# Site Check - herefishey



## twister (Mar 23, 2003)

Ok so I'm putting together a small e-com site for school.  Just the shell basically.  I think i have everything up and running for the most part.  I'll take any comments and suggestions.  You can see it here http://www.twistermc.com/herefishey/index.php   ( !!  Don't forget the index.php !! )

It does have a cookie issue with Safari, i think, so you may not be able to put anything in your 'fish net'.

Thanks


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## edX (Mar 24, 2003)

nice job twister. this is one of the nicest designed sites anyone has ever put up here for feedback. it works smoothly and looks great both. of course you would fix that safari thing if it were real i'm sure.

my only suggestion is possibly that your fonts might want to go up a bit. i keep my fonts turned up a bit to start and i still found yours a bit small in places. i would guess they would be easier to read in 2 pt bigger type. at least in safari. 

again, very nice. i expect you will get an A on this one.


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## Darkshadow (Mar 24, 2003)

Ed...you going blind?  

Really, though, that is a good suggestion.  They are a bit small.

It is well put together, though.  Top marks for that.


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## edX (Mar 24, 2003)

i think so Darkshadow. i just started needing glasses about 4 years ago and i need a new prescription each year. but i have them on and so all should look normal. it's just less strain if type is larger. i won't bother to read pages that are set with really small 8-10 pt type most of the time. 12 is ok. i prefer 14. it certainly depends on what it is. large bold headers are certainly a help though.


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## twister (Mar 24, 2003)

Larger font ed?  Humm.  Right now it's at 12.  I won't change the font size but i may add a font preference in the future.  Then it'd default to 12 but you could change it and it'd keep the value in a cookie or something.  We'll see.

Also the Safari cookie this is a Safari issue i believe.  Nothing that I did.  Course I could be wrong.   Next PUBLIC beta of Safari might fix it.  I'll wait and see.


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## Jason (Mar 24, 2003)

cmnd + for those with with small font probs


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## lurk (Mar 24, 2003)

What no blinky?


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## dlloyd (Mar 24, 2003)

Nice site twister, no suggestions! 

EDIT, oh yeah, there is one, FIX THE PROBLEM WITH SAFARI!


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## MDLarson (Mar 24, 2003)

Well, my suggestion would be to be consistent with the phrase "Fish Net."  On the Fish page, you say "Add To Cart," but maybe it should be "Add to Fish Net."


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## edX (Mar 24, 2003)

ooh, that is a good 'catch' matt. 

yea, i noticed that too now that you mention it.


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## MDLarson (Mar 24, 2003)

> _Originally posted by edX _
> *ooh, that is a good 'catch' matt. *


LOL!!  I'm sure we could go on and on with this 'line' of reasoning...


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## evildan (Mar 24, 2003)

twister,

One small suggestion, remove the bullets for the credit card text field. I realize the security involved, but entering a 16 diget number with only bullets to reference, might increase your chances of getting an incorrect credit card number.

Another bigger suggestion, which is a common suggestion for most ecom sites... is that when you first get to the site, it appears as if you only have one fish for sale. (the item pictured on the left.).

I didn't initially see your navigation until I drilled into the site. 

This is a disconnect, that you can easily solve by distinguishing your navigation a bit more, or by repeating it in the body text on the opening page.

I do click-stream analysis and you would be surprised how many people will come to a page and bail, thinking they have no other options. 

On the other hand, you would sell a higher percentage of those $49 fish! 

It was very well thought out. Are you using MySQL for the fish data? Or is the fish data all static?


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## twister (Mar 24, 2003)

*One small suggestion, remove the bullets for the credit card text field.*
I put those in to stop people from actually putting in CC numbers.  I don't want someone to think i'm tricking them.  It's kinda explained in the FAQ.

*Well, my suggestion would be to be consistent with the phrase "Fish Net." On the Fish page, you say "Add To Cart," but maybe it should be "Add to Fish Net."*
Damn good catch!  I'll change that.

