Site test/review + discount for actinic community

[bangers]

Hi All,
Finally finished http://shop.swimmingwithoutstress.co.uk redesign.
Quite happy with the design though I have added so many bells and whistles that I think it could do with a few people going onto the site and testing a few of the features including:
List pages using gabs method (logos at top of page)
Sub Section images auto created by product images.
Tooltips for bestsellers list (right side)
Lightbox effect on product image and more images (where available)
Star Rating etc

Loads more to add but feedback on how you found site worked or if it annoyed you for any reason really appreciated.

I'm sure I will have missed something that is a bit buggy.

As a thank you I have setup a temporary 10% discount (1 month) for anyone that whilst having a look decides they can't do without the latest swimming goggles to show off down the pool. Coupon Code: bubbles My clients agreed to this as well...which was nice.

Cheers
Bangers

[rmorrow]

Hi there

I'm looking at it with IE6 & screen resolution of 1024 * 768 and the central section on the home page is blank and has been pushed right down to the bottom of the page! This is the same with all the sections, so I can't actually see any products until I scroll down.

Hope that helps!

[bangers]

thanks, that's a biggy I've only got ie7 so going to have to find a way to run ie6 alongside,
cheers
lee

[bangers]

Erghh, IE6 is bad. A lot of the site looks nasty in it, i may have to cut back a bit.
thanks for the heads up,
cheers
Lee

[OriginalTouch]

Hi, I find the menus at the bottom of your pages almost impossible to read due to the washed out grey colour.

[bangers]

Appreciate that, the idea was not to make much of thme (more for the search engines) but I take the point I may "darken" to make clearer to the user.
Thanks
bangers

[Zath]

Erghh, IE6 is bad. A lot of the site looks nasty in it, i may have to cut back a bit.
thanks for the heads up,
cheers
Lee

Using IE6, I also see the central column pushed down to the base of the left and right columns.

I was looking at some design issues myself a while back and there is a test you can make with CSS/Javascript for IE6 or IE7. The result would determine what style sheet was pointed too.

[bangers]

Cheers Zath,
As already pointed out, I'm on to it already, that is the worst ie6 though it does get upset with a couple of other things.
Thanks again,
Bangers

[Zath]

Have a look here at some of the validations available.

http://www.w3schools.com/site/site_validate.asp

Your page produces 65 errors based on the DOCTYPE in you declaration.
This doesn't mean the pages won't work or run but some attributes don't match the DOCTYPE. Simply changing the doctype from one to another can reduce most errors but it can also create others.
You can create your own DOCTYPE and store that on the site and point to it.

One of these errors might explain the incorrect placing of the central area.

Don't go making wholesale changes based on these results but use it as a guide.

[bangers]

Thanks Zath,
I've already sorted the problem though not live yet (due to different handling of padding and margin width) and I am addressing other problems, I won't be changing the doc type (I know what problems this could cause).
Thank though
Bangers

[completerookie]

I hope this person doesn't decide to delete the thread if he doesn't like some of the answers :rolleyes:

[Legends]

Hi Lee

Site looks good - I find the homepage a bit busy - no real focus and might be a bit confusing.

Be careful with the menu's and copyright statement at the bottom as mentioned earlier they are very light and hard to see on the background. Google might see this as hidden text and could ban the site.

Cheers

[bangers]

Hi Ian,
Good to hear from you. I will change the bottom links makes a lot of sense, I guess I was trying to be a bit too cute. Homepage may change eventually but not at moment as customer wants it like that though I'll pass comments on.

CompleteRookieI hope this person doesn't decide to delete the thread if he doesn't like some of the answers

Don't you worry yourself about it.... Comments will be here for all to see as long as they want....if I wanted only positive comments I'd ask my mum.

And if I'd only had positives I'd not have sorted so much out so quickly, keep it coming.

Thanks,
Bangers

[Mark H]

Definitely a bit busy, but inspires confidence in a shopper (well me anyway - I would buy form this shop without hesitation) - the "hand-drawn" bits and text are a nice touch in this respect.

There seems to be a problem moving between pages using the left hand menu (especially home and contact us) in Safari (Windows version - probably the same for Mac):


Safari can’t open the page “http://shop.swimmingwithoutstress.co.uk/sws/swimming-goggles/about.shtml”. The error was: “unknown error” ((null):10053) Please choose Report Bugs to Apple from the Help menu, note the error number, and describe what you did before you saw this message

Don't know why, and doesn't happen all the time.........

