and forth between the two.

[Susan Mouw]

Yep..just caught that.

Thanks for bringing it to my attention, John!

[Fyremare]

Lookin' good! Welcome Susan!

[Jeffery and Cheryl Vance]

We like so far

[Birdcrazy]

Ok...phase 1 of forum changes and website upload is complete. I welcome your comments and suggestions.

Major changes to the gallery - but I need your help with this one.  Some of the pics in the gallery are fantastic - very crisp, clear images of very nice birds - some are not so nice. I would love to expand the gallery to show several birds of each variety and to improve the overall quality, navigation, and functionality of the gallery.  This is where everyone (including myself over the last few years) come to see what a good quality Ameraucana should look like at different stages and I think we should have multiple pictures to show them.

Susan, I like the new format on the gallery so that you don't have to keep going back and forth selecting between varieties, age and sex of photos. It is all there in one click for LF and another click for Bantam. My question is would it be possible as under the old photos on the Forum to click on one of the new gallery photos and get a larger enhancement?

[Mike Gilbert]

Susan, I do like the new photo gallery format.   Are you sure the large fowl blue wheaten female shown is not actually a wheaten?   Her tail feathers look pretty dark.  Nice bird in any case. 

[Jean]

It looks like a wheaten to me too Mike.  We'll have to find another picture of a blue wheaten to use.

I do prefer that photo over the current one used for the wheaten LF female though.

Everything is coming along nicely Susan.  I haven't update my own personal website because it is so time consuming.  Thank you for offering your time and your skills!!

[Sharon Yorks]

Looks great, Susan! I'm just now taking the time to look around the site at all the new pages. I love the new color scheme and layout. And yes, the Gallery is much nicer this way.

I just noticed the: http://www.ameraucana.org/docs/MembershipForm.pdf link on the "Club Membership" page has an error screen (Object Not Found). Would you like for us to point stuff like this out?

[Clif Redden]

Susan,  the Web site is really looking great. Thanks for all the work you're doing.

[John]

My question is would it be possible as under the old photos on the Forum to click on one of the new gallery photos and get a larger enhancement?

I agree with Gordan and would like to see clickable thumbnail pics.

[Susan Mouw]

Yes, that is a great idea. I can do that for those pics that have larger images - which, fortunately, is most of them.

However - the current format is probably only temporary. I'm really re-thinking the whole gallery - its purpose, its function, and how to best and most efficiently accomplish those. Especially as more pics for each variety are added, the current format won't hold up.

Start digging through your online picture albums, folks, and send me pics of the different varieties of both large fowl and bantam.

[Susan Mouw]

On the blue wheaten hen - I agree, that doesn't look like a blue wheaten. However it is the pic that was on the previous scrapbook as the blue wheaten hen and I just copied them all over.

I would love to have a better pic of a nice blue wheaten hen, if someone has one.  I was going through my pics and the best one I have has the opposite problem - so little blue, she almost looks like a splash.

But...I'll let y'all decide - if this pic doesn't work (and you won't hurt my feelings if it doesnt), then someone send me a new blue wheaten hen, please.