The main focus they wanted to concentrate on was their horses so that is why they have four of their stallions on the home page. However, the initial header was problematic in trying to have a viewable picture of Diane and Chuck Jones, a previous co-owner, with the Southern Cross sign. So we developed the header with two larger images superimposed over the sign with the sign being the dominant feature. We moved the welcome sign to the main content area as a lead-in and had the four stallions below. We used images for the top navigation menu with horseshoe icons and enclosed all content areas in expanding barbwire to reinforce the country / farm feel to the site. All color was coordinated from the sign colors.
In initial discussions and followup talks, we setup pages for the horses with separate categories for the types of horses, both upcoming events and prior events with gallery pictures, location with all addresses, directions as well as integrated Google Map, facility with correlating picture including a slideshow of their riding trail, services, sponsors links for advertisers, about page for their history and contacts. The navigation was repeated at the bottom footer section for convenience to the viewer. On all pages, other than the header, we designed a header just with the sign and without the images to increase screen space for content.
Finally, we assisted Diane in learning how to maintain the site which included several training sessions. Naturally, we have provided assistance on an on-going basis when she has a problem.
I keep a pretty busy schedule, so I don’t always have time to put articles together. All I have to do is upload my pictures and type up an article. Luke will come in and put it together, check my grammar, and make it look very professional! He will also do this any time I ask him, and he gets it done the same day. Also, I can communicate with him through email just as effectively as over the telephone, which can be easier and more convenient at times.
I would definitely recommend his website services to anyone looking to start a website. He is very helpful, and the program he uses is up to date and user friendly. You will be really happy choosing Webbering and Luke Douglas as your website host.
Diane Weatherly Calhoun
Southern Cross Ranch
July 2010
This is a redesign that we completed in July 2010 for the Southern Cross Ranch website from inspirational direction from Diane Weatherly.
Truck
This is the truck custom paint job that we used as inspiration for the header on the July 2010 website redesign.
Feb 2008
This is home page template that we designed for the Southern Cross Ranch website with the large header to display photos of Chuck and Diane on their horses.
Small
This is the facility page which shows the thinner header which is used on the rest of the website so there is more room to show content.
Base
This is the original Blue Jeans template that was selected as the base layout for the website.
Situation
Diane Weatherly, owner of Southern Cross Ranch, contacted Webbering to provide website services for their business.Challenge
As with all clients, we expected to have to take the lead on how the website would be structured but to our surprise, Diane had outlines for the pages to show how they wanted them to appear.Solution
In doing a search for a base template, we chose the BlueJeans template which is shown at the right. This provided a good starting point and, even though the final look is radically different, the underlying format is virtually unchanged. The structure they provided was a good one but we did make some changes to the header as well as gave some recommendations for minor changes, improvements and addons.The main focus they wanted to concentrate on was their horses so that is why they have four of their stallions on the home page. However, the initial header was problematic in trying to have a viewable picture of Diane and Chuck Jones, a previous co-owner, with the Southern Cross sign. So we developed the header with two larger images superimposed over the sign with the sign being the dominant feature. We moved the welcome sign to the main content area as a lead-in and had the four stallions below. We used images for the top navigation menu with horseshoe icons and enclosed all content areas in expanding barbwire to reinforce the country / farm feel to the site. All color was coordinated from the sign colors.
In initial discussions and followup talks, we setup pages for the horses with separate categories for the types of horses, both upcoming events and prior events with gallery pictures, location with all addresses, directions as well as integrated Google Map, facility with correlating picture including a slideshow of their riding trail, services, sponsors links for advertisers, about page for their history and contacts. The navigation was repeated at the bottom footer section for convenience to the viewer. On all pages, other than the header, we designed a header just with the sign and without the images to increase screen space for content.
Finally, we assisted Diane in learning how to maintain the site which included several training sessions. Naturally, we have provided assistance on an on-going basis when she has a problem.
Update
After assuming complete ownership of The Southern Cross Ranch, Diane Weatherly wanted a new look for theirbusiness website
. She provided good direction on what she wanted on the site and gave us instructions on what she wanted on the overall style. We took her inspiration, created a background with horses grazing in pastures which was a composite made from four different photos, created a header which we actually cloned and enhanced from a custom paint job on one of their trucks, createdcustom graphics
and a color scheme that matched up well with Diane's instructions.Result
Diane's business has a fully functional e-commerce website that promotes their products and services.Click to view Southern Cross Ranch website
Diane Weatherly Calhoun
Maintaining a website is a lot of fun. But it can be a full time job, especially if your business has different events going on all the time. Luke Douglas with Webbering does a wonderful job of taking on a lot of the responsibility. He helped re-design our website to look and navigate different. I changed my mind about ten times and each time he was glad to make the last minute changes for me. If I wasn’t sure about something I could count on his knowledge and experience to help me make the right choice.I keep a pretty busy schedule, so I don’t always have time to put articles together. All I have to do is upload my pictures and type up an article. Luke will come in and put it together, check my grammar, and make it look very professional! He will also do this any time I ask him, and he gets it done the same day. Also, I can communicate with him through email just as effectively as over the telephone, which can be easier and more convenient at times.
I would definitely recommend his website services to anyone looking to start a website. He is very helpful, and the program he uses is up to date and user friendly. You will be really happy choosing Webbering and Luke Douglas as your website host.
Diane Weatherly Calhoun
Southern Cross Ranch