Band website reviews

[Blower]

Isn't it time this feature was resurrected, maybe in a slightly different format? Wasn't it Sparkling Quavers that used to have a website that reviewed band websites?

The band website is their 'shop window' selling themselves and the movement in general to the public. Why not pick a website each month and let everyone give their opinions, good or bad, it can only lead to improvement to sites?

[WoodenFlugel]

Go ahead - no-one's stopping you....!

[catto09]

why don't we do it on here? Can i start it off with...www.granitecitybrass.co.uk :) cheers!

Lewis

[jockinafrock]

I love looking at other bands' websites, and often do so after reading an article on here. The standard and content is wide and varied, and I enjoy seeing what everyone's doing. :D
I'll just sneak in here and plug Fodens new youth website... :biggrin: Enjoy!
http://youth.fodensband.co.uk/

[bass2bone]

I will also look at these sites as it will say alot about how a band is running for the public support they dearly need to survive.

www.pencoedconcertbrass.webs.com (http://www.pencoedconcertbrass.webs.com)

Philip Loveday
Solo Euphonium
Pencoed Concert Brass
Bass Trombone
Tylorstown Band

[Rapier]

You are welcome to take a look at ours. Unfortunately it's done on a 'design template', so can't have all the whistles and bells that some have. I'd love to be able to put videos and sound on, but can't.

www.watchettownband.co.uk (http://www.watchettownband.co.uk)

[Rebecca Owen]

All I require from a band website that it is up to date. There are a few that I have seen with their engagement list giving jobs for 2008. And that the vacancies page matches the current player list. If a band has a euphonium vacancy advertised and there is a name in the player list, then is there still a vacancy or not?

[lannerfalcon]

I would agree with that, it can be quite time consuming to keep a site up to date but I would expect every band has something news worthy at least once a month to report if nothing else. Just picking up on Granite City Brass put forward at the start of this thread, having a quick look at the site overall it's a great site but have the band done nothing worth reporting since July?

In response to Rapier, I don't think whistle and bells are necessarily required, good up to date information is what people are after, in my opinion.

Feel free to make comment on ours... http://www.lannerband.co.uk

[bass2bone]

You are welcome to take a look at ours. Unfortunately it's done on a 'design template', so can't have all the whistles and bells that some have. I'd love to be able to put videos and sound on, but can't.

www.watchettownband.co.uk (http://www.watchettownband.co.uk)

Hi Rapier,

I suggest you try this one : www.webs.com (http://www.webs.com)

Very good , free and live updates.

[bass2bone]

All I require from a band website that it is up to date. There are a few that I have seen with their engagement list giving jobs for 2008. And that the vacancies page matches the current player list. If a band has a euphonium vacancy advertised and there is a name in the player list, then is there still a vacancy or not?

I do believe you are on about our site, if not I apologise.

We are a Concert Brass Band and therefore there is no limitaions on the number of Euphs, Horns, troms etc., etc. Size is not the issue, it is for the enjoyment of not contesting and just to make music...

[Rapier]

We pay for the domain name and hosting for two years in advance so we'll stick with it. Thanks for the information though

[Rebecca Owen]

I do believe you are on about our site, if not I apologise.

We are a Concert Brass Band and therefore there is no limitaions on the number of Euphs, Horns, troms etc., etc. Size is not the issue, it is for the enjoyment of not contesting and just to make music...


I wasn't meaning your site, but no need to apologise. There are a couple in the Midlands that I was referring to, but I am sure there are many more around the country.

I would think that if a band decides to have a website then someone needs to be responsible for ensuring the information is up-to-date, even if it is just updating the most important information - current vacancies and contact details; I have phoned numbers before and been told "oh I'm not with that band anymore".

[sunshine]

I'm responsible for updating our band site - www.corbysilverband.com (http://www.corbysilverband.com)

I put the date of when it was last updated on the home page, so visitors to the site will know it is all relevant and up to date. Even if there are no changes to be made regarding vacancies or news, it takes 30 seconds to make people aware that the content is still current.

