Look & Feel Selector
The Look & Feel (L&F) reflects the theme and sets the tone for your site, connecting with your reader at a quick, subconscious level. However, your content is what ultimately wins or loses your visitor's confidence and trust. And that's what gets the click!
In short... bad L&F loses visitors quickly. They won't give you the benefit of the doubt and wait even a few seconds to see what you have to say.
You never get a second chance to make a good first impression!
Sites with good design have one thing in common, simplicity. Make it your mantra.
Do not overburden your visitors' eyes and distract them from the real goal of your Web site... getting the click. Instead, reinforce the tone of your wording, leaving your visitors with a confident feeling that you are indeed an authority on the theme of your site.
To get a sense about how design can influence a person's mood, pick up a fashion magazine and scan through the ads. Whether the tone is blatantly obvious (ex., "sexy" is the tone for a Victoria Secrets ad) or subtle (ex., for a Ralph Lauren ad, the tone is "calm" and "successful"), note how the various companies use color, fonts and images to convey a single impression or mood: tough, sexy, innocent, independent, guilty, successful, etc. The companies are using basic emotions to get a single desired result, the sale.
You only get one chance to make a good first impression! So design a clean, welcoming and easy to navigate Look & Feel ("L&F").
The ultimate goal of your Web site is to get the monetizing click. Your content and style give visitors a confident feeling that you are indeed an authority on the niche that you chose for your site. "Words" get that job done. But...
A great L&F sets a positive, receptive mindset. It won't make the sale, but it does set the stage for C 
T P to work its magic and lead to the M.
2 Columns or 3 Columns?
Simplicity should always be your goal when designing your site. Make it as simple as possible for your visitors to get around each page of your site, and around all the pages on your site. The easiest to use site design is the 2-column one, with navigation on the left and content on the right.
You may, however, feel the need to add a third column to your design. You might want to use it for site sponsorships, deeper navigation, affiliate image ads, or even testimonials.
Adding a third column can add some serious clutter and/or distraction to your pages, if you don't keep it under control.
Since you can add the third column at any time by returning to the L&F Selector and rebuilding your site with that option, we recommend that you start with two columns. Get a feel for your site and for its content. (The L&F help focuses on using the 2 column design. Help for using the third column is available in the Right Column tool itself.)
Once you're sure that adding a third column won't distract visitors or send them to the Back button, and you're clear about what you want to add to that column, return to the L&F Selector and make your site a 3 column site.
You can learn more about the advantages of 2 columns vs. 3 columns at...
http://sbitips.sitesell.com/2-3-columns.html
This article discusses some of the ways to use the right column...
http://sbitips.sitesell.com/right-column-content.html
Remember that you must activate the third column here in the L&F Selector before the third column will appear on any page of your site.
Important Note
If you plan to use one of the "Additional Themes" found in SBI! Resources (or you've already used one with an existing site), you'll need to resize the top image to 960 pixels wide before uploading it to Style: Custom in the L&F Selector. This TNT article gives several options to help you do that...
Design 101
SBI! offers powerful, easy-to-use tools that give you the freedom to create the sharp, professional L&F that you want. If you are not a designer, here are some pro-level "keep the glitz down" tips when using SBI!'s L&F tools...
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Limit your color palette.
The use of too many color families is a tell-tale sign of an amateur. We amateurs love to snazz it up! But it distracts the visitor and "feels amateurish." So pick two to three complimentary colors.
Use a splash of color (spot color) for extreme accent points. Experiment with colorful elements within your site photos and other graphics. But limit the colors in the underlying images and background that make up your L&F.
The same holds true for font coloring.
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Limit your special effects.
Even though the "cool" factor is alluring, effects such as drop shadows, beveling, and glows should be used for impact, not as the basis of your design. Don't be tempted to apply all the effects just because they are there.
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Design for the whole site, not the particular element.
Although you will be working on each element (Logo, Left Hand NavBar, Background) individually, it is the whole L&F that your viewers see. Each L&F element may look great, but what's the overall effect?
As you work with SBI!'s L&F tools, get the big picture of the finished result by using the L&F Preview button frequently. Ensure that the L&F elements complement each other and deliver the overall mood and impact that you want your viewers to experience.
If building a profitable Web site is your top priority, reflect upon the above points seriously. Do not design just to please yourself. Well-known design and usability gurus recommend minimalist designs, including simple, clean left-hand navigation.
Why?
Because they "work."
Clean design and simple navigation are Search-Engine-friendly. The spiders can't see the design of course (not yet!), but they do love easy-to-follow navigation! Humans, of course, are struck by both design and easy navigation. And ultimately, the engines track human response. So...
Simplicity rules!
An excellent design resource is only a click away. It's a short booklet that is packed with valuable tips. Take a break and read it now. Or come back to it later on, when the time is right for you.
To download the PDF booklet, right-click on this link and save the PDF file to your desktop. Its file name is "web-design-success.pdf" (in case you need to search for it on your computer after downloading).
