Monday, September 16, 2013

A New Web Page..........is a lot of work

When I returned from Handworks one of the things on my "Must Do" list was to perform a facelift on a very dated Brese Plane web page. I had two new products that needed to be added and quite frankly nothing much had been done to the web page since 2007. As I added and deleted different products the current site had become more fragmented and harder to navigate. I really could not procrastinate about this chore any longer.

I am first and foremost a "Plane Maker", not an I.T. guy. In fact I never at anytime in my life have ever qualified as an I.T. guy. This in and of itself meant this job would be even a bigger task because there is always a learning curve involved. Granted the company that host my site has created template type software to make this endeavor easier for the common man, however they had just introduced a new version of the software and that was why there was a learning curve. Do you think the guy pictured below could have helped?



I know some of you are probably saying "why didn't you just hire an I.T. type person to do it?" and that is a viable question, however I like to be able to adapt on a daily basis if required. If I want to add a new product or respond to a custom request I want to be able to do so in a timely manner so I persist in being able to do this work myself. It gives me the ability to control this thing and reduces dependency issues.

The new software came with bugs. 1/3 of the way thru the creation of the first attempt I had to basically abandon the work I had completed because I ran into a problem that I could not resolve so I hit delete and started over. I had to devise a work around for the problem and as it turns out this was not the first work around I would have to devise.  I'm sure there were times when I looked like this guy pictured below.



After several weeks of shop work during the day and web page work into the late evening I finally got to the point of publishing the new page. I think you'll find it easier to navigate and the layout is much simpler. More importantly the photographs reflect the details of the planes that I am presently making whereas the photos on the prior web page did not reflect many of the changes made in these tools over the past years.

So here is it:

http://www.breseplane.com/

Here's hoping it doesn't crash before your very eyes!

Ron

9 comments:

  1. Nice new site Ron, clean and simple, but with the information most would be looking for.

    Good luck with it!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Nicely done Mr. Brese. Simple yet effective.

    I'm a big fan of your planes (Though I can't afford one)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hi Ron, when viewing the new page on iPad the headings to the links to the different planes do not appear. Just wanted to let you know.

    Wayne

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thanks for the comments and feedback. I'm checking into the IPad issue.

    Ron

    ReplyDelete
  5. Ron the new website is awesome. Great job!

    ReplyDelete
  6. Great work on the new website. I'm undertaking the same job on mine and I can appreciate all the hard work you've put in. Get making some beautiful planes now.

    David

    ReplyDelete
  7. The new website looks almost as good as your planes.

    Isaac

    ReplyDelete
  8. Looking good Ron!

    I feel your pain, editing webpages has to be one of my least favorite activities. It's right up there with jury duty and having teeth filled. I haven't really updated mine in about 2 to 3 years and the thought is making my molars ache! :)

    Niels

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thankfully, it didn’t crash when I clicked on the link. Haha! Anyway, you can make your logo as a header/banner, so that it would easy for the viewers to distinguish your company once they visit your website. And I think it will be best if you create a portfolio tab where you can post all your products and their characteristics. I hope this helps. All the best!

    Chris Hatcher @ Red Stick SEO

    ReplyDelete