* This is a disconnect, that you can easily solve by distinguishing your navigation a bit more, or by repeating it in the body text on the opening page. *
Ok i'll do that, somehow.

*Are you using MySQL for the fish data? Or is the fish data all static?*
I'm using PHP and MySQL


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## Da_iMac_Daddy (Mar 25, 2003)

Anyone else notice that when you first visit the site the rollovers dissapear for about a half a second then show up as white in the navigation part of the site just above the content area. Also on the fish of the moment it seems that your text area isn't aligned with picture. 

Fishey alignment 

BTW: I'm using Safari.


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## twister (Mar 25, 2003)

The fish alignment thing you are referring to is a Safari issue.  Once again it works fine on all other browsers i've tested on Mac and PC

The rollovers are a pre-loader issue.  When you rollover them they take a second to load.  Their only 1k so i don't understand why it seems to take so long at times.    I'll have to find a pre-load script or fake one.


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## Dusky (Mar 25, 2003)

The site is pleasing to the eye.  So much, I think I'm going to take a screenshot of it and save it for inspiration when I redesign mine.


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## twister (Mar 25, 2003)

go for it.  I wanted something that looked nice for my portfolio.  My new website should be rockin' to.  When i get around to re-doing it.


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## Da_iMac_Daddy (Mar 25, 2003)

Oh by the way .... I like your site  just pointing out some stuff I saw that looked weird. Constructive criticism you know


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## twister (Mar 25, 2003)

It's all good.  I appreciate any kind of feedback as long as there is a reason. And when i get time i'll look into the fish of the moment table cell bug.


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## adambyte (Mar 25, 2003)

lol.... I was worried you were actually shipping fish over the internet, until I read the FAQ.... lol... Do you think it's possible to get FedEx to be very careful with a small tank containing a fish?


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## twister (Mar 25, 2003)

zip lock bags, sealed with ducktape.


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## michaelsanford (Mar 27, 2003)

Looks nice twister!

The only thing I noticed (Safari) was that the nav rollovers (fish ? faq ? contact us ?_fish net) are blank for a second or two before it loads the white image version. My connection's a bit loaded now though, which probably isn't helping 

If you wanted to be super super cool you could try pre-loading the rollovers, but that's only a small suggestion for an otherwise great looking site!

One trick to pre-loading images is to stick them on a page (splash page if you have one, index otherwise) scaled to 1x1. Then they're loaded at page open, before the rollover asks for them.


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## twister (Mar 27, 2003)

i think i can do a pre-load in the body tag with onLoad.  I'll look into it. 

Thanks for all the feedback.  And if anyone has more keep it coming.

But just so you all know the project has been turned in for now.  I'll continue to update it but i might take a week or two off from working on it.  Just time to relax.


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## Arden (Mar 27, 2003)

I have some code that will preload images, and it's very simple code... it's Javascript, though, so I don't know if you want to use it.  If you want it, I'll look for it.

A few suggestions:

I like the layout and the color scheme is very appropriate.  However, on my monitor at 1152x870, there are 2 large portions of white space on either side.  I would suggest that you make the background the same color as your main table at the minimum; more than that, you could make the thing scalable to window size.
If you want to keep consistency, you should relabel the buttons in the fish net to something like "Update net," "Reel in," and "Empty net."  Also, if you could make them blue like the rest of the site, that would enhance the look.
I think you should add a checkmark next to each of the "Add to fish net" links on the "fish" page so people can add multiple fish at once.
That's pretty much it for now.  I like the look of your site: very clean, holds true to KISS.  The rounded corners give it a comfortable feel.  Excellent job.


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## twister (Mar 27, 2003)

I'll take the pre-load script if you have it handy. Otherwise i'll just look for one. 

Humm. The white space has been mentioned by one of my teachers but I don't think i want a color there.  I could try some things though.

I will change my buttons to fishnet instead of cart but i haven't gotten to it yet.


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