How about the look??? (Full Version)

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Xtreme2000 -> How about the look??? (12/4/2002 1:41:11)

http://www.microdragons.com



Tegan -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 2:32:28)

Generally I like the site. I just have a few comments

It took me about 30 seconds to find the navigation on the main page. I almost left thinking it was a one page site.

On a 56k modem most of the images never loaded. At least not in the time I was willing to spend (about 30 - 40 seconds)

Your audience may not be novices, but it would be nice if you could eventually put some reference material on each of the species in your collection.

Best wishes.



Gil -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 7:41:47)

I never did find any navigation - where is it?



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 7:42:46)

quote:

Your audience may not be novices, but it would be nice if you could eventually put some reference material on each of the species in your collection

Thanks Still working on that issue. What reference did you mean by that? Since you are the end user (per say) So I can get a feel of what the audience might be looking for in reference (being dump founded **NOT SACASTIC**) It would help a lot, if I know what they might be look for as reference.



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 7:44:13)

quote:

never did find any navigation - where is it?


On the top right below the logo. Hot spotted.. Look like I' m having a minor problem... If that is the case.



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 7:56:48)

OK Fixed the Nav problem.



Seventh -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 9:01:17)

Just my humble opinion.

I think you should eliminate the .gif ' zooming' effect on the rest of the pages. It gets a little irritating after the second time. It also takes the attention away from your product as well - which is why you set this up.



Gil -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 9:09:42)

OK, got in.

I figured out " after" going to the " cart" that you sell the critters - From the home page I thought you were selling Pay Pal - it' s logo being the dominant thing on the page. Why have a Pay Pal logo before any decision is made by the visitor to purchase?

Nice clean look, I like the layout. But, I tried to go through the buying cycle and got a message Pay Pal was having technical difficulties?



Tegan -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 15:43:54)

About references.

Ok, say I am new or that my kid whats one of these animals. There is a lot of information that I want. If I have to go elsewhere to find it, I may also find another vendor.

For example.

Are they dangerous for children?
What type of care do they require?
How long can they be left unattended? (A long weekend?)
How long do they live?
What do they eat, how often etc.
What type of environment do they need?
How much does it cost to take care of they? setup and ongoing?
Are they social animals? Do I need to buy a pair?
How do they get along with other animals?
Should I take any special care in handling these animals? I heard you could get salmonella from lizards. etc.

This is just off the top of my head (a very scary place(grin)), but it should give you some ideas. I think if you become a refence site as well as an outlet, you will get more business. Offer a monthy newletter, etc. Offer a bulletin board for clients. Build a community and they will have less reason to look elsewhere.



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 22:03:11)

quote:

Just my humble opinion.

I think you should eliminate the .gif ' zooming' effect on the rest of the pages. It gets a little irritating after the second time. It also takes the attention away from your product as well - which is why you set this up.


Thanks, Will try to see if I can get the picture edit to where it wont do all the pages.



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 22:05:57)

quote:

I figured out " after" going to the " cart" that you sell the critters - From the home page I thought you were selling Pay Pal - it' s logo being the dominant thing on the page. Why have a Pay Pal logo before any decision is made by the visitor to purchase?


I guess I should just make that a little bit smaller. [:D]

quote:


Nice clean look, I like the layout. But, I tried to go through the buying cycle and got a message Pay Pal was having technical difficulties?


Thanks for the compliment. With paypal having difficultly. I have no control of it. Hopefully that wont happen all the time



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 22:08:22)

quote:

Ok, say I am new or that my kid whats one of these animals. There is a lot of information that I want. If I have to go elsewhere to find it, I may also find another vendor.

For example.

Are they dangerous for children?
What type of care do they require?
How long can they be left unattended? (A long weekend?)
How long do they live?
What do they eat, how often etc.
What type of environment do they need?
How much does it cost to take care of they? setup and ongoing?
Are they social animals? Do I need to buy a pair?
How do they get along with other animals?
Should I take any special care in handling these animals? I heard you could get salmonella from lizards. etc.

This is just off the top of my head (a very scary place(grin)), but it should give you some ideas. I think if you become a refence site as well as an outlet, you will get more business. Offer a monthy newletter, etc. Offer a bulletin board for clients. Build a community and they will have less reason to look elsewhere.


Thanks getting the idea. But that will take time getting the info out. It will be definately put in the gallery area.




Seventh -> RE: How about the look??? (12/4/2002 22:52:01)

quote:

Thanks, Will try to see if I can get the picture edit to where it wont do all the pages.