Amanda
1st Baritone - Corby Silver Band
1st Baritone - Boobs & Brass

[KenIrvin]

I'd like to blow my own trumpet (well cornet actually!) with this offerring

www.ashbournetownband.co.uk (http://www.ashbournetownband.co.uk)

[Pat J]

All I require from a band website that it is up to date. There are a few that I have seen with their engagement list giving jobs for 2008. And that the vacancies page matches the current player list. If a band has a euphonium vacancy advertised and there is a name in the player list, then is there still a vacancy or not?

It can happen at times that a vacancy will be advertised when the webmaster is on holiday or unavailable for some reason so it may be a few days before the website is updated with the vacancy. I know that has occured recently on one website.

[Rebecca Owen]

It can happen at times that a vacancy will be advertised when the webmaster is on holiday or unavailable for some reason so it may be a few days before the website is updated with the vacancy. I know that has occured recently on one website.

A few days, yes, but I know from experience about a specific website where they frequently update pictures and engagement lists, yet their vacancies list has not been updated for over two years. It still advertises vacancies in some sections where I know there are not vacancies. And after losing 2 members of a different section in the last couple of months there is no mention of that on the site.

One other site for a local band lists one percussionist and states it requires more percussion players but when a friend contacted them about vacancies, he was told they would add him to their dep list, but they already have four so aren't looking for any more. Surely that didn't happen over a "few days". Oh and they are still advertising for percussion players nearly 5 months after my friend contacted them.:-?

[Pat J]

Ah yes, under those circumstances I quite agree with you!

They must be in a very fortunate position if in this day and age they can turn away percussionists wanting to join.

______________________________________

[Tim Pritchard]

Here is our humble offering. Please be gentle.... http://www.jerseypremierbrass.org.je/Home.html

I quite enjoy doing the site although it's sometimes hard to think up new content. We use it so that anyone coming to the island will know how to get to us. We often get people coming along to listen to rehearsals who are holiday.

[Blower]

I do believe I started this so maybe I better take the job on, if you're willing to put your site forward I'll give it due consideration over a few weeks and give some comments/feedback.

Feel free to chip in at any time....

[Robhibberd29]

Here is our humble offering. Please be gentle.... http://www.jerseypremierbrass.org.je/Home.html



Some nice photos on there Tim...particularly
SV101871.JPG :wink:

[hornydevil]

I update ours, we did have a write up of each player but it's quite hard work keeping on top of it. So now we just have photos.

http://www.blackburnanddarwenband.co.uk

[Robhibberd29]

That's a nice looking site Sue...I think your bass trom player has an appropriate name ;-)

[iancwilx]

www.kippaxband.co.uk

[2nd man down]

Feel free to have a ramble through ours

www.emleybrassband.co.uk (http://www.emleybrassband.co.uk)

[DublinBass]

The new www.DublinBands.com website has just been launched for the...
Dublin Cornet Band
Dublin Silver Band
Emerald City Swing Orchestra...
...and coming soon Concert Band of Dublin

Still quite a few bits to sort out, but your initial feedback would be appreciated

[jockinafrock]

Have another gander at ours - it's aimed at everyone young at heart! I'm webmaster of this one and welcome feedback about what we put on. :biggrin:
http://www.youth.fodensband.co.uk/ :hi
oops! Better put the band I play for on too.... http://www.unitedco-opbandcrewe.co.uk/
And not forgetting hubby's band... http://www.fodensband.co.uk/

[catto09]

Just picking up on Granite City Brass put forward at the start of this thread, having a quick look at the site overall it's a great site but have the band done nothing worth reporting since July?

Aside from the boring "we played at this park on this date" job...no, not really. Summer is our "relaxing" period. We're getting back into it now.

Thanks-much :)

[4thmandown]

Shirley Band's website was recently reconstructed and can be found at www.shirleyband.org.uk. Lots of old pictures describing the band's history - Don Hodesdon (President) still looks the same as he did in the 1950's!

