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Redone my store and I think I may leave it like this


grandmasterjack

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http://babiesandladies.co.uk/

 

A few problems and suggestions:

I am using IE7, so don't know it that makes a difference with some of the problems?

 

Your right column, the shopping cart starts under (although to the right as should be) the baby with bottle image - table_background_default.gif

 

The top footer bar (Wednesday 20 August, 2008 2081 requests since Sunday 03 August, 2008) isn't aligned very well. It starts under the main category table and goes under the right column. You should either also include the left column or just have it under the main area. You might also want to consider losing the request count. Maybe put the powered by osC there instead. Also regarding the footer and info, they should be lined up a little neater and centered.

 

Oop's, the alignment problem only seems to be on the first entrance page - index.php.

I did a really quick check and only found these:

<!-- information_eof //--><!-- left_navigation_eof //-->

Change to -

<!-- information_eof //-->

<!-- left_navigation_eof //-->

Also your code at the bottom of the page -

</td></tr></table><!-- footer_eof //-->

<br>

</body>

</html>

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.allonlinecoupons.co.uk/coupons/amazon-uk/">Computer Peripherals</a></div>

<!-- START OF ADDME LINK -->

<a href="http://www.addme.com">Search Engine Optimization - AddMe</a>

<!-- END OF ADDME LINK -->

These might be what is causing the mis-alignment. To tell you the truth, I would lose the Computer Peripherals and Search Engine Optimization - AddMe links all together. Computer Peripherals took me to Amazon UK Coupons, nothing to do with your site. Same with "Search Engine Optimization - AddMe", took me to a pay for search engine site. No need to advertise for those companies and have your customers leave your site. :blink:

 

I kind of liked having the categories count showing, but was convinced to turn them off. Having them off helps speed things up a bit. Plus, do you really want people to see you only have 1 or 2 items in a category? They might not bother looking. But no biggy I guess. :mellow:

 

"WE DO NOT SHIP OUTSIDE THE UK. We hope to add this feature at a later date."

Can I ask - Why then do you have the language infobox and the currenies box with other forms of prices?

I would comment (add // in front of the line of code) those out in your includes\column_right.php file.

 

You should have a mailing address shown, at least on your contact us page. Customers won't feel comfortable with not knowing where you are located and the only means of contact is through email. Would you?

 

I just clicked on Costume Jewelry. Because your fonts are so big in the header navigation bar it went funky. The breadcrumbs trail broke to a second line between Costume and Jewelry. Either make the font smaller (maybe match the size of the infobox headers) or have to rows. One row for the bread crumbs and one for the navigation.

 

I checked out - Blue Silver Beaded Charm Bracelet. The class="pageHeading" font is HUGH. I would make it much smaller, trying to keep the product name on one line.

 

Product images. Your thumbnails are squished versions of the large image with the same file size, they look distorted. A very nice and simple contribution to add is big_images 1.25. It allows you to create an actual smaller thumbnail with your graphics program and upload two seperate images - thumbnail and large pop-up. Creating your own thumbnails will make the images look much nicer and the smaller file size will speed up page load times. You can get an idea of the contribution at my site in progress (link in my profile). The only difference I used the larger image on my product info page instead of the pop-up. But you can see how I was able to use thumbnails around 4,000 bytes, larger images around 8114 bytes. Yours are, at least the bracelet, 15003 bytes. Get someone like me stuck with dialup and a page of products, it will load slow. Optimize those images. ;)

 

Not sure if you plan on changing the stock osC graphics and buttons, but I think you could create or find nicer ones.

 

I hope I didn't break your heart! :huh:

 

Just trying to offer a little helpful suggestions. Keep in mind, they are just my 2 cents! :)

- :: Jim :: -

- My Toolbox ~ Adobe Web Bundle, XAMPP & WinMerge | Install ~ osC v2.3.3.4 -

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http://babiesandladies.co.uk/

 

A few problems and suggestions:

I am using IE7, so don't know it that makes a difference with some of the problems?

 

Your right column, the shopping cart starts under (although to the right as should be) the baby with bottle image - table_background_default.gif

 

The top footer bar (Wednesday 20 August, 2008 2081 requests since Sunday 03 August, 2008) isn't aligned very well. It starts under the main category table and goes under the right column. You should either also include the left column or just have it under the main area. You might also want to consider losing the request count. Maybe put the powered by osC there instead. Also regarding the footer and info, they should be lined up a little neater and centered.

 

Oop's, the alignment problem only seems to be on the first entrance page - index.php.

