VisionsXpressed.com

[dynamoeffects]

http://www.visionsxpressed.com

 

This site was recently completed for a client who sells Christian-related products. It's a osCommerce 2.2RC1 store with a number of modifications, standard and custom. I also developed a one page checkout for her store to help improve conversion rates. Instead of going through 3-4 pages during the checkout, the customer is sent directly to the checkout page whether they are logged in or not.

 

We'd like to hear some feedback or suggestions you might have.

 

Thanks!

 

P.S. There is a problem with Safari 2 not downloading the stylesheet so the page doesn't render correctly. If anyone with Safari 2 can see what's going wrong, I'd surely appreciate it.

[Guest]

Hi,

 

I love the layout of the site.

 

I like how you made the checkout just one page.. How did you accomplish this..

 

I also like the graphics and the colors throughout the site...

 

 

Titan

[dynamoeffects]

Thanks for the compliments! The one page checkout is possible by using lots of javascript (AJAX) and faking the shipping, payment, and order_totals modules into thinking that its a standard osCommerce checkout by manually constructing the $order object. The toughest part was to make it work without modifying any of the shipping, payment or order_totals modules, but I was able to finally get it working smoothly.

[burt]

Brian!

 

I like it very much - I added it on the Hot 100 list.

I cannot find anything bad about it - maybe some of the JS into include files?

I think a lot of people would pay good money for a 1 page checkout.

 

Gary (osworld)

[ironchef]

wow this is the best oscommerce store i've seen so far. The design and usability are just awesome.

 

as far as the store i'm not really sure what you can improve, but for the site in general here's some ideas i had:

 

- have the "my account" , "cart" "checkout" links at the top inside a secondary color stripe, or maybe a semi transparent background. i don't know if thats clear, but basically i think they could stand out more. because of the dark tan i think they are somewhat hard to see.

 

- on the site navigation i think it would be nice touch to highlight the section you are currently on, using that dark red as a square background with white text i think would be very effective

 

- again on the navigation i think it wuold be cool if you could get it down to one line and put some of the other less important links somewhere else or in a row underneath with smaller type.

 

- have the flash header link to the category "dog tags" "bold 4 god" (depending on which animation is showing) if someone clicks on them

 

 

 

i would also be very happy if you released any part of the single page checkout work you've done.

 

 

-Dan

[desiredin]

Thanks for the compliments! The one page checkout is possible by using lots of javascript (AJAX) and faking the shipping, payment, and order_totals modules into thinking that its a standard osCommerce checkout by manually constructing the $order object. The toughest part was to make it work without modifying any of the shipping, payment or order_totals modules, but I was able to finally get it working smoothly.

 

Any thoughts on releasing your work on the checkout as a contribution?

[♥Vger]

Really lovely looking Web 2.0 site. Well done.

 

As for the content ......no comment.

 

Vger

[dynamoeffects]

@burt: Thanks for adding it to the Hot100!

 

@ironchef: Thanks for the suggestions! I'll run them by the client. You might want to check your monitor's colors, though, because that top bar is closer to the color of beach sand than a dark tan.

 

 

The one-page checkout isn't mine to release, so the store owner would have to approve it. I'll ask her and see what she says.

[♥toyicebear]

Nice design and color schema, good usability and navigation. :thumbsup:

 

Great 1 page checkout... (the only negative about it i can see so far would be that it does not work for those who have javascript disabled in their browser.)

[dynamoeffects]

A couple of years ago, I was very staunch about not creating sites that would only work with javascript enabled, but that's gone out the window thanks to large-scale companies like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft who have injected JS into every aspect of their sites. Anyone in this day and age still bumbling around the internet with javascript off knows that they're giving up a lot of functionality and their group is so small that spending time to appease them is equivalent to designing sites to work for 640x480 resolutions.

 

Reminds me of what one of my clients once told me when I was on the other side of the fence. "Anyone who has JavaScript disabled these days needs to get off the internet." A little drastic, but a good point.

[luckyno]

A couple of years ago, I was very staunch about not creating sites that would only work with javascript enabled, but that's gone out the window thanks to large-scale companies like Google, Yahoo, and Microsoft who have injected JS into every aspect of their sites. Anyone in this day and age still bumbling around the internet with javascript off knows that they're giving up a lot of functionality and their group is so small that spending time to appease them is equivalent to designing sites to work for 640x480 resolutions.

 

Reminds me of what one of my clients once told me when I was on the other side of the fence. "Anyone who has JavaScript disabled these days needs to get off the internet." A little drastic, but a good point.

 

I totally agree with you. I understand comprehension for those not using the most updated browsers version.... but I don't understand people that doesn't install java virtual machine or something similar. it is the same with 800x600 resolution. Five years ago it was a big percentage, but now I see maximum 3% of users in my stats using this resolution. So I started designing with fixed width 960px. IT is always going forward, I don't want to stop using new technologies or more screen pixels because of people not willing to be a little up to date.

[burt]

Using JS / Ajax does have an impact upon accessibility - but even screen readers (browser for the blind) can handle a good amount of JS.

