bobsi18 Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Well, it's nearly ready... First off - A HUGE THANKYOU to everyone on the forums and all the developers who created OsCommerce and the various fantastic contributions!!! Can't say it enough :) http://testcentre.eurekabeads.com.au Next - Please test & review my store!!! I've just finished testing it myself and have given myself a couple of weeks grace before I launch the live store, so I want to ask the community to have a look for me. My major concerns: - As this has been my first intro to php, and I've done a fair amount of file editing, I'm particularily worried that I have broken pages or script - if you find any errors, please let me know. - Any inconsistancies with site design (I think I've ironed it all out, but you never know), particularily how does it look on your browser/screen resolution - Time it takes to view - again, I'm worried that because I have modified the files so much, they might be doing extra work, making it take longer than necessary to download a page Of course, I'll take any critiscim, good or bad, anything to help improve my site before it goes live will be very much appreciated!!! One more thing - I'm also organising the SSL cert this week, so if you don't see it, don't stress, it's on it's way (b/c of this, I haven't enabled the cc payment mod). Also, I have't finished editing the photos yet, some are there, the rest are on their way, they'll all be up when I'm ready to launch (hopefully :)!). The site is not live - any orders placed will be deleted, so feel free to have a go (username: [email protected], password: trial). Thanks in advance to all the fantastic ppl of the forums!!! http://testcentre.eurekabeads.com.au ~bobsi18~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gil_e_n Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Five seconds to load the index page - I've seen worse, but it's a bit slow. Horribly, horribly cluttered. The keyword pumping at the bottom is way, way too obvious. That yellow box doesn't match the site design. And there's just no consistency in your design. Also, your buy now buttons don't match. Nor does your print page button (but I do praise you for having the option) Your product images are blurry and unprofessional looking. "Buy multiples and save!!!" Never, ever use multiple exclamation marks. Please. It makes me want to make Terry Pratchett jokes. I like the articles on beading and the projects, but I suggest you make them more prominent. Right now, they kind of look like an afterthought. And for some reason, to me, putting As I browse through your website, it seems to be loading slower. I'd look at optimizing your website. And when I clicked on the buy now button, nothing happened. I don't know if it's because I have cookies or javascript disabled, but that's kind of a big problem. Always BACK UP your files and your database before making any changes. Before asking questions, check out the Knowledge Base. Check out the contributions to see if your problem's solved there. Search the forums. Useful threads: Store Speed Optimization How to make a horrible shop Basics for design change How to search the forums Useful contributions: Easypopulate Fast, Easy Checkout Header Tag Controller Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Connection timed out three different times. (better change hosts or optimise your site) before going live. I see the work you have put in on this site, good job. There are some serious issues, however, in my experience. Site is very cluttered as Gil_e_n suggested. I recommend re-touching the images , making them exactly the same size and perspective, for your product images, as seen here, or large, clean images of a string. This site under development, am integrating osCommerce, pardon the mess. http://www.dinahbeads.com/pages/gallery.htm# and Cut the objects out to match the bkg as I am doing here: http://apecart.com/Dynamic/advanced_search...amp;x=0&y=0 Distracting background, you want them to focus on your products, not the bkg. A nicely layed out website in my opinion is here: http://www.myangelsname.com/product_info.p...;products_id=77 All in all, you have most of the hard work done, and I commend you. With some visual mofications, it can be a very nice website. Hope I wasn't too harsh. TJ Well, it's nearly ready... First off - A HUGE THANKYOU to everyone on the forums and all the developers who created OsCommerce and the various fantastic contributions!!! Can't say it enough :) http://testcentre.eurekabeads.com.au Next - Please test & review my store!!! I've just finished testing it myself and have given myself a couple of weeks grace before I launch the live store, so I want to ask the community to have a look for me. My major concerns: - As this has been my first intro to php, and I've done a fair amount of file editing, I'm particularily worried that I have broken pages or script - if you find any errors, please let me know. - Any inconsistancies with site design (I think I've ironed it all out, but you never know), particularily how does it look on your browser/screen resolution - Time it takes to view - again, I'm worried that because I have modified the files so much, they might be doing extra work, making it take longer than necessary to download a page Of course, I'll take any critiscim, good or bad, anything to help improve my site before it goes live will be very much appreciated!!! One more thing - I'm also organising the SSL cert this week, so if you don't see it, don't stress, it's on it's way (b/c of this, I haven't enabled the cc payment mod). Also, I have't finished editing the photos