Jump to content

Am I headed in the right direction?


Guest fullt

Recommended Posts

Guest fullt

Hey all-

When you get a chance please take a look at my WIP full throttle tees.com

I know it would look much better with live models, but I don't have the money for that right now, It's a top priority as soon as I can afford it. For now, those photos are going to have to do (are they that bad?)

I want to have some links to charitable and safety organizations, but after playing around (see the left side) I'm thinking maybe I should leave the links on the homepage. Should I keep the green/yellow title bars on the store page or use the default CC ones?

The homepage is at Planet Holeshot.com for now. I'm not live yet so I'm using that site for my practice homepage temporarily. I know some of the links might not work (except homepage and store). I'm looking more for artistic feedback from you folks since I don't have an artistic bone in my body!! What would be better for the 'Make The World A Batter Place" button - Charity, Pass It On, Links, or ??

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Good start on the website, don't get discouraged.

What I can suggest is to;

Make the links (support troops...and so on..) open in a new window. It makes it easier for your store navigation.

Move this links to a separate page.

Make the page wider. at 750 pixels, you have a lot of dead space, try 800 or 850 wide.

If possible, show the actual artwork images instead of the close-up of the Tee itself.

Just my 2cents...keep up the good work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest fullt

If possible, show the actual artwork images instead of the close-up of the Tee itself.

Thanks for the suggestions - I think I'll leave the links on the homepage, this way it's less cluttered and is on a separate page as you suggested. Did you mean have a close up of the back of the shirt on the store homepage thumbnail as opposed to a photo of the whole tee?

I checked out your website (mmmmmm - chocolate supreme!) and it's exactly what I'm hoping to achieve. It's neat, easy to navigate, with a touch of fun. Congratulations for a job well done. Thanks for sharing your views.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for your comments, I wil pass it on to the site owner.

For the t-shirt images, I was suggesting that you show the t-shirt in full view (like you now have on the torso), but add the actual digital artwork (if available). This way, the image is clearer to the user.

Cheers.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest fullt

That's a great idea!

I have to get better images from the guy that did the design, but I put a couple of trial images to see how it looks. I'd like to put the 'Welcome' part in the homepage box and the 'From Our' and Coming Soon' part in a separate box beneath that but I haven't figured out how to do that yet. I'll also move the site docs up top as a nav bar. Thanks for your opinions! Chris

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I disagree with the advice, "Make the page wider. at 750 pixels, you have a lot of dead space, try 800 or 850 wide."

The Legend skin is designed to be centered, with so-called "dead space" on either side. That's because there are still many potential customers whose display is set for 800 by 600.

If anything, your new banner . . .

(http:// . . . /Legend/styleImages/backgrounds/topHeader.jpg)

. . . is already too wide at 775 because it is forcing the dreaded left to right scroll on every page. That seems to have been an arbitrary width that ignores the concept of universal visibility for all visitors. An even wider banner would serve no purpose other than adding more so-called dead space to the right side for all visitors - and increase the loss of right side visibility for lower res visitors who may not even notice there is stuff hidden to the right.

Better for you would be to use header graphic width (756px) that is the default for that skin. That way, 100% of your visitors, regardless of their screen display, will see an orderly and balanced store. Do you designing with your display set to 800 by 600 - or at least check the results by switching to it once in a while.

Don't be fooled into thinking the 800 by 600 text looks bad. That's because LCD monitors often don't do a good job for text at that res. But the 800 by 600 users are almost always those who still have CRT displays that show text very nicely. In addition to a few LCDs, I have a 21 inch Panasonic CRT that is now more than ten years old and still looking beautiful. There are millions of good CRTs in daily service still running well at 800 by 600.

Next, your links to other web sites are set to open in the same window as your web site. The result is, as worthy as those causes may be, you are making it difficult for your visitors to return to you to buy something so you can continue supporting those causes. Set those links so they open in a new window. That way, when the user follows them, your own site remains open in its original window and the users can find you more easily.

This is as good a time as any to repeat something that gets lost too often around here.

When the only tool you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail.

Because CubeCart's superb structure makes it so easy to change the look of the page, it is too easy to think that the secret of a successful store is a "look" that is really kew-ell. Too often, kew-ell gets in the way of business.

Think in terms of "web site usability" and "web page legibility." Google them, complete with quotes so they work as a phrase.

Why do I say this? It's the hammer and nail thing that caused you to change the color of the product description on the page for:

http://fullthrottletees.com/store/index.ph...amp;productId=3

so it almost blends in with the bg color.

The corollary of the hammer / nail thing is, just because you have an extra tool, there's no law that says you have to use it - or that you will better off if you do.

For an example of that, see the page:

http://fullthrottletees.com/store/index.ph...amp;productId=2

You highlighted the text because you could, not because it makes the text easier to read.

Stay with CC. Keep learning. It's the best cart of its type there is.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest fullt

Hey jerseyjoe-

Thanks for taking the time to check out my soon-to-be store.

I def want to open those links in a new window, I just have to figure out how to do it. I don't know why the second link has that highlight on the text but thanks for pointing it out. I will take care of it and check all the other pages. I don't really want the bg image to be blue/white but I can't figure out another pleasing color combo. I will continue to experiment.

I'll try changing the header to 756 pixels, but what happened before was the header started to repeat b/c it wasn't wide enough.

I have much more work to do and will keep hammering away. Thanks again for you opinion. :)

Chris

ps - (do you really live in NJ? I live in NY)

pps - I changed the page to 756px wide (ditto for header), but since I removed the right side boxes, should I add the left col size and the mid column size (which is now at 555 px) to equal 756 px total? I would rather have white dead space than have it set too wide. tnks!

Fixed the new window issue - target=_blank" Woo Hoo!!! :sourcerer:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

To deal with the important stuff first, yes, I live in Jersey City - and so close to NY that at this very moment,looking out the window just above my monitor, I am watching the buildings in lower Manhattan starting to turn gold in the setting sun. The Empire State Building, to my left at about 10 O'clock, is especially handsome right now.

Glad you found the fix for opening a new window.

Re right column width, I don't see any reason to change that, but when you remove boxes from the right column, you will want to adjust the middle column to take advantage of the space formerly occupied by the right hand boxes. I'll PM you a link to a Legend skin that has been tweaked to two columns. You can extract the settings from it.

Good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest fullt

OK - I changed almost everything except the 2 column layout. So:

Is the header too loud or the font difficult to read?

Is the background too busy (I know I have to clean it up a bit)

Does it fit on your monitor OK?

Overall opinions?

Thanks again for taking the time to offer opinions. :huh:

Full Throttle Tees

Link to comment
Share on other sites

OK - I changed almost everything except the 2 column layout. So:

Is the header too loud or the font difficult to read?

Is the background too busy (I know I have to clean it up a bit)

Does it fit on your monitor OK?

Overall opinions?

Thanks again for taking the time to offer opinions. :)

Full Throttle Tees

None of those ae negatives. Looks good.

Best of Luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...