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Finally launched- need critique please

 
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saltydianne

posts: 21

Jan 12, 2008 8:51 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Hi all,

I can`t believe the time is here.   My site is live!  I have only tested on IE 7.0.   The only items I did not complete were loading the 3 little images for each jewelry product.  Some are there.  The others I cannot load until after the next photoshoot this weekend. 

 www.saltychix.com

Please let me know about

1.  The techie stuff- navigation, user experience, pictures loading,

2.  CSS backend type stuff, how does that look?  (i now nothing about this)

3.   colors, visual appeal

4.  Does the site make you feel good? happy? sick to your stomach? you know what I mean. 

Any and all suggestions/advice/help are greatly appreciated.

Dianne



-------------------------

Dianne
Sun, Sand and Salty Toes
www.saltychix.com
jkdbjj

posts: 76

Jan 12, 2008 9:09 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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I love it!  I am a guy from the beach.  Will retire there one day. I have a soft spot in my heart for this kind of stuff.  Love you beach girls!
 
Now to your site.  The colors are great, it looks fresh and fun.  It was a good experience.
 
Techie side.  On the jewelry pictures, the thumbnails that you click need to be resampled, so they are clearer at that size.  they look great once clicked on and full size. Other than that I did not see a way to contact you, phne number, address, etc...
 
Good luck
 
EDIT:  I found the contact info on the policy page.  Maybe you make a specific contact page, as that is the norm for a web business.
 
jkdbjj1/12/2008 9:13 PM
LiveWise

posts: 89

Jan 12, 2008 11:29 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Great Site!!!  I like the colors and the products.  It`s very fun and inviting. 
 
I don`t know what it is about the pictures with the hats.  I don`t think the pictures do the hats justice.  Maybe it`s just me though.  If other really like the pictures, then don`t change. 
 
Good Luck!


-------------------------

Natalie Berrett
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Webline

posts: 687

Jan 13, 2008 8:48 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Good look, layout, image. No obvious errors in coding. Nicely done.

The one negative I do see is your document size. Your main page is 619kb, due mainly to the images. Could be a factor for users with slower connections, as well as bandwidth use.



-------------------------

M Hall
Website Critique Community
International Society of Curmudgeons


saltydianne

posts: 21

Jan 13, 2008 10:01 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Webline - WOW, thank you webline.  I told my web guys that you would be the one to identify ANY bugs in the code...(they know that I put the website up for review to the SUN community) they are graphic designers first and foremost so the images being crisp etc. is important, but you are right about the size.   I will ask them if it can be reduced and not lose any of the quality.  Thank you for taking time as I always enjoy and learn from your reviews.

- Thank you Natalie, you are right.  The cap pix need some help.  They are 1st on the list to have new photos taken.   I thought that having closeups would show the style and color better, but now I am thinking of having the models standing on the beach and taking a wider whole body pix to show the outfit and the caps.  

enjoy your weekend!

 

 



-------------------------

Dianne
Sun, Sand and Salty Toes
www.saltychix.com
Nuevolution

posts: 1223

Jan 14, 2008 2:53 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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I just checked your web site on the following Browsers:
1. Mozilla Browser- Looks fine from this end...
2. Opera Browser- Looks good from this end except for the buttons... I noticed that they have this ugly white outline... I think if you are trying to use drop shadows on the buttons, you should go with PNG`s instead of Jpg or Gif. (please look at the checkout, continue shopping and update quantity)
4. IE7.0... well like you said it looks good on that end..
5. Safari Browser - Looks good downloads fast...

Now here is something you may want to address ASAP... I went to www.w3c.org and use the HTML Validator tool, I noticed that there`s 12 errors that need to be addressed, and on the CSS side it looks good..

OVER ALL I LIKE THE DESIGN.... JUST FIX THOSE SMALL PROBLEMS...
as for the 619KB, don`t worry about it, it downloaded fast... Don`t worry about the customers that have a slow connection. Obviously if they can`t afford a DSL or Broadband connection, they can`t afford to purchase any of your items, thats why theres Walmart and Dollar Tree Discount Stores...

Nuevolution1/14/2008 2:55 AM


-------------------------

Edgar Monroy
Web Developer / Owner / Consultant
When starting your own business the need to "know-how" is greater than money!
http://www.nuevolution.net
saltydianne

posts: 21

Jan 14, 2008 8:11 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Thank you very much Edgar for testing on the other browsers.    Nice to know we passed on those. 

You made me laugh, my web guys and I thought the same thing about the slow connections.....I had to figure out my target marke and make the website appeal to that arena.  The site is very graphic rich and that is how these web guys do everything.   

I just sent my web dev team an email about running it thru w3c.org.  

thank you for taking the time. 

Di



-------------------------

Dianne
Sun, Sand and Salty Toes
www.saltychix.com
CraigL

posts: 9051

Jan 16, 2008 1:48 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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I`m using a DSL line, and although the "choppy" loading isn`t all that much, it is noticeable, so if there does happen to be a way to maybe reduce some of the background image sizes, that`d be great. On the other hand, a lot of sites, ours included, go more for the cool look. :-) And this site definitely looks cool...!

What I noticed is a sort of almost subliminal oddness between the product images using models, and those without. I know there are pros and cons to using people models, but you`re using them well, so I think you should go the whole route and use them for all your products. In particular, the belts.

I get the idea of the chokers and bracelets, and they`re pretty easy to identify. But when I saw the featured belt (latest style), I really had to think for a minute to figure out what it is. If you were to put the belts on some waists, I`m thinking they`d show off more nicely...or at least more immediately?

I got a bit confused, too, with the closeups of the hats. Maybe a bit too close? :-) I decided to email to a friend, and chose another email account of mine. That worked okay, until I wanted to go back to where I started. I looked around for a "close" or "exit" or "continue shopping," but only saw "referring page." I wonder if that`ll be confusing to some people?

By golly, I got an email from myself! I wasn`t expecting that...how nice! :-D And not only that, but when I clicked the link, I went directly to the product I`d recommended to myself...! So that works great!

On the home page, "t-shirts" is spelled with either a dash, or "tee shirts," or "T-shirts" with the capital, but never "tshirt" without the spacing. I`d keep that spelling on one of your subsidiary pages, maybe in the product description for 1 of the products, just for SEO purposes, but not on the home page.

All these are tiny little, picky things, y`know? All in all, it`s a good site! Will you buy us each a boat if you get rich?
saltydianne

posts: 21

Jan 16, 2008 8:31 AM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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Hi Craig;

Great observations.  

The choppy load, used to bother me, but now I am used to it. I am hesitant to reduce the backgroud image.  I don`t want to lose any of the quality.  Yes, the caps do need better photos.   The final photo shoot for the caps did not quite work out like I expected.    

On my to do list - Belts on models for the main product shots, Better cap photos- not too close, I am going to make some keywords tshirt.   This SEO stuff is hard. 

Yes - that referring page should be changed to   Return to products.   Good catch.  

My goal is to take my entrepreneur friends with me to Necker Island!! how cool would that be?

Thank you for your help and input through all of my pre launch jitters!

di

 



-------------------------

Dianne
Sun, Sand and Salty Toes
www.saltychix.com
creativelyse

posts: 75

Jan 24, 2008 8:48 PM ET    Quote  Report Abuse
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I really enjoy the design:)
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