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osCommerce

The e-commerce.

My First Attempt - Feedback Appreciated


glwhatrup

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Posted

Hi,

 

This is my first attempt at an oscommerce store, and also my first encounter with php. There are only a few products on the store at the moment, but I have loads more waiting to go live. Please take a look:

 

www.gemmasgems.co.uk

 

Also, I am aware that the store is still pretty stock looking. I have mainly spent time making it UK specific, but I do plan to spend time in the future customising the look further.

 

Things I plan to improve in the future:

  • SSL cert has been purchased and I'm waiting for it to be installed.
  • Images will all be improved - they will all look like the bracelets pics - set on a white background for consistency.
  • Looking for a good login box contrib to add in

I'd greatly appreciate any pointers that anyone could give me, particularly on SEO.

 

Thanks for taking the time to look.

 

xGemx ;)

Posted

Hi Running Wolf,

 

Thanks for taking the time to look at my site.

 

I understand what you are saying about it being too sugary - I have tried the colours in various different places, but can't really find something that works to my satisfaction.

 

I guess I'll keep playing round with it.

 

xGemx ;)

Posted

Colours look ok to me, just one small critique however. It is a bit betwix and between resolutions. If viewed at 800x600 you have a sideways scroll but at 1024x768, there is dead space around it. Being as you haven't designed for 1024x768, I would narrow it down so there is no sideway scroll at 800x600.

 

I like it though, good luck with it.

Posted

Hi Spax,

 

Thanks for pointing that out. I think I have now resolved it, I just changed the property on my center shop mod in admin. It should now look ok in 800x600.

 

(I'm working on a widescreen laptop, with dodgy res, so I always forget to check how it looks in others!!)

 

Also just added the related products contrib, you can see it in action on the amethyst products. Will be rolling out to more products when I put more on there!!

 

Thanks Again

 

xGemx ;)

Posted

Much better!

 

I know what you mean about the widescreen, when I set my Vaio to 800x600, it looks terrible. I do most of my work on an old Win98 box, 15inch monitor, so it looks ok. I was going to go down the 1024x768 road, but apparently 60% of all surfers still use 800. I find that hard to believe, being as every new PC/Lappy I see is at least at 1024.

Posted
Install a thumbnail contribution.

 

Hi Chance.

 

Thanks for your comment - are my pics really that bad then?!?

 

point taken though - any recommendations as to which is the best one?

 

xGemx ;)

Posted

http://www.oscommerce.com/community/contributions,2226 would work well since your images are on a white background.

 

It uses GD to automatically generate thumbnails- your php needs to be built with GD support, but most hosts have done this. Its automatic and easy.

My advice comes in two flavors- Pick the one that won't offend you.

 

Hard and Cynical: How to Make a Horrible osCommerce Site

 

Warm and Fuzzy: How to Make an Awesome osCommerce Site

Posted

Hi Chance,

 

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll take a look and get that installed sometime in the near future.

 

P.S - great advice in your signature - I've tried to follow it as best as possible!

 

Thanks again

 

xGemx ;)

Posted

I think it's very attractive.

 

Nice job for a first attempt.

 

How you managed this with no knowledge of PHP escapes me well done!

Posted

Thunderace,

 

Thanks for the + comments.

 

I had no php experience, and extremely limited html - just proves how simple OSC is to use, even for a complete dunce like me!! I know my site isn't all that compared to most, but I'm quite proud of it.

 

Also...Mucho credit to everyone who posts on the help forums - I learnt loads from there!!

 

Ta

 

xGemx ;)

Posted

Very well done for a rookie. I am also a rookie and want to know how you did your bracelet images. I checked out a link on an above comment but in one ear and out the other!

 

Nice store and great achievement.

 

Good luck.

Belinda.

Posted

Hi spicksandspecks,

 

Thankyou for your comments.

 

I take the pics myself, and then clean up (ie put on white background) and resize to 250hx333w, using paintshop pro.

 

I use osc to generate the standard thumbnails sized to 120hx160w in the admin directory.

 

To get the images larger on the product pages, it's just a bit of html in the box where u would normally put the description text;

 

<p>

<img src ="http://www.gemmasgems.co.uk/catalogue/images/products/EAMH655.jpg"align ="right" width="333" height="250" border="0">

<br>

<b>Metal:</b> Sterling Silver

<br><br>

<b>Materials:</b> Amethyst, Swarovski Crystal and Delicia Bead.

<br><br>

<b>Fastening:</b> Hook - (for pierced ears only)

<br><br>

<b>Length:</b> Approx 2.5cm

<br><br>

<b>Width:</b> Approx 0.8cm

<br><br>

<b>Stone:</b> Amethyst

<br><br>

</p>

 

I am however looking at one of the thumbnail contributions to improve the image quality of the thumbnails, but not quite sure how to install yet.

 

hope this helps

 

xGemx ;)

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