At a Crossroad

[giftmaster]

Well I think it is about time for some input on my site. I can't decided where to go next. I would like input on design and ease of use, any input would be nice. The site is not active so feel free to place orders, for payment use pay on delivery. All test orders and customer info will be delited before the site goes active.

Known Fixes to do: SSL ( will be done when site is completed)

Warning on front page (Warning: I am able to write to the configuration file: /home/chcgift/public_html/shop/includes/configure.php. (Will be fixed tomorrow)

All product is not loaded (in progress)

CHC Gifts

 

Thanks

Raymond

[Arcadiauk]

Hi

 

Not sure if grey is the best background to show off your colourful products and i'm not sure the pink/purple edge to the site is right either.

 

Some products make your screen width jump from 800px to about 900px

 

Too much movement on your front page, perhaps think about making the scrolling marquee at the top static.

 

In conditions of use you have a couple of spelling errors...

 

"utilizing CHC Giftss name"

 

"product availbility CHC Gifts" availability

 

In Privacy Policy

 

"neccessary" should be necessary

 

 

Good luck with your project

 

Derek

[giftmaster]

Hi

In conditions of use you have a couple of spelling errors...

 

"utilizing CHC Giftss name"

 

"product availbility CHC Gifts" availability

 

In Privacy Policy

 

"neccessary" should be necessary

 

I will correct

 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Not sure if grey is the best background to show off your colourful products and i'm not sure the pink/purple edge to the site is right either.

 

I had a feeling it might be to dark. I can't figure out how to remove the pink/purple edge, I happend when I installed the osC-CenterShop v3.0 for MS2

 

Some products make your screen width jump from 800px to about 900px

I will check that out, do you recall which ones?

 

Too much movement on your front page, perhaps think about making the scrolling marquee at the top static.

The Scrolling Marquee is temporary untill site is active

Thank you for your reply.

[Arcadiauk]

All products in the following categories make the screen jump from 800px to 900px

 

Large Gifts Baskets

 

Gift Crates

 

If you view the products within these categories you will see what I mean. People using 800 x 600 resolution will see scroll bars at the bottom (not good).

 

Derek

[giftmaster]

All products in the following categories make the screen jump from 800px to 900px

 

Large Gifts Baskets

 

Gift Crates

 

If you view the products within these categories you will see what I mean. People using 800 x 600 resolution will see scroll bars at the bottom (not good).

 

Derek

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the info. It is fixed! :thumbsup:

[Arcadiauk]

Looking at the center shop contribution you have installed (I am not familiar with this), is it configurable in your admin area? I can see there is a SQL file in the download and it seems to be creating a border colour as part of the installation.

 

I think you are looking for a colour that has been set for "CENTER_SHOP_BORDERCOLOR" in your store.

 

I'm sure this has been installed by a few OSC people so someone will give you a better answer than mine. Have you looked in the Contribution support forum?

 

Derek

[Andrew Yuen]

The first thing I saw was "Warning: I am able to write to the configuration file: /home/chcgift/public_html/shop/includes/configure.php. This is a potential security risk - please set the right user permissions on this file." This needs to be fixed asap try cmod 444 on your configure.php file.

[giftmaster]

Looking at the center shop contribution you have installed (I am not familiar with this), is it configurable in your admin area? I can see there is a SQL file in the download and it seems to be creating a border colour as part of the installation.

 

I think you are looking for a colour that has been set for "CENTER_SHOP_BORDERCOLOR" in your store.

 

I'm sure this has been installed by a few OSC people so someone will give you a better answer than mine. Have you looked in the Contribution support forum?

 

Derek

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I was thinking the same thing. A few sql files did not load in my database. It is fixed now.

Raymond

[giftmaster]

The first thing I saw was "Warning: I am able to write to the configuration file: /home/chcgift/public_html/shop/includes/configure.php. This is a potential security risk - please set the right user permissions on this file." This needs to be fixed asap try cmod 444 on your configure.php file.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

It is a known issue. It is being fixed today. :D

Thanks for the input

Raymond

[giftmaster]

The first thing I saw was "Warning: I am able to write to the configuration file: /home/chcgift/public_html/shop/includes/configure.php. This is a potential security risk - please set the right user permissions on this file." This needs to be fixed asap try cmod 444 on your configure.php file.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It is fixed. :thumbsup:

Any other comments?

[Sincraft]

I dont like the grey color. You are depressing me immediately.

I dont like how the logo doesnt fit with the background.

