The software we were using was really helpful in some aspects but in others it was really limiting. The biggest issue I had with it was the way that I couldn’t do anything with the layout or colors. I have come to a compromise with the design but I believe that if I was building things myself and had the chance to work more in depth with some things it would have had a better result.

Part of this issue comes from the fact that if you want some really nice features to your site you will have to pay for them. Also the banner form the site on the bottom is really badly done and makes the design seem unprofessional but there is nothing that I can do due to the fact I am not a paying user.  Other things like the social media widgets are a bit misplaced and it ruins the overall feeling of symmetry.

I think that using the software itself is a bit tedious when you begin at first and their tutorials are not really helpful. Although compared to other CMS’s (Content Management Systems) it is really made as easy as possible to understand.

They lack on having a good picture gallery to choose from and that can be really annoying when a person is trying to not have any issues with copyright. This pushes the user to find other images elsewhere and no matter how careful they are, they are still at risk as to using something they shouldn’t have.

The fonts are also very limited and the user can be left with a feeling that they have not shown their creative side as good as they have planned or hoped.

I think there were some issues with publishing all of the pages as well. On other CMS’s that I have used (for example Wix.com) publishing of all pages is done with one click of a button, but here I had to publish page by page. This in some instances can be a positive feature when the user requires updating just one page, but in this case it was more of a problem then a benefit.  

Even though I am not interlay impressed with the end product (due to faults I’m unable to solve without being a premium user) there were benefits in using webnode.com instead of writing the code from scratch. It saves a lot of time from worrying about the functionality which can be invested in the design. It is a lot easier to just click a button and to have your website done rather than writing the whole code for it. The design process is smooth and it is really relaxing to work with it. It is really good for beginners because the overall structure of the site is already created so you don’t have to worry about planning the navigation in much detail as you would normally will.

The decision for creating a website for archery was made spontaneously, because of the fact that I enjoy this sport and I have noticed that many websites about archery support the ‘old’ one-way conversation model in which information about the organization is given to the users without them being able to interact with the organisation.

This site is created to attract people to the sport by giving them information about it while offering a chance to purchase the equipment as well. It is a perfect place where beginners and professionals can get together to exchange experience and comments.

I’m trying to target two types of users: beginners and professionals. I am trying to accomplish this by not giving too much information so it doesn’t annoy the professional archers, but just enough so the beginners can be interested. I have left a comment area underneath every item so people can give their opinions about the product or ask questions about it.

The site has a tree level structure.

Example:

Bows >> Compound Bows >> PSE Wave Bowfishing Compound Bow

The site has a total of 17 pages and there is a lot of room for further development and upgrading. The navigation is done as simple as possible keeping in mind that users with different technical levels will be using this site.

• Homepage

• Bows (Compound Bows, Longbows, Recurve Bows)

• Arrows (Aluminium Arrows, Carbon Arrows)

• About Us

• Contact Us

• Blog

It is an easy to navigate and apprehend site and I’ve tried to keep the design of all the pages as similar as possible and not to make drastic changes to the design in order to not confuse the users.

The thing I was focusing the most is delivering a really clean and yet stylish design without overdoing things. With the names selected for the pages I’m trying to not make the user think about what is going to happen when they click on a certain thing but for them to guess easily.

The website is needed due to the fact that all similar sites lack the interaction with the user. This is a sport that is known in the UK but not so much in other countries. As mentioned above this site will give the opportunity for people with an interest for this sport to get together exchange experience learn news and all of that while shopping for some new equipment.

Users that come to sport themed sites would most likely want news regarding the sport, a bit of information about it; a chance to buy some new items and all of this is covered in this site. It is designed in a way to keep satisfied the experienced user and the inexperienced one at the same time.

As mentioned above the design is really carefully chosen to not overwhelm the user with too many colors or information on one page. Having a plain black and white site is not the solution to that problem that is why there is a splash of a warming orange color to give it a bit of a fresh feeling. Consideration for people with disabilities has been made while designing this site.

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