I did a really quick check and only found these:

<!-- information_eof //--><!-- left_navigation_eof //-->

Change to -

<!-- information_eof //-->

<!-- left_navigation_eof //-->

Also your code at the bottom of the page -

</td></tr></table><!-- footer_eof //-->

<br>

</body>

</html>

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.allonlinecoupons.co.uk/coupons/amazon-uk/">Computer Peripherals</a></div>

<!-- START OF ADDME LINK -->

<a href="http://www.addme.com">Search Engine Optimization - AddMe</a>

<!-- END OF ADDME LINK -->

These might be what is causing the mis-alignment. To tell you the truth, I would lose the Computer Peripherals and Search Engine Optimization - AddMe links all together. Computer Peripherals took me to Amazon UK Coupons, nothing to do with your site. Same with "Search Engine Optimization - AddMe", took me to a pay for search engine site. No need to advertise for those companies and have your customers leave your site. :blink:

 

I kind of liked having the categories count showing, but was convinced to turn them off. Having them off helps speed things up a bit. Plus, do you really want people to see you only have 1 or 2 items in a category? They might not bother looking. But no biggy I guess. :mellow:

 

"WE DO NOT SHIP OUTSIDE THE UK. We hope to add this feature at a later date."

Can I ask - Why then do you have the language infobox and the currenies box with other forms of prices?

I would comment (add // in front of the line of code) those out in your includes\column_right.php file.

 

You should have a mailing address shown, at least on your contact us page. Customers won't feel comfortable with not knowing where you are located and the only means of contact is through email. Would you?

 

I just clicked on Costume Jewelry. Because your fonts are so big in the header navigation bar it went funky. The breadcrumbs trail broke to a second line between Costume and Jewelry. Either make the font smaller (maybe match the size of the infobox headers) or have to rows. One row for the bread crumbs and one for the navigation.

 

I checked out - Blue Silver Beaded Charm Bracelet. The class="pageHeading" font is HUGH. I would make it much smaller, trying to keep the product name on one line.

 

Product images. Your thumbnails are squished versions of the large image with the same file size, they look distorted. A very nice and simple contribution to add is big_images 1.25. It allows you to create an actual smaller thumbnail with your graphics program and upload two seperate images - thumbnail and large pop-up. Creating your own thumbnails will make the images look much nicer and the smaller file size will speed up page load times. You can get an idea of the contribution at my site in progress (link in my profile). The only difference I used the larger image on my product info page instead of the pop-up. But you can see how I was able to use thumbnails around 4,000 bytes, larger images around 8114 bytes. Yours are, at least the bracelet, 15003 bytes. Get someone like me stuck with dialup and a page of products, it will load slow. Optimize those images. ;)

 

Not sure if you plan on changing the stock osC graphics and buttons, but I think you could create or find nicer ones.

 

I hope I didn't break your heart! :huh:

 

Just trying to offer a little helpful suggestions. Keep in mind, they are just my 2 cents! :)

Hey Jim, thanks for your help, you obviously have spent some time on this and I'm very gratefull. No you did not break my heart you have pointed out a few things that will help and make it more professional. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do it.

Cheers Jack

If at first you don't succeed.............................Cheat!!

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Hey Jim, thanks for your help, you obviously have spent some time on this and I'm very gratefull. No you did not break my heart you have pointed out a few things that will help and make it more professional. Now all I have to do is figure out how to do it.

Cheers Jack

 

Hey Jack,

 

Glad I did not break your heart. :D

 

I always feel awkward critiquing someone else's work, even though I have had to do it as part of my jobs. :blush:

It was my pleasure to look it over for you and try to help point out some issues.

 

If you run into any problems post back and I'll try to help.

But I am by no means an expert at this stuff. I'm still stuggling with my first osC site. :mellow:

 

Regards,

 

Jim

- :: Jim :: -

- My Toolbox ~ Adobe Web Bundle, XAMPP & WinMerge | Install ~ osC v2.3.3.4 -

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Hey Jack,

 

Glad I did not break your heart. :D

 

I always feel awkward critiquing someone else's work, even though I have had to do it as part of my jobs. :blush:

It was my pleasure to look it over for you and try to help point out some issues.

 

If you run into any problems post back and I'll try to help.

But I am by no means an expert at this stuff. I'm still stuggling with my first osC site. :mellow:

 

Regards,

 

Jim

Hey Jim you may be sorry you said that.

2 things; how do I get rid of the bar at the bottom of the page without losing the oscom?

The other thing is I tried to get rid of the catagory count by editing it to false and lost my main page, just got error message. With help on here got it back but the cat. count will not remove it's still there.