Im not a big fan of 'cheesy' scrolling specials.

Your infobox heading images do not match with the background

Your last category has nothing in it - why have it there. Contributions exists to turn on or off categories or remove it totally. Nothing says 'amateur' more than this.

 

 

Ok bad stuff out of the way..

I like how your categories are listed..

I like the product you sell and probably will buy from you eventually..

I don't like the color scheme (did I mention that)

I LOVE the ability to personalize my gift, but I think you need to make it more clear as to what option does really. Or, create subheadings for each option of the gift with a small VERY brief explaination or at the top put a link to a popup that says "What does this all mean?" or something like that.

Great idea on the credit card images at the bottom

 

Suggestions:

I am not sure how you are going to optimize your website for SEO, dont waste your time installing SEO contributions - most of the top website with HUGE keyword search per month use none of these. Start off by creating excellent descriptions of your products with your keywords inside the descriptions. Gift basket is obviously your main targetted keywords. Use it in BOLD once inside your first read before the featured products area.

 

NICE SITE!!!!! Hope you make a few bucks on it! I'd buy from ya!

 

S

[giftmaster]

Thanks a lot Scott, This is exactly what I was looking for.

 

I dont like the grey color.  You are depressing me immediately.

The grey is going by by!

 

Your infobox heading images do not match with the background

This may sound like a really stupid questions but what are my info boxes??

 

Your last category has nothing in it - why have it there.  Contributions exists to turn on or off categories or remove it totally.  Nothing says 'amateur' more than this.

I am adding more product as we speak but I think I will installl that feature for future use ie: holiday gifts, etc.

Ok bad stuff out of the way..

 

I LOVE the ability to personalize my gift, but I think you need to make it more clear as to what option does really.  Or, create subheadings for each option of the gift with a small VERY brief explaination or at the top put a link to a popup that says "What does this all mean?" or something like that.

Great point. I was concern that it was not clear enough.

 

I am not sure how you are going to optimize your website for SEO, dont waste your time installing SEO contributions - most of the top website with HUGE keyword search per month use none of these.  Start off by creating excellent descriptions of your products with your keywords inside the descriptions.  Gift basket is obviously your main targetted keywords.  Use it in BOLD once inside your first read before the featured products area.

I not sure either, this site was at first intended for my existing customers to order from. But I decided to take a stabe at offering it to everyone ( I have SPPC installed).

[giftmaster]

I have done some updating on my site as per past comments I would value more reviews.

Raymond

 

My Webpage

[Guest]

Hey Raymond,

 

Just my thoughts here.

1) When I open your site I want to scroll to the bottom really fast before I get to dizzy. You have parts scrolling across the top going one way and the box on the right scrolling the other way. It makes my head hurt looking at it. It is too busy and does not make me want to stay to look around.

2) I don't like the grey background. Gift baskets and grey (like a rainy day) do not mix well together. I would go with colours that reminded people more of fall when the leaves are turning colours, etc. Green, orange, etc. Get a nice theme going.

3) I am looking at a product page; nice layout of the attribute choices. The only things I see are where it says "Gift From" and "Gift To" is that supposed to be the persons name or email??? I think that you can add a few more choices for the fronts of the cards also. There is a contribution called Must Select that ensures that people make a choice when filling out the forms. It avoids them taking the default option and getting the wrong product.

4) Since you are selling wine and beer have you thought about adding Age Restricted Category to those areas. I am sure there is also a way to restrict the shipping address also so people can not check out if you can not ship the product.

5) "Questions regarding our Conditions of Usage, Privacy Policy, or other policy related material can be directed to our support staff by clicking on the "Contact Us" link in the side menu. Or you can email us at: [email protected]"

 

change to:

Questions regarding our Conditions of Usage, Privacy Policy, or other policy related material can be directed to our support staff by clicking on the "Contact Us" link.

 

When you include an email address in a page unless it is protected the SE's will pick up on it and then you will start to get spam in your inbox. If you get too much spam you might miss a customers email and web site emails are hard to change later because all your customers will have it and use it. Best to protect it as much as you can right from the start.

6) I like your "about us" page, very well done.

7) You have a lot of fonts going on. The main page, product pages, and information pages all have different fonts. I would stick with just one (not the one on your main page it is terrible).

8) "How do I get my gift Personalized

Just select you gift and fill out the personalized coments.If any additional information is need please add to comments at check out or email"

 

A period at the end of the sentence and spacing between the sentences. I think comments would be better on the product pages rather than at the checkout. If a person buys more than one basket it would give them and easier way of communicating their needs to you.

