[Classic Rat]

Hello everyone,
It’s been a little while since I’ve posted in this section, but my new online store is up and I’m looking to see what people think / any problems?
I’m aware that the number of designs is low, but I’m working on that.(unfortunately this type of art takes some time!)

5 Ace Designs, Art & Apparel

- Main site entree http://www.5acedesigns.com/

Thanks for looking
-Josh

 

[lindsayanng]

Looks like an OSCOMMERCE shop.

On first look.> DEFINITELY a more stock than not shopping cart.. whether or not it is oscommerce.. You DESPIRATELY need to move your BUY NOW buttons and make them actually match with the rest of your shop..

I couldnt even FIND then until i carefully scrolled your product info page.. Then once i found it i was disappointed. You need to move it up by the image and make it match better.. If this is an oscommerce shop, there is a better way to get a quantity box in there than HAVING to use that silly box w/ the button

DEFINITELY get a new navigation system.. the -> arrows make it look cheesey. Get a CSS dynamic flyout/dropdown menu.

Also remove the product counts on them 1.) because no one cares or needs to know 2.) because that adds another DB query to every page which slows your site dramatically

the refresh button in the shopping cart is not obviously enough.. ESPECIALLY if you have the older cart which REQUIRES a refresh after changing quantity.. this can possibly piss off customers if they THINK they changed their QTY but they didnt because they didnt see the refresh button..

Your login screen boxes are nnot aligns.. You have email on top of the email box (which looks good) but then you have password NEXT TO the box which makes it look off

You should also not REQUUIRE customers to create an account. Many studies show that customers will leave a shop if it is REQUIRED...

the overall looks a little lopsided because you have a bunch of boxes on the left column and only one on the right.. Move it around

Also, take that SSL seal OFF the main page and put it on the columns so it always shows and link it to your privacy or security page, and so that you can use that space for more important things. The main content section on any e-commerce page shoould always be "in-site advertisements" make pretty images that make people want to click!

Flesh out your returns policy.. "damaged in ANY WAY" is rather broad

the blue that your links turn when you click on them should be changed or not happen at all

WHY WHY WHY do you have a newsletter UNSUBSCRIBE?? it should be a happy SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER!!!

dont feel like i am picking you apart.. these are just things i see in A LOT of carts like this.. its not bad, its just going to give you some things to work on

 

[Classic Rat]

"dont feel like i am picking you apart.." Not at all, Thank you for the review!
very helpful and informative. Some of those things I can probably tackle now (and will) others I would need to get some help with like the " CSS dynamic flyout/dropdown menu" I'm more artist then programmer but that's what friends are for right? haha
Thanks again,
-Josh

 

[mhuk]

Putting the images side by side on the home t-shirt page would make it clearer.

I'd suggest tidying up the final product page for a t-shirt as it looks a bit messy.

Make the link area on your logo (back to the homepage) larger.

More information and text needed on the store homepage.

Keep the static navigation: breadcrumbs help the user know where they are and dynamic navigation is both "tricksy" and will probably not pass any user accessibility tests i.e. you risk not allowing visually impaired users browsing aids or a text browser. Text links also help in search engine ranking.

All IMO

 

[lindsayanng]

are you serious?? a dynamic CSS flyout or dropdown menu is the most user friendly and asthetically pleasing way to show your categories.

A CSS menu looks nice AND is perfect for SEO. It also allows customers to get to subcategories without having to CLICK to get there.. She least number of clicks to get to a product, the better for ALL customers. People HATE multiple clicks to get ANYWHERE.

I do also agree that the breadcrumb is a nessecity in all sites unless ALL of your navigation is super simple with just a few pages..

But you NEED a new categories menu..


So you didnt verify.. is it oscommerce.


Oh yea.. and i totally forgot to say.. LOOSE THE SPLASH PAGE!! its really bad for SEO and will kill you with your search engine ranking.. instead, add the links to your blogs and such to the front page of your store.

 

[T-BOT]

I’m aware that the number of designs is low, but I’m working on that.(unfortunately this type of art takes some time!)

5 Ace Designs, Art & Apparel

- Main site entree http://www.5acedesigns.com/

Thanks for looking
-Josh

Josh, assuming you are the artist here, in my opinion your designs are great and will sell.

have you heard of *rat* ? ...great t-shirt artist also.

 

[splathead]

On your shirt size selections, the default on the one I looked at is Medium.

Even though you have a message on your product description to "please chose size before buying!, I would make it idiot-proof by making them select a size. You do this by adding another choice to the drop down- "Choose Size" and making it the default.

This will eliminate returns due to the wrong size being accidentally ordered.

 

[Classic Rat]

Thanks everyone for your feedback, definitely given me some things to work on!

lindsayanng ; It is a Zen cart store, and thanks again for all the suggestions! I like the idea of a CSS menu, unfortunately it will be a little while before I can implement it. however I did just find a zen cart mod that should allow for unregistered purchases and it looks fairly easy to implement, so a bit of good new there!

T-BOT; Thanks glad you dig the art! I'm pretty optimistic about they selling as well, as long as I can get the right people looking! as for *Rat* I did a few searches and nothing came up? dose he/she have a site?

splathead & mhuk; Thank you both for the feedback! good Ideas
-Josh

 

[lindsayanng]

Zen Cart and oscommerce are essentially the same rthing.. Implimenting a CSS menu is usually VERY easy. If you go to the contributions section for Zen Cart, you can probably just search CSS Dynamic menu.. It will DEFINITELY be easier than adding the purchae without account addon.. Its usually just two or three files that need to be edited

 

[CUSTOM UK]

Hi Josh. I have a professional interest in automotive art and those are some very appealing designs that you have there.

Aesthetically your site does need some tweaking to present them in a much better light though. Your tee templates in particular look very cheap and do your images no favours at all. There are masses of free tee templates out there, or just tidy up the master of the ones you are using now. The white in particular looks very ragged.

Hope this helps.

 

[lindsayanng]

i noticed something else when looking at your site too.. you have large images crammed into small spaces.. i can see that because you have a jagged edge in all of your images.. You should create thumbnail images for every product you carry.. you also can make each product image a little larger in general..

 

[T-BOT]

T-BOT; Thanks glad you dig the art! I'm pretty optimistic about they selling as well, as long as I can get the right people looking! as for *Rat* I did a few searches and nothing came up? dose he/she have a site?

*RAT Fink “monster” T-shirts * ...an icon in the t-shirt graphics world, the artist is also a member here i believe.

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/revie...ink+(Custom+Cars/Special+Interest/Documentary)

Rat Fink T-Shirts Big Daddy Ed Roth T-Shirts Hot Rod T-Shirts


as for the site, I would just plaster your designs front and center because they are really good and that itself will constitute the site overall design.

as for coding and content, keep it simple and informative, user and bot friendly and thats it. ...sorry i do not have much to critique.



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