Welcome! Thanks for doing some other reviews before you post Why don't you introduce yourself?
Your site looks pretty good. I'm finding the navigation to be easy and I really appreciate the detailed product illustrations. I also like the way the shopping cart works. It all looks very professional and I would feel comfortable buying from you.
I do think the header area could be improved. It seems very cramped up at the top of the page given the complexity of the content pages. It's out of proportion. That header should be either enlarged or moved away from the top of the page or both. The navigation should also be imroved with mouseover actions and styled like the opening page is. The content pages should also be centered on the screen like the first page is.
oh well, I didn't introduce myself cuz I just didn't know about that section on this forum Many thanks for your review, it's highly appreciated and taken into consideration.
Great Site!
Only complaint is that you should put the navigation bar at the top of the first page on the rest of the pages in the site.
The site looks very professional and I love the 2 wizards. I'd feel comfortable buying from your site. Great Job!
Some pages require a plugin, like the assembly page. A lot of people disable plugins (like myself) and all we see is a dude page, offering a text version or better yet a html version would help your quests, also give your site more keywords for search engines.
Your time is wrong, Don't use PHP time function as it works off or rather gives your servers time/date. Use JavaScript as it works off the viewers puter clock.
Overall I like your site but think it's to small, to simple, as if you were hiding it. Bring it out, open it up, show the world. Like that Cat Stevens song "Can't keep it in, gotta let it out, gotta show the world, worlds got to see, see all .." yeah anyway ...
Make your banner wider and higher, its good but so tiny.
an idea, base your layout on 800x600, make your banner (not links under it) into two sections, the name and the image. use a table or CSS with max width 100% and make 3 colums, left name, middle blank and right image (aligning left and right of course) and set the middle empty one to 100% so it will stretch and shrink to screen sizes.
Do the same thing for the links below, total width 100% and it will auto resize but always keep the banners minimum.
Make your font size a little bit bigger (next size up), which will help people to read it, is a little hard at the moment on pages like about onepak.
Maybe add a few more images around the place, try incorparate a 2 column content layout, images or facts on left 1/2 with main content on right 2/3, this will also take the content off the body margins, like the order status page
I think the design is excellent... very easy to navigate, colors are good, like the banner as well... would definitely purchase packaging if i was in the market and came across your site.
Here comes the nit pick -- I'm still a dork and browse on 800x600 so the Products page has a little over run... I have to scroll over to finish reading the paragraph and to see the right side sections.. which is a real pain in the arse.
1. All that stuff at the bottom is just plunked there -- give everything its own space
2. Use headings and shorter paragraphs for text -- when your text is very short, you should shorten the length of the line to make it easier to read.
3. Don't be afraid of whitespace within the content area, but be afraid of too much. Your pages are short, but crowded and yet there is too much space around the images! Padding between the text and the template isn't a bad thing. Moving the side bars in a little and the big image smaller or with LESS whitespace would give it better balance. The pages without extra columns are fine.
I like the site... It's clean and the customer have all the information he needs about the products. Did you try to use some diferent color in the left tables. It's too white.
thanks for your replies.
I want to keep 3 columns for design but how do I fit images like 534x260 to the middle column so it still looks good on 800x600 and the horizontal scrollbar never appears so no need to scroll anything? Or the 3 columns design is just a bad idea?
Do you believe that 800x600 support is required in fact?
I see the sites like Yahoo.com, Ebay.com or Buy.com require at least 1024x768, Amazon.com supports 800x600 though.
Looks good. The only compaint I have is the navigation buttons are a little bland, they blend in with the picture a liitle too much. If theses stood out just a bit more, and the text within the buttons a little bigger, or bolder, it would be a really good design.
OK I'll not bore you with the great site, easy to navigate, etc.
Its been said and I love the site.
I do have one problem though and it is a minor one. You have a great site, very pro so why use PayPal as your processor?
I know it's free but it would really round things off if you used a decent processor.
