Subject: RE: Check it out!
From: "Michel and Ilze Ricou" <[email-masked]>
To: "Joyce Stanek" <[email-masked]>, "lori" <[email-masked]>, <[email-masked]>, "Patty & Mike Finan" <[email-masked]>, "Port Austin Area Chamber of Commerce" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 27 Apr 2005 14:59:59 -0400

Hi all,

The home page slide show is very nice. However the border and picture
collage on the side is very dark on our computer. The border looks like a
really dark bluish gray. Also Michel and I think if there is to be no title
or image in that top border then the top blue bar should be eliminated or at
least reduced to just a line. However shouldn't there be something in the
top border. Right now there is no title...nothing saying that this site is
about Port Austin on ANY of the pages!!

For the rest I know we should've said something sooner but Michel has been
working a lot during tax season and my mom died a month ago so I was gone
for a week and a half and Michel was gone for three days. In the beginning
we misunderstood what the deal was with the pages with the directory
listings etc. We thought that was just an internal working view not the way
the site visitor would see it. Those pages are not at all cohesive with the
homepage and the overall "look" of the website. To put it bluntly they are
very unappealing and dull. Also those pages appear very busy and confusing.
Is there anyway to have the same look as the home page?

What is the phpMyDirectory.com on the left and the other stuff on the right?
Does that need to be there?
What's the purpose of the search boxes top center on the directory page? Do
we really need those?

Why is the box called "Menu" in the top left corner? That appears to be for
administrative purposes. We know that the chamber serves all businesses BUT
the people MOST likely to be using our website are the tourists not the
chamber members. We feel that box should be elsewhere in the website. We
westerners read from the top and left to right. That's the first place the
eye goes to and a potential tourist will be left wondering what to make of
it. Could this go on the "chamber info" page, maybe a sub page for members?

In the "Menu" box if you click on "Home" it does not bring you back to the
home page...it brings you back to the main directory page!

"What's New" brings you to the directory page. Are there plans for using
that page somehow?

On the home page can the "Directory" button be a rollover button that shows
a sub menu of at least the main categories such as dining, lodging,
shopping, recreation and perhaps links directly to the
categories...otherwise, will the site visitors know where to go look for
these categories? Especially since "Attractions" is listed separately.

Next to the slide show on the home page shouldn't that be two sentences:
Visit the Port Austin area. It's a short drive...etc.

I know were bringing up a lot of points but at the moment it seems like the
old site was a lot better...and we never liked the old site much.

Ilze & Michel

Michel and Ilze Ricou
Port Austin Motel Inc.
989 738 8729
[email-masked]
www.portaustinmotel.com

-----Original Message-----
From: Joyce Stanek [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Wednesday, April 27, 2005 12:16 AM
To: [email-masked]; lori; [email-masked]; Patty & Mike Finan;
Port Austin Area Chamber of Commerce
Subject: Check it out!

Casey, Lori, Patty, Michele -

Dustin did a lot of work on the website today - including creating the
slide show for the home page. CHECK IT OUT! It looks GREAT!!!!! : -)

I also uploaded some additional photos in the attractions & calendar
portion of the site today.
Check, in particular, "lighthouses" - as I have a comment about that.
I think we may need to stick to either horizontal photos - or at least
smaller pics if they are vertical - for the FIRST photo (the one that
goes next to the name of a business or place or event). Although I
think it would be fine in the attractions or calendar - I'm not so sure
about in the member section. Someone with a vertical photo would
definitely be more prominent than surrounding member listings. What do
you think? Or should we experiment with a few more pics before we
decide?

Dustin also fixed most of the typos that I emailed him about. He and I
have also been discussing the "collage" on the home page - and the blue
bars that run horizontally and vertically from the collage.
It looks great on my monitor. But I know that Ilse told me that it
looks really really dark on her monitor. What's the story with the rest
of you?
Plus - she said that the "bars" looked almost navy blue on her screen.
They are a medium blue on mine. But they did look darker on a computer
at school that I brought it up on.
I thought Dustin could even get rid of the horizontal bar (at top). But
I think we definitely need to keep the one that runs vertically. Maybe
he could change the blue to a lighter shade - maybe like the lake blue,
or sky, in the collage. What do YOU think?

Anyway - I think things are winding down now. If you have comments or
changes - you should email Dustin directly, if you haven't already. He
and I have been emailing back and forth regularly - but I don't want to
be the one responsible for making final decisions on the site!!! I'm
only a committee member - not on the Board.

I don't have all of the Board member email addresses handy - but maybe
Lori could forward this email to them???

Take care!
Joyce