The collector's web site developing thread!

One of my favorite parts of collecting is designing a way to show off my collection. Naturally, creating a site is the most ideal method.
This thread will be dedicated not only to showing off your site, but also sharing ideas in terms of HTML, CSS, Flash, JS, etc.

So start by sharing your site and the development process of the site:
My name is Chris and I started my first site way back in 2000 using Geocities.
That was a fun experience despite my site looking quite awful.

Fast forward to 2010 when I moved to Webs.com.
Still I used drag and drop methods and still it looked amateurish.

Finally, the last incarnation was done on Weebly.com. Up until early 2011, I still used conventional means (drag and drop).
Then I started to study CSS and HTML.
Now I'm an IT student and I have a firm grasp of those markup languages and of Java.

I would say I have poured a minimum of 200 hours into the design of my site and the expansion of my knowledge.
My site has changed more than I can remember.

So if anyone has any questions I would love to help.

Otherwise, subscribe to this thread and share!

I would like to mention my site was designed with Chrome and Firefox in mind. I also employ lots of CSS 3. It will look awful in Internet Explorer.

Just checked out your site...very cool!

I wish I had the time and skills to work on something like that. It kills me that so much of what I spend my time and money on is sitting in a cardboard box in a closet.

Keep up the good work!

I just bumped up the old thread, and completely missed this one. I would like some feedback, or suggestions if you have a couple of minutes to look through mine. Here is what I posted in the other one.

Hey guys. This thread inspired me to make my own website. It is still in its development stages, but I would love some feedback.

Some cardinal rules I broke, I scanned in top loaders (too late to change, and every time I try to scan without a loader I seem to ding a corner or edge). Secondly, I hot linked all of the images from photobucket. I didn't realize this would be an issue until I tried to load it from a friends computer (I guess all of the images become cashed once you load it once, so I didn't realize how long it takes to load). Once the site is done, I'll go through and upload all of the images which should reduce the load times. I will also be going back and rescanning all of the ones in one touches so all images are the same size.

Anyway the only pages that are truly done are the A&G pages, Family Guy page, Doumit cards page, and USA landing page. I have not made any attempt to make it "pretty", but am more using it for a tool as described in the first post. Again any feedback, especially negative, would be helpful since I'm still just beginning.

http://www.iujapandercards.com/

Well, you can add mine. www.TheBagwellCollector.com I dont know jack about html, but I used a program called WebPageMaker to make my main page, which is all drag and drop. I made all my icons myself, and I use Jalbum for my collection pages.

I am currently going thru a renaming process for all of my cards, which is taking forever. But once that is done, it should be easier for me to tell what cards i have and dont have when shopping online. I have double bought too many times and just needed to bite the bullet and get it done.

I am also trying to make up my mind on what to do with scanning the backs. Jalbum doesnt work like comc, where if you click on the image it shows the back. So, should I scan it and attach it beside the front, like this?


What do you guys think?

IUjapander said:

I just bumped up the old thread, and completely missed this one. I would like some feedback, or suggestions if you have a couple of minutes to look through mine. Here is what I posted in the other one.

Hey guys. This thread inspired me to make my own website. It is still in its development stages, but I would love some feedback.

Some cardinal rules I broke, I scanned in top loaders (too late to change, and every time I try to scan without a loader I seem to ding a corner or edge). Secondly, I hot linked all of the images from photobucket. I didn't realize this would be an issue until I tried to load it from a friends computer (I guess all of the images become cashed once you load it once, so I didn't realize how long it takes to load). Once the site is done, I'll go through and upload all of the images which should reduce the load times. I will also be going back and rescanning all of the ones in one touches so all images are the same size.

Anyway the only pages that are truly done are the A&G pages, Family Guy page, Doumit cards page, and USA landing page. I have not made any attempt to make it "pretty", but am more using it for a tool as described in the first post. Again any feedback, especially negative, would be helpful since I'm still just beginning.

http://www.iujapandercards.com/

Click to expand...

Would you believe me if I said that is the same template I started with? 300 incarnations later I have mine!
The best thing you can do is fiddle around with the CSS. If it looks bad after changing things, just don't save it!
I use Komodo Edit and NetBeans for CSS, HTML, and Java.

My site has been live for a little more than three years I believe. It actually sat on my PC for much longer than that. I had used the local copy as my way keeping up with what I have. My site is written in classic ASP (should really convert to .NET one of these days), HTML, and CSS.