yet, some are there, the rest are on their way, they'll all be up when I'm ready to launch (hopefully :)!). The site is not live - any orders placed will be deleted, so feel free to have a go (username: [email protected], password: trial). Thanks in advance to all the fantastic ppl of the forums!!! http://testcentre.eurekabeads.com.au ~bobsi18~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 A nicely layed out website in my opinion is here: http://www.myangelsname.com/product_info.p...;products_id=77 Eek - don't think I can agree there, it looks like it was made by a 13 year old in their bedroom to me, eurekabeads looks much clearer, more navigable and definately much more consistent than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 Eek - don't think I can agree there, it looks like it was made by a 13 year old in their bedroom to me, eurekabeads looks much clearer, more navigable and definately much more consistent than that. That's one opinion. He takes orders consistently, and it's targeted for kids and new mothers... Maybe you are right for a reason :0) TJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bobsi18 Posted June 23, 2006 Author Share Posted June 23, 2006 First off - thanks heaps for taking a look... I thought I had a fair amount of work still ahead of me, but not that much :blush: Oh well :) Horribly, horribly cluttered. Site is very cluttered as Gil_e_n suggested. I really did't expect this as a critiscim - I think I've been working on it too long and seeing it everyday for that to even register. Do you think that changing the background (the off yellow and brown/marroon swirls will make much of a difference to this? I originally pictured a nicelight (lighter than the main background) tan colour but the owners chose this... I'll work on different colours. I've added more space between boxes on the front page, I'm kind of at a loss beyond there, any insight as to what you would do to 'unclutter' it? The keyword pumping at the bottom is way, way too obvious. That yellow box doesn't match the site design. And there's just no consistency in your design. Also, your buy now buttons don't match. Nor does your print page button (but I do praise you for having the option) I've taken out the keywords from the bottom, I agree with you. The yellow was deliberate, to make the specials really stand out, but I do see your point. I'll play around with different effects, to see if I can get them standing out without detracting from the look - any suggestions welcome! I'm not sure I understand the comment about site design - all the product info pages have the same layout, as do the category pages, and I've kept the same colours through the site, etc - could you elaborate on this a bit more. Ditto with the 'buy now' and 'print' buttons - I used the same font and colour etc to create them (just a cut and paste job), not sure how you mean they don't match? Your product images are blurry and unprofessional looking. I recommend re-touching the images , making them exactly the same size and perspective, for your product images... I'm currently working through the images and didn't realise just how bad they are, so I did expect this remark. I've been resizing them, so they are all the same size, however I realise they need a huge cleanup. That will be my next project, but before I tackle that, I'll need to get the site up (the photos have been taken from our old site, I haven't been taking them as I go). "Buy multiples and save!!!" Never, ever use multiple exclamation marks. Please. It makes me want to make Terry Pratchett jokes. hehe, got it, I've taken them out. I like the articles on beading and the projects, but I suggest you make them more prominent. Right now, they kind of look like an afterthought. And for some reason, to me, putting Mmm, I've been thinking about this one for a while, not entirely sure about how to go about it. I'm thinking of changing the "Top Beading Products For June" section to a rotating set of projects, constantly changing (like the specials), with a bit of text about how you can learn to bead, etc etc... Opinions? As I browse through your website, it seems to be loading slower. I'd look at optimizing your website. Connection timed out three different times. (better change hosts or optimise your site) before going live. Hmm - VERY worried about the second comment - we've just changed hosts due to severe probs with the old one, I haven't experienced any probs with the new one (in fact the speed is incredible compared to the old one!). I'll look into this a bit more. As for optimisation, I thought it was probably needed, I'll get onto that as soon as possible. And when I clicked on the buy now button, nothing happened. I don't know if it's because I have cookies or javascript disabled, but that's kind of a big problem. I didn't really think this one through enough... On the old site, when a person clicks on the buy button, a message pops up, saying the product has been added to the cart. I wanted to keep that consistant with the new site, so I added a [javascript] message doing the same thing (also, it's really annoying when you've been taken to the basket after adding one bead, then having to go back to your original page and do the same thing over again etc etc). I kinda thought people without javascript would notice the 'cart contents' in the top right would change, but obviously I have to add more than that. I'll look into alternatives. Thanks again for both of your comments, I'm off to figure out site optimisation... ~bobsi18~ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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