Feedback please.....

[Apple Tree Crafts]

......I've been fiddling about with Mr Site (as wrong as that sounds) and this is my homepage for my craft site....at long last.

www.apple-tree-crafts.co.uk (http://www.apple-tree-crafts.co.uk)

What do you think? I'm pleased with the graphics (need to change the title font colour though), but how does the text look/read to you?

Please can I get some feedback?

Jules

[ezzyam]

Hi Jules I think it looks great, very country crafts, just the sort of thing I like. Can't wait to see all your goodies on display. Are people going to be able to buy through the site, I know you mention the personalisation and that was a problem I had with my site. From experience quite often they order but forget to put in all the details they want. Then you spend ages chasing them to find out what they want!!! Sometimes I think they place an order and disappear!!!!

[Apple Tree Crafts]

...I wasn't going to have a shopping cart as such. I wanted for people to look at the site, and then contact me if they wanted to order something. That way I'm hoping to avoid 'disappearances' as orders would be either paid for in advance, or at least a deposit taken.

Jules

[creativeclare]

Ohhhh yes. I like the floral background but would it be worth investgating something alternative for the box where your text is?? Your intro on the homepage is quite personal but this is in line with the ethos of your products.

Look forward to seeing the final version!!


Clare

[Focus on Life]

Oh Jules, I'll follow the progress of your site with much interest chuck, with my stuff being so very personalised too...I havent been able to decide which way to go so have put it away in the "lost sock drawer" part of the brain until I decide :)

I do like the roses, very quaint and country, although I would love to see an apple tree or some images of lovely rosy-cheeked apples on the ground (or a lovely close up shot of one of your apple pies with all the hot steam coming out!) :sm:

I like the text, how you've written it so friendly and approachable. The only bit I've been mulling over is where you say its not intended to be a shop. I'm hoping that wont stop some people having a look around, particularly the type of customer who only wants to "click a virtual button" to get what they want, rather than deal with a real person?

I was wondering about maybe calling it your "shop-front" to invite people to wander around your shop to see the possibilities. Then maybe add in a para beneath that tells them how easy it will be for them to place their order with you, just to tempt the virtual-clickers to give it a try?

Best of luck with it, looks lovely so far

shaz x

[JBJB]

Hmmmm .....

I don't want to say anything too harsh as I know you've spent ages planning your website.

I agree with Focus ... it would be nice to see some vintage-apple type images.

Also, I know you want people to contact you with their requirements, but in 99% of cases, they won't. Been there, done that. If you want, why not say it's a "showcase" or "portfolio" of your work and if the viewer wants to discuss their individual requirements to drop you an email. Just don't put your email address in full on the site as you will get loads of spam - can you have it as a button on Mr Site?

Like everybody else, I can't wait to finally see your stuff ..... but maybe rethink about if people can buy it or not. Is Mr Site really that limiting?

[beadstudio]

Hiya,
you can put a shopping cart on MR site which is paid by Paypal so paid in advance.
I used it for my card/stationery business I used to run and didnt have any problems with it.
Looking good so far! Cant wait to see your stuff

Love Em x

[sillyoldbear]

Hi

I am using Mr Site for my 'wares'. I have had a look at your site and I love the Shabby chic/ Cath Kidston look. Maybe you shoud change the header so that it doesn't disappear into the background effect. I spent ages trying different headers and page designs and in the end picked the felt design as everything I make is using felt! Figures really! I also have several shops on my site and this is in conjuction with paypal. It makes it a lot easier as the buyer and seller are both covered. This is just me but I always think websites look better with the menu on the left.

Unfortunatelt I have to go now and bath my two children but I will have a think whilst doing that. Have a look at my site - I'm still learning!

Sharon

[beadsbydesign]

I agree about the shopping cart. I don't think people would bother to contact you.
The paypal one works well with mr site. You could always specify that you make the products to order therefore they might have to wait for a week( or other period) before delivery.
Have to say I love the look it's very you!!
I too prefer the menu down the left. It's where people expect to find it.