It' s easy. Put the animation on the home page. Put the static image on the rest.[;)]



Peppergal -> RE: How about the look??? (12/5/2002 0:10:05)

I think your logo is really cool and I like the white, as opposed to the other black background. And I like the way your gallery is set up. (though for now, if you don' t have larger pics of the animals before you go " live" then I' d disable the links to them so people don' t click on it just to get a blank page.)

Also...it would be a good idea (in my opinion, anyway) to have the " information" on each animal not only in the gallery (which is a lot better than the old one) but possibly on its own page as well...you could title it " Animal Information" or something like that and then have links at the top to each animal, which would go to the bookmarked section on the page. Visitors could either use the hyperlinks to see or they could just scroll down to read all the " stats" (be sure you have an occasional link to the " top" should your page get long)



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/5/2002 8:10:23)

quote:

It' s easy. Put the animation on the home page. Put the static image on the rest.


Working on getting my graphic person to wip it out..



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/5/2002 8:16:43)

quote:

I think your logo is really cool and I like the white, as opposed to the other black background. And I like the way your gallery is set up. (though for now, if you don' t have larger pics of the animals before you go " live" then I' d disable the links to them so people don' t click on it just to get a blank page.)


Thanks. I know what you mean. I was getting tired of the black background too.. Gallery area will be more than likely change to a different format. That will look better and easier to navigate.

quote:

Also...it would be a good idea (in my opinion, anyway) to have the " information" on each animal not only in the gallery (which is a lot better than the old one) but possibly on its own page as well...you could title it " Animal Information" or something like that and then have links at the top to each animal, which would go to the bookmarked section on the page. Visitors could either use the hyperlinks to see or they could just scroll down to read all the " stats" (be sure you have an occasional link to the " top" should your page get long)


The information will be both on the shopping cart & gallery area for sure. As soon as the become available. As far as right now. I have not got any update. I might have to go research it myself to put them in. I can only do with want info I got. But definately it will be done. Sooner or later (hopefully sooner)..

Thanks



rsweb -> RE: How about the look??? (12/5/2002 12:36:45)

I like the overall look, simple and not " overdone" like some.

1. It takes awhile to load.

2. Is there a way to make the header area a bit smaller. If there' s extra room on the edges you can cut it wouldn' t take as much of the top of the page. Maybe you could also make the navigation text a bit larger...easier to find, so it doesn' t blend in so much.

3. I wouldn' t recommend " frames" format. I' ve found-out personally it doesn' t spider well and difficult to get the site listed in search engines. It would also take care of the repeating zooming lizard. You could put the zoom on the home page and leave the rest stationary.

4. Depending on a person' s eyesite, some of the text may appear a bit little...not me but my Father-in-law would definitely comment...it just depends on your primary audience.

5. Turtles is mis-spelled on " Go Shopping" link title.

6. I only glanced at Amphibians page...some didn' t have pics. You may just not have the pics ready yet, but if you don' t have some for those particular critters, I' d suggest in the frame putting in text " picture not available" so people don' t think their maybe something wrong with the site.

7. When I selected " Go Shopping" / " Amphibians" / and selected link on " African Bull Frog" I wondered what the actual purpose was for this link. I' d thought it was probably going to link to a larger photo of the frog and maybe give a more in depth description....what it eats, if it bites (or gums you) or whatever. It appeared to be almost the same as the previous page, just a little different layout.

8. " Gallery" page. " There are 1 pictures in 6 categories" for some reason doesn' t sound quite right.(??? grammer)

9. I don' t recommend italicized text (especially when it' s really small) due to readability issues.

I' m so sorry I' ve been " so" critical....I really do like the site.



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/5/2002 23:48:54)

quote:

I like the overall look, simple and not " overdone" like some.

Thanks for the compliment.

quote:

1. It takes awhile to load.

Don' t know why. Not unless it is a slow connection.

quote:

2. Is there a way to make the header area a bit smaller. If there' s extra room on the edges you can cut it wouldn' t take as much of the top of the page. Maybe you could also make the navigation text a bit larger...easier to find, so it doesn' t blend in so much.


That can be fix, but it will take a while.

quote:

3. I wouldn' t recommend " frames" format. I' ve found-out personally it doesn' t spider well and difficult to get the site listed in search engines. It would also take care of the repeating zooming lizard. You could put the zoom on the home page and leave the rest stationary.


I though I fixed the logo to be stationary. ???[:o]

quote:

4. Depending on a person' s eyesite, some of the text may appear a bit little...not me but my Father-in-law would definitely comment...it just depends on your primary audience.

