struggling with the shop snd pages.

I have come across a problem with my theme, this is the fact the pages do not work. I have tried several things to get the pages working at first I didn't think it was possible for my theme to allow pages until I found a check box which said they could be enabled. Once I checked the box I thought pages would start working but this wasn't the case, they still don't seem to exist.

In order to create the shop I have installed woocomerce and added all my products, though when I published the link in the navigation wouldn't open the page, in order to overcome this I have had to link the preview URL to the navigation, by doing this it opens up the page and the user is able to buy the products.

themes

I have been looking through a lot of themes mostly free ones but I have taken a look at some which are for a set price. The paid themes are a lot better than the free ones for a number of reasons the biggest reason being that the structure is already made and ready to use whereas the free ones take a bit longer to set up. The most frustrating thing with the themes is that when installed they don't show as previewed.

The themes below are the ones I have considered using, none of these worked out because the event I am creating the website for is video based and these are more for photography / portfolios.

I want a stream of content instead of different pages because I think its more efficient to have everything on one page and if used correctly more modern.

The reason why I considered using fifteen (which is the second image below) is because of the grid layout that is supplied, referring back to my wireframes I mentioned that I wanted a structure like this in part of my website for the line up of the event the problem was I want a grid that allows the user to be able to click on the image then an embedded video plays. This would be a good element to add to my page because the target audience would instantly relate as they're used to watching videos.

flow diagram / wireframes

Here I have drawn out some flow diagrams / wireframes to help me visualise what my website should look like when I am building it. I have based these wireframes on some of the themes I have been looking at this way it will be easier for me to see what is and isn't possible to do.

The logo / header will stay at the top of every page on the website along with the footer with contact details, social media and such at the bottom. 

For the shop page I will be using images of the already existing merchandise that the youtubers already have. 

I want a slider of some sort on the home page of the top 3 or 5 featured talent of the month this keeps the website updated and interesting, though I will have a separate 'Line Up' page with all of the talent attending to make it easy for users to get information fast. 

The line up page will look something like the image below, I want every youtuber attending to have their own image with their name underneath and/or their subscriber count. I want it to be possible to click their image and one of their videos plays, I have thought about a link redirecting to the selected youtube account opening in a new tab, or embedding the video on the site which would be easier for the user.

Plugins

I have been researching into plugins that would be useful to use for my website.

The brief said we have to have a calendar somewhere on the site but I think that would be weird as the event I am creating is only on for one day so as a replacement I thought of having a countdown timer. A lot of event websites I have been looking at are using countdown timers because the website owners know that people attending the event will be counting down the days and they're fun to look at. The image below is the plugin that I have been looking at to use for my website, i's eye catching and free.

Whilst looking for plug in's I stumbled across these social media icon's, I didn't realise there would be a plug in for this I assumed you would save out the icons yourself and upload but seeing as these ones are retina-ready icons It would save a lot of time if I used these instead. I wouldn't have to use all of them just the ones I need being: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Google+. The social networking would be placed in the Footer and maybe at the top somewhere of the page because it's important to get a following on social media. 

above is the screen shots of all the plugins i have installed and activated for the shop, booking system/calendar, analytics, google maps and seo.

Logo Inspriation

I have been thinking about logo's recently so I took to google to take a look at some logos for inspiration. I want something to do with a camera, interaction with audience or just a letter that represents the event name. I want the logo to be simple yet eye catching, something that's clever and has a meaning behind it. 

here are a few examples which has given me the most inspiration. 

I like the last two images the most with hands making a camera gesture. In the image below you can see how hand gestures have changed over the years when at concerts or events and the last one 2000's ending with people holding up a camera is very true but also very relevant to the youtube event. I Think when the target audience see it they will find it very relatable. 

Fonts

I have been looking at a number of different fonts for the website I am going to create. I want something that young people will think is fun. I've been looking at fonts for the header, sub headers, logo and normal type. 

This is the original font that the Digi Tour are currently using for their website and I don't think it's that bad, they've tried to make it fun and different by slicing some of the letters which is kind of a cool effect but I really like the paint splatter on the background. 

I think the font for the main header should be big, bold and eye catching, I really like the font below which is called Lobster. This font would be good for the header because it's readable and fun.

this is also a free download.  

I quite like this next font which is called 'Capture It' I think the target audience would think it's cool but I'm not sure if it fits the brand of the website. If I was to go with the paint splatter idea like the original then maybe I could consider using this. I like that this font is bold and readable. 

While searching for fonts that would go with the event I came across Indie Ground - 25 must have free fonts The event I'm doing is for youtubers and people who watch youtubers are the internet generation and these people would appreciate these font styles. 

