As a point of reference, here is what the site looks like now . . .

http://www.puppetsandprops.com/

A bit cramped, a bit dated and definitely in need of a facelift, but most importantly, it is not responsive. I know I lose visitors who are smaller devices, so I really want to make the site responsive along with the makeover. Here is my first attempt at a redesign with RLMP. . .

http://brosepianoservice.com/ (temporarily on this domain I own while I test things)

Please let me know what you think, both in terms of the design and how I am doing with RLMP. There's more I want to do to the header yet (looks a bit plain at desktop monitor size), and I haven't put in the Nav bar yet (just a place holder right now). I purchased Menu Builder when I bought RLMP, but honestly haven't even opened the program yet (can't wait though!). That's next. Maybe that will help with the look of the header when I add that.

Also, as it goes down to the smaller screen sizes, I am looking at changing how the section with 9 photos (under 'Mike Brose Pro Figures' heading) shuffles in the stack. I see how to do that now that I'm getting more familiar with the program. A lot more Aha moments still happening!

And finally, it's only the home page I'm playing with right now, so the various links on the page don't go anywhere yet. Well, let me know what you think. How am I doing?

Mike Brose

The new site looks good and is pleasantly responsive, Michael. I would say it's coming along nicely.

Michael,

That's really good for you're first attempt.

Your header looks fine on a desktop. It will look better with the navigation installed but you don't want it to crowded anyway.

Please let us know when you get it finished so we can take a look.

Great job Michael! I would say your getting the hang of it

One thing I would consider is adding a break point at around 200-250px and make the colspan 12 where you have:



When I view it on a smart phone its quite pinched and only a couple words per line.

Other than that great job. Look forward to seeing the site when its been completed.

Thanks Dave! There's so many choices when working on the responsive part, but I love how much control RLM gives you. I may still tweak some further as sometimes the logo gets smaller than I would like at certain screen sizes.

Hey, thanks Ernie! Yeah, one of my goals has been to have a feeling of more room overall and NOT crowded like the old site. Leaning more towards a flat design somewhat too. I will definitely post again when I get things pretty well done. Just started playing with Menu Maker last night. Very anxious to get a nice menu added in.

Thank you kindly Steve! It's been a little bit of a learning curve, but as you get it, you start seeing just how wonderful and powerful RLM is. Yeah, I don't have a Smart Phone (Stupid Phone only currently) to test it on, so that didn't stand out so much. I knew it was a little cramped, but didn't know at the time how to fix it. I had two empty columns of 2 spans each on either side of that paragraph column, and after seeing your comment I went in and made those 2 columns hidden (just found out how to hide things yesterday as a matter of fact) at the smaller screen sizes. So now it looks good in RLM. Just have to export again and update the CSS.

Thanks guys for taking the time to take a look!

Thats ok Michael you dont need a smart phone to test. There are several free ones out there but I use http://mobiletest.me/ works good.

Way cool! Thanks Steve! That will REALLY help as I work on my design here.

Quick question: on that site with the Nokia Lumia 920, the section on my site with the group of 9 photos, they display a row of 2 photos, then a row of 1, then a row of 2, etc. In your professional opinion, does that look alright? Or would it be better to have 2 two photos in each row, with a single photo centered at the bottom of that array? Not that hard of a change in RLM, but if I don't need to . . .

Thanks again for that great resource Steve! You guys are great.

Mike B.

I would do a single row of photos centred in that row.

Thanks Steve! Easiest fix of all. Sometimes I just try to complicate things unnecessarily.

Thanks for your help and input!

Mike B.

Michael, I join the compliments. Well done. As said it scales very nice.
As for testing the mobile versions you can use Firefox. Under Extra>Webdeveloper you find Responsive design view.
You also can add the Webdeveloper extension which can give to examples of how your site looks on the various screensizes.