coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (Full Version)

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netdtek -> coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 18:11:11)

Hi,

I'm working on selling our products online and bought this template to use as a starting point. It's been tough as it's .php and I didn't realize the troubles I'd have using FP. I had a version of FP 2002 from MSDN subscription and now am using a trial version of FP 2003 to see if I want to upgrade. It's not much different, but I do like the fact it cuts bloat from html and has prebuilt table layouts to use.

I'm new to webmastering and am learning daily. Thanks for any and all feedback and comments on how to improve the site.

Thanks,



dpf -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 18:12:05)

post a url so we can see



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 18:20:18)

hmmm. i guess the add signature box isn't working.

http://www.rkbrandon.biz



Kitka -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 18:34:20)

quote:

hmmm. i guess the add signature box isn't working.


Hi Ron,

That is a deliberate policy, see explanation here:
http://www.frontpagewebmaster.com/m-208302/tm.htm

And WELCOME to Outfront Forums [:)]



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 18:39:28)

thanks kitka. I read that post and some of the replys in the thread.

i am just now searching and reading about the site rules and looking up the FAQ's. Is it just me or does the back button in Firefox NOT work on this site?



Kitka -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 18:44:09)

quote:

Is it just me or does the back button in Firefox NOT work on this site?


It is not just you, that has been discussed elsewhere also. I found a way around it though. If you have the Adblock extension installed, use it to block this:
http://www.frontpagewebmaster.com/keepalive.asp

Be warned though, that it was originally installed in the site because some people were constantly being logged out after being idle for a little while.



jaybee -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 18:44:27)

No it's not just you. The back button on Firefox seems to have a problem with most ASP fora.

quote:

some people were constantly being logged out after being idle for a little while.


Me being one of them. It got really annoying, then it became a joke, then a contest to see who got chucked out the most. [:D]

As far as the site goes, I love the colours and the borders but there's something not right with the layout in the middle.



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 18:57:50)

Thanks again ;) I'll check out that Adblock extension workaround - I don't know if I have it installed or not. Coming from an old M$ software shop it's been awhile using browsers other than IE. Firefox is nice. I just need to get my system used to all the NON M$ tools and apps I want to use now.




netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 19:01:01)

Kitka - Are you really in "Australia"? We've bought some shells from there to use in our chimes and mobiles as the shells in northern CA are a little boring and plain.



Kitka -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 19:08:32)

quote:

I don't know if I have it installed or not


If you (or whoever installed FF for you) did not deliberately get it, you won't have it.

To get it, simply go here:

and then click "Install".

quote:

Kitka - Are you really in "Australia"? We've bought some shells from there to use in our chimes and mobiles as the shells in northern CA are a little boring and plain.


Yes, I sure am. Plus, I lived in PNG for a while many, many years ago, and collected some wonderful shells there. Unfortunately they are stored in a box under my house currently [&:] ... I guess I need to do something a bit more pro-active with them.



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 19:15:47)

I got it now. Nice.



Minix -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 21:23:12)

Welcome netdtek.

A bit off topic, but it may be helpful down the road.

Don't fall into the pattern that certain posters do and just post your e-commerce sites looking for suggestions or improvements without offering something back in others threads.

Go into somebody else's thread and offer constructive critiques, regardless of your expertise in coding. Your point of view as a surfer is just as valuable as a techno critique.

Too many times certain people will come in here and demand a critique of their site while never showing the courtesy of responding to any other request for a critique.

The quid pro quo is what makes this a great forum.

Good luck.



Kitka -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/23/2005 21:32:45)

Good point Minix, and nicely said too. Maybe this should be pinned somewhere for all newbies to read.



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/25/2005 11:04:38)

I can understand there being an issue with people coming and dropping their URL and running on their way, but couldn't you give me a chance to get set up here? You'd think with all the double opt in's, confirmation emails, new user probation periods, etc. you wouldn't have too many problems with robots or other hit and run posters. Maybe I should have waited before posting in this thread... but that's where I'm at I feel.
I'm obviously new to the site, but I've been around on other forum boards doing my thing and contributing to the community with what I can. That being said, I expect more here and more support for people using Frontpage then other sites, unless I'm wrong. I've experienced too many negative episodes not only to my lack of expertise with FP but to the web design community not completely sold on FP and rightly so.



