Call: 01270 761331 · email: web@clarkedesign.co.uk

Requesting changes to your website

Change is a really important part of any website design. Your business will adapt and move on over time, prices will change, your business services will need updating and so must your website.

Requesting these changes needs some thought on your part to help Clarke Design understand swiftly what you want changing and what you want us to do.

If you have a change request for your website, please ALWAYS let us know the unique website page address (URL) as part of your request. This helps us to identify exactly which page you are talking about.

We all want the best out of your website, hosting and email, so taking a few moments longer to help explain your exact requirements, explain your thoughts or details of a specific amendment is clearly beneficial to both parties.

Here are a few guidelines as to how you can make the best out of our relationship.

A picture paints (more than) a thousand words

You've heard the phrase a picture paints a thousand words, well this is so true in website design and problem feedback.

If you can send a picture of what you are talking about and highlight the section you are referring to, this will help us to know exactly what to focus on and what you are talking about.

This will ensure that your feedback is targeted at the right website component or page. This means that it should be resolved first time and reduces the room for additional errors and further discussion. Help your website designer to help you by being precise and descriptive.

Microsoft Windows · Snip and Sketch Tool

Take time to learn how to use the Snip and Sketch Tool in Microsoft Windows 10.

If you are using an older version of Microsoft Windows, this is just called the Snipping Tool - it's also available in Windows 10 and older versions like Windows 8, Windows 7 and even Windows Vista.

Just click the Start button, type 'snip' then press enter. This will launch the Snip and Sketch Tool or the older Snipping Tool.

You can also use the keyboard + shift + s

Apple Devices

To take a screenshot on an Apple device, click both the on/off button and the home button at the same time. The screen will flash white for a second and a screenshot will then be placed in your photo album / camera roll.

Mac OS X

To capture your entire screen, press Command + Shift + 3 and then release all the keys. The screenshot will be saved as a file on your desktop.

To capture part of the screen, press Command + Shift + 4 and then release all the keys. You will now see that your mouse cursor has turned into cross-hairs that you can move around. You can now drag a rectangle around the area that you want to capture. The screenshot will be saved as a file on your desktop.

How to Request Changes with Clarke Design

The more detail you can give us about a specific change, means that we'll address the right issue first time. After all we both want your website to be right and working for you, so taking that little bit of extra time to tell us exactly what you need changing, your thoughts etc... helps us to help you right first time.

The Most Important Detail

The most important detail you MUST provide for any website change, is the exact page file name, the page address, the URL (Unique Resource Locator). The address at the top of your website browser will direct us to exactly the same website page that you are looking at.

address bar

This might sound glaringly obvious, but many people request changes without telling us what page on the website the change is needed on.

Also we've had times when someone is looking at a duplicate website, a demo version, an old version instead and we're working on the live site (or vice versa). Simply telling us the exact page address helps us to make sure we are looking at the same web page.

Just cut and paste the website page address into the email you are sending to us, or send us a screenshot, making sure that you include the address bar at the top of the browser screen.

This one simple, additional little detail can help us so much. It is unambiguous, straight to the point and helps us to get right to heart of the matter. Remember: Always tell us the exact website page you are referring to.

Requesting Minor Changes

If you are just making a few small changes to the text on a long web page, please just tell us the few small changes you need.

Sending us five pages of Microsoft Word document when you've only changed one sentence somewhere in the middle is very inefficient.

We have to trawl through the entire document playing a game of spot the difference to find out what you've changed. Converting a Microsoft Word document into a webpage can take a number of hours, so if you've just changed a few words or added a new sentence just tell us what needs changing, as that might only take us five minutes. What would you rather we charge you for?

Major Changes and Sending us Textual Content

We can deal with textual content in various guises; Microsoft Word, OpenOffice, basic text files, or just written into the body of an email.

  • Please be as instructive as you can with your content so that we can it right first time.

Sending us Photographs and Images

We all need images and photographs on our website and getting them to us can sometimes pose a challenge.

  • Please DO NOT embed images into the content of an email, always attach them instead
  • For a small number of images, please just attach the images to an email
  • For many images and photographs or for large amounts of content, please let us know you wish to send these to us and we will give you access to our DropBox account, where you can upload large files easily to us

In Conclusion

Please always try to do the following when requesting changes to your website:

  • Tell us the website page address of the pages that need changing (if it's a website request)
  • Send us a screen shot if appropriate
  • Be precise is explaining the exact changes you require
  • Send only the changes you want, NOT the entire website again