Sage Creek - Need Reviews

Tianna - I don't have time to look at your site right now but I just wanted to welcome you to the forums. I've enjoyed reading your reviews so far - so thorough and insightful! Please stop by the introductions forum and let us know more about yourself

It's simple, but there are some display issues at the bottom of the page in Firefox.

Honestly, Tianna, I think this site needs a lot of work. The design is really dull and isn't doing it's job as well as it could. The colour scheme is certainly appropriate for the subject matter so you've done a good job with that. You should really work on your graphics. The layout is decent enough but could use some more structure and definition.

My first problem with the site is that I browse with a window width around 800px (1152 resolution but windows taskbar on the right and Opera panels on the left so that leaves only about 800 in the middle. I like it that way because it keeps line lengths readable). There is no reason why you couldn't make this fit at 800x600. A simple rearrangement of a few pages is all that's needed. Photos would need to be smaller but that's okay as long as they link to larger versions.

What I think is great about this site is that you're very up front about who this is and all the details involved. A lot of people try to pretend to be some fancy business when they're really not. It's misleading to the customer. This way, the customer can have confidence knowing who you are and how you operate. I also like that you're clear about international shipping on the front page - as a Canadian I find that many sites don't handle that very well. Just last night I had to place an order by phone from a site that didn't let me know I would have to do that until late in the checkout process.

You've also done a good job of providing lots of good photos of the merchandise. This is really important for any internet buy.

For some design ideas take a look at my site. I just like to bring this up sometimes because it's a really easy way to make a site look good. All you need is a nice picture - in your case, maybe a hunting scene or something like that. Put the "Sage Creek" text on top and you're done. Yours would be smaller than mine and you could still have your navigation down the left side if you wanted to.

One problem I had in navigating this site was the funciton of the site map link. I didn't expect to be taken to a page without the main side navigation. I also somehow ended up with two windows open so I must have clicked on something that opened in a new window.

A simple site. It has a lot of potential, but i don't feel this potential is being maximised at the moment. The colour scheme is less than desirable, and there are, as said a few display issues in Mozilla Firefox.

As first, I wonder, "Who's that guy in the top-left hand corner" - I actually have to read the text - something which I cover later on - to find out. A caption would be nice to just really drive home who that is.

text needs to be in short paragraphs in the front page. Most internet users are quite lazy and will not spend time reading on the front page. The knife is good- images automatically say what the site is about. OK, ther next sentence is good; a short description. Thr next text is not necessary. Next you should put something that equals a link to the catalogue and a link to the buying page, as well as a link to more info about you and your site.

The site map should not be the first thing in your navigation list. All the stuff about the knives, customized, patterns etc. should go first. Then it should be ordering pages, then it should go onto list "misc." pages e.g. about, privacy policy etc.

The display issues in Firefox - is that some text overlaps at the bottom of the page. This needs to be fixed - try a backeward compatability browser to check your changes.

Thanks everyone for your help on my website design. Thank you especially Megan for your inspiration!. I now have taken everyone's advise and made the changes. Some things I cannot not change cause I'm not quite sure how, so any advice on reverse browser compatibily and how to do it will be appreciated. The site http://www.sagecreek1.com now has brand new look.

What do you think?

Tianna

Much better! My few suggestions would be:

1) make that coner on the header on sharper, and save the quality better. Try the .png format, it's what I use, and (I beleive) is the industry standard now?

2) make the menu links more of a menu bar, instead of just links underlined. if nothing else, take a way the underline and add a hover color.

I like the colors you've used but there are some problems with it in the firefox browser.

Things aren't meeting up togater correstly for a clean look.

The top of the page looks a little spread out. At the bootm, the sitemap and the custom knives links are overlapping. Also, the tan backing doesn't go quite far enough down on the page. Only a a few of the pages have text going off the tan backing... on the main page, the about page, and the Links page.
Also, the images look a little blurred. I think if they had a sharper look it would help the site out.

Thanks for letting me know how things show up on Firefox, but how do I correct that problem since I can't actually see the problems?

Hi Tianna,
Some suggestions: Your website still contains a horizonal scroll on a 800 X 600 screen. The pictures on your website are fuzzy and lacking sharpness. There is alot of blank space to the right of your webpage (I would get rid of that). As for firefox issues, go to http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ download firefox and install it on your computer. Then test out your website and see if you can resolve the problems.
Andrew

Thanks Andy,

I will work on those things. What is the best or most common screen resolutions people use? I've had some people say that 800x600 is because it keeps the text lines short and they don't have to scroll to read it. However, to do that, I've had to reduce image size which may account for the fuzziness. I think sharp clear images is more important so I will work on the resolution that I use and that is 1024x768 and that way I can make images a bit larger and more clear. If I fit it to that resolution I can get rid of the large blank area on side.

I do appreciate everyone's help so what are your thoughts on the matter?

Tianna

http://www.onestat.com/html/aboutus_pressbox31.html check out the survey they did. It states that most people use 1024 x 768.

While it's true that *most* people use 1024x768 there are still a large amount of people using 800x600. I design websites at 750px wide. This way they are clear on 800x600 even if the scrollbars are on AND not to small for 1024x768.

I don't particually like designs done for 1024x768 as the line lengths are often a bit long and I tend to get lost...

it nice and simple to use witch is a good thing, like the logo and photos on your pages

The site offers a nice, simple approach. Very to the point, which is great for a retail site, the focus should be your products, not eye candy. Although, if you are going to have a lot of product modifications, additions, and heavy orders, you may wish to consider using an open source ecommerce system lie osCommerce . It will make site administration so much easier on you. The features are plenitful:

-Website is now much better!! Well done!!
STILL some compatibility options down south of the page.
-Just noticed domain: sagecreek1.com - were there no others available to save you having to put the number 1 there? I think it ruins it a bit.

Thanks heebie

All domain names taken that were similar. I wanted sagecreek.com but it was taken so had to do with current one. I'm glad you like the site. I've been putting alot of work into it and taking everyone's advice. It has been very helpful. I am currently working the compatibiity issues with firefox. I'll let you know when I'm finished.

Tianna

seems kinda plain. maybe a menu on the left side instead of the text links on the top.?

You deserve all the good praise you are getting - the site is very good and I wish you best wishes with it for the future.

Hello Everyone,

I've made all the changes and now my website is complete. I think I have also solved the firefox browser problems so everything should show up correctly. What do you think?

Tianna