Much like yourselves i come accross a lot of different templates for phpld, i see that the navigation is usually put accross the top and not down the left side for example. Is there any reason why so many designers may be following the same pattern? With using navigation on the left for example and going downwards it can leave good space for adding additional buttons, also i feel that some navigation is uneccessarily big and may create difficulties if you have ideas for other unique sections of a site. I know if you want a private job done then its simple enough just to ask the designer to do it to your taste but for ready made psd's that i see on offer they seem to usually go for the same navigation layout. Any particular reasons for the trend? im not really a fan of oversized and prefer for space to be available within a template for additions. What are your tastes? preferences, i prefer for the useable area not to be squeezed into the middle either, it seems a waste of screen space to not use the left and right. Im thinking about this because of current and future plans that im making and currently checking out the templates that go on sale regularly.
Directories usually have same limited number of pages(home,submit,latest,popular and contact) and in some cases people add blog and something else to navigation. I think that is the reason designers choose to make nav horizontal.It is same situation with Wordpress themes. I think there are few templates available with vertical nav, same for phpld and WP. Free templates are made to fit most common users needs simply because they will get used more. For needs different than common custom template is the best option, but depending on difference needed customized free template can also work.
Hi balkanboy, thats true that many directories will have the same usual pages and may not have any need for adding additional pages. I see it even on the paid for templates, i know their not made to order when their just offered in the trading section of the forums here, so i guess they will naturally follow a similar layout for navigation. I guess il be better getting a custom job done in the future.
I was in same situation few days ago. I searched for WP theme to fit my needs(nothing special, small requirements) and ended up with few that needed customization. After I looked deeper in all of them, I saw I am going to need lot of time to make any of them fit my needs and I would still have non unique theme. Than I decided to go after custom one-100% the best option. Recommending you to save yourself some time and nerves and do the same thing
Have over 100 custom pages (apart of those default + categories) on one of my -> sites. Then 2 additional statistics + reports pages for each premium member. No blog existing. It's preety big number, but it's not the factor deciding whether your directory is more valuable I think.
Like marko said, people dont use vertical nav as there arnt enough links for it to be worthwhile. If you do have a lot of links, like www.idk.in does, its fine
I have about the same amount or slightly more Nav links as idk.in. going vertically, i just prefer it that way, all in one spot.
I think we'll see more and more sites like Dargre's all4seo.net moving forward, where a directory is just one component of an overall Website that offers value beyond traditional directory-only offerings. If this is your goal, then vertical nav makes a lot of sense and leaves navigation options very open for future growth...
domainpubber, if that were the case, I would no longer consider it a directory. I would consider it a portal
That's true an0n, not a traditional directory. But call it what you like; if it adds value people will go there and Google will treat it kindly ;-)
I dont want to start a seperate thread to ask this so hopefully i can find answers to a few more questions regarding templates. When a designer puts together a PSD, or chops, forgive me if im using the wrong terms, do they create the psd from scratch in photoshop or would i supply purchased images that they (chop up) then get to work on? Is it common that many of the designers code the template too or is that often done seperately? i see allsorts of prices from a few $ up to hundreds, i realise its down to quality, specific requirements etc, just trying to get an understanding for near future jobs il need done.
The designer would create a PSD. If they are a "coder" aswell, they slice it up into images in photoshop, then use HTML to build that into TPL files. Some designers do PSD only, some like Zeb, serg, smub will code it aswell
Can i supply colored images (purchased) if you know what i mean, for them to work with for creating the psd files? I think when im ready, i would feel most confortable with a designer who does the coding part too so its all done by the one person, or at least from the same group of people.
When you say purchased images do you mean stock images like www.dreamstime.com for example? I think you should give designer a freedom to decide what images to use. Usually you can show some examples of designs you like to give him/her an idea what you expect, but sending him some images that you want to be used in design is big limit for creativity and I would not recommend that. Both cases exists. If designer is not coding template himself, he should have basic coding knowledge simply because he need to design something that can be coded. Most of designers who don't do code by themself know that so I don't think it should be a problem.
balkanboy, thats correct, stock images, i didn't know that to be honest regarding a designer not wanting to operate that way. Thanks for answering my other question too regarding coding.
The best designs are always where the designer has full control. I spoke with Zeb, he thinks that too. Thats why dirjournal has such a great theme as it was done without many restrictions. Also pipes, try avoid using stock images. Personally i think it looks dumb. Consider how many web hosting sites you go to, see blonde women with black glasses pretending to be support staff.
dirjournal, yes that one does stand out indeed as high quality. I see what you mean about stock images as well, theres nothing to stop those images being sold to hundreds of people.
Personally I do like blonde women with black glasses I wish I could have some graphic talent... I was never able to draw even a cat or a dog But I can do everything with optimized+valid html+css and smarty templates. Even dirjournal is not free from errors. Not w3c valid (this not so important) Duplicated meta tags... not so optimized This is what I found in seconds, didn't look deeper. But it's hard to have a perfect web site with so many pages indexed. Do you know any?