Building a New Website/Webstore, any suggestions?

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Weird Wood Pusher
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A short while ago I received a notification that the company (ProStores) that hosts my web store would be closing down after the first of the year.
I have been using them for about 5 years and have been pretty happy overall.
There have been some minor glitches and annoyances though.

So in the coming weeks I will be building a new website / web store.
With the new host for my store it will allow me to do a lot more than just the normal storefront.

There can be things that I might overlook that may be noticeable to you guys.
That is why I am asking.
Are there things about my current web store that you don't like?
Lots of other websites I visit have little things that annoy me so that is what I want to avoid in my new site.
Are there any features that I should make sure are included in the new website / web store?
Any input, advice and comments from all of you will go a long way with helping me to do things better this time around.
 
Hey Mark,

I, for one, am quite happy with the store. In terms of possible future features, my wish list is pretty minor.

1) I'd love to be able to see the dimensions of the blocks the I've purchased in my order history. Or, even better for me would be the dimensions of the blocks on my emailed order receipt along with a smaller version of the main photo of the block purchased. That way my receipt could be quite a useful reference tool for me. Right now I try taking a print screen of the page of the block that I'm buying so I can keep a digital catalogue of blocks that I own, however, with blocks in high demand (koa, rosewood burl, etc) you sometimes have to be quick to get what you want and I don't have an opportunity to (or forget to) take a print screen. Another option might be to keep the page viewable (but have the block 'sold') for a little while after the sale by clicking on a link in your order history to view the specifics of the block, rather than immediately taking it down.

2) It'd be awesome if there was a toggle to convert the dimensions into metric. I know there's a downloadable plug-in that one of our members has made, however, I run safari on my mac, or sometimes use my iPad or iPhone to purchase blocks and then it's not available. It's not too hard for me to convert, by now I know roughly what is what. It would just make things slightly easier. Tie your preference in with your registered account so when you log in the system automatically knows which units are preferred.

3) I'm not sure if it's possible, but it would be great if you could select your currency as a pre-saved selection tied into your account (similar to unit preference). It's not really a big deal since when you checkout Pay-Pal does the conversion for you and you pay in USD. CAD and USD are fairly close anyways, but I was just thinking something like this would be more useful for other international orders when conversions might not be as straightforward (I'm not too sure how much international business you do, so it might cost more to implement something like this than it's worth).

4) When viewing lists of blocks (ex. clicking 'Brand New Pieces'), it would be awesome if you could select how large you'd like the images to be (small -½ the size they are now, medium - the current size, or large - twice as large as they are now). For me it would be easier to compare blocks at a quick glance when on my computer if they were larger, and make them smaller when browsing on a cellular network, to save data.

Anyways, I don't know if this is what you're looking for in terms of feedback or not. One thing that I enjoy about the store is that it is very easy to navigate. So whatever happens, please don't change this! Like I said, this stuff would just be icing on the cake really. Not necessary at all for a functioning site, but more of a wish list of features.

-Steve

P.S. - Sorry this is so long!
 
Steve,
This is the sort of info I was looking for.
I will see what I can do with your suggestions.
But.....the sold pieces remaining probably won't happen.
To me seeing pieces I like are already sold is a disappointment.
The new store software would allow the sold piece to remain in the store but it would look like it was available until you tried to add it to the cart. Then it would say not in stock.
I will do some checking for apps that would do the measurement and currency conversions.

I am still in the learning phase with the new store software. There are a lot more features available than I have had in the past.
So I will do my best to incorporate the features that are important to you guys.
 
I realize my point regarding sold pieces wasn't exactly clear, I didn't articulate it very well. Sorry about that. :biggrin:

I agree, seeing something as a shopper that I can't have would be a disappointment. Rather than keeping sold blocks in with the general inventory, I was thinking more along the lines of make the link to that specific page hidden rather than take it down completely. So say I purchased Koa block #8479, on my order history I (as the buyer) I could click on that block and have it link back to the block #8479's page (to view pics and dimensions). Similar to how it is now when a block is in your cart you can click on it and it'll take you to that blocks' page. It wouldn't remain viewable for others though in say the Koa section or anywhere else. To the general public, block #8479 would be non-existent. You'd need a link to the page (in my order history) or the URL to find it. That's what I was getting at. Not sure if this is more doable or not?