TonyT -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/25/2005 14:24:15)

netdtek,
IMO, I would definately upgrade to 2003. The code snippit feature and dynamic web templates (just to name a couple things) are worth it alone. Check this out for more info: http://www.microsoft.com/office/frontpage/prodinfo/compare.mspx



Kitka -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/25/2005 17:50:37)

Hi Ron,

Very sorry you are feeling under siege. I don't know why Minix singled you out for his comment. I tried to mitigate it a bit by suggesting that it might be good to have posted somewhere for all newbies to read - rather than posting it in a thread where someone is genuinely looking for help and does plan to contribute but hasn't yet had a chance to prove it.

However, he has a good point. We do have rather a large portion of members who only come here when they want help, only post in their own thread, then are never, ever seen again.

As I said above, WELCOME to Outfront, we are normally one of the most friendly, helpful forums anywhere on the net, heaps of people have mentioned it.



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/25/2005 18:42:06)

Thanks kitka

It's all good here. I didn't take what minix said personal and thought that I directed my response back at the forum. I understand where you all are coming from and that's just fine with me. I'm still hoping to get some feedback in this thread. :)



Nicole -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/25/2005 19:51:53)

Feedback? ... Feedback? ... You want Feedback?

In the Critique section?

You want feedback in the Critique section?

okay (lol)

Your page is nice and i love the colour scheme. It took a long time to load on my 56k dial-up modem, but you do have a lot of images there. Maybe you could compress them a little?

I also think there's just too much vacant space on your site. You could easily squash everything up so it fits totally within the screen at 1024 x 768.

Personally i'd lay it out by centering a table say 80% wide in the middle of the page, keep your background the same colour but make the page background a different colour.

Welcome to Outfront!

Nicole



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/26/2005 11:51:24)

Thank you Nicole. I didn't realize the site was not optimized for dial up, I can look at dropping the resolution on the images some more.
I bought this template a couple months ago when I decided to do the website work myself in lieu of hiring out the job. I've been struggling with making changes to the template but am determined to get it right.
Is there a way to make global changes that will get rid of the negative or wasted space at higher screen resolutions? I like your idea of squishing it all to the center and I want to do that more than add content to fill it up that I don't need or want. I also want to get some buy now button's or something to the front making the site more apparent we're selling our stuff.



Minix -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/26/2005 12:27:50)

Hello netdek.

Much too much white space and a disjointed visual pattern on the Home page.

Perhaps try something like this:

Center your text about the "welcome" and the bullets across the whole cell, maybe a bit bigger text.

Below that have three equal sized pic of a wood chime, a sea shell chime and seascape magnet lined upo next to each other. Put the titles of each above them and add a price (maybe below the pic) for the one that is showing, with a link to " see more like this.

I didn't get a clear idea what it was that you were selling at first impression. It's too passive to be an dynamic e-commerce site.

The overall feel and color scheme really works well and I think you have a great potential with your presentation of the products.

I don't do templates, so I can't help you with those issues.

Keep us updated.

Here's a quick mock-up of my idea from above. I editted the photos to give them an all black background, gave them a shadowed edge to add a little depth to the page.

[image]local://upfiles/10333/C20CCB4BD21540A486BD825FED9699A8.jpg[/image]



Minix -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/26/2005 14:30:29)

It might look something like this:


[image]local://upfiles/10333/A34EBA434F244633990B0476E426BF4D.jpg[/image]

Then you'd probably have to re-work the left and right columns just a bit.

You could also get it scroll free both ways if that's important.



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/26/2005 17:26:14)

<big smiles over here> Yeah! That's what I'm talking about. Thanks Minix.

I've been discouraged from photoshopping my images because they looked touched up and I though less professional. I'm also just generally disappointed in the quality of our current product images. I'm going to invest in some camera equipment to change that.

I need to find the right place in code where I can work on the overall page width value. So far the tables and code I've modified were still being effected by code nested elsewhere, or more globally... I'm getting there, but slower than I'd wish. There's just many files worth of code to search through. Not having wrote it and it not being completely documented by the developer has been keeping me back some too.

What is the best way to keep a table and it's cell's/content tightly grouped without it being spread apart in a fluid or dynamaic nature? I don't want to set hard values due I?