 

 

I think you just broke your shop on me so I will end this. Overall I think you have most of the functions you need, good descriptions, and efficient search. A few more should be added to give it a little more professional feel. The colour choice sucks big time. I would choose a new scheme and then redo the pictures to match the sites new background. It will do wonders for your store. You could also get a template.

 

 

HTH

 

Peter

[giftmaster]

Hey Raymond,

 

Just my thoughts here. 

1) When I open your site I want to scroll to the bottom really fast before I get to dizzy.  You have parts scrolling across the top going one way and the box on the right scrolling the other way.  It makes my head hurt looking at it.  It is too busy and does not make me want to stay to look around.

2) I don't like the grey background.  Gift baskets and grey (like a rainy day) do not mix well together.  I would go with colours that reminded people more of fall when the leaves are turning colours, etc.  Green, orange, etc.  Get a nice theme going.

3) I am looking at a product page; nice layout of the attribute choices.  The only things I see are where it says "Gift From" and "Gift To" is that supposed to be the persons name or email???  I think that you can add a few more choices for the fronts of the cards also.  There is a contribution called Must Select that ensures that people make a choice when filling out the forms.  It avoids them taking the default option and getting the wrong product.

4) Since you are selling wine and beer have you thought about adding Age Restricted Category to those areas.  I am sure there is also a way to restrict the shipping address also so people can not check out if you can not ship the product.

5) "Questions regarding our Conditions of Usage, Privacy Policy, or other policy related material can be directed to our support staff by clicking on the "Contact Us" link in the side menu. Or you can email us at: [email protected]"

 

change to:

Questions regarding our Conditions of Usage, Privacy Policy, or other policy related material can be directed to our support staff by clicking on the "Contact Us" link.

 

When you include an email address in a page unless it is protected the SE's will pick up on it and then you will start to get spam in your inbox.  If you get too much spam you might miss a customers email and web site emails are hard to change later because all your customers will have it and use it.  Best to protect it as much as you can right from the start.

6) I like your "about us" page, very well done.

7) You have a lot of fonts going on.  The main page, product pages, and information pages all have different fonts.  I would stick with just one (not the one on your main page it is terrible).

8) "How do I get my gift Personalized

Just select you gift and fill out the personalized coments.If any additional information is need please add to comments at check out or email"

 

A period at the end of the sentence and spacing between the sentences.  I think comments would be better on the product pages rather than at the checkout.  If a person buys more than one basket it would give them and easier way of communicating their needs to you.

I think you just broke your shop on me so I will end this.  Overall I think you have most of the functions you need, good descriptions, and efficient search.  A few more should be added to give it a little more professional feel.  The colour choice sucks big time.  I would choose a new scheme and then redo the pictures to match the sites new background.  It will do wonders for your store.  You could also get a template.

HTH

 

Peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

Thanks a bunch, I will make some changes and let you know how it goes.

Raymond

[PropioWeb]

Hey Raymond,

 

Just my thoughts here. 

1) When I open your site I want to scroll to the bottom really fast before I get to dizzy.  You have parts scrolling across the top going one way and the box on the right scrolling the other way.  It makes my head hurt looking at it.  It is too busy and does not make me want to stay to look around.

2) I don't like the grey background.  Gift baskets and grey (like a rainy day) do not mix well together.  I would go with colours that reminded people more of fall when the leaves are turning colours, etc.  Green, orange, etc.  Get a nice theme going.

3) I am looking at a product page; nice layout of the attribute choices.  The only things I see are where it says "Gift From" and "Gift To" is that supposed to be the persons name or email???  I think that you can add a few more choices for the fronts of the cards also.  There is a contribution called Must Select that ensures that people make a choice when filling out the forms.  It avoids them taking the default option and getting the wrong product.

4) Since you are selling wine and beer have you thought about adding Age Restricted Category to those areas.  I am sure there is also a way to restrict the shipping address also so people can not check out if you can not ship the product.

5) "Questions regarding our Conditions of Usage, Privacy Policy, or other policy related material can be directed to our support staff by clicking on the "Contact Us" link in the side menu. Or you can email us at: [email protected]"

 

change to:

Questions regarding our Conditions of Usage, Privacy Policy, or other policy related material can be directed to our support staff by clicking on the "Contact Us" link.