[Robhibberd29]

The new www.DublinBands.com (http://www.DublinBands.com) website has just been launched for the...
Dublin Cornet Band
Dublin Silver Band
Emerald City Swing Orchestra...
...and coming soon Concert Band of Dublin

Still quite a few bits to sort out, but your initial feedback would be appreciated

Are you already aware that the "events" tab doesn't work Pat?

[DublinBass]

Thanks Rob...that is one of the bits that needs to bit sorted out...I would be more concerned if it weren't a dead link and went to the homepage for Man City or summat ;-)

[Robhibberd29]

Thanks Rob...that is one of the bits that needs to bit sorted out...I would be more concerned if it weren't a dead link and went to the homepage for Man City or summat ;-)

Ha ha good point....I think IanPerks would be even MORE concerned about a link to man City :rolleyes:

[Band_Beefcake]

Hi All,

Besses Boys BAnd have just uploaded a brand new website, www.bessesboysband.com (http://www.bessesboysband.com), have a look and let me know what you think.

Cheers

James

[Robhibberd29]

I think that's an excellent site James. Lots of info, pics, detail....nice one!

[kp51]

Besses Boys BAnd have just uploaded a brand new website, www.bessesboysband.com (http://www.bessesboysband.com), have a look and let me know what you think.

Flash menus don't work for me - I use Firefox with flash blocked to stop the pesky adverts, so I only saw the menus when I clicked on a "play" button. People with iPod or iPad can't get Flash even if they want it, so they'll never see the menu. The effects for the menus aren't that special - you could use ordinary images to produce the same look, and be far more accessible.
KP

[DublinBass]

Are you already aware that the "events" tab doesn't work Pat?

FYI...I think the "events" tab and all others work now (they'll say if something is coming soon)

[kp51]

The Events menu item on dublinbands.com doesn't work for me (Firefox, IE8 ) - there's a trombone player's head in the way! Even though the image background is transparent, the image is still blocking mouse access to the menu item. You need to move the image down and out of the way (and chop him off more at the waist or make the page taller to fit the whole image in).
KP

[DublinBass]

The Events menu item on dublinbands.com doesn't work for me (Firefox, IE8 ) - there's a trombone player's head in the way! Even though the image background is transparent, the image is still blocking mouse access to the menu item. You need to move the image down and out of the way (and chop him off more at the waist or make the page taller to fit the whole image in).
KP

Thanks for that.

[alks]

Thanks for that.

Same here chopped off too - but i would also recommend that you use PNG 8 graphic format for the images of the 'cut out people' to remove the jagged edges from them. By using PNG 8 you will make it work in older browsers too (such as IE6 - which some people still use) Set it to index transparency blending in with white.

alks

[TheFopp]

I'll give the VBS Poynton Band website a plug.

I took over it and revamped it completely a few months back with a new design, new content, audio and nice gallery system. Built a CMS for it at the back end to make it easy to update as well.

Please have a look around a let me know what you think. Any ideas, suggestions etc will be gratefully received.

www.poyntonband.co.uk (http://www.poyntonband.co.uk)

[hornydevil]

Great website 'TheFopp', nice to see one that's up to date! Say hi to Eddie & Jimmy, they used to play with Blackburn & Darwen. :clap:

Sue Speakman

http://www.blackburnanddarwenband.co.uk

[Rapier]

I'll give the VBS Poynton Band website a plug.

I took over it and revamped it completely a few months back with a new design, new content, audio and nice gallery system. Built a CMS for it at the back end to make it easy to update as well.

Please have a look around a let me know what you think. Any ideas, suggestions etc will be gratefully received.

www.poyntonband.co.uk (http://www.poyntonband.co.uk)

Loved it. Very nice indeed, wish mine was as good.


Shame about the jackets though. ;)

[TheFopp]

Shame about the jackets though. ;)


Quite! Apparently we will be getting new ones in the not too distant future

[alks]

I'll give the VBS Poynton Band website a plug.

I took over it and revamped it completely a few months back with a new design, new content, audio and nice gallery system. Built a CMS for it at the back end to make it easy to update as well.

