OK, my first niche site

[DrMarie]

First of all, I greatly appreciate the advice and help in this forum! It's amazing how many people want you to pay hundreds of dollars for affiliate coaching, but there is great free and helpful advice here.

So, I have read through almost all of the newbie and general posts and decided on my first niche.

Earlier this year I hurt my back and during my bedrest period I learned html, php, mysql and a bunch of SEO stuff and got my Ask A Vet Question site up. My site is doing well, but I really would like to have some affiliate sites associated with it.

So, I have set up Paralyzed-Dogs.com as my first niche site.

Could you give me some general feedback? Don't be afraid to hurt my feelings. I really want to make it in the affiliate business and want to learn from my mistakes!

Thanks!
Marie

[minstrel]

Very nice. Congratulations!

I like the "slideshow" thing at the top highlighting different posts... is that custom? or is it a public domain Wordpress plug-in?

[DrMarie]

Hey thanks!

It's a free wordpress theme (from the wordpress site) called "Simple Indy". I changed a few things on it like the banner and some of the wording.

[Max(WMR.FM)]

Originally Posted by minstrel

Very nice. Congratulations!

I like the "slideshow" thing at the top highlighting different posts... is that custom? or is it a public domain Wordpress plug-in?

It is a jQuery plug-in called Easy Slider. I used it a while back for the redesign of the WMR site. For the most part it it is very customizable and it look like in the newest version the developer has added even more to the settings to the simple controls. When I used it though I went into the code and tweaked it so it would display 9 at a time rather then 1 and that it would scroll the length of 1 list item (li) which is a 100px by 100px icon. I can't add links yet but If you Google Search: Easy Slider 1.5 it should be the first link.

DrMarie, if you want to swap out the generic images from the slider with something else, which I suggest you do because it doesn't match your color scheme, you can replace the images/btn_next.gif and images/btn_prev.gif in your theme's directory with another arrow that has the same dimensions (30x77). Other dimensions are possible but with only edits to the jQuery plug-in's file and the corresponding CSS stylesheet. Also I suggest you alter /scripts/js/slide.js to increase the pauses time between posts. This can be done by changing the "pause: 3000" option to a higher number (like 5000 aka 5 seconds). That way they don't "fly by".

[DrMarie]

Thanks Max...that's some excellent advice! I will make some changes soon.

[Linda Buquet]

Hi Marie,

Sorry somehow I missed this post until now. Very nice job on your site.
I too like that slide show feature.

FYI for me in Firefox your site has problems. There's probably a techy term for what I'm seeing but I don't know what it's called. There's overlapping text and images everywhere on your homepage. It's like if each screen was printed on a transparency and then you threw one transparency on top of another??? Most of page is unreadable. (I'm using FF 3.0.12, it's not like that for me with IE)

[DrMarie]

Yikes...this is worrisome. I am using FF too...going to have to try it with different versions.

I wonder why this is happening?

[DrMarie]

Linda, could you tell me if you are getting the same problem with this site?
Pet products, dog toys, cat toys, dog foods, treats and more reviewed by a veterinarian.. It has the same layout. Thanks!
Marie

[DrMarie]

Very odd...I just downloaded FF 3.0.12 and it looks fine. I also tried it with different screen resolutions. Are you using a mac or pc?

[Linda Buquet]

Yes it does it on the main site too.

Just found the problem though. It was not FF it was the NoScript plugin I use with Firefox that helps with security so someone can't hijack your browser or steal your banking info. Just thought to turn it off and check and that was it. I doubt many consumers have that plugin installed so you should be OK. Sorry to alarm.