I though I fixed it to not be too small.

quote:

5. Turtles is mis-spelled on " Go Shopping" link title.

Opps!!

quote:

6. I only glanced at Amphibians page...some didn' t have pics. You may just not have the pics ready yet, but if you don' t have some for those particular critters, I' d suggest in the frame putting in text " picture not available" so people don' t think their maybe something wrong with the site.

Not currently have the picture. But I did put out the ' pic not avail' before and someone said that it just like under construction so I took it off.

quote:

7. When I selected " Go Shopping" / " Amphibians" / and selected link on " African Bull Frog" I wondered what the actual purpose was for this link. I' d thought it was probably going to link to a larger photo of the frog and maybe give a more in depth description....what it eats, if it bites (or gums you) or whatever. It appeared to be almost the same as the previous page, just a little different layout.


That cam with the scripts. I will find the way to fix it thou.

quote:

8. " Gallery" page. " There are 1 pictures in 6 categories" for some reason doesn' t sound quite right.(??? grammer)


Didnt have time to upload the pictures. What is (???grammer) mean?

quote:

9. I don' t recommend italicized text (especially when it' s really small) due to readability issues.


Sorry not on purpose.. I though I took the italic off.

quote:

I' m so sorry I' ve been " so" critical....I really do like the site.


That is fine, I knew it was going to get hack and saww like a butter. But it is good. This was the site will get even better as time goes by..



rsweb -> RE: How about the look??? (12/6/2002 5:19:17)

I think some of my responses before were probably made while you were making changes...usually the way it goes.

1. Yes, my connection unfortunately is slow. It' s been running at 24...I live in the sticks and for some reason their server seems to keep getting slower, not faster. It gets really annoying.

2. RE: picture outline. I think most people know if there' s a problem the box with an x will show up in the frame, however, some may not. That is why I thought Picture Not Available might be helpful, however, I can see the other person' s point as well. Is there any way you can just delete the outline from those particular boxes when you don' t have a picture, maybe then it won' t appear as though " something may be missing" ... IMO seeing " Picture Not Available" or " No Picture" would be better than a blank frame...to each his own I guess.

3. RE: ???grammer. I guess I just didn' t like the " There are 1 pictures in 6 categories" ...didn' t sound right to me. Maybe " There is 1 picture for each of 6 categories" ....do you know what I mean. The sentence just seems to make more sense. If you' re stating 1 and then pictures (plural) it just doesn' t make sense to me. I hope this makes sense....doesn' t really to me but it' s hard to explain.

I think overall the site really looks nice. I really like the lizzard logo, kinda cute...a bit cuter than the real ones. [:)][:)]

My aunt used to get geckos, one at a time, unfortunately each one seemed to have untimely demises due to their own " stupidity maybe" ??? She let them live free so to speak...One got under a rocking chair and got squished, one liked to hang over her kitchen sink on the curtain, accidentally fell off while she was washing dishes and she wasn' t able to recover it from the water in time. A couple others I think just mysteriously disappeared. She really liked them but after having the bad luck gave up.[:)]



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/6/2002 8:17:06)

quote:

I think some of my responses before were probably made while you were making changes...usually the way it goes.

probably so. but thanks for noticing.

quote:

1. Yes, my connection unfortunately is slow. It' s been running at 24...I live in the sticks and for some reason their server seems to keep getting slower, not faster. It gets really annoying.

DONT they already have DSL or something that is faster than a dial up? I feel for ya. Hate slow connection myself.

quote:

2. RE: picture outline. I think most people know if there' s a problem the box with an x will show up in the frame, however, some may not. That is why I thought Picture Not Available might be helpful, however, I can see the other person' s point as well. Is there any way you can just delete the outline from those particular boxes when you don' t have a picture, maybe then it won' t appear as though " something may be missing" ... IMO seeing " Picture Not Available" or " No Picture" would be better than a blank frame...to each his own I guess.

That is in the script that either all or none. I am rethinking the new look thou. Hopefully soon. And once that is done I wont have to worry about it no more.. (yeah right)..[;)]

quote:

3. RE: ???grammer. I guess I just didn' t like the " There are 1 pictures in 6 categories" ...didn' t sound right to me. Maybe " There is 1 picture for each of 6 categories" ....do you know what I mean. The sentence just seems to make more sense. If you' re stating 1 and then pictures (plural) it just doesn' t make sense to me. I hope this makes sense....doesn' t really to me but it' s hard to explain.

Oh, OK Let see if I can fix this, like I said before. The new loo is coming out and That will be fix too. [:D]

quote:

I think overall the site really looks nice. I really like the lizzard logo, kinda cute...a bit cuter than the real ones.