I love everything about these fonts and the backgrounds used bring's it to life. If i was to use these fonts I would definitely use the same space type background. 

here are my favourites 

logo.

I have come up with this idea for a logo, I created this on photoshop and I think my target audience would like it, looking at it now I'm uploading it to this blog I would probably fade the background a little to make the font stand out more, but I like how it looks. Also I have done some research and a lot of the youtubers say #teaminternet this is why i have put it as a caption under digi tour. 

What I Am Going To Do

After looking into different festivals and events I have decided I am going to create or I should say re create The Digi Tour website.  

Out of all the event's I've looked at, it's the one that could be improved the most. 

• I want to improve the way in which it is set out, to me it looks pretty jumbled with not a lot of time spent on it. The themes I have been looking at are so organised and structured that they would be perfect for this event. 
• The pictures are very irritating to me because they have been edited very poorly anyone can see how the backgrounds have been cropped out and again not a lot of time has been spent on it. 
• I think there needs to be some links to pages because everything on one page is too much information. 
• brand: I don't see a brand at all when I go on to the website, I don't see any repetitive logo or colour theme I think thats what this site needs. 
• I would change the background colour because black is too dull and boring. 
• I want to make the links more obvious because everything just looks like text on a page. 

I will start off by creating a logo for the page I want it to be fun and eye catching but something to do with youtube. 

Logo ideas

I want to create a logo that is bold and works for my target audience. The two first images are the ones they the original website use.

The first one I personally think is a little boring there's nothing to it, I appreciate simplicity but this is a little too dull.

The second image is probably a bit too much I don't understand the design aspect of it, I don't understand why It's sliced I don't think it makes much sense.

The last two images I sourced from google I think they're the direction I would like to go in, It's fun and colourful and shows what to expect when you get to the tour.

SEO

What does SEO stand for?

search engine optimisation

What does SEO mean?

SEO is used to ensure that a site is accessible to a search engine this helps increase the amount of visitors to the website in search engines such as Google, Bing, Yahoo and more. 

I've created to give an example of how SEO works, the links highlighted red are paid advertisements - people pay a certain amount to get their websites right at the top though I  people don't tend to click on these links because it never usually has the information they're looking for. The link highlighted green is position 1, when users go to a search engine such as google for information it means they want good information and they don't want to be scrolling endlessly therefore position 1 is the most beneficial place to be. 

This video is a tutorial on how to set up search engine optimization correctly on wordpress. 

Usability

Usability focuses on how well users can learn and use a product they then share their opinion on what they thought of it how easy it was to navigate etc. Getting the right target audience to test out the product can be very helpful, based on the feed back it will be easier for the owner to tell if they're ready to release the product or not.

User testing would be helpful to me when creating / finishing my website things i need to think about:

• Target Audience
• When to do user testing 
• How many people
• Questions to ask 

WordPress - Layout Inspiration #2

Demo Theme Site
Sourced here

This website is very much like the last one I posted in the way that it is broken down into different sections. My favourite thing about this website is the slider at the top of the page under the navigation. Slider's are a really good way of adding lots of information/pictures to your page without cluttering the site, seeing them on so many websites recently has give me inspiration to add one when creating my own. 

WordPress - Layout Inspiration

Demo Theme Site. 

This theme is powered by WordPress, I thought it would be a good idea to look into some theme's because I could think about using something similar.

Backgrounds:

I think this page would be good for a festival event because when the user scrolls through they see something completely different in every section. I've mentioned in a previous post that there is so much that happens during a festival such as music, stalls, camping, yoga, fun fair rides and lots more but not many people know that because its not advertised a lot, using pictures of different parts of the festival for the backgrounds would be a great way of making people aware. -- I would personally fade the pictures slightly so you can see everything on top more clear. 

Navigation:

I like how the navigation bar stays on screen as you scroll through the website, it means if the user doesn't have to scroll all the way back to the top to get to a different page. Also when you hover over picture links the mouse turns into a little hand which is an obvious indication that it's a link. 

Continuously Scrolling Slider:

I love everything about this, the fact is not right at the top of the page but in the middle I think its something that grabs the users attention, When I noticed this I instantly thought about how well it would work for a festival event page because you could have pictures of featured artists attending the event or even have the countdown to how many days are left until the event. 

Gallery Posts:

This is a cool section because when you click on the images it leads the user to another page with information about what the user clicked on. 

With this theme I like how the user would be able to see a range of different aspects of the event all on one page because of this I think the audience would be able to get a great deal of information. There is so much that I like about this website, I am considering using this theme for the website I am going to create.