Nicole -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/26/2005 18:25:58)

Just on your images for the moment, I'm in the process of designing a site for a soap factory that has all their images of soap on a black background, like on a sample board you'd find in a 1960's factory. Black backgrounds do tend to enhance colour, but in the case of the soap factory i'm planning to re-take all images for them, and put the soap where it belongs.....i.e. in the bathroom, on a towel, with pot pouri (sp), fern leaves etc, etc, etc...doesn't that sound much more appealing than on a plain black background?

Why don't you think about re-taking those photos at the beach, on the sand, against the water as a background, with plants in the background, rocks as a background, driftwood? Make them more homely, more appealing i think.

Nicole



Kitka -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/26/2005 18:37:38)

quote:

What is the best way to keep a table and it's cell's/content tightly grouped without it being spread apart in a fluid or dynamaic nature? I don't want to set hard values due I?


Setting absolute values is the only way to stop it from being fluid. Unless you place the images in a table with no table or cell width specified and then centre the table on the page. That way you would get larger R & L margins for the group at higher resolutions, without them all spreading across the page.



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/26/2005 19:46:44)

<more smiles> nicolez - thank you. What an idea! I really like it. Where only a couple hours drive and we go all the time. We'll probably need to make a weekend of it since we'd be shooting close to a hundred products. And rent a u-haul or a friends truck to haul all the products. You don't think it's easier to bring the background home an any way do you?
I have been designing a photo booth mock up to use with a lighting rack, digital canon slr, etc. connected to my laptop and capturing /rendering live with this software... I'm hashing out the financing and the parts list now.
I'd sure rather go stay on the coast when the weather is nice enough though.



krispys_kingdom -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/29/2005 22:33:24)

Just my little two cents - I agree with making the backgrounds of your product images more "beachy". I don't feel inspired to buy your products at a dull website, though. I like the smoothness of it, but the colors aren't calming or relaxing as I would expect my beach hideaway to be. I'm not talking about adding a bunch of graphics or anything, just a better color combo.



netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (1/31/2005 20:36:29)

well. i was finally able to get back to some design work for my site today. i'm not sure what's going on with the hosting company, geeze. Thanks for your comments krispys_

i'm trying to work in a beachy, fun theme without going overboard. we're trying to market it towards the artsy sort (more money) and I do see it's boring. I think i made a little difference today at least with the index page and making a different first impression... thanks to all your input - it's helped me grasp ahold and tear into it



caz -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (2/1/2005 6:43:30)

Just a word about the backgrounds to your products, whilst a setting showing how one or two would work in a home would be nice, most people buying home furnishings tend to want to visualise how it would look in their own place. So for that reason I would continue showing individual products against a neutral background.

This one windchimes024 works very well. Try to standardise your backgrounds in the catalogue ( and not use a person in dark blue coveralls holding a windchime against his body[;)]) to give a branded look.

I also have to say that there is a lot of information on your index page, is it possible to refine it into broader, hence fewer categories? I feel as if I am being given a 3 course meal on 1 plate[;)]

That said, I think that the colours used on that page are very harmonious and give a beachy feel very well.
HTH
Carol




netdtek -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (2/1/2005 14:08:39)

Thank you caz. Well said.

I'm getting frustrated with the index page. First it was too boring, plain and rather empty, not giving a a good impression. Now I've appeared to over do it. I'm going to have to think about how to get a more rounded and even theme and move some weight off the index page. The problem I see is that i only have a couple products and this shopping cart template was designed for more catagories and product lines I feel. I don't know where to go...



caz -> RE: coastal decor ecommerce site needs help (2/1/2005 14:57:32)

You are welcome; ask for opinions here and that is just what you get - personal opinions, So you use them or not, at your own discretion.

You are in a bit of a whirl at the moment and I think that you ought to step back from the screen and consider your site as a whole; paper and pen/pencil can be handy to do this. Your primary objective is to sell your stock so you have to make that easy for customers.

You have three individual categories of products, the screenshot from Minix above would seem to give a good entry to the site - and looks distinctive. Each of those images could be used as links to the relevant sections, catalogue and maybe a bit of background information on the making of the objects, and one room setting to illustrate their use.

I can't help with templates, because I don't use them either. Sorry about that.

Forget that one page for the moment and get an outline of the site, how it will work and then how it will look. There used to be a good tutorial on OF about site planning, have a look to see if it is still there ( Tutorials at the very top). This will clear your mind and you'll come back to your site refreshed, honest[;)]

Cheers
Carol
Got it: Site planning and design



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