-Steve
 
Actually I was thinking more in line of a sold section so I can do research. Not mixed in with the general inventory.
 
Sorry I misunderstood you guys.
Steve, what you ask for makes sense. I will do some serious checking because that would also be a feature I also would like to use.
Sometimes I get a phone call asking something like "do you have more wood like the dark brown piece I got 6 months ago?"
Then I could pull up their history and see the photo and try to find something close.

I believe there are also features I can activate that determines if someone is using a mobile device and gives an alternate version of the web site.
 
No, Mark, please no mobile version. If I could easily buy more wood from phone, our family's budget would be in real danger.
 
No, Mark, please no mobile version. If I could easily buy more wood from phone, our family's budget would be in real danger.
I am working on a subliminal message that you will hear whenever you are talking on your phone.
BTW: Happy Birthday
There is something strange/extra in your package.
 
I am working on a subliminal message that you will hear whenever you are talking on your phone.
I believe something like that is already implemented on your website. 25-th frame or smth…

BTW: Happy Birthday
There is something strange/extra in your package.
Now I couldn't sleep till I can see that! Extra-strange stuff is what I seems to like :)
 
Sorry I misunderstood you guys.
Steve, what you ask for makes sense. I will do some serious checking because that would also be a feature I also would like to use.
Sometimes I get a phone call asking something like "do you have more wood like the dark brown piece I got 6 months ago?"
Then I could pull up their history and see the photo and try to find something close.

I believe there are also features I can activate that determines if someone is using a mobile device and gives an alternate version of the web site.

Awesome, glad I cleared things up regarding the sold blocks. I would love to see this happen!

-Steve
 
Hey Mark,

I just had another suggestion. I hope it's not too late! I was wondering if it would be possible to have an option to sort blocks by price? High-Low, or Low-High? Just a thought I forgot to put in my original suggestions.

-Steve
 
I am still working on things. Getting a lot closer to making the switch.
On the category page there will be a couple sort options like you mentioned.
Here is a screen shot. Ignore the other stuff because there are still a lot of little changes I will be making.
Clipboard01_zpsa0de2c7c.jpg
 
Awesome! Thank you Mark! I'm excited to see the new store.

-Steve
 
I was hoping some of you might take a moment to look and give your opinions.
Bear in mind a lot of what is going to show up has not been corrected and won't be accurate. A lot of what is there are only place holders.
This is a link to the practice site I am working on.

The biggest question I have is the carousel on the home page.
I have mixed feelings myself.
But currently my internet connection is the equivalent of dial up and it is not lagging.

Feel free to try adding things to the cart and checkout, just don't pay for anything.

Once again, any help, advice and opinions are welcomed. Thank You all for your help.
I need to get things in order and ready to go by the end of this week.
 
I really like the new site. Pops of red really focus the eye, and the minimalist cart icon is a nice touch to go with the clean minimalist look of the site. I like the carousel, I think it's a nice place to showcase things, as long as it rotates quickly enough, I can really see it working. The shop by price on the lefthand side is a nice touch! All in all, the site runs smoothly, and it's a very nice update.

My only criticism, when viewing category of block in the list, I'd suggest a minimal blurb (that's located between the price and the add to cart button) to go along with the minimalist look of the site and keep it clean. Maybe just list the dimensions there with whether or not it's stabilized. Then if you'd like more info, it would be located on the individual blocks' page. And the only thing that didn't work was comparing blocks, but the site isn't finished- I just didn't know if you were aware of this or not.

Anyways, it looks great Mark :doublethumbsup:

-Steve
 
Thank You Steve.
My next task is what you mentioned, the way things display on the category page.
I think it should show the title, dimensions and price.
Then the details and description on the individual product page.
I still need to figure out how to set up the compare feature. I thought it would be nice to be able to compare several pieces without having to click back and forth between things.

The magnifying thing on the photo on the product page annoys me, but if you click on that it gives the enlarged photo. I like that it allows you to view either photo in the enlarge window without the need to close a window and then click on the other photo.

Some of the headings are not worded correctly and will be changed.

