View Full Version : Introductions: Feature your Site!
Let me start by introducing myself - I'm Richard, the lead developer of Bluepark's software, and you've probably either received an email from me or discussed matters over the phone.
It would be great to hear a little about who you are and what you do. Please feel free to share the URL of your site, for example:
www.bluepark.co.uk (http://www.bluepark.co.uk)
entertaintoday
03-09-2007, 08:13
Hi, I'm David and I run EntertainToday Ltd
www.entertaintoday.co.uk (http://www.entertaintoday.co.uk)
Bumps & Beyond
03-09-2007, 09:03
;) Hi I am Julie I recently launched Bumps and Beyond, my website is www.bumpsandbeyondonline.co.uk (http://www.bumpsandbeyondonline.co.uk) .
Anyone intersted in doing link swaps? Obviously it would be better if the items are relevant to what we sell!
I am a mum to 3 girls and am currently trying to get my business off the ground while staying at home with my youngest daughter.
Looking forward to any useful tips hints and advice!
Thanks
Julie.
Rocking Parties
03-09-2007, 09:27
Hi, I'm Raj and I run Rocking Parties: www.rockingparties.co.uk
Hi All,
I'm Chris from Stockings Direct (http://www.stockingsdirect.co.uk). Well done to Richard for launching the forum. I'm sure it will be a great resource for us all.
I'm Karen,
I run Jelly and Ice Cream Parties, I have 4 children, 3 boys & a girl (ages 9,7,4 & 1) and not a lot of spare time !
www.jellyandicecreamparties.com (http://www.jellyandicecreamparties.com)
entertaintoday
03-09-2007, 14:15
I like your jelly site, looks good! :)
What program did you use to do the flash banner? I'd love to have something like that. :confused:
Thanks
I've got a friend who is a graphic designer, he did the banner for me. I'll find out what software he used for you. I'll be changing it in a couple of days for a halloween one that he has done.
little-linguist
03-09-2007, 16:23
Hi,
I'm Catherine from www.little-linguist.co.uk (http://www.little-linguist.co.uk) . We sell children's foreign-language learning resources to parents, schools, nurseries and language clubs etc.
I'm looking forward to getting to know other "Blueparkers" and your sites.
Hi All,
I am Lee and have recently set up www.snowskateandsurf.com (http://www.snowskateandsurf.com/) and probably like a number of you would be interested to learn from and hopefully maybe even help others work towards what we are all aiming for.
Anyone interested or willing to share thoughts and ideas please feel free to give me a shout at lee@snowskateandsurf.com (lee@snowskateandsurf.com)
andy@speeds
03-09-2007, 20:21
Hi, I'm Andy owner of Speeds Cycles and very happy user of Blueprk. Hope to get some help and info to work on the site. Please feel free to ask me anything about my site and how we went about building it.
Hi all
We have been members of BluePark since June, site launched in July, and sell toys, kids books, arts & crafts and fun furniture. Our site is:
http://www.fatbananafeet.com
There are some nice sites here, a testament to the BluePark product's flexibility.
Pete
andy@speeds
03-09-2007, 20:50
Hi Petad, some great products! Love the Brum pedal car. Would be happy to give you some feedback on your site if of interest to you :)
Thanks Andy, all feedback welcomed, as I'm pretty new to this, especially in terms of the design features.
I was just looking at your site when your message came through, funnily enough - you have some nice pictures, which is one of the things I am struggling with. mostly I just rely on stock stuff from the suppliers. Where do you source yours from?
Pete
PS - Andy, I just got a 404 page Error when I clicked on the main bike photo, which you may want to check out.
andy@speeds
03-09-2007, 21:01
Cool, thanks Petad fixed!
andy@speeds
03-09-2007, 21:05
I create all the graphics on the site using either supplier provided images or a bit of creative 'modification'! The best thing I did was get into creating and graphics. It takes some time to get the hang of it but once yu've sussed it, it gets easier.