Any advice or help on this will be appreciated.

Cheers Jack

If at first you don't succeed.............................Cheat!!

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Hey Jim you may be sorry you said that.

2 things; how do I get rid of the bar at the bottom of the page without losing the oscom?

The other thing is I tried to get rid of the catagory count by editing it to false and lost my main page, just got error message. With help on here got it back but the cat. count will not remove it's still there.

Any advice or help on this will be appreciated.

Cheers Jack

 

No problem Jack ;)

 

I'll try this real quick as my wife and son are bugging me to take them to the lake.

 

I'm assuming you took care of the bar at the bottom as I don't see one.

 

Category counts:

Go to your Admin Panel > Configuration > Show Category Counts = False.

Then go to Tools > Cache Control

You'll see a list, click on Categories Box then that little triangle under Action.

That will clear the cache which is probably storing the counts. I had the same problem.

 

I'll check back later this evening to see how you made out.

 

Wifes bugg'in got to run <_<

 

Cheers,

Jim

- :: Jim :: -

- My Toolbox ~ Adobe Web Bundle, XAMPP & WinMerge | Install ~ osC v2.3.3.4 -

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No problem Jack ;)

 

I'll try this real quick as my wife and son are bugging me to take them to the lake.

 

I'm assuming you took care of the bar at the bottom as I don't see one.

 

Category counts:

Go to your Admin Panel > Configuration > Show Category Counts = False.

Then go to Tools > Cache Control

You'll see a list, click on Categories Box then that little triangle under Action.

That will clear the cache which is probably storing the counts. I had the same problem.

 

I'll check back later this evening to see how you made out.

 

Wifes bugg'in got to run <_<

 

Cheers,

Jim

Hi Jim yes I got rid of the bar at the bottom and for someone who is not very good at this you're amazing.

Thanks a bunch catagory count is sorted.

Jack

If at first you don't succeed.............................Cheat!!

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Thanks Jack, but I'm not amazing.

 

It's the other people here that have helped me out.

 

I am only passing along what I remember doing to fix my problems. ;)

- :: Jim :: -

- My Toolbox ~ Adobe Web Bundle, XAMPP & WinMerge | Install ~ osC v2.3.3.4 -

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I still think you need to put the boxes back around your infoboxes and use Spooks Product Listing Enhancement contribution. Nothing seems in order. Not to hurt your feelings. You can do it, I promise you, you can! It will make a difference on whether people stay on your website or leave.

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Hi Debora I tried to use "Spooks Product Listing Enhancement contribution" downloaded it but when I tried to unzip it, it asked for a password. I have made a few changes which I think has made things better. I've resized all my images and replaced all the icons etc. Still working on it.

Jack :)

If at first you don't succeed.............................Cheat!!

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What were you using to unzip the file? You might want to post that in the contributions thread for that contribution...that sounds pretty weird to me.

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You've got to at least have SSL on your site Jack. There's no SSL, there's no assurance that anyone's safe using a username and password let alone a cc number. This issue has got to take priority if you are going live any time in the near future.

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You've got to at least have SSL on your site Jack. There's no SSL, there's no assurance that anyone's safe using a username and password let alone a cc number. This issue has got to take priority if you are going live any time in the near future.

Hey Debora, Yes I know that will be taken care of soon. As far as the unzip is concerned I just used the one on my computer I always use and never had any problems.

Cheers Jack

If at first you don't succeed.............................Cheat!!

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that is really odd that you are getting prompted for a password. I have used this contribution and updated it every time a new version came out and never had this issue. Is it only happening when you try to unzip the initial file?

A great place for newbies to start

Road Map to oscommerce File Structure

DO NOT PM ME FOR HELP. My time is valuable, unless i ask you to PM me, please dont. You will get better help if you post publicly. I am not as good at this as you think anyways!

 

HOWEVER, you can visit my blog (go to my profile to see it) and post a question there, i will find time to get back and answer you

 

Proud Memeber of the CODE BREAKERS CLUB!!

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I tried to use "Spooks Product Listing Enhancement contribution" downloaded it but when I tried to unzip it, it asked for a password. Jack :)

 

Hey Jack,

 

If you are having problems with your unzip program (not sure which you use), I have had good luck using the free ZipCentral.

 

I had no problem (was not asked for a password) unzipping Spooks v1.8.

 

;)

- :: Jim :: -

- My Toolbox ~ Adobe Web Bundle, XAMPP & WinMerge | Install ~ osC v2.3.3.4 -

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Okay guys I have sat here and tried 3 times, I have downloaded 3 times tried to unzip and still I get "certain files are password protected." Each time I deleted it from my computer and downloaded again.