[bangers]

Cheers Mark,
I'll check it out,
thanks
Lee

[bangers]

Thanks All,
Just gone live with layout which works in ie6 and above (a margin here and a pad there). looks okay ok in both.

Links at bottom are darker though I think I'll chage to blue rather than grey soon.
Still problem in ie6, always will be but I am on to them now that I have managed to find a way to run ie6 alongside ie7. Always new I'd lose my nce transparent fades and png images but now I've seen the about of luddites still using ie6 I think I may change them as well.

Thanks again...keep it coming
(haven't sorted Marks link problem at the moment)
Bangers

[Mark H]

Hey it's not MY links problem!:D

There is a very good way of serving different CSS stylesheets to IE6 and IE7 if this would help - I have commented before on this forum. Have a search and let me know if you can't find it.

[Mark H]

Bangers - it is here:

http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=21151&highlight=uplevel+browsers

Modify Chris Bremer's method to serve different stylesheets to IE6 and IE7 (presuming that this would help you, I haven't had time to look at your code - off for a beer):)

[Zath]

That works much better now :)
You've also enhanced the links at the bottom by making them less feint.
The third group of links on the right at the bottom seem to be a little "on their own" rather than in keeping with the rest of the bottom links. Was this to try and marry up with the right-hand side of the page ?

I'm at work atm, so couldn't try all the links but those I tried all worked. I particularly like the flash image with the scratched, "old film" effect at the top. Was that an inhouse invention or from a package ?

[bangers]

Mark,
Great idea, will use in future rahter than changing a single css. I may even use to sort our other ie6 problems that will need addressing.

Zath,
The third group of links on the right at the bottom seem to be a little "on their own" rather than in keeping with the rest of the bottom links. Was this to try and marry up with the right-hand side of the page ?

No it is becuase they relate to the main site rahter than the shop so all swimming lesson related rather than shop related.
I particularly like the flash image with the scratched, "old film" effect at the top. Was that an inhouse invention or from a package ?
In house (main site not shop), easy to do, I'm sure there are scripts our there that achieve the same but are better. I just animated a couple of lines, left to right copied and changed them around a bit. Then the "dust" went a bit mad with the pen tool created 3 versions, created another movie clip and added all over a few frames, the movie clip just gets left on a continious loop. Took about 30 mins to 1hr to do. The images are pulled in using actionscript and just choose images in a file on the server.
Thanks again,

Regards

Bangers

[bangers]

Safari can’t open the page “http://shop.swimmingwithoutstress.co...s/about.shtml”. The error was: “unknown error” ((null):10053) Please choose Report Bugs to Apple from the Help menu, note the error number, and describe what you did before you saw this message


Couldn't work out why this would happen, downloaded Safari (beautifully quick but woo there on the CPU) and had the same problem not all the time though, but I love the speed.

Looked on forums and seems like it isn't a code problem but a Safari problem on Windows XP (possibly to do with having css for print media). Maybe it is too quick for its own good, I dunno but all I know is that .1% of unique visitors to site use safari and that that this error seems to be a problem when on a windows pc so ain't going to lose much sleep over it.

I'm going to use Safari more though despite the errors it's lovely

Cheers for the heads up though Mark,
regards
Lee

[Duncan Rounding]

I just tried the Safari beta3 but it won't run on my machine - just crashes.

[bangers]

It does seem to be a problem on PC version from what I have read and developers complain at how bloated the software is along with problems of crashing all the time but if Mac can sort these problems out I think they could be a contender, even on Windows systems, as it must be twice as quick as Firefox and has lovely Mac styling, if you are in to those sorts of things.

Keep comments coming,
Regards
Bangers

p.s Just had a look at site in Safari today, no link problem just a few layout/design inconsistencies but all site seems to work, must just be a random problem, I'm sure I'll get errors if I try it another time.

[george]

Lee your 'site work is absolutely superb....


...but...


...if it was up to me...


...I'd ban every site on the interweb that uses light grey (on white) text.