That came from the real lizzard just a lot of manipulating on my graphic guy.

quote:

My aunt used to get geckos, one at a time, unfortunately each one seemed to have untimely demises due to their own " stupidity maybe" ??? She let them live free so to speak...One got under a rocking chair and got squished, one liked to hang over her kitchen sink on the curtain, accidentally fell off while she was washing dishes and she wasn' t able to recover it from the water in time. A couple others I think just mysteriously disappeared. She really liked them but after having the bad luck gave up.

heheh hahahahha hehehe ... ' Tat' is funny [:D].. Like you said it is stupidity on their part. May be your aunt my want to contain them a little bit more if she ever decide to go back at it again.



rsweb -> RE: How about the look??? (12/6/2002 9:18:26)

[:)]I would love DSL, was so excited that the newspaper was stating we were getting it in our area...however, when it arrived it was limited...you had to live within 3 miles of their office in town...we live 8 miles from town. Just miss it! I have a friend who works for Qwest, offering the DSL. He said due to the low population in the rural areas that Qwest looks at whether it seems worth it to provide service and how far out to do it. We don' t have enough people in our rural area to justify it to them I guess. My husband won' t move to town just so I can have DSL.[8D]

We could get satellite, however, we have a tendency to lose out TV satellite whenever there' s a bad thunderstorm or snowstorm...bad snowy days are usually when I spend all day long on the Internet, as the phones usually weather them okay.

Even other dial-up options aren' t available here, the service I use is the only " local access number" available to me and I sure would hate the long distance charges for another server. It was originally a small company and that made it seem a little more understandable that the service wasn' t quite as up-to-date, low resources of funding, etc. 1 1/2-2 years ago Earthlink bought them out...the service has actually seemed to get worse. I' m sure " we in the sticks" aren' t really important to them though and I' m sure the same equipment is still being used, just under a different name. Our phone lines are also " under standard" in most areas so that' s probably what the main limitation is.

We had an electrical transformer blow-out a couple years ago. The service guy said he was shocked, as it looked like the " original" transformer that he was replacing....that' s old!

My sister had a gecko that also " mysteriously disappeared" . Her boyfriend at the time was just about to sit in our " green" chair when she mentioned it was missing...he jumped up in a flash, hadn' t seen anyone move that fast before. That one was kept in an acquarium, he somehow had escaped, never figured out how though.[:)][:)]



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/6/2002 21:16:26)

quote:

I would love DSL, was so excited that the newspaper was stating we were getting it in our area...however, when it arrived it was limited...you had to live within 3 miles of their office in town...we live 8 miles from town. Just miss it! I have a friend who works for Qwest, offering the DSL. He said due to the low population in the rural areas that Qwest looks at whether it seems worth it to provide service and how far out to do it. We don' t have enough people in our rural area to justify it to them I guess. My husband won' t move to town just so I can have DSL.

We could get satellite, however, we have a tendency to lose out TV satellite whenever there' s a bad thunderstorm or snowstorm...bad snowy days are usually when I spend all day long on the Internet, as the phones usually weather them okay.

Even other dial-up options aren' t available here, the service I use is the only " local access number" available to me and I sure would hate the long distance charges for another server. It was originally a small company and that made it seem a little more understandable that the service wasn' t quite as up-to-date, low resources of funding, etc. 1 1/2-2 years ago Earthlink bought them out...the service has actually seemed to get worse. I' m sure " we in the sticks" aren' t really important to them though and I' m sure the same equipment is still being used, just under a different name. Our phone lines are also " under standard" in most areas so that' s probably what the main limitation is.

We had an electrical transformer blow-out a couple years ago. The service guy said he was shocked, as it looked like the " original" transformer that he was replacing....that' s old!

My sister had a gecko that also " mysteriously disappeared" . Her boyfriend at the time was just about to sit in our " green" chair when she mentioned it was missing...he jumped up in a flash, hadn' t seen anyone move that fast before. That one was kept in an acquarium, he somehow had escaped, never figured out how though.

Never though anyone can run into that kind of luck. Stuck out NOWHERE and cant move either. Wish you will have the better service soon.



pacific77 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/6/2002 23:09:03)

I have cable internet through charter cable (756k) it zips through your site very quick , get those blank photos in there as quick as possible so people who go to your site will return. I think your site looks good and navigation is easy



pacific77 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/6/2002 23:12:18)

PS oh yeah I live kinda rural too , not all phone lines in my area will handle dsl thats why I went with my cable company



Karan -> RE: How about the look??? (12/7/2002 3:17:00)

