[free] large images for backgrounds

[MyDreamspace]

www.mydreamspace.com   is made with photographs of the east Texas landscape as a backdrop. I will be changing these landscapes periodically and anyone who wants to link back to my site is welcome to use them.  :) I would also like anyone who visits the site to take a minute to fill out my survey. I am launching a webdesign & maintenance service in 2004, and the surveys collected this year will heavily influence my business plan.
BTW, to offset the naturally slow load time of a large image, I use a drop color. These images are not too bad for loading time, anyway. They're medium-quality jpgs

[Spaceman-Spiff]

imo this suits more in showcase board

comments:
err... if u want to launch a webdesign site, u'd better redesign that site first
sorry if that offended u...

[MyDreamspace]

imo this suits more in showcase board

comments:
err... if u want to launch a webdesign site, u'd better redesign that site first
sorry if that offended u...

This in itself does not offend me. I know I have much to learn. What offends me is that, having taken the time to post this, you didn't take the time to be at least a little more specific. Are you expressing distaste for the overall look of the site, which is not high-tech? Or is there something functionally wrong with the site?

[Shockie]

here are some tips i would give:
dont use a background that looks REALY bad when it repleats itself!

second, dont have text that is hard to read

third, get a new host

fourth, learn about how wonderful TABLES are

lastly, menus on the side are good

the site is terribly plain, and some of the text is hard to read, the background images are just plain nasty.

i dont mean any offence by this, just giving you more detail

[MyDreamspace]

Thank you Shockie..but I am puzzled, you say tables are good, yet I did use tables throughout the site?
Actually, I agree about the image: That is winter in Texas. This week a spring image goes up. It will be changing monthly starting in September (when I return from a trip) And I am getting a new host soon. I've been offered a job by another host company that will also support my sites. Can you be specific about why e present host is unsatisfactory? Just curious. Would like to know more about evaluating hosts in general, without having to personally try each one

[Shockie]

The whole picture for a background that can repeat itseld and not blend in well is what im getting at, any photo will do that.

about the host, well, its angle fire, uh, that explains it...

what you need is a host that will actually host your domain.


about the tables, what i mean is have a look at any designers website (or almost any site) the menus are visible whever you are on the page, they are not just up the top or bottom, and the text is on a plain background that the text contrasts with. take the yabb site for example, you have the important things both on the side and top, the menu is pleasing to the eye, and easy to find/read, the background is plain and the text is very easy to see. its clean cut and professional looking.

another thing you might want to do, is change away from the font "times"/"times new roman". a non sans serif font is great for onscreen, wheres a sans-serif font is great for hard copy.


if you plan on hosting, you might want to look at finding a good reseller account, or a dedicated server. otherwise how do you sell hosting  

[MyDreamspace]

  Now I am mystified. Shockie, why is the font you are seeing "times"? I specified "arial, sans serif" in the tags, & that is what I see. I went to the public library & checked my site on their computers, and it was ok there. As for the dedicated server, I totally agree. I'll get there soon enough. BTW, I went to your site & tried to visit your portfolio sites, but they don't seem to link to the screenshots you have there.

[Shockie]

no, i dont link sites in my portflio, thats because they are freebie. I am a developer, i do the server side stuff for designers  

[MyDreamspace]

Well, then I suggest you make the screen shot a tad larger

[Spaceman-Spiff]

another comment: pls use a smaller avatar

[MyDreamspace]

  Is this better???

[Squite]

Ok don't be mad at me, I just give my opinion. You can totaly ignore this if you don't like what I have to say: but damn how about redigning your site!

Welcome to My Dreamspace, where you can find all the services you need to have your own well designed, smoothly functioning website at reasonable cost!
I offer exclusive attention to the design and maintenance of each site I host.

I looked at your other siter and they are not bad. But I think you should take care of your own site! The first page: There is a realy big gap at the end of you page (I use 1152x864 and it is almost a blank screen when I scroll down!)

Scroll down for my sponsors and services I use. Scroll way down for a clear view of the current landscape. Feel free to use it as wallpaper or screensaver

Try to make a link of it so the picture opens in a new window, also fixes the empty space at the end of the page

An other thing you may change is your background image! Four time the same image below eachother is not a nice background!

A few tips from me: Make a nice logo on the top of your site, a menu at the left, a nice font whit is easely readable and use one background image whit doesn't repeat itselfs. This will give your site a mutch more profecional look!

[MyDreamspace]

Thank you, Squite. I followed advice in my courses to make my pages compatible to 640 x 460 for most widespread good results, but I hadn't looked at it at a high resolution like yours. I'm glad you like my other sites, that is where most of my effort has been going. I haven't taken the time to make a nice logo for myself & I'm hoping I'll be inspired this summer

[Squite]

Make a table, put this table in the middle of your page with center-tags and make the width of that table the size of your site for 640x480, than your site can be viewed with any resolution. Just a little tip

[MyDreamspace]

  Thank you. Now will you plase fix your avatar??