www.Yarraville.com.au


UPDATE! Site now live, sans much content...

Hi all,

Wondering if I could please get some feedback on a Joomla site that's still in progress.

I've also posted this on the Joomla.org site, but I have yet to receive any feedback from there...

It's the just the beginning (and basic structure) of a local business directory / events calendar / classifieds site.

Quite a few pages are yet to appear (not to mention the content!) but if you could give me some feedback on the few pages listed below, it would be greatly appreciated!

If anything looks odd, out of place, or if errors appear, please send details, a screen shot if you can, the name and version of the browser you were using, and your operating system details to: contact (-a-t-) nicmason (-d-o-t-) com


Website URL:

www.Yarraville.com.au


Template:

+ An extensive modification of JA Sargas.


Additional Extensions (Components, Modules, Plug ins):

+ SOBI 2 Business Directory - Modified.
+ Extended Menu Pathway - Modified.
+ JCal Pro Events Calendar - Changed some CSS.
+ Ads Manager - Modified the \"Light Box\" navigation appearance.
+ eWeather - Replaced icons.
+ Weather - JVTempo Module
+ RW Cards - Yet to be modified - English language file to be rewritten.
+ Joomap
+ Web Links +Thick Box - Used for News
+ Contact Us Form (Joomla Core Component) - Modified to add extra fields.


Custom Development:

+ Developed a custom ad banner module to display specific ads on relevant pages.
+ Modified the above module to display random images as a gallery preview module.


Other Features:

+ Google maps API and JavaScript used to provide custom driving directions.


Some specific areas that I'd like feedback on: Ease of use and ease of navigation, understandability, design and graphics.


Additional Comments:

+ Would have loved to try out \"Marketplace\" for the classifieds section, but could not get it to upload images. Has anyone solved this issue..?


Thank you for reading this far, and for your feedback!

Cheers!

Nic

www.NicMason.com

Nic,

Very impressive. Looks like SOBI2 is definitely the component I will be using now for about 5 directory sites I need to build over summer.

I've not used Marketplace, so can't help you there, but did you look at bannersmanager by Joomprod who created adsmanager to do your banners. I've got it working on a few sites now - though it's basic, it gives the few extra features over the banners component that comes with Joomla. There's also a commercial AdsServer component coming out soon, but I can't remember who was putting that together.

Patrick

Also I've been using OpenAds (openads.org - free) banner management for years. It's very fully featured and although it's a bit to learn, clients like it. It integrates well with Joomla - I write my own modules (one for each ad position) but there's also a Joomla add-on available in the extensions directory.

Also I think you cant go wrong with jCalPro, Joomap, Google maps and SOBI 2. I would have chosen them too.

I've never used Marketplace or any Classifieds add-on, so can't comment on that.

I'd be interested to hear how you go with RW Cards. It's functionality is OK, but somehow it still left me a bit underwhelmed. Perhaps it was only a styling/language issue. What do you think?

You don't mention SEO - is it coming later? I've been through Artio and OpenSEF and now I'm favouring sh404SEF and some other add-ons for meta tags.

Nice site - I like what you've done. It's easy to understand and navigate. I would perhaps have separated some of the front page icons out in to sets though. It's a little bit confusing to have advertising, events and directions in the same batch as the directory.

The images you've used for your front page directory icons are all very bright. Once you get ads on the page too, it may become visually overwhelming.

The classifieds background colour?

The 'sample ad - full details' is fantastic in content, but a bit busy in content. You might like to look at separating the sections more effectively. It's a bit visually confusing - perhaps more white space?

Also the fact that is has two Google maps may throw some people off.

Hope this helps. Nice work.

D

Thank you very much, Partic and Dex!

Your comments are much appreciated, and very constructive!

I'm trying out some of your suggestions now...

Cheers!

Nic


www.NicMason.com

Hi Nic,

Living in Newport, 3min down the road from Yarraville, I can't wait until your site is up and running...

The first thing that jumped at me was your nice eWeather integration. The way you put it was a question I had at our last MUG meeting. So here I found the answer. The icon change was a nifty one too... You also mentioned the JVTempo Module. I couldn't find it?!

Sobi, one of my favorite components, is really nicely integrated into your site!!! Very clean, including the submenu when you click on Business Directory. The way you set up the different modules/plugins is brilliant. Now, how do you like people to submit their business details? Are you going to use the integrated payment processor, or do you have to administer everything yourself?

I am using the adsmanager on one of my sites too. Adsmanager doesn't have an integrated payment system, and comes a bit short in its display options. I presume people have to send you their ads? Anyway, as far as I know, adsmanager is still the best free classifieds module.

How do you get clients to enter calendar events? Are you planning a member zone?
The only comment to JCal Pro is that you can't enter recurring events such as \"every third Wed every month\". JEvents has this option and in my case it comes very handy. As far as I understand, it is not on JCal's to do list. The featured event idea is nice. How do you separate featured events from ordinary ones?

Nic, the site is great. Would you be interested in talking about this site at one of our next MUG meetings? I am sure you will get heaps of feedback while giving us a good run on your strategy with that site.

Cheers,
Matthias

Hi Matthias,

Thank you very much for your feedback!


