As a web designer, I'm pickie about helping those viewing a website. I love Airbnb, but must say how surprised I am at how unintuitive your website is and how difficult some things are to even just find. If it's hard for a web designer, it's harder for a non designer.
Airbnb... if you read these, please update your directions for photos: Finding where to do it, adding photos, size requirements, replacing existing photos and in particular... how to add a cover picture that is rectangular versus having your system crop a square image and increase it's size only yields an image that is cut off at the top or bottom and very blurry. A lose/lose for everyone.
Also, the directions are out of date because you've changed your host layout and wording. The instructions to change photos on your site are:
Go to Your Listing on airbnb.com.
- Under the listing you want to edit, click Manage Listing and Calendar.
- Click Photos on the left.
- Click Add Photo and choose the photos you want to upload.
The first issue is that "Manage Listing and Calendar" no longer exists. When you go to your listing the closest to this wording is "Calendar and More" - clicking this takes you to only a calendar. The un-savvy may not know that the menu bars in the upper left if clicked will create a drop down menu. Even if you do, there is nothing there that relates to photos. That leaves: Listing, or Basics or Description, any of which could feature a photo section, but none sadly do.
Where do you update your photos to an existing posted listing? Why is it so hidden? PLEASE FIX THIS?
Next, my cover photo is way too blurry because your system takes my cover shot and simply increases it's size. And increases is a lot so that it will always end up a blurred result.
You desperately need a separate upload area just for our cover photo with instructions on the pixel width and height and resolution which being that these pix are for a web browser, photos on browsers can't be over 72 dpi (dots per inch). Technically you can upload a higher resolution, but browsers and computers only can display either 72 dpi (Macs) or 75 dpi (Windows). But all designers will default to creating photos for the web at 72. The diff between 72 and 75 isn't particularly discernable to our eyes.
OK... so is there a way to upload a cover photo that is the height and width that a typical browser will display? By the way, not only does your system increase these photo sizes, but since the photos for the rest of our listing are square, your system also crops the main square image, to a rectangular one and thus indescriminently cutting out visual info we may want the public to see at the top or bottom of the now rectangular image.
If we could create a rectangular photo for the cover image, then we could have it exactly the way we want when WE CROP it not a computer that can't see the results.
If you do these things, you will make your site way more navigable and intuitive and faster to layout and update.
Thank you for listening and more for making these needed admin changes.
Thank you,
Steven ***.
PS I'll be happy to help if you call or email me. I've been a senior designer since 1997 and would love to help out.