I use software called Macromedia Fireworks which allows me to create graphics and save them as either .gif or .jpeg The most popular software is probably Adobe Photoshop or maybe Paint Shop Pro. I use Fireworks because its designed for web graphics.
I use Paint Shop Pro at the moment, which is good enough for my capabilities at the moment, but I would like to learn more about flash and the like. Does Macromedia do anything more than just staic graphics, and how does it compare to PSP?
Pete
www.fatbananafeet.com
andy@speeds
03-09-2007, 21:11
my top tip is to try and make all the images in a category the same size. So if one of your images is 200x200 pixels try and make sure all of the other images are the same size. This way your pages will always line up really neatly and look in order. In graphics software you usually have two sizes:
image size ( the size of the picture)
canvas size ( the size of the white background)
as long as the image size fits into the canvas size and all the canvas sizes are the same the images will always look neat and lined up.
andy@speeds
03-09-2007, 21:17
Flash is a Macromedia product. But I have'nt tried to do Flash animations. I started with animated gif's which are usually found in web banners. I think PSP could create them. It might be good to start there and then move onto Flash when you have got the hang of working with layers.
Thanks for the tips Andy.
www.fatbananafeet.com
;) Hi I am Julie I recently launched Bumps and Beyond, my website is www.bumpsandbeyondonline.co.uk (http://www.bumpsandbeyondonline.co.uk) .
Anyone intersted in doing link swaps? Obviously it would be better if the items are relevant to what we sell!
I am a mum to 3 girls and am currently trying to get my business off the ground while staying at home with my youngest daughter.
Looking forward to any useful tips hints and advice!
Thanks
Julie.
To Bumps & Beyond:
Hi Julie - we have sent you a couple of private messages, so please check your inbox. We would be interested in a link swap.
Pete & Emma
http://www.fatbananafeet.com
Hi All
I am Colin and I run a company called fire training videos - I've been in business since 1988 and I am a tv/video/multimedia/graphics producer. We film, edit, produce graphics and so on as the company name suggests our main work involves producing fire safety training programmes, but we also produce all sorts of stuff.
We've played around with web sites - mainly designed in-house and generally not what I wanted. When I discovered 'Bluepark' I was looking at putting a on-line shop together, but didn't like most of the sites that I was being shown by web developers, I didn't go a bundle on their prices either!!!
I personally would like to congratulate Bluepark on their product, the ease of use (although I've been pretty thick on occasions), and their support which I have used regularly.
I'd be pleased to offer any pointers on graphics etc and now I've put the core of my shop toghether I may find the time to design some new stuff.
Colin
TeamTorquesteer
04-09-2007, 06:24
Hi Guys,
Our business has now been running for nearly 4 years.
We sell Ford RS/ST tuning and styling products, everything from a badge to a full exhaust system.
I switched to Bluepark about 18 months ago which is a vast improvement over our old site.
This year alone weve had over 1.5 million page views!
Great to see a forum added where we can hopefully share views etc.
Thanks
Martin
Hi Martin
Very impressive page view numbers. What do you put the success of this down to? Do you advertise a lot?
Pete
TeamTorquesteer
04-09-2007, 09:10
Hi Pete,
I only advertise in 2 Ford magazines each month and these are only UK based.
We're sending orders now all over the world, in particular Japan and South Africa.
Since switching to Bluepark our hits have soared and I think this is mainly due to the fact its so Google friendly. Most of the stuff we sell, when searched for, usually ends up at at the top of page 1 on Google which I feel is the major contributor on how weve grown over the past couple of years.
As with most businesses you have to get your name out there and within our own field of car parts, a lot is down to word of mouth and returning customers.
Martin
Thanks Martin. There's hope on the horizon then - I have seen our placing move up the Google rankings since the new addition of a descriptive url for product pages, which is great.
Interested to hear you sell to South Africa, as I was born there, and my parents live there still. I would like to get into that market, but have assumed because of currency restrictions and the high exchange rate of the Rand that it was a no-go. How have you coped with that?
