Thanks, Nancy.   Why do you recommend Wordpress over Wix?     Tony ... View more

Thanks, Nancy.   Ben Pleysier advised me to code.  He listed 13 coding programs to me to try. ... View more

I got quotes from three companies to redo my Web site.  The employees have backgrounds primarily as developers, and lack qualifications as designers, writers and editors, yet they all fancy themselves as designers and seem to overlook writing completely because they're not trained in designing, writing or editing.   All three of their company Web sites are riddled with design and writing errors, which apparently they're not even aware of, since their company Web sites are their primary marketing tools to attract customers.     They all advised me in separate interviews with me on how they would 'improve' and 'modernize' my site, but I could tell from their advice they didn't have a clue about how to design Web sites.  One of them – the president of his company – has a bachelor of science degree in engineering, and no apparent design or writing training, yet he advised me – a former graphic designer, writer, editor, typesetter and business communicator –  on how he would personally 'improve'  my site and he said he didn't need to consult a designer to do so.     Such tech guys are a sad joke because they'r clueless about design and writing and they don't know that they don't know, so they're shameless and arrogant about their skills.     I think I. T. people such as coders are usually not good at graphic design, editing and non-technical writing,  because they usually think entirely differently from each other.   Tony ... View more

Thanks for that list and advice, Ben.     But why would I want to edit code?  I'm not good at that, so I hate it.     When try to fix code, it's often by pasting a good piece of code in place of what seems to be a bad piece.I'd much rather fix work on the design side, as the design side is more intuitive.     Tony ... View more

Thanks, Jon.     Dreaweaver shows that my remote pages have the HTML extension, not the PHP extension.    What platform do you recommend for such a conversion to a more malleable design of my Web site?   Tony ... View more

Thanks for that suggestion, Ben.   If I were to use Wrappler and/or Railway, I would still have to struggle to learn how to use them and how to inegrate Wrappler with Dreamweaver.   In addition, I don't want to have to struggle to learn to use Railway and then if the company that makes it raises its prices too much, to have to struggle to find a replacement host.  I just went through such a stressful struggle when my first, annual SSL certificate expired.  It took me days of research to figure out that the way I handled the certificate issue was unnecessarily complex because I had chosen an extra company instead of my Web site hosting company to set up the certificate for me.  Changing companies always involves complexities.  It's also why I don't change my bank, ISP or phone service provider; doing so only causes headaches.     Also, i prefer not do deal with ANY code, because I'm a writer and designer type of person – not a code-oriented person.   Tony ... View more

Thanks, Ben.   You wrote, "With a site created with Dreamweaver, you are free to use any other web development editor and free to use any host to host the site."     But Dreamweave doesn't come with a shopping cart system and international shipping options provided.  Wix does come with those selling and shipping functions.   Tony ... View more

Some of the developers I consulted were from Wix's professional developers and designers referrrals systme on the Wix site.   Why do you write that I'd be "stuck with Wix with its prcing strategy" as opposed to being free in Dreamweaver.  Adobe also has a pricing strategy that I'm stuck with; I'm paying Adobe $930 annually to lease Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Indesign and Acrobat Pro.  That's almost $10,000 in leasing fees I pay to Adobe every decade.  Is that what you call being free?  Railway and Github also charge for their services, and they might raise their rates if they become popular, so those are alternative costs.     Also, I've never heard of Railway or Github, so I don't want to take the risk of branching out to use programs I've never heard of before and which were never recommended to me before.     Also, every Web developer company and platform such as Wix, Shopfiy and Wordpress, whose Web sitees I've seen. claim on their sites that their platforms are easy to learn and use, but I've never found any of them to be easy. It's just hype to get customers to sign up and earn profits for them.  I noticed that, unfailingly, the video you linked too also claims that Railway or Github is easy to use.   Tony   ... View more

Is there a better solution?   Tony ... View more

Thanks, Liam.     I made my Dreamweaver site.  It is too much work to redo it on another system.  My site has about 1,400 pages and almost 2,800 images. ... View more