I downloaded this addon just out of interest to see if I could unzip it "photo gallery contribution for oscommerce." and unzipped it in seconds.

Jim I'll contact you tomorrow had too much going on.

Jack

If at first you don't succeed.............................Cheat!!

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I JUST downloaded a new copy of that addon for my newest site it never asked me for a password. I dont know what to tell you.

A great place for newbies to start

Road Map to oscommerce File Structure

DO NOT PM ME FOR HELP. My time is valuable, unless i ask you to PM me, please dont. You will get better help if you post publicly. I am not as good at this as you think anyways!

 

HOWEVER, you can visit my blog (go to my profile to see it) and post a question there, i will find time to get back and answer you

 

Proud Memeber of the CODE BREAKERS CLUB!!

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The first thing I thought was, where is the stylesheet? In IE it displays fine but in Firefox, all your formatting is gone. I looked at your stylesheet and you have a closing curly brace missing from the TR.header rule.

 

Get some uniformity with the Box Headings. Some are capitalised, one is lower case and some mix both.

 

You need to install one of the thumbnail mods. Your thumbs are too heavy and look squashed.

 

I think already mentioned but you could do with buying a SSL Cert. They're are too cheap not to. When you get one, that header image from photobucket will throw up a warning. Any reason why you need to hotlink it?

 

I would lose the side padding on the table cells containing the left and right columns. Then the columns would look more like the edge of the page.

 

The colour scheme isn't one I would have gone with but that is personal preference.

 

Good luck with it!

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AHh.. THATS why i thought the site looked soo bad. the style sheet wasnt working on my cpu. I didnt mention anything about the design becuase there was too much, now i get it. theres no style. DEFINITELY add that } after the TD.header - then i can see what you are REALLY working with.

A great place for newbies to start

Road Map to oscommerce File Structure

DO NOT PM ME FOR HELP. My time is valuable, unless i ask you to PM me, please dont. You will get better help if you post publicly. I am not as good at this as you think anyways!

 

HOWEVER, you can visit my blog (go to my profile to see it) and post a question there, i will find time to get back and answer you

 

Proud Memeber of the CODE BREAKERS CLUB!!

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AHh.. THATS why i thought the site looked soo bad. the style sheet wasnt working on my cpu. I didnt mention anything about the design becuase there was too much, now i get it. theres no style. DEFINITELY add that } after the TD.header - then i can see what you are REALLY working with.

Okay Have I fixed that problem? I have to tell you guys that a few month ago I'd not heard of oscom, I knew nothing about php and very little about html. I'm trying to learn so please bear with me if you think I'm stupid (well I am). I dont know how to add a header image so I did it through Photobucket so give me a clue and I'll try it. I must have deleleted the "}" by mistake I'm slowly but surely starting to understand what these symbols mean. I would like my header to be narrower and the whole page to be narrower but can't figure out how to do it. I downloaded "big_images 1.25." tried to install it and accidently deleted it off my computer, now I can't find where I downloaded it from, help!!

I know this is not an oscom site but please take a look at this and you will see what I did with html from a blank template. It's my site for my driving school

Jack Neill School of Motoring

So please keep telling me and I'll try to improve things but do give me some clues as to how to. I work 10 to 12 hrs a day so it's only a little time in the evening I have on here.

Thanks Jack

If at first you don't succeed.............................Cheat!!

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ok.. that is MUCH better. because you didnt have a style that was working, all your links were blue and everything was lacking structure. now it makes more sense.. although i think you still have a way to go.

 

MY ACCOUNT, SHOPPING CART, CHECKOUT are all just basic links. Consider making them some kind of graphical button, or change the text color.

 

The header looks like you too free click art, put it on a background, and added your store name. i ddefinitely if you have some artistic abilities, you can draw the SAME thing in illustrator but make it a little less "clip art" - i am not really a fan of your header. Dont take it personally though.

 

That little image of the baby and teddy bear should be removed. Its not serving a purpose and looks out of place.

 

I think you can really benefit from SPOOK's contribution called "product listing enhancements" instead of a list view, you will have thumbnails. Then you can install the short description contribution and that will show a quick description of the product in the product listing page> this way people can know more about the item and possible make a purchase without having to click more. Customers like as LITTLE clicks as possible to get to where they want to go.