Pete
Hi everyone, I'm Carl, I've just joined the forum and have recently taken over Pound for Life. www.poundforlife.co.uk (http://www.poundforlife.co.uk)
Welcome Carl. We have a couple of the tokens ourselves. Best of luck with the site.
Pete
Hi, I'm Gill and I run www.ever-so-sexy.com (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com) where we specialise in luxury lingerie. We started the business this time last year, initially using Actinic Lite, but lite turned out to be a very accurate description - it could not get more basic and the support was minimal. Then I found Bluepark and the wonderful Richard, switched over to Bluepark in October in time for the Christmas business and have not regretted it for a moment. Apart from saying hello and introducing myself and the business - I'd just like to take this chance to give a vote of thanks to a great product and service (and no I don't have shares in Bluepark :-) I just think it is great.
May I introduce myself and company - I run www.internetwigs.com (http://www.internetwigs.com) with a great team of staff. I am the head consultant. We moved on to Blue Park in May this year with our personal graphic design, which has been integrated successfully. Rich has been brilliant - I wish him and his team a great future, don't loose your hair by being too busy - if you do, please visit our site.
Thanks Pete, just had a look on your site, you have some very good images on there.
Welcome to the forum Angella and Gill.
Carl
Hi
l'm David, l help with www.Wholesaleglass.co.uk (http://www.Wholesaleglass.co.uk)
Thank god this forum has come along ! lol .. time to start picking everybodys brains for new ideas so l can stop bugging Richard (only joking).
We sell glass splashbacks for kitchens, bathrooms and of course there'll be discounts for Blueparkers.
Hi
l'm David, l help with www.Wholesaleglass.co.uk (http://www.Wholesaleglass.co.uk)
Thank god this forum has come along ! lol .. time to start picking everybodys brains for new ideas so l can stop bugging Richard (only joking).
We sell glass splashbacks for kitchens, bathrooms and of course there'll be discounts for Blueparkers.
Welcome to the Forum David. Nice use of images on your site.
Pete
Hi,
I'm Andy my better half Caroline runs www.babybeesknees.co.uk (http://www.babybeesknees.co.uk/) I just do the technical stuff and help out when needed.
We're new to bluepark having moved from a different provider and frankly, based on our experiences, bluepark is in a different league to other products out there.
Andy
Hi Andy
Our situation is very similar, Emma runs the buying and selling, and I do the website stuff.
Welcome to the forum.
Regards
Pete
Bumps & Beyond
01-10-2007, 18:00
Hi Andy and Caroline
I too do the buying and my Husband does the technical work. I've sent you a message through your enquiries form on your website
Regards
Julie
Welcome to the Forum David. Nice use of images on your site.
Pete
hi Pete , thanks for that .. love your site, you must have some great fun trying out all the products. :-)
hi Pete , thanks for that .. love your site, you must have some great fun trying out all the products. :-)
On pain of death...Emma would kill me and the kids if we damaged her precious goods.
Hi I'm robert and I am in the the throes of setting up my first e commerce site. We are printing the great comedt tshirts along with a few other ideas we have. i have bought the latest digital printing kit and now need to get it to pay for itself :eek:
I am very new to this site set up larf and am finding it moderately muddy but the curve is quite steep :-)
please feel free to look at the site and please give me feedback
thanks
Rob
www.toptee.co.uk (http://www.toptee.co.uk)
Hi I'm robert and I am in the the throes of setting up my first e commerce site. We are printing the great comedt tshirts along with a few other ideas we have. i have bought the latest digital printing kit and now need to get it to pay for itself :eek:
I am very new to this site set up larf and am finding it moderately muddy but the curve is quite steep :-)
please feel free to look at the site and please give me feedback
thanks
Rob
www.toptee.co.uk (http://www.toptee.co.uk)
Welcome to the forums Rob. I had a laugh at some of your slogans (particularly the Tesco one). We are pretty new, and the learning has been steep for us too, but you'll find Bluepark, and Rich in particular (he's away at the moment), very responsive and helpful.