How can I know if my Web site is using dynamic data stored in a MySQL database?   Tony ... View more

Thanks, Nancy and Jon.   I've never put my Web site data into an MS Office database or spreadsheet program.   I don't understnad why I should research how to Export Access or Excel data (whatever that means) to CSV,  since you just informed me that .csv files wouldn't be useable in Wix.     Tony ... View more

Thanks, Ben.   I don't know how to check for how many users are leaving the site without finding what they looked for.  I gave up trying to figure out things like that in Google Analytics because it's too technical for me to be able to figure out without spending too much time on such technical issues to make my time use efficient.   You wrote, "So if you don't have data, how do you know your design works as a fact?"  As I explained previously, I get direct feedback from my customers who email me and visit my studio gallery and buy my products and praise my Web site.  I get direct feedback from my customers who, when I ask them, often tell me that they searched for a particular kind of art on the Intenet and that's what led them to my site.  That's because of the considerable amount of promotion I've done over the years.  And I get feedback from the dozens of unsolicited compliments about my site's quality – its organization and ease of finding what the users are looking for.  The proportion of compliments far exceeds the proportion of critisisms.  One exception, as I explained before, too, is the increasing number of choices of products, but there's no practical solution to that problem.    You wrote, "And to your point: 'When running a small business, missing opportunities is a necessity', I cannot agree with that statement.  No; you're wrong.  I'm already considerably in debt and my sales are down significantly because of the virus and other factors. I can't afford to hire staff and there's a limit to how much money I can borrow to stay afloat.   You don't understand the profound negative effects of the virus.  For the first in decades in the U. S., the life expectancy has decreased because about 660,000 Americans have died prematurely and shoppers' buying has been suppressed.  In Canada, it's expected that 225,000 small business will not survive the pandemic crisis and many of those businesses have already closed permanently.     You wrote, "a website is to be seen as an investment over time and you will only be able to get out of it what you put into it."  I'm well aware of that and you missed my point.  Upgrading my Web site is only one opportunity out of thousands of opportunities that are available to me (and other small businesses) at any given time.  It's IMPOSSIBLE  for me therefore to take advantage of even a small fraction of those opportunities because I'm not a super hero; I can't be in more than one place at a time, and you missed my point also that every opportunity (or seeming opportunity) comes with a cost.  For example, I have art dealers and galleries who sell my art, but most of them charge a 50 percent commission, which seriously reduces my net income, and the more middlemen like that that I have promoting my work, the more time I need to dedicate to managing those sellers, which means I have less time for social media promotion, less time to experiment with new art subject matter, less time to upgrade my Web site, less time to work on advertising that's not related to my Web site, less time to paint, etcetera.     I'm human, and therefore I need to take care of my health, so I'm not willing to risk overworking to the point of getting a heart attack or stroke from overwork, which is what you and some of my slave-driver middlemen sellers have pushed me to do.  If I die of a heart attack or stroke, my art and my Web site will be useless.  It's imprtant to keep such things in perspective.  I want to stay alive and be healthy, so devoting every waking moment to my career, as you've implied I should, would be unsustainable and foolish.   I'm one of Canada's top fine artists, with decades of experience, with collectors of my art in 29 countries, I have 49 corporate and institutional collectors, I've been the top-selling artist in several art galleries, I've had 157 art galleries and dealers selling my art, and I have probably one the biggest individual artist Web sites on the world (with 1,300 print editions available)  and at least tens of thousands of fans, and my art has been seen by millions of people.     You've never sold any art or been an artist.  You don't know anything about the art industry or what it takes to run an art business, so you're not qualified me to advise me on how to succeed as an artist.  Your statement that I can take advantage of every opportunity to make and promote art that there is clearly absurd because it's impossible, and it shows that you don't know anything about what it means to be an artist and a small businessman, and this again shows that not all of the advice I receive in this group can be trusted.   Tony ... View more

