Turning an old web site into a store

[EidolonNight]

Hello All!!

 

I have been given the task of polishing up an old beast of a site. I have made a great deal of progress, however much more is needed. I have had my brain buried in this project for too long and i feel like not enough progress has been made, and i think it is a case of rapid fire editing that comes with rebuilding a site instead of starting from scratch. I am hoping that enough people will check it out and make suggestions so that i can get a different and FRESH perspective. Most of the old site is gone, replaced by OsCommerce but a few elements remain and on some level I feel that I should have started over but too much effort has been put in to this project to toss it aside. In the end I want to be proud of this little site and drive a few customers my way that wont just turn around after spending a few seconds on the site. Please post suggestions, comments and/or concerns here.

 

This site started as a general information site for an art and frame shop. The business has grown to specialize in sports photos and memorabilia, all framed or matted of coarse. Please visit http://www.bcpframeshop.com and be as honest as you want, after all that's why we post in this forum, to make it better until it's the best!!

 

Thanks to all in advance

James Tomasello

[EidolonNight]

Hello All,

 

If any one is following the progress of this site I have made a couple changes in the last few days. The most noticable is the category box. Feel free to follow the link mantioned in the previous post to check it out. I will update this thead whenever major changes take place or questions need addressing. Thanks in advance for your support and help.

[wheeloftime]

Hello All,

 

If any one is following the progress of this site I have made a couple changes in the last few days. The most noticable is the category box. Feel free to follow the link mantioned in the previous post to check it out. I will update this thead whenever major changes take place or questions need addressing. Thanks in advance for your support and help.

 

Well, I like the look for your site except the category box. I think that a tree view is a very old fashioned way to show your categories and makes it kind of dull.

One thing I miss is shipping information and your guarantee/return policy. Do you ship to foreign countries and if yes you might give some idea about what to expect as from experience I know shipping framed stuff can really add to the price (size does matter :P ).

[EidolonNight]

Thank you wheeloftime. I have included a shipping and return policy, which has been there all along only disabled. I hadn't noticed that it was missing.

 

I have also taken some time to change the appearance of our Home page and added a few hundred more photos. Please take some time out of your busy day to scan through this site and let me know what catches your interest. Don't be shy! Tell me how you feel.

 

 

Thank you

[whitesands]

Hi,

 

Just visit your site. One recommendation, you should change the location of admin/index.php, because i can access your site admin control panel, and change something (maybe) without asking any username and password to protect admin section.

 

I wonder whould we have a username/password for admin section?

 

Whitesands

[Mediajuggle]

I agree about changing the name of the "admin" folder since you don't have it protected. You shouldn't have even posted your site here without taking this percaution because although I doubt any of the community members would do something millicious, there are others trolling the forums that might.

[EidolonNight]

That is very odd!! Each time that i have tried to visit the admin section I am promted for a user name and password without fail. I am so glad someone checked this for me!

 

I have just checked it again and was asked to enter name/password!

 

Please someone help me! I do not understand how something like this can happen. If anyone has heard of this please contribute to this topic. I have changed the name but none of the links in the admin side will work in this situation. Does anyone know what other options are available.

[wheeloftime]

That is very odd!! Each time that i have tried to visit the admin section I am promted for a user name and password without fail. I am so glad someone checked this for me!

 

I have just checked it again and was asked to enter name/password!

 

Please someone help me! I do not understand how something like this can happen. If anyone has heard of this please contribute to this topic. I have changed the name but none of the links in the admin side will work in this situation. Does anyone know what other options are available.

 

If you changed your admin name and/or location you have to adjust the admin settings in your configure.php (admin/includes) to the new name/location before it will work again.

[Chance]

What is this ESPN crap at the bottom of your site?

 

On a scale of 1 to Dumb, giving visitors links off your site when you are trying to sell them your products is about a 7.

[Guest]

To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the correct use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

What about adding an SSL certificate to help protect customers information?

 

 

There is something on your pages that is making it very slow for me to load. It might be the IE5/Mac style info that is on every page, it might be better to put that in the stylesheet. Or it could be the category listing that should be cached as it is quite large.

 

Peter

[EidolonNight]

Hello Everybody!

 

I believe I have resolved the issue with the admin section. Would someone like to find out for me? I have tested it on three computers and I'm prompted for a name/password every time.

 

As for the slow load time Peter has brought to my attention, no luck so far. I will update this post once I have made some progress on that particular issue.

 

What is this ESPN crap at the bottom of your site?

 

On a scale of 1 to Dumb, giving visitors links off your site when you are trying to sell them your products is about a 7.

 

Thank you Chance :blush:

 

I agree! however, the boss wanted it. I thought this was a bad idea as well, but to my surprise I have had customers compliment us on our inclusion of the ESPN ticker.

 

Thank you all for your input so far! Keep it coming!

 

http://bcpframeshop.com

[Tariq]

lol been gone for a lonnnnnng time.. but made a stop in!!

 

Viewing in Firefox.

 

Well, took a quick look and I agree about the category listing on the left, though it also gives people something comfortable to work with.

 

Myself? I disliked it. I thought it was actually a linked image at first until I figured out it was actually the category view. Match the category view to what you have in the header or the headerbar. The way it is set right now really has no place in the design.

 

Secondly, I LOVE the Log In in the header. I worked for weeks on trying to get that and finally gave up.

What did you use to get that? Which contribution exactly if you did use one?

 

Next, You need to customize your buttons.

Right now, with having changed your box background colors to grey, it looks like you did exactly that.

You either need to edit or update your buttons to something that matches more with the site, AND doesnt have the white corners.

 

The SecurityMetrics at the bottom seem.. out of place. They are just kind of stuck there above the links and dont really align to anything either.

I would say either center those and move the links bar to its own box, or do that with the buttons. Right now, they dont mesh with it.

 

The colors are nice, simple and easy on the eyes, without being overly boring.

 

They work for me :)

 

Good luck!!!