[Tip Top]

I love the background - its so you! And just what I'd expect too - all summery and fresh!

Why don't you try the shopping cart bit for perhaps 6 months to see if it works. If things go not quite to plan you can always tinker with it, but I think I'd be a bit put off if I couldn't buy right away.

Sommerwood also has a Mr Site and she does the personalisation bit ok through that (I know cos I've done it!) so maybe see how she does it? Although I have a Mr Site, none of my stuff is personalised in that respect, but I do offer alternatives, such as blue, pink, white etc which is easy enough to do.

I think it's a good start - I found the hardest bit choosing the style, colours and background - the rest fell into place!!

Look forward to seeing your work in situ - I can still smell the drawer senters - hhhhhmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!! Shame we can't have smelly monitors!!!;)

[JBJB]

If you do go down the paypal shopping cart route (which I think you should) can I suggest you open a merchant account. This allows you to add personalisation/drop-down options for the buyer to fill in. See my site for examples - I use paypal for all my items, and you know how many personalised things I do!

If you decide to do that, give me a shout and I'll show you how to do the various drop-down options

;)

[Fair Do]

Hi Jules,

It looks good and has a fresh, summery feel.

Two comments really ...can you move the word 'Craft' clear of the flower? I think the clash detracts from both your name and the image of the flower. It sort of looks as though it shouldn't be like that.

The other one is ...do you mean to have the word 'Home' under the name? If not I found a way to get rid of this kind of thing on Freewebs ...I'll try and remember how I did it!! If you did mean it to be there, can I suggest that something like "The home of Apple Tree Crafts" might run better.

As with everyone else ...looking forward to seeing the full site.

Regards.
Fair Do

[Apple Tree Crafts]

If you do go down the paypal shopping cart route (which I think you should) can I suggest you open a merchant account. This allows you to add personalisation/drop-down options for the buyer to fill in. See my site for examples - I use paypal for all my items, and you know how many personalised things I do!

If you decide to do that, give me a shout and I'll show you how to do the various drop-down options

;)

We've got a merchant PP account...so that's handy to know about the drop down menu. Thanks JB!

Still got loads to do, and I've made pencil notes of all the good advice on this thread. I want to really crack on with this, but I need good photos first. I could write the text and then add the pic, but I work better the other way about. Thinking about the shop part, and trying it for a wee while sounds much the best option, it's just all rather daunting.

The homepage text, believe it or not, took me months. I'm never usually at a loss for words, but writing about yourself is different and my imagination crawls to a halt. It doesn't bother me that it's not impersonal, I'm very much a 'what you see is what you get' person anyway. I do think that I need to change it, the advice about 'portfolio' and 'showcase' is very inspiring...fab choice of words.

I thought I'd get going on this project, as I can't get into my workroom to sew until mid afternoon when #1 son imerges blinking into the daylight.

Jules

[BeadsbyLili]

I liked your intro Jules - very open and had an honest feel. I also like the pretty background :)

[Apple Tree Crafts]

...I've made a few very simple changes, and it's taken me all day. I feel totally frazzled.

I wanted to make a banner that would stand out, and spent an age getting it perfect, but when I loaded it onto MrSite, it looked awful. It seemed to change it, fade the colours and lose focus a little, so it didn't have the casual but crisp look after all.

MrSite has driven me insane today. It doesn't help that I can't remember just how I did the craft fairs site!

I want to twiddle around with a gallery next, but not sure I'm brave enough.

Jules

[Chris W]

Hi Jules,
I took at look at your website which as everyone has noticed has a lovely summery feel to it. The overall all colour scheme is feminine and the font style
friendly. I don't want to sound too critical but you did ask for feedback and I have worked as a graphic designer in my past. I would suggest that you make the font smaller, large fonts make it seem as though you are shouting. This would also mean that people visiting the site wouldn't have to scroll down too much. Also as a general design rule (which you don't really have to folllow) you should stick to one alignment either central or to the side. This would mean shifting your sub-heading 'Craft Fairs for the Crafter' to the left. It just makes it easier for the eye and stops it wandering all over the page. Also I would remove the word home from your title so that visitors log your business name more dramatically. If you can add a photo of a busy craft fair on your home page with some happy looking smiling people that would also be engaging and show that you have experience.