Pete
Hi Everyone,
I'm John from www.prezziesplus.co.uk (http://www.prezziesplus.co.uk) a Gifts and Gadgets (I hate that word) site newly migrated from Craptinic, we went live last night and so far so good:D we lost very little traffic in the move and sales have been coming in fast today, only now we have proper stock control.
Please take a look at our site and tell me what you think, good or bad, we have run the site since October 05 on the aformentioned software, with increasing problems and frustrations at the limitations of a program that can only be accessed by one person on one machine and takes 20 minutes to update the smallest change.
Like the rest of you I'm really impressed by the progress Richard has made in the last year and the rapid improvement of this software, I'm sure it will become a major seller in the future, now if only we can persuade him to do a license version:rolleyes:
TeamTorquesteer
01-11-2007, 22:36
Hi John,
Great site!! I could spend a fortune on there will Xmas coming up .... :D
Thanks
Martin
Hi Everyone,
Please take a look at our site and tell me what you think, good or bad,:rolleyes:
very nice site! you have the design skills down pat :eek:
Easy to navigate too!
i like the post banner at the top, important info that straight from the off.
Didnt like the 25% off everything all the time. That means that this is the price and there is no discount! i would think of rephrasing that one. But hey what do I know, my site isnt a month old.............
:rolleyes:
Hi All
I'm Mike and first off I have to admit that I don't have a clue about HTML, PSP etc. etc. However I discovered BluePark about 3 weeks ago after trawling the net and trying a few other trial programmes and took the plunge to set up an ecommerce site for my wife (like a number of others I notice!) to sell her handbag hooks. She thinks I'm a whiz with computers and seeing our new site now she is even more convinced.
This, of course, is down to Richard but I'd also like to thank all the other contributors who have asked and answered all the things I needed to get us going.
I hope I can make a similar contribution to this forum in the future.
Please take a look at Purse Angels (http://www.purseangels.co.uk). Any comments or errors noticed are much appreciated. We are actually live from today and have already made 8 sales using Google Adwords.
Fantastic!
Although it was all a bit daunting at first it gets easier as you become more familiar with the programme. There are still a few mysteries though which I am sure I'll get to grips with in the fullness of time.
A smiley confession though - Richard set me up with an alternative user name, other than Admin, which I duly used for the first 10 days or so. I then decided to login as Admin and discovered all these strange symbols appearing on the web pages. I had discovered EasyEdit by accident. Some of you may recall the trouble you have at the beginning trying to remember your way around. Now that's what I call a Eureka moment. (Div or what!!:-))
Sorry to waffle a bit!
Regards
Mike
_______________
Purse Angels (http://www.purseangels.co.uk) (Back Office)
JAM Technics
03-01-2008, 15:19
Hi I'm Mark from Stage Ninja.
I have just used Bluepark to set up my second e commerce site selling a unique retractable cable system to musicians, DJs and sound technicians. It went live on 1st Jan.
My first site also used Bluepark; www.poundforlife.co.uk (http://www.poundforlife.co.uk) I founded the site just over 2 years ago, starting with shop factory and for 13 months using Bluepark. Bluepark made a tremendous difference to my natural search rankings.
I recently sold Pound for life to it's to new owners who are delighted with Blueparks performance.
I have set up an ongoing discount code 'bluepark' - If any of you have friends or family who are musicians they can save 10% by entering this at checkout. Actually if they are quick and order before the 20th of Jan this discount will be added to our current saving of 20%!
Happy New Year to you all and may Rich keep up all the good work.....
roobyroo
18-01-2008, 22:12
Hi, I'm John, I'm a beginner at e-commerce and run the store www.characterplanet.co.uk
needundies
02-02-2008, 15:54
Hi everybody, I'm Andrew from Needundies.com, relaunched yesterday 1st February. We had been using Evolve from Lynxinternet for the last 4 years, but it didn't really "Evolve" at all!