I just switched from PayPal to WorldPay for all my hosting transactions because I found the majority of my orders over $50 were being rejected by PayPal. They have new limits in place that stop some new signups spending over a certain amount when they register without completing the extended use program.
Yes, I know, PayPal is not perfect, actually we have an authorize.net account for backup purposes, and we were going to impelement both payment gateways since the beginning.
But in Feb, 2004 PayPal announced the availability of the credit card authorization service for business sellers so now our customers can pay us by their credit card through PayPal without boring to register an account with PayPal.
Now this feature is available for US business PayPal accounts only, but since our paks are currently available for delivery only in the USA that works fine.
Of course, if we were an international supplier then we would have to give customers a choice between PayPal and credit card payment.
but again depends on your content and where placed, if placed towards the bottom of the page your content can be all up top on two columns while the third goes for miles.
I just asked ebay support if ebay pages fit to 800x600 screen resolution. Here's the reply I got from them:
Question: Do ebay pages fit to 800x600 screen resolution?
Answer: "It might require a little bit of scrolling side to side. I believe the ideal resolution is 1024x768".
So, 800x600 might require horizontal scrolling according to ebay's representative.
Sorry -- ebay doesn't scroll. neither does this forum.
Try: javascript:resizeTo(800,600) in your address bar.
Also try shutting all the extra chrome in IE -- if you have all the toolbars and channels open and such, well, duh, of course it won't fit. Even something optimized for 640 would have issues in that case.
I get no horz scrolls on ebay or yahoo or this forum, I have to use 800x600 so have no choice (moniter 5 years old, can't handle bigger or goes fuzzy - don't mention upgrade unless you plan to buy me one muhahahaha)
But all sites can have a horz scroll if the content pushes, I could go ........ ... one big line and it will force a scroll. sites like ebay, yahoo or even this one have no (very little) control over user input
Some very very nice detailed information on the site. The main page gets to the main aim of the service, which the site is providing. Very easy navigation, maybe you could use a dark blue in some places to make it more colourful.
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Lots of horizontol scroll at 800X, and no those other sites do not scroll for me either, and I'm using Opera which has a wider window that the others. That's causing the auction image to smoosh up onto the dropdowns on the order page.
The spash page is wonderful. You know what I would try with that box image? I'm not saying it would work, but I'd take that and lighten it up a lot and see how it would work as a background on all of the other pages. You know..very light like a watermark. It might add some 'punch'.
It's very nice and clean......yet somehow it's almost as someone else said 'too white'.
The nav bar I think should be just a bit more prominent. Are you using Photoshop? Try just running the burn tool over those buttons just a bit to darken them a little. That would make them more prominant, and may be just enough to make it pop a bit.
Check out the new version, design now 100% fits to 800x600 size, no much white space anymore, your opinions are welcome!
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Megan posted this at 16:27 — 15th March 2004.
She has: 11,421 posts
Joined: Jun 1999
Welcome! Thanks for doing some other reviews before you post
Why don't you introduce yourself?
Your site looks pretty good. I'm finding the navigation to be easy and I really appreciate the detailed product illustrations. I also like the way the shopping cart works. It all looks very professional and I would feel comfortable buying from you.
I do think the header area could be improved. It seems very cramped up at the top of the page given the complexity of the content pages. It's out of proportion. That header should be either enlarged or moved away from the top of the page or both. The navigation should also be imroved with mouseover actions and styled like the opening page is. The content pages should also be centered on the screen like the first page is.
Megan
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gsmith posted this at 18:17 — 15th March 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Megan,
oh well, I didn't introduce myself cuz I just didn't know about that section on this forum
Many thanks for your review, it's highly appreciated and taken into consideration.
Thanks again.
http://www.onepak.com
Complete Shipping and Packaging Solutions for Everyone
cjb_89 posted this at 00:50 — 16th March 2004.
They have: 17 posts
Joined: Nov 2003
Great Site!