 

I also have no problem with major use of JS in any given website - it's the way forward.

[Jaide]

Huge congrats to you! It is astounding!

[voided]

I tend to stay away from big forms, even though its 1 step i prefer to break it down into 2 or 3 smaller steps for customers (a la amazon). the way "fast easy checkout" works right now is pretty good i'd say :)

 

just my 2c

[kbking]

I thought that the one-page checkout was just not possible to accomplish with OsCommerce, at least I've been under that impression from reading a lot of threads about that specific topic.

 

Given it is reliable and solid, this has to be one of the top ten biggest achievements to Oscommerce! And of course one that 9 out of 10 shop owners would like to implement, myself included!

 

I'm glad I checked Feedback on My Store today. Thanks!

[luckyno]

I thought that the one-page checkout was just not possible to accomplish with OsCommerce, at least I've been under that impression from reading a lot of threads about that specific topic.

 

Given it is reliable and solid, this has to be one of the top ten biggest achievements to Oscommerce! And of course one that 9 out of 10 shop owners would like to implement, myself included!

 

I'm glad I checked Feedback on My Store today. Thanks!

 

against 1 page checkout there is the fact that the page seems to be overloaded and boring to complete for customers.

[Draeisme]

The site looks great.

 

The one page checkout looks a little long, Especially when you want to double check information. I think a 2 page might work out better, maybe breaking it at the beginning of the payment info.

 

But if sales and completions are good, then it might not be a problem.

[dynamoeffects]

Very interesting comments, I appreciate them. Always interesting to hear the other point of view.

 

We actually started with FEC, but it would've taken more time to clean up than it did to do the one-page checkout. The reasons that I didn't go with FEC is that it's insecure and it's very badly written, making changes or debugging a real chore.

 

The beauty of the one-page checkout is also that when you hit "Complete Checkout," the screen blanks out and a progress bar shows the status of the order from checking the variables to processing the payment. It helps to avoid duplicate checkouts and doesn't allow the customer to think that the process has hung as is common when it takes a minute or two for the order to process.

 

Also once you've purchased once and you're a customer, the order form is actually shorter. The address fields are automatically filled in and the username and password fields are hidden. It shortens up by a good 1/3 the second time around.

 

@luckyno: Can you help me to understand what you mean by "boring?" What would inspire you to complete a checkout like that?

[desiredin]

Given it is reliable and solid, this has to be one of the top ten biggest achievements to Oscommerce!

 

Don't I know it. Heh. And I'm like a vulture watching over this thread to find out if his client will allow the code to be released. :)

[luckyno]

@luckyno: Can you help me to understand what you mean by "boring?" What would inspire you to complete a checkout like that?

 

It is just a feeling, a sensation that I get when I access your checkout page.

 

First impression:

 

I see a lot of white space that I MUST fill in. And I see a really longer page. I don't know, probably it is just my sensation. Anyone other here feeling the same?

[dynamoeffects]

Interesting. When you opened the page, was the first thing you did was scroll to the bottom? Perhaps I could do an accordion effect on the sections so that the fields are hidden until it's time to edit them.

 

I've arranged with the client to take copyright ownership, so it will be released in one way or another. However I'm not yet sure if I'll sell it or release it as a contribution.

[luckyno]

Interesting. When you opened the page, was the first thing you did was scroll to the bottom? Perhaps I could do an accordion effect on the sections so that the fields are hidden until it's time to edit them.

 

I've arranged with the client to take copyright ownership, so it will be released in one way or another. However I'm not yet sure if I'll sell it or release it as a contribution.

 

Yes... the first thing after watching the first two rows of the form, was to scroll down. Accordion effect is something that magento cart uses. I saw it last day in the demo store. Perhaps you can get some inspiration.

[desiredin]

I see a lot of white space that I MUST fill in. And I see a really longer page. I don't know, probably it is just my sensation. Anyone other here feeling the same?

Probably because the header/menu takes up a good chunk of the page. Then there is a couple of inches of blank space between the header and the first line of the checkout page.

 

First line is a pretty big font, and the header borders are pretty big as well.

 

As for a lot of information to put in, there's room for discount coupon, which could probably be placed next to credit card details to tidy it up, and the comments/hear about us.

 

But most of those are standard checkout items which you'll see on pretty much any shop, and with the comments, are at least required.

[luckyno]

Probably because the header/menu takes up a good chunk of the page. Then there is a couple of inches of blank space between the header and the first line of the checkout page.

 

First line is a pretty big font, and the header borders are pretty big as well.

 

As for a lot of information to put in, there's room for discount coupon, which could probably be placed next to credit card details to tidy it up, and the comments/hear about us.

 

But most of those are standard checkout items which you'll see on pretty much any shop, and with the comments, are at least required.

 

I know that these are normal items that can be found in any shop, but the discussion here was about firs impression with the checkout page.

[Guest]

Don't I know it. Heh. And I'm like a vulture watching over this thread to find out if his client will allow the code to be released. :)

 

Yup, I cant wait to see if his client releases it either..

 

Tim