Please have a look around a let me know what you think. Any ideas, suggestions etc will be gratefully received.

www.poyntonband.co.uk (http://www.poyntonband.co.uk)

looking at the main heading graphic and navigation...seams slightly unfinished with the abrupt ending of the image at the edges of the screen. Perhaps it could be blended into the background colour or shortened slightly to fit in the bounds of the white area of the page? or perhaps just set the main background colour to #000 (jet black) so you cant see the edges? Actually looking at it , i see that the navigation and heading blocks span the entire width of the page when zoomed out - personally I would make it a fixed width. Just a thought.;)

[wrightsonm]

The University of York Brass Band has just released it's brand new website!

More and more features are being added but please have a look and tell me what you think:

www.uybb.co.uk (http://www.uybb.co.uk)

Cheers
Mark Wrightson

[kp51]

UYBB: nice straightforward and informative site. I'd suggest you have a permanent News section rather than make one story a major menu item; and if you're going to repeat the posts in Players, set it out as name -> post rather than post -> name.
;) KP

[alks]

I have updated the marshfield band website to include a content management system and because of this I had to widen the design slightly by adding an extra column - so the design is essentially the same as it was when it won the web site of the month in Nov 2007. So hopefully its fair for me to keep the tmp winning banner on the home page?

www.marshfieldband.co.uk

alks

[blue juice]

shameless plug: http://www.harrogateband.org/

[alks]

Dodington parish band gets new website,

www.dodingtonparishband.co.uk

Includes full CMS system so quicker updates :)

alks

[Rapier]

I change mine every couple of weeks and still can't decide which I like. Trouble is the templates are provided and I have to chose from 26 pages worth. And none of them let me put sound etc. on.

www.watchettownband.co.uk (http://www.watchettownband.co.uk)

And I really like yours Alks, by the way.

[alks]

I change mine every couple of weeks and still can't decide which I like. Trouble is the templates are provided and I have to chose from 26 pages worth. And none of them let me put sound etc. on.

www.watchettownband.co.uk (http://www.watchettownband.co.uk)

And I really like yours Alks, by the way.

thanks. I have done a few CMS websites for bands recently. Including these :

www.midsomernortonandradstocksilverband.org.uk
http://www.pangbourneband.org.uk

the system works well and I was thinking of offering a "brass band special package" for other bands but not sure how much interest there would be.

I Have not used the template websites before but I suspect you are limited to what you can do with them.

[gptrom]

Its always nice to look at other bands sites
Some good ideas around
We try and keep ours as up to date as possible.
Please take a look
www.tivertontownband.co.uk (http://www.tivertontownband.co.uk)

:tup:clap::clap::clap::tup

[iancwilx]

shameless plug: http://www.harrogateband.org/

Why not ?
No such thing as bad publicity !!

- Mr Wilx

[Ste69]

We're regularly updated - our webmaster does a fantastic job.

Shameless plug: www.eymsbrassband.co.uk (http://www.eymsbrassband.co.uk)

[Middleton Band]

We too are regularly updated. Our fantastic webteam are always at it :D

www.middletonband.com (http://www.middletonband.com)

[DublinBass]

Dublin Community Bands have just redone their website www.DublinBands.com (http://www.DublinBands.com/)
Please have a look!!

Feel free to check out our FB page as well https://www.facebook.com/DublinBands.

[blueorange]

And here's my contribution...

http://www.boarshurstband.co.uk

[lynsey83]

Here's the Shotts website:

www.shottsbrassband.com

[davethehorny]

Got to plug our website done for us by Drena Designs who also do the West of England and GBBA websites - www.drybrookband.co.uk

It is so much easier to get someone to do it for you.

