owl17sb Posted May 1, 2006 Posted May 1, 2006 I seem to have been doing this since time began but I am almost ready (but not quite) to go Live. Some of the product attributes is missing as I have changed my mind over this so many times but it will be done soon. I know it is the "standard OSC template" and I have read other feedback where they say you should change it but I quite like it and it makes for easy navigation. If I was honest it probably has more to do with the fact that after working on this for so long I have got comfortable with how it looks and am frightened to change it. I would really like any comments on the general look and feel of it. Also - if anyone can help me with the infobox on the front page. Ideally I would like to move it to be able the word "Stamps" so that the first thing you see are the thumbnails but I can't seem to find out how to do it. Thanks to everyone who has helped with this by answering my questions in the past and for any feedback rec'd. :) :) My store is My Shop
chooch Posted May 3, 2006 Posted May 3, 2006 nice use of css but I have seen too many sites that look stock - try using a template to see how it goes Upon receiving fixes and advice, too many people don't bother to post updates informing the forum of how it went. Until of course they need help again on other issues and they come running back! Why receive the information you require in good faith for free, only to then have the attitude to ignore the people who gave it to you? There's no harm in saying, 'Thanks, it worked'. On the contrary, it creates a better atmosphere. CHOOCH
♥peterpil19 Posted May 4, 2006 Posted May 4, 2006 ... but I have seen too many sites that look stock - try using a template to see how it goes If you do a good job, that wouldn't matter (can't see you site BTW there is a parse error), because 99.9% of your customers wouldn't have heard about osCommerce nor recognise the stock layout. --Peter CE PHOENIX SUPPORTER Support the Project, go PRO and get access to certified add ons Full-time I am a C-suite executive of a large retail company in Australia. In my spare time, I enjoying learning about web-design. Download the latest version of CE Phoenix from gitHub here
owl17sb Posted May 4, 2006 Author Posted May 4, 2006 I am able to get into my site from different locations - what would that problem mean?? I did think it would be recommended that I use a template - but I have looked at the contributions for templates and there are sooooo many - which one to try!!! Any other comments on the look and feel of my site would be most appreciated. I realise it is still very much a work in progress and I have not even thought about getting a page listing on search engines yet. I want to get the site working and able to take orders from people who already know about us as people they know have bought from us personally. I thought if I can get the site working then I can look at SEO stuff after. If anyone can suggest a template that may work for this site then please let me know. Thanks muchly :):) :P
Guest Posted May 6, 2006 Posted May 6, 2006 your logo contains lots of artifacts from jpg compression, either increase quality or cut into smaller pieces, also suggest reducing height
Guest Posted May 6, 2006 Posted May 6, 2006 Overall, I really like the colors and look of your site. It's not as "stock" looking as some I have seen. It's clean and simple, allowing your products to speak for themselves. Contact Us Page - don't forget to put physical address and phone number - makes customers feel more comfy knowing you are real folks. Stamps Page - don't forget to expand on this more. There's not a lot of info there. Images take a tad long to load - either reduce the file sizes or use a contribution. Your product descriptions are fairly detailed. However, are these cards created by you (homemade) or bought wholesale from a vendor? If they are made by you (or other locals), perhaps do a "About the Designers" page. I realize you still have loads of information to fill in on various pages. You've got a good site going. Terms and conditions page is very nice. Don't forget a SSL cert and logo.