[Apple Tree Crafts]

Hi Jules,
I took at look at your website which as everyone has noticed has a lovely summery feel to it. The overall all colour scheme is feminine and the font style
friendly. I don't want to sound too critical but you did ask for feedback and I have worked as a graphic designer in my past. I would suggest that you make the font smaller, large fonts make it seem as though you are shouting. This would also mean that people visiting the site wouldn't have to scroll down too much. Also as a general design rule (which you don't really have to folllow) you should stick to one alignment either central or to the side. This would mean shifting your sub-heading 'Craft Fairs for the Crafter' to the left. It just makes it easier for the eye and stops it wandering all over the page. Also I would remove the word home from your title so that visitors log your business name more dramatically. If you can add a photo of a busy craft fair on your home page with some happy looking smiling people that would also be engaging and show that you have experience.


You looked at the wrong site. That's my craft fair site, for which I've had loads of compliments . I'm building one for my crafts which is

www.apple-tree-crafts.co.uk (http://www.apple-tree-crafts.co.uk)

and that's the one I need feedback for....

Jules

[beadsbydesign]

Jules, that is looking great!.
Did you know that by using admin option you can hide the pages in your side menu until you are ready to show them.
I think it was well worth al the effort!!
Can't wait to see more!

[Chris W]

You looked at the wrong site. That's my craft fair site, for which I've had loads of compliments . I'm building one for my crafts which is

www.apple-tree-crafts.co.uk (http://www.apple-tree-crafts.co.uk)

and that's the one I need feedback for....

Jules
Hi Jules,
I think the design of your new site looks very attractive.

[Fair Do]

Very rustic ...like it!

[Ian Beckerton]

Hi Jules,
I have had a look at your site and at first impression it looks nice and simple which is a bonus. Some sites tend to be very twee and I find that often spoils the graphic functionality of the site, though I have to say that I am no expert on this as it isn’t my realm as I am not a graphic artist, I am a photographer. My impressions are that with most sites they are over indulgent and don’t smell of old professional! In fact the impression is that quite a lot of sites are self indulgent and don’t really reflect the usage they are being put to. There are some notable exceptions to this of course. If you were to look into this then I think that the most successful sites would be very simple and fast loading. There was some research done into this aspect of sites and how they are viewed by the public at large. The result of the research suggested that if the site didn’t grab your attention within 2ms (yes, 2 thousandths of a second) then the site wasn’t going to work. This rather surprised the researches as they anticipated that the time period would be in order of 30ms (30 thousandths of a second).
It would be impolitic to mention any sites displayed within this forum as I have only looked at a sample of sites whose creators I have had conversations with so I will not name sites which I think are outstanding and professional but when viewed this becomes obvious.

I..

[JBJB]

The only thing I'd add Jules is since you've tinkered with the site, it's taking ages to upload and I've got sooper-dooper broadband.....?

Ian ... ooooh, you've piqued my curiosity now!

[Apple Tree Crafts]

The only thing I'd add Jules is since you've tinkered with the site, it's taking ages to upload and I've got sooper-dooper broadband.....?

Ian ... ooooh, you've piqued my curiosity now!


That's a Mr Site template too...should be really quick, as I haven't added graphics of my own. It loaded quick enough for me, but I was experiencing a slowness with Mr Site myself, and that wasn't logging in, just checking the site through the www to see if I still liked it.

Oh hell....

Jules

[incywincy]

I think it looks great Jules - Love the wooden background ;)

Mr Site can be a pain, but it does the job and yours looks fab so far. Good luck.

btw... This website may help - http://aboutmrsite.com/index.html
Check out the tips and tricks section.
x

[Apple Tree Crafts]

I've just had a quick read through, and that's brilliant! I'll give it a thorough going over when I've got more time.

Thanks Incy!

Jules