So... what impression do you want your audience to feel when they visit your site?
Three Parts of a Look & Feel
A Look & Feel is composed of three parts...
1) Site Elements (Top Image, Left Hand Side Image, and Background Image)
2) Logo
3) NavBar
The Site Elements form the foundation of your site's L&F, upon which SBI! will merge your Logo and NavBar.
L&F Building Options
- Select your building option, Predesigned style or Style: Custom.
- Choose the 2 column option (default) or the 3 column option.
- Use the Preview button frequently as you build your L&F.
- Click on the Select/Save this Style button to finalize any customization changes and to make your L&F "go live" on the Web.
This module offers you two options...
1) The fastest and easiest option is to choose one of SBI!'s Predesigned styles and do "Zero Customization." Just select your template, color scheme and type of alignment. That's it. You're done! Click here for instructions.
You can also modify or customize one or all parts of the template (i.e., its Site Elements, Logo, and/or NavBar), if you do not wish to use it "as is."
2) Do you have a creative itch that needs scratching? Create a custom style. In the Style: Custom category, you can either choose to...
- create your own L&F design from scratch using SBI!'s built-in tools and/or your own graphic tools (ex., Photoshop). Or...
- download and customize one of the ready-to-use Additional Themes for Style: Custom. This option lets you make a "custom omelet" without knowing how to crack an egg! All you have to do is add your logo, customize the style a bit (as you like), and you're done.
Click here for a quick overview of Style: Custom.
Whether you go the Predesigned or the Style: Custom route, follow the help guidelines carefully. Step-by-step, you will build a professional-looking design.
Important Notes About the L&F Building Process
Browse through the collections (Predesigned and Additional Themes)...
- Click on the text link to view the various Predesigned Themes (ex., Choose a High Tech Style). Click on a theme to select it. Choose your Color Scheme, then click on the Preview button to view the theme full screen. This button also allows you to view the default NavBar for each theme.
- For the Additional Themes, click an individual thumbnail to view the theme full screen.
No matter which building option you choose, the last action step of the L&F process is the same. In order to activate your L&F (i.e., make your site's style "go live" on the Web), you must click on the Select/Save this Style button on the tool page.
If you don't, you will lose all of your work. Clicking on that button gives SBI! the go-ahead to (re)build your entire site with the L&F of your choice.
Your current style (if you're using one of the Predesigned or Additional Themes) now has top position (ahead of the other themes) on the Look & Feel Selector tool page. A red border indicates that this is the default style for your site...
Unfortunately, if you forget to click on the Select/Save this Style button after you make any modifications, your work will be lost. It's the "use it or lose it" rule. The next time you login, your last selected and activated style will be the one that's accessible.
You can change your mind about your L&F any time. Nothing is set in stone. You can modify it, or create/customize a brand new one!
And if you decide that you really don't like the changes you just finalized, you can always click on the Revert to Default link and start again. If you opted to create your own template from scratch, you'll revert back to the original "free form" open-slate phase. In order to reactivate the default selection, you must click on the Select/Save this Style button.
L&F changes you make may sometimes take up to 60 minutes to appear live on your site, as SBI! has to re-build each page.
The first time you build your L&F (after registering your domain name), it may take 24-48 hours before you'll see your site live on the Web. That includes images you add to any new pages you build during the 24-48 hours. This is out of SiteSell's control, as your new domain name must make its way to all DNS servers, which can take up to 48 hours.
Tips
Video
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Watch the L&F Video to reinforce your understanding. |
The video demonstrates how easy it is to be creative! Click here to get started.
Do you want to download the video? Go to the DAY 6 section of the Action Guide for downloading instructions.
- If your new creation will be similar to one of the Predesigned or Additional Themes, it would be quicker and easier for you to just customize a particular one of them.
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If you want to center your site, and have a different color on both sides of your site, use the standard Learning and Education template. This template allows you to change that background color.
See this forum post for more on using CSS in your block-built pages to make the outsides of the site a different color...
http://forums.sitesell.com/viewtopic.php?t=63901
Also use the standard Learning and Education template as your base if you want to have a design that includes a vertical line running down the right side of the page.
- There is a sequential action plan to follow if you want to create or customize your L&F. Start with the Site Elements, move to the Logo next and then finish with the NavBar.
- Click on the Preview button whenever you make a change. Preview shows you the effects of any change on the entire style.
- Monitors with screen resolutions higher than 800x600 will see white space to the right of the template. Align the entire site to center to split the white space between the left and right of the template.
- Try not to make radical L&F updates too frequently. Keep in mind the comfort zone that familiarity creates. Repeat visitors know what to expect and where to find it. Make adjustments only when there's a need -- not just because it's easy to do so!
- For additional help and/or ideas, review the Look & Feel Selector Forum FAQs at http://forums.sitesell.com/viewtopic.php?t=12195.