I called my ISP a few days ago and the technician there tested my site twice by making two test pages and uploading them to the server.  He emailed me in conclusion that those new test pages loaded quickly onto the server.     He blamed my cache, cookies and/or history being to blame for slow loading of my newly edited pages that I try to upload, but that can't be the reason, because no matter how much I clear my cache, cookies and history just before uploading, the new page edits are still usually too slow to appear in the browers both on my Imac and on my Iphone.   Tony           ... View more

Regarding the text size, having bigger text means that users have to scroll more to read the text.  The bigger the text is, the more users have to scroll.  Isn't this self-explanatory?  I thought everyone here is a professional Web developer.  If you can't read the text, you can zoom in or increase the page size.  Also, I've had my Web site for a quarter of a century – since 1996 – and you're the first person to complain that the text size is too small.  If I get the same complaint from others, I'll consider increasing the text size, but one complaint is 25 years is insufficient reason to increase the size.     Also on this topic, I've designed the site so that the body copy is the same size.  This sonsistency is also consistent with professional design standards.   Regarding the wasted space:  Obviously  you don't have a backgroud in graphic design, Birnou.  I do.  I'm a former professional graphic designer.  Having graphics displays that have lots of empty space (called "white space" by graphic designers) is a commonly used design element among professional graphic designers and is taught in all good graphic design schools, books and workshops.   Have you never noticed billboards that have only one sentence, or a few words, or one word on them, surrounded by empty space?   Another reason for the so-called 'wasted space' is for legibitily.  One of the primary rules of graphic design incorporating text is not to have long line lengths of text, for legibility.  It's hard for readers to read long lines of text.     I urge you to get a background in graphic design before criticising mine.  You're obviously an amateur designer.  I still remember when I was in graphic design school, we were advised by our instructor that it's a common misconception of amateurs to think that every square inch of page space must be used.     And being a Web site developer is not the same as being a Webmaster; being a Webmaster means you're skilled and trained as a graphic designer.   So this is another false criticism of my Web site design, and it, too, shows that you are not the perfect team of experienced Web site analysts that Nancy claimed that you are.     Tony ... View more

[IRRELEVANT PERSONAL REMARKS REMOVED OVER ACP'S FORUM SIGNATURE.]   And I know that cell phones are more prevalent than desktop computers. That's not the issue.  The main issue is:  What's wrong with my site?  Where is the 'wasted space' that someone criticised my site for?     And someone else just wrote that my site is 'a disaster crying out for change' or something like that?  Why?  That writer didn't expain why he thinks that?     If you're a qualified, experienced focus group, as nasty Nancy wrote, why can't you explain in plain English what your rationales are instead of just attacking me?   Tony ... View more

I'm seeking evidence of my Web site being inferior – not affirmation of my Web site's sufficiency.   So far I've only received a criticism that my site has wasted space, with no screenshot being published here to demonstrate that vague criticism.  Show me the evidence!   You're being narrow-minded and hypocritical and insulting.   And Ben insulted me twice by claiming that I'm a narcissist, again not showing edvidence of that personal insult (which is against the ettituquette rule, by the way).   You, Nancy, and another critic here, wrote that you think my site hasn't generated much revenue because it doesn't have full-fledge e-commerce set up.  That shows that you have bad judgment and are presumptuous, in what you just called "an unbiased focus grouup". My site has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales for me.    Just because you have experience and credentials doesn't mean your advice and assessments are always right.  As I just pointed out, your assessment of my site's revenue is dramatically wrong because you're presumptuous!   You're also presumptuous to claim that I just came here for affirmation of my site's quality.  What evidence to you have?  I didn't claim that my site is perfect.  I came here to ask for help because I acknowledge it's not perfect. So what if you showed a screenshot that shows an imperfect Web site rating.  What's more important is that the site has generated hundreds of thousands of dollars of sales for me – contrarry to your presumptuous assumption of low sales due to the lack of full e-commerce facilites.   Like in other discussion groups, I'm finding increasingly here, too, that you're negative and have fragile egos; you're looking for "yes" people; you just want people to agree with you about everything, instead of questioning your assertions.  So again, I ask:  Where is the wasted space on my site that one critic criticized my site for?  Aside from the screenshot that shows that the site is imperfect, I don't see what specifically your criticisms address?     And why did Ben twice insult me by labelling with a mental disorder (narcissistic personality disorder) without explaining the rationale for that off-topic insult?   Also, as is always the case when I ask for advice, your advice is inconsistent; one writer wrote that I can overhaul the site using Dreamweaver, and others recommended Wordpress or Wix for a complete overhaul.  How can I know what approach to take, given the fact that your advice is inconsistent?  As in other discussion groups, I find that you're short-tempered, narrow-minded, presumptuous and looking for a "yes man" and are willing to write me off when you haven't even explained why you say the site is so bad.     And to back that up, I called my ISP a few days ago to ask why my site is so slow to show updated pages that I publish, and he said he doesn't see any issues with my site, so that contradicts your criticisms of my site.     Tony     ... View more