Drena designs can be contacted at www.drena.co.uk

[DublinBass]

Dublin Bands have recently redone their website...http://www.dublinbands.com/

[kaybrookes@live.co.uk]

I update our website every Monday morning.
Knowing nothing about computers or the internet I would appreciate any feedback as to how I can improve it and indeed how to make the improvement.
Advice on how to create a page for band members only would be good.
www.dinningtoncollieryband.co.uk

[kp51]

(Re Dinnington) The site is attractive and informative enough, but 30 main menu items? That makes information more difficult to find, not easier. You could do with some structure, so, for instance, the youth band band would have just one main menu item, with secondary navigation of some sort to get to the subsections. I don't know what facilities the Vistaprint editor offers you for that kind of thing.
Do you actually pay them? I was interested to see their idea of a "free" website seems to mean a one-month free trial followed by relatively expensive monthly fees, and, according to one webmaster's review. no access to the code their editor creates. And it's truly horrific machine-generated code (yes, I know this means nothing to you, but some people do care about it), full of table-based layout and obsolete attributes instead of CSS to style the output.
KP

[kaybrookes@live.co.uk]

Thanks KP for taking the time to look at our Web and give constructive advice. As you say we need sub headings (I couldn't agree more) but as far as am aware this is not a facility that is offered by Vistaprint. You are also correct in assuming that we pay for the site, it is £10.67p per month but again I do not know if this is good (not knowing anything about web sites etc.)
(Re Dinnington) The site is attractive and informative enough, but 30 main menu items? That makes information more difficult to find, not easier. You could do with some structure, so, for instance, the youth band band would have just one main menu item, with secondary navigation of some sort to get to the subsections. I And it's truly horrific machine-generated code (yes, I know this means nothing to you, but some people do care about it), full of table-based layout and obsolete attributes instead of CSS to style the output.
KP

[Dackdack]

Ok here we go;

http://www.harwichrblbrassband.co.uk

It is mostly up to date with regard to news etc. The players listed are still in the band but some have moved instruments and the photos are a couple of years old :/ Other than that, it is a good informative site (imho) and the band are very proud of it.

You can also download this quarter's edition of The Legionaire (our band's own newsletter/magazine).

[MrSopranoMan]

Another shameless plug here... http://www.daventrybrass.co.uk/

Started working on a CMS based website a few years ago, developing it on my PC, but a total PC failure and lack of hosting support meant it was shelved.

Looking forward to no longer having to faff about updating static pages and being able to wonder around on my phone, updating the website as and when!

[whitewitch]

This is the new style website for Uppermill Band.

More pictures to take and news/results to add.

What do you think?

http://www.uppermillband.com/home.html

[Nuh Bell]

Our euphonium player does ours, and we think she does a brilliant job
www.sidmouthtownband.co.uk (http://www.sidmouthtownband.co.uk)

[cornet_matt1]

Would be interested to see what you all think of this?
It's a bit of a 3 year project for me to work on while i'm doing my Computer Science Degree.

http://www.hazelgrovebrassband.co.uk

[kp51]

I've only looked at a couple of pages (of Hazel Grove) - which are very attractive once they finish loading. I hope your course covers ways to reduce the file size of images! The band picture on the front page is 1.8MB. That slows loading right down, to no benefit, since the browser resizes the image afterwards. Your top banner is 130KB, which you can probably reduce considerably without undue loss of quality. Slow loading is one of the factors the search engines take into account these days, if you're concerned about that.
KP

[cornet_matt1]

I've only looked at a couple of pages (of Hazel Grove) - which are very attractive once they finish loading. I hope your course covers ways to reduce the file size of images! The band picture on the front page is 1.8MB. That slows loading right down, to no benefit, since the browser resizes the image afterwards. Your top banner is 130KB, which you can probably reduce considerably without undue loss of quality. Slow loading is one of the factors the search engines take into account these days, if you're concerned about that.
KP
Thanks, the loading time is something I'm looking into when i'm not overwhelmed with work. It can be hard to tell here at Uni with two different internet connections (one takes a bit to load the site, the other loads it quite quickly). Another factor with the slow loading is the Host. This was chosen before I took over management of the site and isn't my personal choice.

[KenIrvin]

I'd like to blow my own trumpet (well cornet actually!) with this offerring

www.ashbournetownband.co.uk (http://www.ashbournetownband.co.uk)

New "Members" page added - would be interested in comments

http://www.ashbournetownband.co.uk/members.php

[sopsarah]

www.idbrass.com (http://www.idbrass.com) I need to update some player profiles on the site but apart from that it's fairly up to date xxx