owl17sb Posted May 6, 2006 Author Posted May 6, 2006 Overall, I really like the colors and look of your site. It's not as "stock" looking as some I have seen. It's clean and simple, allowing your products to speak for themselves. Contact Us Page - don't forget to put physical address and phone number - makes customers feel more comfy knowing you are real folks. Stamps Page - don't forget to expand on this more. There's not a lot of info there. Images take a tad long to load - either reduce the file sizes or use a contribution. Your product descriptions are fairly detailed. However, are these cards created by you (homemade) or bought wholesale from a vendor? If they are made by you (or other locals), perhaps do a "About the Designers" page. I realize you still have loads of information to fill in on various pages. You've got a good site going. Terms and conditions page is very nice. Don't forget a SSL cert and logo. Many Thanks for taking the time to comment - I have been reading about templates but I actually quite like the look of the "stock osc" and I think that is because they are easy to navigate. I have just downloaded loads of contributions one of them being "On the Fly thumbnailer" so hopefully this should help with the images. I have used Pixsizer to reduce the size of the larger pop up images and they are all around 400x600 and under 50kb I think - should they be samller - is that was is taking the time to load. All the cards are designed and handmade by my husband and myself but I like the idea of a page on "About the Designers" so I will work on that this weekend. It is amazing how long it all takes. I seem to spend ages reading the forums and then forgetting where I saw a reference to a good idea or contribution. I have now taken to only reading the new topics when I have a pen and paper handy!! One final thing - On the SSL - are you saying that you did not realise that we had one or just that we need to add a logo stating that we have one? Anyway - I will go now and try and work on some of these contributions. Many Thanks
Guest Posted May 6, 2006 Posted May 6, 2006 SSL logo - most customers won't know to look at the URL to see if there is a https when logging in, checking out, etc - so a SSL logo on the store's main page is a nice touch and pretty standard for ecommerce stores, same with logos of what payment methods you accept (PayPal, Visa, MC, Amex, those appropriate to your country, whatever). You don't necessarily have to use a template in order to change the look of your store. If you go to the Knowledgebase Document, there is a step by step explanation of the stylesheet.css file to describe what each element is so you can change color, font size, bold/italizise/underline, etc. However, it's obvious you have already done this and I think your store's design looks fine (see my comments in my previous post concerning this *grins*). I totally understand about all the great tips and ideas roaming around the forums - you should see my AOL favorites list - I keep saving threads to my favorites and my to-do list is a mile long of bits and pieces to tweak and such. Just when you scratch one item off the list, 3 more pop up. Have a fun weekend!
owl17sb Posted May 6, 2006 Author Posted May 6, 2006 your logo contains lots of artifacts from jpg compression, either increase quality or cut into smaller pieces, also suggest reducing height Thanks for looking. I am trying to get a new logo that goes a bit better with the site. This one was the only one I liked from our Host so I used it but yes it is a bit too tall and you can't see the whole front page.
mj_superfly Posted May 6, 2006 Posted May 6, 2006 I don't think your product photos are doing them any justice... they mostly look a bit yellowy. Invest in some better lighting or a flash system to get your cards looking better. As a UK retailer, I'd get rid of the Discover icon in the PayPal bit... I know it's tempting to think "I don't want to exclude anybody" but it's more important to make sure your target market don't get confused. You also have a lot of boxes. Do you expect a substantial amount of people to review your items? If not then I say remove that whole feature. Good luck! :) Steve
owl17sb Posted May 6, 2006 Author Posted May 6, 2006 I don't think your product photos are doing them any justice... they mostly look a bit yellowy. Invest in some better lighting or a flash system to get your cards looking better. As a UK retailer, I'd get rid of the Discover icon in the PayPal bit... I know it's tempting to think "I don't want to exclude anybody" but it's more important to make sure your target market don't get confused. You also have a lot of boxes. Do you expect a substantial amount of people to review your items? If not then I say remove that whole feature. Good luck! :) Steve Our photos are taken using a film making bulb - is it just the smaller images or the pop up ones or both? If it is both ther perhaps we ought to get a daylight bult thing instead. I know what you mean by the Discover icon but I don't know how to get rid of it as it was from a Contribution that automatically had those images. I went onto the Paypal site and they all had those included. Can you tell me where I would get the images without it? The boxes - I know I have alot but I was trying to keep each side balanced. Do people leave reviews - if in the main they don't then I am ahppy to get rid. Thanks for taking the time to look :)
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