Thanks, Ben.   Finally I see what you mean.  But I disagree strongly.    About the front page of my Web site, you wrote, "This is what the web page currently looks like in a mobile. For my weary eyes, it is impossible to read."  And about the image magnified on a section of the front page of my site you wrote:  "This makes it ledgible, but the layout is dreadful."   My traditional Web site design is far superior to the phone-specific design that you advocate, because my traditional design gives an overwiew, which is missing from the phone-specific design.     The 'optomized' layout that you've published here only shows less than two of the images on the front page of my site, instead of all six of the images that are visible on the front page of my Web site as it currently shows.  A picture conveys as much as a thousand words.  If one agrees to correctness of that saying, your proposed design eliminates four pictures and therefore the equivalent of four thaousand words of information!  So my traditional design is far superior to your proposed inferior phone-specific design!     With a phone the fuziness of the overview can't be overcome by stepping closer to the screen (as one would step closer to a poster on a wall) but one can simulate stepping closer by putting the index finger and thumb on the screen and moving those fingers apart while continuing to keep them touching the screen.  This finger action also simulates using a magnifying glass to enlarge a specific area of the screen that one wants to view.  And to zoom out (simulating standing back from a poster on a wall to get an overview again) one can simply touch the phone screen and move the thumb and index finger closer together!     Try it!  It's like magic!  It's one of the great, new features of interactive design on phones!  I think you'll love it!   Also, I need to point out the obvious here:  Phones are meant to be used to look at art electronically when one is away from one's home or office desktop computer.  Obviously, they're not meant to REPLACE desktop computers!   My Apple computer screen is about 330 square inches total, whereas my Iphone screen has only about 15 inches of viewing area.  So the cellphone screen is about 22 times SMALLER than my Imac's screen viewing area!  And the phone's keyboard keys are so small and impractical that they seem to be designed for zygotes – not adult humans!     Phones are meant to be used for tasks like phoning.  (That's why they're called PHONES!)     Serious are viewers and shoppers don't use child-sized toys for such serious activities such as shopping for art!   I had a customer who was frustrated as you are about my Web site.  She claimed that she couldn't find basic information on the site, such as my address, phone number and a specific image.  I asked her if she was viewing the site with a phone, and, as I suspected, she said "yes" – despite the fact that she owns a laptop.  I told her the obvious advice:  that she should view the site with her laptop instead of her phone!   I never stop being blown away by people's stupidity!     Using a phone to view an art Web site is like trying to eat a meal with utensils (a plate, bowl, cup, fork, knife and spoons) that are 22 times smaller than regular-sized utensils for eating!     The average consumer has had accress to computers with large screens already for many years, yet nowadays it seems most people have downgraded by using child-sized phones with their ridiculously small screens for their computer use.  There's no underestimating people's stupidity!   Imagine going into an art gallery to shop for art.  The gallery has catalogs that are 22 inches area per page, and catalogs with identical content, but the page sizes are 330 inches.  Only fools would choose to view the catalogs that are 22 square inches in size instead of the 330-square inch catalogs to shop for art!  However, unfortunately, the average person is not very bright – and half the population is even less intelligent than that!   Tony         ... View more