Only complaint is that you should put the navigation bar at the top of the first page on the rest of the pages in the site.
The site looks very professional and I love the 2 wizards. I'd feel comfortable buying from your site. Great Job!
icerider posted this at 01:15 — 16th March 2004.
They have: 88 posts
Joined: Feb 2004
The only major complaint I have is to center all the pages. Looks great!
teammatt3 posted this at 00:16 — 17th March 2004.
He has: 2,102 posts
Joined: Sep 2003
Like everyone else said keep the navigation the same on all pages. The pages look really empty. More content will make a world of difference
gsmith posted this at 20:15 — 17th March 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Great, thanks for your feedback!
I'll definitely center all pages and put the navigation bar of the first page on all pages of the site.
Thanks again,
Gordon.
http://www.onepak.com
Complete Shipping and Packaging Solutions for Everyone
Busy posted this at 21:55 — 17th March 2004.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
Nice splash page
Some pages require a plugin, like the assembly page. A lot of people disable plugins (like myself) and all we see is a dude page, offering a text version or better yet a html version would help your quests, also give your site more keywords for search engines.
Your time is wrong, Don't use PHP time function as it works off or rather gives your servers time/date. Use JavaScript as it works off the viewers puter clock.
Overall I like your site but think it's to small, to simple, as if you were hiding it. Bring it out, open it up, show the world. Like that Cat Stevens song "Can't keep it in, gotta let it out, gotta show the world, worlds got to see, see all .." yeah anyway ...
Make your banner wider and higher, its good but so tiny.
an idea, base your layout on 800x600, make your banner (not links under it) into two sections, the name and the image. use a table or CSS with max width 100% and make 3 colums, left name, middle blank and right image (aligning left and right of course) and set the middle empty one to 100% so it will stretch and shrink to screen sizes.
Do the same thing for the links below, total width 100% and it will auto resize but always keep the banners minimum.
Make your font size a little bit bigger (next size up), which will help people to read it, is a little hard at the moment on pages like about onepak.
Maybe add a few more images around the place, try incorparate a 2 column content layout, images or facts on left 1/2 with main content on right 2/3, this will also take the content off the body margins, like the order status page
I take it your prices are in US dollars
andy206uk posted this at 16:02 — 18th March 2004.
He has: 1,758 posts
Joined: Jul 2002
The footer seems a bit crowded. I think you should put a bit of space above and below the footer.
TargetZion posted this at 15:08 — 19th March 2004.
He has: 76 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Yep, The Initial Design On The Front Page Is Nice... Keep It Conformant To The Rest Of The Site And You're Gold...
gsmith posted this at 14:53 — 20th March 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Got all points, THANKS!!!
gsmith posted this at 19:17 — 6th May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
New version is up, waiting for your comments!
red_headed posted this at 04:18 — 7th May 2004.
She has: 30 posts
Joined: Dec 2003
I think the design is excellent... very easy to navigate, colors are good, like the banner as well... would definitely purchase packaging if i was in the market and came across your site.
Here comes the nit pick -- I'm still a dork and browse on 800x600 so the Products page has a little over run... I have to scroll over to finish reading the paragraph and to see the right side sections.. which is a real pain in the arse.
But if you fixed that -- 5 stars dude!
Suzanne posted this at 12:54 — 7th May 2004.
She has: 5,507 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
1. All that stuff at the bottom is just plunked there -- give everything its own space
2. Use headings and shorter paragraphs for text -- when your text is very short, you should shorten the length of the line to make it easier to read.
3. Don't be afraid of whitespace within the content area, but be afraid of too much. Your pages are short, but crowded and yet there is too much space around the images! Padding between the text and the template isn't a bad thing. Moving the side bars in a little and the big image smaller or with LESS whitespace would give it better balance. The pages without extra columns are fine.
vldesign posted this at 04:06 — 8th May 2004.
