Over the course of this year I have had feedback from various sources that there is a new style of website around that is more aimed at mobile users and optimised as such. This class of website is more dynamic and has a lot more features in than the free ones I generally use. I use free ones to keep the costs of production down.
Over the past year there has been a shift from the traditional desktop fixed computer configuration when accessing the web to mobile users. These changes reflect this.
Last year I introduced some responsive templates to some organisations, notably Home-Start users. These adapt the presentation of the site to mobile users screen width. Said in another way you do not need to zoom in to read the text as you would with fixed template styled sites. This next step will help to create a more dynamic and visually appealing website.
I have signed up to an organisation that provides premium templates so I will begin to incorporate those in new designs from April if a client wishes to use one. There will be a small additional charge added to my standard pricing if you want to use one of these templates.
First Site has Launched
I have spent just over a week figuring out how the new templates and editing works with this premium system. The editor adds another layer above the layer you are familiar with. This new layer gives a section view so you can see a summary of the layout visually in the editor in block format. Having used it for a few days it is quite intuitive, but different from what we have been doing.
The template I have used is one of 87 premium templates available to me.
The site can be viewed here: http://voicesandchoices.org.uk/
Stock Images
As part of this project I signed up for Adobe Stock Images which allows me to download and use a number of high resolution images for the web and for publications. Some of these images are used on this site. We downloaded 27 for a little less than £100. These will now form part of the branding for this organisation and can be used in both print form and on the website. This gets around the problem of adding images to a site to make it look more interesting and relevant when you don’t have any free ones available. The licensing in this case covers both web and print use in perpetuity. The images are not transferrable out of the organisation.
If you want more control….
The web editing side is more complex than the existing sites. If you would like to do more with your site layout wise then this may be a suitable path for you to use. As always there is a fine balance between usability from an editing standpoint and having an all singing and dancing website. I think this approach gets us to the middle ground. Sites will look more dynamic and interesting as a result and you are not tied to a framework that is as rigid as the current systems we are using (even if they are easier to edit).
The bulk of the work is in the reformatting of the existing information which I will do for you, the rest can be created by you following some simple guidelines.
If you are looking for a new site, a refresh of your current site or something else drop me a line and we can explore options.