I read on the Internet that a Facebook promoter recommended small businesses should devote one week per month to work on their Facebook promotion.  That amounts to almost one-quarter of every year just devoted to Facebook promotion.  And Facebook is only one of many social Internet media.  And social Internet media are only one type of business promotion.  There are hundreds – even thousands – of different opportunities for small businesses to attempt to increase their revenues.    Tony ... View more

@Nancy OShea wrote: I don't imagine your current site generates much revenue because it's a not a properly crafted e-commerce site. That's a missed opportunity.    Don't be sentimental about this. A new site will more than pay for itself in the longrun.    I already have a properly crafter e-commerce site:  a shop on Etsy.   Yet I've generated far more revenue on my own Web site, which lacks a properly crafted e-commerce.   @Nancy OShea wrote: I don't imagine your current site generates much revenue because it's a not a properly crafted e-commerce site. That's a missed opportunity.    I've never had a lack of opportunies when running my business.  Small businesses always have plenty of opportunites.   When running a small business, missing opportunities is a necessity  Every opportunity (or seeming opportunity which might end in failure or mediocre results) comes with significant costs and investments of time, work, manpower and money.    If I spend months redoing my Web site, I'll miss the opportunity to paint more paintings, which means my revenue from paintings won't be as high as would be if I spent that time painting.  If I spend my time painting, I'll miss the opportunity to make promotional videos and photo books.  If I make promotional videos and photo books, I'll miss the opportunity to publish art cards.  If I publish art cards, I'll miss the opportunity to go on photo excursions to seek reference material for my art.  If I go on photo shoots, I'll miss the opportunity to improve my social media presence.  Etcetera.  There are countless other opportunites for artists to improve (or try to improve) their revenue.  So lost opportunites is inevitable.    The same principle applies to life itself.  If you work as a Web site developer in New York, you miss the opportunity to be a teacher in San Francisco.  You can only be in one place at a time, doing one thing at a time, which means you miss countless opportunities in life.  That applies to everyone.   Tony ... View more

Thanks, Ben.   What is working in my current design is the design.  Most users can easily find what they're looking for.   So I don't understand how redoing the site entirely using templates such as Wordpress or Wix would improve the site.   Also, I want to keep my current design, but I haven't seen any templates in Wordpress, Wix or any other Web site-building program that is similar to my current design.     Tony ... View more

Thanks, Nancy.     Why must I upgrade to HTML 5?     What does "a responsive CSS layout" mean?  I've designed my Web site so images work both on large computer screens and 'phone' screens.   What do you mean by "scrap everything except for the content?"  If I keep that content, what should I change? Tony ... View more

Thanks, Ben.   What does "CX" mean?   I don't understand what you mean about "your primary conten container has a narrow width there is a lot of wasted space on the page".   Why do you find that "on mobile devices the page is not really usable at all?"  I check my site periodically with my Iphone and I don't see any problem with it (except for the usual delay in seeing newly uploaded edits to my site, which is what I asked about here origianlly).     I'm no longer using Google Analytics, because Google included my own hits on my Web site, and it was too much time and effort to exclude my own hits from the statistics, because my IP address kept on changing periodically without me being notified.   Tony ... View more

Thank you, Ben.   Why did no one warn me about this serious flaw a quarter of a century ago, in 1996, when I launched my Web site?  I followed Adobe's advice and instructions at that time, to use framesets.  Was Adobe unaware of this huge flaw at that time?   And what's the best way to replace the framesets on my Web site?  Is there replace the framesets without spending several agonizing months redoing my 1,300 Web pages?   Tony ... View more