 

You subcategory images are the same thing. they all look like clip art. But then you have the ladies clothes with actual woman's pictures. I suggest making them ALL uniform. Maybe instead of a picture, just make another button style image, but larger with the subcategory text in it. I did that on my site and am really happy (www.furryfamilysupplies.com)

 

You can also really benefit from adding images as your box headers. Right now, it is VERY VERY stock oscommerce, and you can start to get away from that by adding images instead of tables with text. Again, you can see what i did on my site. TO learn how to do it, there is a contribution called infobox header images (i think)

 

Again, you have clipart ALL OVER your site. The little bottle on the create account, the safety pins, ect. they are cute, but you are also trying to get the adult audience. I personally feel that you should ditch ENTIRELY the baby look and go for a nice, clean, and more sophisticated look.

 

Just from my personal experience. The people who are having babies right now are close to my age (25-35) Those people all want the sheik, fashionable baby products, and you definitely have those on your site. As well as your clothes. I would go an entirely new direction with the look and think of it more as a FASHION website and not a baby website.

 

check out these sites to see what i am talking about:

baby center

I like the colors and clean layout of this one

designer baby

I love the cuteness of the design, but not cheesey cute

one step ahead

A great place for newbies to start

Road Map to oscommerce File Structure

DO NOT PM ME FOR HELP. My time is valuable, unless i ask you to PM me, please dont. You will get better help if you post publicly. I am not as good at this as you think anyways!

 

HOWEVER, you can visit my blog (go to my profile to see it) and post a question there, i will find time to get back and answer you

 

Proud Memeber of the CODE BREAKERS CLUB!!

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ok.. that is MUCH better. because you didnt have a style that was working, all your links were blue and everything was lacking structure. now it makes more sense.. although i think you still have a way to go.

 

MY ACCOUNT, SHOPPING CART, CHECKOUT are all just basic links. Consider making them some kind of graphical button, or change the text color.

 

The header looks like you too free click art, put it on a background, and added your store name. i ddefinitely if you have some artistic abilities, you can draw the SAME thing in illustrator but make it a little less "clip art" - i am not really a fan of your header. Dont take it personally though.

 

That little image of the baby and teddy bear should be removed. Its not serving a purpose and looks out of place.

 

I think you can really benefit from SPOOK's contribution called "product listing enhancements" instead of a list view, you will have thumbnails. Then you can install the short description contribution and that will show a quick description of the product in the product listing page> this way people can know more about the item and possible make a purchase without having to click more. Customers like as LITTLE clicks as possible to get to where they want to go.

 

You subcategory images are the same thing. they all look like clip art. But then you have the ladies clothes with actual woman's pictures. I suggest making them ALL uniform. Maybe instead of a picture, just make another button style image, but larger with the subcategory text in it. I did that on my site and am really happy (www.furryfamilysupplies.com)

 

You can also really benefit from adding images as your box headers. Right now, it is VERY VERY stock oscommerce, and you can start to get away from that by adding images instead of tables with text. Again, you can see what i did on my site. TO learn how to do it, there is a contribution called infobox header images (i think)

 

Again, you have clipart ALL OVER your site. The little bottle on the create account, the safety pins, ect. they are cute, but you are also trying to get the adult audience. I personally feel that you should ditch ENTIRELY the baby look and go for a nice, clean, and more sophisticated look.

 

Just from my personal experience. The people who are having babies right now are close to my age (25-35) Those people all want the sheik, fashionable baby products, and you definitely have those on your site. As well as your clothes. I would go an entirely new direction with the look and think of it more as a FASHION website and not a baby website.

 

check out these sites to see what i am talking about:

baby center

I like the colors and clean layout of this one

designer baby

I love the cuteness of the design, but not cheesey cute

one step ahead

Yeah, and he's doing babies and women's lingerie....kind of going to be weird getting a look.

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well, since he is cramming two completely different things into one store, the style DEFINITELY has to be appealing to the one who will be doing the shopping, and thats the mom. Babies are not going to be surfing the net :)

A great place for newbies to start

Road Map to oscommerce File Structure

DO NOT PM ME FOR HELP. My time is valuable, unless i ask you to PM me, please dont. You will get better help if you post publicly. I am not as good at this as you think anyways!

 

HOWEVER, you can visit my blog (go to my profile to see it) and post a question there, i will find time to get back and answer you

 

Proud Memeber of the CODE BREAKERS CLUB!!

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well, since he is cramming two completely different things into one store, the style DEFINITELY has to be appealing to the one who will be doing the shopping, and thats the mom. Babies are not going to be surfing the net :)

Yeah, only the highly technical babies....but they don't have much cash, so we won't pay much attention to them. :lol:

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