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osCommerce

The e-commerce.

Got our First Order


Ninety-one Maro

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First off, let me start off by stating, I am a noob at this. This web site was the very first one I have ever done, and I did it in a week, thanks to a lot of research from these forums. There are still a few things that I have to work on with it, but we went live 2 weeks ago, and with 14 registered users, we got our first order.

 

I wanted to load it up on the Live Shops page, but was having issues and couldn't get it up there. So please, give me some feedback.

 

Also, before someone states it, the Contact Us page.....I am trying to get our address and such in there, but am having issues. I found the .php page for it, but no mater what text lines I put in it, it won't display them. Maybe I am missing something.

 

Web Site: www.RonisRingsNThings.com

 

Thanks.

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Just a quick one:

1. Your images are all huge; you've resized them on the page. This makes all of your pages load really slow on my fast DSL. Resize your small images to match the final size you're using.

2. The product pages I checked have no descriptions, just an image. I don't know your business, but that doesn't work in any business I have seen. Customers want to know something about the product. Even if they don't read it, at least show that you know your own products.

3. On the Shipping and Returns page, you say you offer local pickup, but you don't say what "local" means. Where are you?

4. There you are! Get your Contact Us page working. That's unprofessional and will cost you sales.

5. You have a lot of empty/useless things. Some of your categories are empty. Delete or disable them until you have products. Get rid of the reviews box with no reviews. The cart box should not show unless there is something in the customer's cart.

 

Not bad for a nearly-stock osCommerce store. This is a good start, but could use more work to make it more attractive to your customers.

 

Regards

Jim

See my profile for a list of my addons and ways to get support.

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Thank you Jim. Ya, as I had stated, I know I have some work to go. Was just excited about building my first web site and all. Never thought I could do it.

 

1. As for the images, what do you mean resize the small images to match the final size. By what I have seen,, and it loads fast for me here and on other computers I have tested it on, the only large pictures are when you click on the actual product. Which I would love to have a "Next" button to step to the next one in the list verses having to go back and forth each time. So annoying.

 

2. As far as the product pages, each item will have a description with them. Wife is still working on that one.

 

3. Great point.

 

4. Ya, I've been fighting with the Contact Us. Still have not been able to get the emails working.

 

5. Another good point. As for the cart, not sure how to have that hidden unless something is in it.

 

Thanks for the input. I really do appreciate it.

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Standard osCommerce site which is not a bad thing, but is not a thing that I like to see.

 

Your logo is good, so why not some up with a more interesting design based on that. There are some 960 tutorials on the net, with at least two good oscommerce blogs showing 960 tutorials being used with osCommerce. It needs to stand out from the pack, make the customer remember your site. Give your site an edge over your rivals.

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1. Firefox says this about the first image: 550px × 412px (scaled to 170px × 140px) That's a huge image scaled down (in the browser) to 170 x 140. It's also over 100,000 bytes. Now multiply that by 20 images to a page ... ouch! I stopped the loading of one of your category pages because it was taking too long. Not cool. You need to resize those images to the actual size you are using. Make all of them 170 x 140 and your pages will load a lot faster, and your images will look better as well.

 

4. There's a thread in this forum on fixing email problems. You can always ask for help if you can't find an answer. Just be as specific as possible with the problem, and mention everything you've tried.

 

5. Same answer as 4. This was an easy fix.

 

Regards

Jim

See my profile for a list of my addons and ways to get support.

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@@kymation

 

So resizing the image to 170px x 140px will fix the small images, but what about the larger images? Will it distort those?

 

Sorry, as you can tell, I am new at this.

 

As for the email issue, I have tried numerous different mods that I have seen on here, and none of them work. The email address that I have listed on the Contact Us page, is the one we are trying to use for the site (which came from our internet provider).

 

As for the shopping cart, I have not researched that yet. The email issue is my main concern right now, that and being able to show items that are no longer in stock. Which I have found a few mods on that as well, but a little worried about trying them as they are contributions and I have been told to stay away from those.

 

All feedback is welcomed and greatly appreciated.

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Ok, I now see what you mean by the image size. I have resized a couple of them to see how it will look. I like the size of the small image, and then the image of the product (such as GH-02 and GH-03). However, when you click on the product, and get the item description and such, then click on the image again to get a blow up of the picture, it still shows the same size. I would like that one to be a little larger, if that makes sense. The larger pictures just show so much more detail. But I do understand the load issue.

 

Is there a way to make that final picture larger, and still keep with the smaller pictures to be smaller?

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You can upload two sizes of image for each product. The small image is shown in the category list table, on your front page, on the Specials page, etc. The large image is shown on your product pages. you can have multiple different large images if you want. The popup will show the image at full size, while the page will limit the image to 300 x 200. Please please please read the instructions that came with your copy of osCommerce. They tell you how to add the different images.

 

Not all contributions (now called Addons) are bad. Most of them are quite good, and will improve the appearance and utility of your store. I do advise that you check the level of support offered before trying an Addon. Most have a forum support thread where you can get help if you have problems. As the author of 20+ Addons, I'd like to have a word with the person who gave you that advice. Possible several words.

 

Your email address should be at your site URL: sales@@Example Member.com or something like that. Use of a third-party email address looks unprofessional. Your host probably has a way to forward that email if you want. Check the email section of your hosting account's control panel for forwarding options. Also check the settings for your mail server -- that's the most likely cause of your email problems.

 

Regards

Jim

 

edit: Wow, the board really munged that email example. You know what I meant. I hope.

See my profile for a list of my addons and ways to get support.

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Try running your site through siteloadtest.com (they have changed their name). It works really well and will let you know what needs optimizing. It a few minutes to load for me on an 8mbps dsl line...

 

You have what could be a really cool design started. I would try to use that logo and design as a basis for the rest of the shop now!

Matt

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  • 2 weeks later...

Ok, we have done a lot of site mods and restructuring. Still have not figured out the email fix yet, and still working on the picture size. I know a lot of people have given excellent comments about the store logo and that we needed to work off of that and do something with the site that makes it different than a basic setup. Was wondering if anyone is willing to continue to get a review on the new changes. Remember, I am still new at all of this, and still trying to figure everything out.

 

site:http://www.RonisRingsNThings.com

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