ASTROBURN said:

Well, you can add mine. www.TheBagwellCollector.com I dont know jack about html, but I used a program called WebPageMaker to make my main page, which is all drag and drop. I made all my icons myself, and I use Jalbum for my collection pages.

I am currently going thru a renaming process for all of my cards, which is taking forever. But once that is done, it should be easier for me to tell what cards i have and dont have when shopping online. I have double bought too many times and just needed to bite the bullet and get it done.

I am also trying to make up my mind on what to do with scanning the backs. Jalbum doesnt work like comc, where if you click on the image it shows the back. So, should I scan it and attach it beside the front, like this?

What do you guys think?

Click to expand...

I like the front and back, which is how I have my pictures laid out.

There are some amazing collector websites here. One of these days I'd love to set aside some time and get some education on making a more professional looking site. Seems like forever and a day ago that I used an early version of Microsoft Frontpage and uploaded it using Netscape's ftp program. I understood so little back then. My wantlist was sprinkled with silly animated gifs and flashing lights - wtf was I thinking?

I continued to tweak the look, dabbling with mouseover drop-down menus and still not really understanding any of the coding behind it. Since then, I've gained a small amount of knowledge about html, but it seems that basic html is pretty much dinosaur-age stuff now. I guess I should break down and purchase a copy of Frontpage 2003 so it would be compatible with Windows 7 - I really miss the Frontpage program. I'm now using PageBreeze, but really don't like it. I can't do lots of the stuff I was used to doing with Frontpage and that's pretty damn frustrating. I feel like I'm so far behind on updating things I used to love messing with.

Wonderful sites
I try to keep mine simple, so I used webs.com
Someday I will create a real site but until then, its the webs.com version
See sig for link

MOFNY - your z-index values could use some work in the Image Instructions div. Also, your "Roll" button looks broken when I inspect it.

linuxabuser said:

MOFNY - your z-index values could use some work in the Image Instructions div. Also, your "Roll" button looks broken when I inspect it.

View attachment 2688

Click to expand...

I'm not sure what I'm looking at. Are you using Chrome or Firefox? The roll is not a clickable link but simply intended for a hover effect. What is happening when you hover? As for the z-indexes: I'm sure they are off in other places of the site. It still needs a lot of work. As long as it looks pretty good and works I'm not too worried about it. If you have any suggestions for improvement let me know.

I kept my site simple and tried to keep it clean cut. I did it all from scratch mstly using the MS Offic web design program Expression.

www.CardMagnet.info

I've also begun my own .com storefront that I'm also using to double up as a trade list. All cards are searchable by player, pro teams (college team as well for football), year/brand/number, and by category like RC or insert.

www.TheCardAlbum.com

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I997 using Sports Cards by Freedom Card Board.com

Musial Collector said:

Wonderful sites
I try to keep mine simple, so I used webs.com
Someday I will create a real site but until then, its the webs.com version
See sig for link

Click to expand...

There is a lot you can do with that though. I used to use Webs but I believe Weebly is much better for editing the CSS and HTML. Check out Weebly and abandon Webs.
The learning curve is not that bad and they have plenty of templates.

Just a question... do you guys scan your cards in soft sleeves or do you take them out and then scan them? Is there a significant difference in picture clarity? Thanks!

Here's mine created with Dreamweaver using mostly tables. http://home.comcast.net/~zeppelin33/index.html

I know it's pretty out of date now and maybe someday I'll advance into java and flash but it works for me and is pretty easy to keep updated as long as I don't fall too far behind on getting things scanned

nerdherd020 said:

Just a question... do you guys scan your cards in soft sleeves or do you take them out and then scan them? Is there a significant difference in picture clarity? Thanks!

Click to expand...

Unless I feel I will damage the card(s) I usually scan without a sleeve. It seems to work well most of the time.

zep33 said:

Here's mine created with Dreamweaver using mostly tables. http://home.comcast.net/~zeppelin33/index.html

I know it's pretty out of date now and maybe someday I'll advance into java and flash but it works for me and is pretty easy to keep updated as long as I don't fall too far behind on getting things scanned

Click to expand...

Frames and tables are a bit outdated but yours works well. Dreamweaver is too rich for my blood so I use Komodo Edit which is free. I have used both.

I scanned all my cards without sleeves, except for a couple of the uncirculated ones where they are sealed in a screw down.

I scan everything without a sleeve. Scans always come out much clearer, plus refractors and foil cards look much better as the light refracts off the card itself.

Need this?

Yes but only in trade.