Since the site has been up and running a while now it would only be fair to credit those involved in it’s creation / design and on going help and support (this includes current Word Press plugins used)
The Design and Idea:
When it came to creating a look and feel to the new site I knew what I was after, but to be honest, coming up with a design off my own back was going to take some time to say the least.
I needed ideas, good or bad.
I spoke with Chris Chadwick at www.thebinarybox.co.uk and he suggested I trawl the web and find some sites that I like the look of. I used couple of sites which showcased a variety of website designs.
www.smashingmagazine.com
www.thebestdesigns.com
www.webdesignfromscratch.com – Really liked the look of #5 from the following sites showcase
www.blurburger.com
www.bestwebgallery.com– Top Site for ideas
The most useful thing I found when first trawling though these sites was how I didn’t want my site to function or look.
With a few things in mind and the images of the characters (designed and drawn by Laura Price), Chris came back with a first draft which was very similar to how the site is now. Yes there were a few tweaks here and there but overall the site design hasn’t changed that much from the initial draft.
Coding / SEO:
This was all handled by Dominic Goode at BluDelta, and makes for a seamless, easy to update, functioning site.
WP Plugins:
A couple of plugins that make the site work well are:
Booking Calendar – (used on the apartment page)
Portfolio Slideshow – (used on my tips and tricks pictures to switch between goofy and regular versions)