 

When you include an email address in a page unless it is protected the SE's will pick up on it and then you will start to get spam in your inbox.  If you get too much spam you might miss a customers email and web site emails are hard to change later because all your customers will have it and use it.  Best to protect it as much as you can right from the start.

6) I like your "about us" page, very well done.

7) You have a lot of fonts going on.  The main page, product pages, and information pages all have different fonts.  I would stick with just one (not the one on your main page it is terrible).

8) "How do I get my gift Personalized

Just select you gift and fill out the personalized coments.If any additional information is need please add to comments at check out or email"

 

A period at the end of the sentence and spacing between the sentences.  I think comments would be better on the product pages rather than at the checkout.  If a person buys more than one basket it would give them and easier way of communicating their needs to you.

I think you just broke your shop on me so I will end this.  Overall I think you have most of the functions you need, good descriptions, and efficient search.  A few more should be added to give it a little more professional feel.  The colour choice sucks big time.  I would choose a new scheme and then redo the pictures to match the sites new background.  It will do wonders for your store.  You could also get a template.

HTH

 

Peter

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

He pretty much sums it up really well. But I would also comment that you need some help with the logo or header. I'm not too keen on the login in the header unless it's incorporated well. I would also recommend a template if it gets too dificult.

[giftmaster]

Well I think it is about time for some input on my site. I can't decided where to go next. I would like input on design and ease of use, any input would be nice. The site is not active so feel free to place orders, for payment use pay on delivery. All test orders and customer info will be delited before the site goes active.

Known Fixes to do:  SSL ( will be done when site is completed)

                            Warning on front page (Warning: I am able to write to the configuration file: /home/chcgift/public_html/shop/includes/configure.php. (Will be fixed tomorrow)

                            All product is not loaded (in progress)

CHC Gifts

 

Thanks

Raymond

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ok, I taken all the great advice and made some changes.

Changed some colors and how the site flows. Please give me your input.

Thanks, Raymond

[dandelion]

Ok, I taken all the great advice and made some changes.

Changed some colors and how the site flows. Please give me your input.

Thanks, Raymond

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Hi,

 

I really don't like the scrolling specials - I hate it every time I've seen it used not just you.

 

I didn't read everyone elses suggestions so I might be repeatative. I would lose the little baskets on the categories and use a different bullet it's hard to tell they are baskets.

 

I don't like the grey - actually I don't like the metalic style basket in the logo either.

 

You should have the logo at the top so it's on every page and make it a full banner

 

 

Wow you have a lot of options - I need to figure out how to add some options to mine. The big problem is combo offers as in buy three soaps of any kind and save money. Any idea how to do this? - you look like you know a lot about offering options! I would like the shopping cart to automatically give combo prices even if the person didn't select combo.

 

All the best with your site I'm sure it will be great when you are done!

 

Ruth

[giftmaster]

Hi,

 

I really don't like the scrolling specials - I hate it every time I've seen it used not just you.

 

I didn't read everyone elses suggestions so I might be repeatative.  I would lose the little baskets on the categories and use a different bullet it's hard to tell they are baskets.

 

I don't like the grey - actually I don't like the metalic style basket in the logo either.

 

You should have the logo at the top so it's on every page and make it a full banner

Wow you have a lot of options  - I need to figure out how to add some options to mine. The big problem is combo offers as in buy three soaps of any kind and save money.  Any idea how to do this? - you look like you know a lot about offering options! I would like the shopping cart to automatically give combo prices even if the person didn't select combo.

 

All the best with your site I'm sure it will be great when you are done!

 

Ruth

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Ruth, thank you for your honest input.

I really don't like the scrolling specials - I hate it every time I've seen it used not just you.

I'm in a battle with that, half my team likes it the other half doesn't :'(

 

I don't like the grey - actually I don't like the metalic style basket in the logo either.

That seems to be what everyones says, I don't know why I keep it in the site, it must have something to due with living in the Pacfic Northwest :lol: , it is going to be removed tomorrow. As for the "Terminator" basket, it is a large part of our branding,( magnets,letterhead etc).but I will see what I can do. :thumbsup:

You should have the logo at the top so it's on every page and make it a full banner

Yes, I'm glad you brough that up, I totaly did not think or notice that my logo was not on every page. I will reincorporate it into the header.

Wow you have a lot of options  - I need to figure out how to add some options to mine. The big problem is combo offers as in buy three soaps of any kind and save money.  Any idea how to do this?

Drop me an PM or email . I would love to help you with that. Thanks again and please check back in a few days for an update.

Raymond