Regarding the points raised so far:


+ Ad banner components: I looked at a few, but they didn't seem to have the ability to specifiy which pages (to the extent that I wanted) the various ads would appear on.

The component I wrote looks at the current URL (sometimes truncated) to determine which ads to display.

Does one of the banner components mentioned so far have a similar ability?


+ SEO: I played with this briefly, but as I had already written the above component, I found that it was better for the functioning of the banner component if I could be certain of EXACTLY how the URL would appear without worrying that it could be changed in unexpected ways. Will definitely explore this in a later stage.


+ RW Cards: It's almost there. Does the job, and could have a bit more functionality added, but yes, I think it's mostly a styling issue.


+ The front page icons: Yes, I need to work on their logical arrangement... Any ideas..? ...And yes, it could be visually overwhelming with a lot of sparkly ad banners on the page, too. One idea was to go for a single colour instead of full colour.


+ AdsManager: Definitely going to change the colours here! Will get to it soon!


+ Sample Ad - Full Details: Had another user say that they found it confusing, too. Have changed it a little, will change it more and add still more cues to help users through it.


+ Googlemaps x 2: Was a bit concerned about the two maps, myself, and have to admit that one is rather redundant. I just wanted to have a map that was close to the top of the page. However, when you add the driving directions, it makes more sense to have the whole thing at the bottom of the page. Hmm... What to do..?


+ JV Tempo: You should be able to find it in Extensions at Joomla.org. I changed a bit of the code to link to the eWeather component.


+ How clients will submit their details: I don't have an ideal solution for this yet: They can submit basic details through the contact form, and pay via PayPal for their subscription. Then a second contact is required via email/phone/in-person to acquire any additional materials from them for their listing.


+ Memberships: No site membership features at this stage. Would like to go more Web 2.0 in the next stage, so that clients can have more direct control over their listings.


+ Featured Events: A separate category in the calendar listings. These are the only events that will have links appear on the front page.


Would be very happy to talk about the site at a future meeting, if members would find it useful! When is that happening?


Thanks again everyone for the feedback and advice!

Now let's get this thing finished!!!

Cheers!

Nic


www.NicMason.com.au

One other thing I've recently noticed, is that the \"sample ad - full details\" pages sometimes causes the ie6 and ie7 browsers to crash. Has anyone looked at that page in IE and experienced this?

http://yarraville.com.au/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=24&sobi2Id=2&Itemid=62

Not sure why it's happening... Maybe the Javascript..?


Cheers!

Nic

Hi Nic,

In terms of future meetings, check this out for your next chance...

Would be great if you can make it.
Matthias

Hi Matthias,

I'll be there for drinks, at the very least!

Cheers!

Nic

www.NicMason.com

Have added some more formatting to the \"SAMPLE AD - DETAILS\" and the \"SAMPLE EVENT
which helps to organise the content a bit more and makes it easier to follow:

http://yarraville.com.au/index.php?option=com_sobi2&sobi2Task=sobi2Details&catid=24&sobi2Id=2&Itemid=62

http://yarraville.com.au/index.php?option=com_jcalpro&Itemid=58&extmode=view&extid=2


Is this now easy(ier) to read? Anything you would change?

Yes, nice work. It looks much better.

For myself, I might consider using more than one colour (for your text and boxes), or using coloured background instead of border. I might be tempted to make the About Us background a different colour - to make it stand out - i.e. colour code your sections. You could also make the section headers in to graphics instead of boxes. There's still a lot of dense text there, and anything you can do to lead the eye will probably help.

Hope that's useful - the site looks good!

d

Thanks again, dex!

Good points.

I know I can do much better, of course, but I just haven't had the brain cells to spare! Will see what I can come up with later... Changes might have to go into \"Stage 2.\"

Cheers!

Nic


www.NicMason.com.au

http://forum.joomla.org/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=238018.0;attach=42540;image

www.Yarraville.com.au


UPDATE! Site now live, sans much content...

Am in the process of updating to Joomla 1.5.

Stay tuned!

Took a while to get there, but it's all updated to 1.5 now. Just in time for 1.6!

Yarraville.com.au

Seeking opinions on the updated site, particularly in the areas of:

+ Design
+ How to attract more interest from local businesses / the general community

All feedback gratefully received!

Cheers,

Nic

Hi Nic,

Firstly congrats on the upgrade

the main suggestion i have is to uncluttered your home page.

you want to put this space to good use because this will be the most visited page and the first impression on your site. i would suggest you concentrate on your core business here, something easy to understand and easy to read or look at.

personally i would probably use a prominent directory search and/or list of categories can be selected from.

but of course your still going to want to use a portion of the home page to help make it feel local, stories or up coming events or gallery, but this need to be kept this to a minimal and updated for those who will visit again will have something new to look at(keep them interested).

from the design side i simple clean look, i might tweak a few colours and make my headings stand out a tad more.

btw design not my strong suit so dont hold me to that.

if you get stuck with any thing or have any questions post on here ill be keeping an eye out to help out where i can.

good luck mate
Benny

Hi Benny,

Thanks very much for the feedback!

Good points, all of them. I agree with you about making the front more focused, particularly on the directory, and a cleaner look.

Cheers,

Nic