He has: 4 posts
Joined: May 2004
Hi,
I like the site... It's clean and the customer have all the information he needs about the products. Did you try to use some diferent color in the left tables. It's too white.
Regards!
gsmith posted this at 16:48 — 8th May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
thanks for your replies.
I want to keep 3 columns for design but how do I fit images like 534x260 to the middle column so it still looks good on 800x600 and the horizontal scrollbar never appears so no need to scroll anything? Or the 3 columns design is just a bad idea?
http://www.onepak.com
Complete Shipping and Packaging Solutions for Everyone
gsmith posted this at 16:54 — 10th May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Do you believe that 800x600 support is required in fact?
I see the sites like Yahoo.com, Ebay.com or Buy.com require at least 1024x768, Amazon.com supports 800x600 though.
http://www.onepak.com
Complete Shipping and Packaging Solutions for Everyone
Agent X posted this at 15:24 — 14th May 2004.
They have: 2 posts
Joined: May 2004
Looks good. The only compaint I have is the navigation buttons are a little bland, they blend in with the picture a liitle too much. If theses stood out just a bit more, and the text within the buttons a little bigger, or bolder, it would be a really good design.
gsmith posted this at 22:39 — 21st May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
thanks ya'll, all input is highly appreciated.
openmind posted this at 23:28 — 21st May 2004.
He has: 945 posts
Joined: Aug 2001
OK I'll not bore you with the great site, easy to navigate, etc.
Its been said and I love the site.
I do have one problem though and it is a minor one. You have a great site, very pro so why use PayPal as your processor?
I know it's free but it would really round things off if you used a decent processor.
I just switched from PayPal to WorldPay for all my hosting transactions because I found the majority of my orders over $50 were being rejected by PayPal. They have new limits in place that stop some new signups spending over a certain amount when they register without completing the extended use program.
Its a pain and it will lose you sales...
gsmith posted this at 23:30 — 22nd May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Yes, I know, PayPal is not perfect, actually we have an authorize.net account for backup purposes, and we were going to impelement both payment gateways since the beginning.
But in Feb, 2004 PayPal announced the availability of the credit card authorization service for business sellers so now our customers can pay us by their credit card through PayPal without boring to register an account with PayPal.
Now this feature is available for US business PayPal accounts only, but since our paks are currently available for delivery only in the USA that works fine.
Of course, if we were an international supplier then we would have to give customers a choice between PayPal and credit card payment.
Gordon.
http://www.onepak.com
Complete Shipping and Packaging Solutions for Everyone
gsmith posted this at 15:04 — 23rd May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
nope, the rates are the same.
yup, that's just because not all the content has been added yet.
http://www.onepak.com
Complete Shipping and Packaging Solutions for Everyone
Suzanne posted this at 19:15 — 8th May 2004.
She has: 5,507 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
You resize the images to fit better.
Busy posted this at 00:24 — 9th May 2004.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
and/or depending on your content you could do the old
||| <- 3 columns
-- <- 1 column, image centered
||| <- 3 columns
but again depends on your content and where placed, if placed towards the bottom of the page your content can be all up top on two columns while the third goes for miles.
Suzanne posted this at 17:08 — 10th May 2004.
She has: 5,507 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
Sorry, dude, you're wrong.
Yahoo, eBay support 800x640.
Buy.com should, but it just sucks.
gsmith posted this at 20:02 — 10th May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Suzanne,
do you mean that you can't see the horizontal scrollbar when opening this page http://www.ebay.com/ in your browser on 800x600??? Or this page
http://pages.ebay.com/buy/index.html?ssPageName=h:h:cat:US
BTW, this forum page doesn't fit to 800 width either.
http://www.onepak.com
Complete Shipping and Packaging Solutions for Everyone
gsmith posted this at 20:12 — 10th May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
P.S. I tried with IE 6
gsmith posted this at 20:41 — 10th May 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Suzanne,
I just asked ebay support if ebay pages fit to 800x600 screen resolution. Here's the reply I got from them:
Question: Do ebay pages fit to 800x600 screen resolution?
