I have a new website

[Che]

As some know, I grow/sell daylilies online. I've done a pretty half-way job of it in the past while as I've been trying to grow kids at the same time.

My youngest is leaving this fall for college. I've given myself permission to start looking at and preparing for MY future....which is probably still going to be based on the farm. This is my start.

www.maysacres.com

My old site had no real organization, just a jumble of pictures threw together into some galleries....kinda. "Bitty".....was a description from a computer-web person on a forum. It was all on a black background, which I really liked, but I found that some feel the dark sites are too 'underground' feeling (hmmmmpfh.)

So I bought a template, and two (?) years later finally figured it out. I'm not going with a 'shopping cart'...cuz although I'd like to say I'm organized enough to keep up with inventory, I am definitely not. Each order is handled as it comes...I check the plants to make sure they are healthy, and plentiful enough for me to send out. I have added a paypal button....we'll see how that works.

Some of the galleries (ice storm for one) are still in the works.

I've learned alot transferring over all this information and WILL say if you're starting your own website: Take the time to have an organized folder structure in place BEFORE you start adding all your images, etc. I added a subweb that is strictly for images. That way any major changes can be done without dealing with the huge bandwidth. Perhaps on high speed it wouldn't be as bad, but doing this all on dial-up has been hell (and really, really bad on this old lady's back.) This was done with Frontpage.

Any suggestions or criticisms would be greatly appreciated.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Dang Che, I can't think of anything to add to that! Nice site!

 

[vharrison]

Che, I like it! Thanks for identifying the snakes in the nature gallery. I did not have to click there! Good job!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I think you are doing a fine job of it ....

 

[stehansen]

Pretty cool.

 

[Chisel Tooth]

Great site Che, I like the story about Tuck, and 740, cool idea using the truck to feed. There are some great pics in the A weed is just a wildflower with attitude section. Best of luck to you, I think you will do well.

 

[rumination]

Very nice Che!

 

[gf beranek]

Excellent and very well organized. Beautiful photography.

 

[Stumper]

VERY nice!

 

[sotc]

i just glanced for now but i like the front page

 

[Al Smith]

Lookin good .I might add so are the daylilies in my back yard .

I imagine that KY is about 2 weeks ahead of this area as far as springs arrival .

 

[Labour of Love]

Excellent!! Are you growing 'Sandy Denny' yet?

 

[Al Smith]

What in the world is Sandy Denney ? We got red ones ,yellow ones ,tall ones and short ones .A few blue and some multi colored . That's about my knowledge of day lillies

This much I do know though .You plant a few and before you know it you have many .

 

[Che]

Al...if you have a blue daylily, you'll be a rich man soon!

Thanks for the nice comments everybody!

I was out in the garden today...in between dragging limbs from the ice storm, still....everything is getting ready to pop up....daffodils are everywhere....iris are thinking about it....and daylilies will be next.

 

[Labour of Love]

What in the world is Sandy Denney ? We got red ones ,yellow ones ,tall ones and short ones .A few blue and some multi colored . That's about my knowledge of day lillies

This much I do know though .You plant a few and before you know it you have many .

'Sandy Denny' is as particularly nice pink; named after a wonderful singer.

 

[pantheraba]

I think you have done a fine job with the site. I have put one together before and it was tough...not nearly as well laid out and as functional as yours.

 

[Che]

Excellent!! Are you growing 'Sandy Denny' yet?

No....can't say that I do. I haven't kept up with any of the newer cultivars in the past 5 years or so. If you're looking for it, I can try to find it for you, though.

SANDY DENNIS image at Dave's Garden.

Gary, thanks! The template really helped carry out what I WANTED to do, but didn't have the experience (or vision) to lay out myself.

The script that makes the pop-out menu thingee on the left made it easy to have lots of pages, but all accessible from every page.

This template also uses what's called 'included content'. Again, I'm using Frontpage, but I'm sure it's a basic web design tool used in the other programs or just using your own code. The cool thing about it is that you can change the content without having to mess with the way the page itself looks....when summer starts rolling around, I'll be able to change the right cells (with the flower, Tuck, the ant....) to spots to announce 'specials' about flowers I'd like to move fast....or whatever I want to highlight.

Even using a template, you have to change some things around. I found this same template used elsewhere and it showed me how it could be very confusing to actually follow if you're shopping.

 

[Blinky]

I like that a lot better Che. The tabs make it a LOT easier to look through the different cultivars.

 

[Che]

I like that a lot better Che. The tabs make it a LOT easier to look through the different cultivars.

Good to hear....I was hoping it would be easier. Thanks!

Now I'm working on the banner.

I would REALLY, REALLY appreciate it if someone clicks on something that doesn't show up, please send me a message....the contact tab on top is a form that just shows up in my email box. pretty easy. I'm finding that even naming an image file '.JPG' instead of '.jpg' will cause a nice red X in some browsers. Hopefully I've fixed them all.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Very nice, but for contrast to the bright colors (esp. when small pix) ; i do miss the black background.'

i'd also suggest making the icons for daylillies, seedlings could be clicked, rather than just words.

Very nice!

 

[Al Smith]

Al...if you have a blue daylily, you'll be a rich man soon!

Maybe it's purple .I'll have to wait and see what they look like when they pop out . I did notice yesterday a few red ones are blooming .

That is unless I got them confused with tulips which I thought the moles had eaten . At any rate red flowers of some sort or another emerging as I type .

 

[Che]

Thanks KC. I miss the black background, also. I will probably 'tweak' this site in the future. The template gave me the structure, but there are a few things that don't sit right and I'll change when I know how.

I thought the icons WERE clickable, thanks for the heads up.

I was playing with a new header, waaaayyyy too late on Friday night. Screwed things up and its going to take some time to fix it.

I sure wish I knew what I was doing.