Another thing I am going back and forth about is how the category page displays the thumbnails of the individual pieces.
Currently I have it in list view that enables more info to show with the thumbnail photo.
list_zps4bf34229.jpg


The other option is a grid layout. Less info shown and I thought it could be confusing determining if the info and button if for the photo above or below. I know it is easy to figure out but I thought it could end up causing mistakes.
grid_zpsd548776e.jpg
 
I personally like the look of the list style layout vs the grid style. And I agree, the compare feature would be a nice addition. I do find myself comparing blocks often, so great idea.

Will our purchase history and accounts transfer over when the layout changes? Just curious.

-Steve
 
Was going to send you a PM with my thoughts, but discovered that Steve already mentioned most of them :)

Personally I'd prefer list view with a few changes:

— move "add to cart button" to the right end of screen, and maybe make it smaller (just a cart icon?). Right now those button takes a lot of screen space, while I'm not sure lots of people would add blocks to cart right from listing page without viewing item details first. So I'd try to make this button smaller.

— upon clicking on picture in the listing I'd like to see a bigger picture without leaving listing. Just a semi-fullscreen lightbox with a bigger picture. This should help to quickly see block details on smaller screens (like mobiles or tablets).

— wood dimensions being written on separate line is a nice thing to have. This way it would be easier for me to adjust my plugin for converting inches to metrics.


oh… and there definitely got to be a special sale upon launching of new site :)
 
Steve,
I will check on the history but I don't believe that it will. I might need to email that info to those that want it. I will be manually transferring store credits.

Anton,
I like your suggestions. A lot of what is done is with a wysiwyg editor or selecting settings from a list. I will make what changes I can, then have tech support walk me through any html stuff.
 
I made some headway today in spite of a really really bad internet connection (average .40 mbps)
Got rid of a lot of the extra junk on the pages and slightly different layout with product pages and enabled the compare feature.
Still a lot of work to go. The ancient bog oak section is showing closer to how I will be doing the products.

Here is a link if anyone wants to take another look.

An technician is coming out tomorrow to try to fix our internet. Then I should be able to get things fixed up faster.
 
Looking good Mark. As per Anton's request, will the add to cart button on the group listing page be back but smaller, or have you decided to remove it?

The compare feature works well though. In the 'other' section on the comparison table, it would be cool if the wood origin could be listed -when you know it. Like the bog oak from Ukraine, when wood is from Australia, or South America, etc. You get wood from a few different places. I just like to know origins of products I buy. I just thought I had when looking at the compare table.

-Steve
 
Not sure if I will put the button back or not.
I was thinking someone new to the store might think that the list page was all there was to see for that item and not like the small photo and incomplete description if it included the add button.
I will try to be more diligent with wood origins and history when I know it.
 
Anton wrote a script that allows you to switch from inches to metric and back easily. (THANK YOU ANTON)
This is how the category pages display with inches.
in_zpsc5a54d88.jpg

And when you click on mm it displays all the measurements in metric.
mm_zpscb97e9e1.jpg
 
Thanks Anton, I'm loving the new metric conversion option! And thanks for bring the add to cart button back on the category pages Mark.

The site looks great :bliss:

-Steve
 
I put in the request for the change with the name servers to redirect my url to the new website.
It is propagating right now but the home page is not fully loading yet.
Hopefully soon.
Thank you for everyones input, advice and help.
This new website will be a whole lot better than the old one.
 
I was just wondering if our accounts will transfer over to the new site, or if we'll need to make new ones? I know you mentioned that our order history won't transfer over, so I was just wondering about this.

Thanks Mark,

-Steve
 
All of the registered accounts have been transferred over.
Passwords and stuff should all be the same as before. Might be good to double check though if you have a moment.
But...if anyone has any difficulties logging into their account, send me an Email and I can help reset passwords and stuff like that.

Currently the links going to the store work. But if you type www.burlsource.us in an address bar it goes wacko. just burlsource.us without the www works fine. There was a redirect for the www done wrong that is being corrected. They said it just takes a little time to propagate with the dns thingies.
 
I have enabled a compare feature that will work within a category but not the whole site.
When you are on the category page for a type of wood there will be a check box right below the add to cart button. You can select up to 4 different blocks to compare.
comp1_zps09a578c2.jpg

Then at the bottom of the page there is a "compare selected" button.
comp2_zpsdaac8011.jpg

Finally it displays something like this.
comp3_zps095292ec.jpg

There are still some unused fields and other cosmetic stuff I need to remove to make things look right.
 

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