Answer: "It might require a little bit of scrolling side to side. I believe the ideal resolution is 1024x768".
So, 800x600 might require horizontal scrolling according to ebay's representative.
Want me to ask Yahoo to prove I'm not a dude?
http://www.onepak.com
Complete Shipping and Packaging Solutions for Everyone
Suzanne posted this at 22:34 — 10th May 2004.
She has: 5,507 posts
Joined: Feb 2000
Sorry -- ebay doesn't scroll. neither does this forum.
Try: javascript:resizeTo(800,600) in your address bar.
Also try shutting all the extra chrome in IE -- if you have all the toolbars and channels open and such, well, duh, of course it won't fit. Even something optimized for 640 would have issues in that case.
Busy posted this at 22:34 — 10th May 2004.
He has: 6,151 posts
Joined: May 2001
I get no horz scrolls on ebay or yahoo or this forum, I have to use 800x600 so have no choice (moniter 5 years old, can't handle bigger or goes fuzzy - don't mention upgrade unless you plan to buy me one muhahahaha)
But all sites can have a horz scroll if the content pushes, I could go ........ ... one big line and it will force a scroll. sites like ebay, yahoo or even this one have no (very little) control over user input
dotcom posted this at 13:20 — 11th May 2004.
They have: 4 posts
Joined: May 2004
Hello there,
Some very very nice detailed information on the site. The main page gets to the main aim of the service, which the site is providing. Very easy navigation, maybe you could use a dark blue in some places to make it more colourful.
HostVoice - When Hosts Compete, You Win <-- Click there
Looking for a web host? Let Them compete for YOUR business.
Submit a free request and receive offers within 15 minutes
from qualifying hosts - Personal, Business, NT, Dedicated!
dbrownmedia posted this at 07:59 — 14th May 2004.
They have: 5 posts
Joined: May 2004
I like the product details.It adds a nice touch!
schaefer posted this at 16:23 — 16th May 2004.
He has: 12 posts
Joined: May 2004
nice i would make the buttons font just a tad bit darker i really liek the way the box on front page looks
openmind posted this at 10:28 — 23rd May 2004.
He has: 945 posts
Joined: Aug 2001
I didn't know that about PayPal.
Hopefully they will allow international PayPal merchants to use that as well as it's a big step forward. Are the rates higher for that service?
msi200 posted this at 12:21 — 23rd May 2004.
He has: 6 posts
Joined: May 2004
Hi,
Great site.
The style is 'clean' and the browsing is intuitive. Product descriptions(like http://www.onepak.com/products/box_medium/index.php) are very useful.
My personal opinion is that there is too much white space.
Regards,
Mike
www.siteground.com
WebHosting that fits your needs.
Roo posted this at 22:47 — 23rd May 2004.
She has: 840 posts
Joined: Apr 1999
Lots of horizontol scroll at 800X, and no those other sites do not scroll for me either, and I'm using Opera which has a wider window that the others. That's causing the auction image to smoosh up onto the dropdowns on the order page.
The spash page is wonderful. You know what I would try with that box image? I'm not saying it would work, but I'd take that and lighten it up a lot and see how it would work as a background on all of the other pages. You know..very light like a watermark. It might add some 'punch'.
It's very nice and clean......yet somehow it's almost as someone else said 'too white'.
The nav bar I think should be just a bit more prominent. Are you using Photoshop? Try just running the burn tool over those buttons just a bit to darken them a little. That would make them more prominant, and may be just enough to make it pop a bit.
Roo
gsmith posted this at 14:51 — 22nd June 2004.
They have: 24 posts
Joined: Mar 2004
Check out the new version, design now 100% fits to 800x600 size, no much white space anymore, your opinions are welcome!
Want to join the discussion? Create an account or log in if you already have one. Joining is fast, free and painless! We’ll even whisk you back here when you’ve finished.