Just as well it isn't eh? :)

[bangers]

Cheers George,
You're not alone, I've found over the years the most ardent views have been about using grey as a text colour, bit of a suprise I grant you. Like marmite I guess, you either love it or you hate it (maybe not quite) but I take your point.
I obviously like it. I like to think that I use font colour to help with users defining what information is really important and which is a bit "fluffy" as quick as they can (black can be a bit hard and I like people to feel cossy and soft..before I tear the cash from their grappling fist).
Grey gets used for the fluffy stuff.

Thanks for the comments though,
Bangers

p.s "Spurs are on their way to wembley, tottenham gonna do it again"...at least have a sniff at winning a two bit competition for the first time in just under 10 years.

[george]

Aye, it does look perhaps more `part of a design` sometimes?

I have a theory though, that sight being the most used sense on the interweb and that obviously not everyones sight is perfect (mine's good btw), I just think it's criminal to alienate any visitors from the word go.

I do realise you've obviously considered this but I think I always (subconsiously) look for accessability stuff nowadays. Things like script fonts can be hard to read, never mind if the colour difference between the font and the background is minimal.

I also see the `fluffy` theory but I think if you want it `readable`, then it should be, regardless of your eyesight quality (well, within reason of course).

I'll give it a bit more of a review if you like? I generally don't read anyone elses before I post, that way you get my view (as a dork and/or potential consumer) and not just someone agreeing with the person before them.

[bangers]

Cheers, appreciate any comments even if you think they maybe negative ones..still got a lot to tinker with as there is much I want to change
regards
bangers

p.s just noticed bottom links have reverted to the pale grey (I did send an updated css to client but looks like an update has reverted back to the pale grey) Have a look now, I ftp'd change..I'll have a word with client in the morning.

[Sean Williams]

Hi Lee
I concur with other comments - I do find the page rather too busy - it may put some customers off.
I think the the grey text is counter-productive.
I would also bring the box at bottom left with useful info up onto the first page (ie; above the 'fold') - a good place could be under Your Favourites.

Otherwise top marks for effort and making an interesting site :)

[bangers]

Thanks Shaun,
Some good points. I am definitely thinking of changing the grey text though I will give it a little time before I change across the site (the last site was much more pale overall and customers emailed the owners to say how "they liked the site because it was calming" so this grey is "really in your face" in comparision but there's been enough comment for me to take this onboard so changes will happen I'm sure.

I like the idea of moving the links but feel it will give them more importance than I want them to have, they're really there for search engine linking main focus needs to stay on the shop.

Your comments are appreciated
Thanks again,
Bangers

[PeterThake]

Hi Bangers,
I like the reviews feature. Nice! Was that your own code or an off-the-shelf package?

Personally I like the 'busyness' of the site, particularly since I could still easily find products.

All the best,
Pete

[bangers]

Thanks peter,
I like the reviews feature. Nice! Was that your own code or an off-the-shelf package?


A bit of both I guess. A lot of customisation to get it to work and look as I want it but most of the php started life here:
http://gr0w.com/articles/code/php_5_star_rating_system_using_hreview/index.php

enjoy (can't support any queries I am afraid, off skiing in the moring anyway).
Though a few tips: Used "productid" in actinic define individual rating scripts.
Used .htaccess file to parse .shtml as .php so script (amongst others...random testimonials) would work on .shtml page.

p.s Will be expanding on this script in the nere future so that it appears on other pages apart from product + customers will soon be able to add their own reviews.

regards
bangers

[RuralWeb]

I like the reviews feature Yes great for allowing your competitors to give bad ratings for your products.

[bangers]

Yes great for allowing your competitors to give bad ratings for your products.

Have faith in humanity.

Besides if they stock the product its a bad review for their product as well.

regards
bangers

p.s of for a ski now!

[leehack]

p.s of for a ski now!
Are you rudely telling him to go and have a ski?:D

[bangers]

Are you rudely telling him to go and have a ski?

Nope, I'm heading for the slopes in about 1/2 hour...if I bump into Norman I'll say hi from everyone (then ask how I get back to my resort).
Besides how can you rudely suggest to go skiing?!

[leehack]

It was a lame attempt at comedy, don't worry.

i.e. piss off for a ski now!

I'll get my coat.:o

[Duncan Rounding]

Bangers had better things on his mind - like making it to the airport. :D