Just my 2 cents... the general design is nice and clean, but I' d like to see some small photos of the critters on the home page, just to make it a little clearer at the start what microdragons are. Also, I don' t think the shipping rates belong on the home page. This would be more appropriate after the customer has read the info about the critters and has decided he just has to get one for his very own. It belongs as it is on the terms page and is okay on the main " go shopping" page, but not on the home page. One more thing, is it correct that the shipping rate on orders over $200 is only $19.99? Seems like it should be more than the order from $100-199. You know, I don' t normally go for creepy-crawly things, but the way you present these " microdragons" makes me want to get one! (Wouldn' t be too safe with two cats in the house, though!)



rsweb -> RE: How about the look??? (12/7/2002 9:17:17)

We don' t get cable either, that' s why satellite is my only other option at this time. However, I don' t want to rely on something that goes out everytime we have a storm...so far this year we' ve hardly had any snow at all in our area, but that is quite unusual. So far right now, my poky dial up is the best option, unfortunately, for reliability.

I am wondering, however, why it' s been slower the past couple of weeks. It was previously hanging in at 28, which annoyed me to death...now it' s at 24 ????



rsweb -> RE: How about the look??? (12/7/2002 9:20:52)

I don' t think the shipping rates belong on the home page.

This is a very good point. Actually, some people who don' t know what appropriate shipping for " live critters" should be may be turned off by the price of the shipping and you really want to get them interested before tossing the shipping cost at them.



DanielLC -> RE: How about the look??? (12/7/2002 11:40:22)

Hi, I thought it might be fun to comment on your site so I joined the forum.

First, I REALLY think your logo is out of this world good. It is perfect. Although I read where someone mentioned not to repeat it on every page and that is true. Make it static afterwards.

I feel the space between your Home and GoShopping Links is perfect and should be the same between all of your links. If you can script, make the Home link only appear if your not actually on the Home page.
Logo' s should ALWAYS be a link as well to your Home page.

You do not have an alt=" This is the exotic pet store blah blah.." in your Img tag for the logo. Good for search engines, and good for the sight impaired.

One thing about your shipping prices. The shipping price I feel should be 19.99 for anything! People want a bargain and not only if they spend 200 + dollars. If you need to raise prices on certain items in the 100-199 range then do so that your shipping is 19.99. If you do this your sales will tripple!

ok anyway.. this was not a marketing forum :P

Oh dear, I see that nomatter where I click on your links the url still says www.microdragons.com !! This is bad for two reasons I can think of off the top of my head. 1. You cannot bookmark a specific page. 2. How can I send an email to a friend with a clickable link for the AZ Mnt. King Snake ??

Btw, did I mention I like the look and feel of your site? Nice simple feeling, and charming.


I would <div align=" left" > this paragraph.
Come in and discover the world of exotic pets. We at microDRAGONS.com, offer a vast selection of exotic snakes, lizards, turtles/tortoises, amphibians, arachnids, and other insects from all over the world. Our site will be updated frequently, and we will introduce more captive bred livestock to you as soon as they become available. Our future goals is to provide you with the very best selection of captive bred reptiles/exotic pets.

Lose the webcounter, NEVER show a webcounter!

Instead of Site up since.. consider Online since...

Not decided on the Payment methods... consider making PayPal the same size as the others.

Not sure about the Top 300 reptile sites thing... Consider making a links page for these kinds of trade-offs. If they make you put it on your home page to be in their network, drop the network.

NEVER show links that imply contacting via some other method than email IF they are only email links. ALWAYS let the customer know they are clicking an email link. I.e your contact page. It is misleading.

General Information
Billing
Suggestion

Get an 800 number. They are cheap.

I really like your logo! :)




Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/8/2002 12:32:07)

quote:

I have cable internet through charter cable (756k) it zips through your site very quick , get those blank photos in there as quick as possible so people who go to your site will return. I think your site looks good and navigation is easy


The problem with the picture is having to take it and verify which is which.[:D]



Xtreme2000 -> RE: How about the look??? (12/8/2002 12:40:54)

quote:

Just my 2 cents... the general design is nice and clean, but I' d like to see some small photos of the critters on the home page, just to make it a little clearer at the start what microdragons are. Also, I don' t think the shipping rates belong on the home page. This would be more appropriate after the customer has read the info about the critters and has decided he just has to get one for his very own. It belongs as it is on the terms page and is okay on the main " go shopping" page, but not on the home page. One more thing, is it correct that the shipping rate on orders over $200 is only $19.99? Seems like it should be more than the order from $100-199. You know, I don' t normally go for creepy-crawly things, but the way you present these " microdragons" makes me want to get one! (Wouldn' t be too safe with two cats in the house, though


The reason for the $19.99 with order $200.00 + is to give the customers incentive to buy more and more figure we eat the shipping cost if the buy a lot.



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