Bluepark just about fulfilled everything we needed so we were really happy to find it amongst the many other packages out there.
The site is fairly basic at the moment, we have no real design skills, but the template we are currently using fitted in with our existing branding.
If you need any undies, feel free to visit and make use of the following discount code, "nufeb2008" to get a 10% discount!.
Andy
Hi Andy, and welcome to the forum. You'll find Bluepark is constantly evolving, and the support is excellent. Best of luck with the new site.
I am very curious as to how you have a Google PR of 3 if you only launched yesterday. Did you bring the domain name with you?
Pete
needundies
03-02-2008, 08:41
Hi Pete, we brought the domain name with us, we have been trading for over 4 years.
We used to have a PR of 5 until Google changed its algorithm a couple of years ago!.
Andy
Hey Julie, I'm in Leicestershire too - fancy meeting up sometime to discuss 'which buttons to press to make Bluepark work better for me'?
It's a lonely life in sole trader land.
Llynda
Hi
My name is Julie and I run www.armcandyonline.co.uk (http://www.armcandyonline.co.uk) The website has been up and running for about 2 years although we have only been with BluePark since October 2007.
Sales are coming along although they could be better.
We sell unique and unusual handbags, costume jewellery and belts so if you are looking for beautiful gifts for loved ones then please visit the site.
Quite happy to share links with anyone interested.
Bumps & Beyond
04-03-2008, 09:47
Hi Julie and Llynda
I too am in Leicestershire and agree it is a lonely place in sole trader land! I'd be interested in chatting or meeting if you fancy it. Llynda what do you sell?
My name is Julie too I run a plus size maternity and nursing wear website.
I'll happy to do a link swap with you Julie if you want to contact me we can arrange it.
All the Best
Julie
Hi everyone. We have just launched our new site www.shredderstoreuk.co.uk (http://www.shredderstoreuk.co.uk). We have found that Bluepark does everything we want from it. It's an excellent system. We would welcome comments on our site.
Alan
Hi everyone. We have just launched our new site www.shredderstoreuk.co.uk (http://www.shredderstoreuk.co.uk). We have found that Bluepark does everything we want from it. It's an excellent system. We would welcome comments on our site.
Alan
Hi Alan.
You've made a good choice - the Bluepark product and the support are both excellent.
Welcome!
Regards
Pete
Jonathan Read
20-03-2008, 09:21
We are new to the forum - but would like to introduce ourselves/myself!
We are an established independant Garden Centre os some 32 years and have moved into ecommerce after selecting Bluepark from a long list of 'others'. I can only say that its been one of the most painless system introductions that I can remember - very pleased with the result:D. We have even managed to link both Bluepark and our EPOS system so that stock and prices are syncronised.
I like the comment about a quite forum - you're all right, a welcome change from some I have encountered.
Like everyone I beleive, the hard work does not stop once its all set-up - we are now trying to get better visibility on search engines, quite a learning curve this one!
We always welcome feedback (www.podington.co.uk (http://www.podington.co.uk)) and we will help where we can.
Kind regards
Like everyone I beleive, the hard work does not stop once its all set-up - we are now trying to get better visibility on search engines, quite a learning curve this one!
We always welcome feedback (www.podington.co.uk (http://www.podington.co.uk)) and we will help where we can.
Welcome Jonathan. Nice clean looking site. I see you have a PR of 3 already, so you must be doing something right!
Regards
Pete
Hi everyone. We have just launched our new site www.shredderstoreuk.co.uk (http://www.shredderstoreuk.co.uk). We have found that Bluepark does everything we want from it. It's an excellent system. We would welcome comments on our site.
Alan
Hi Alan,
Its always nice to welcome fellow Bluepark users to the forum. Compared to other ecommerce forums this one is very quiet but thats because Bluepark is so bloody good compared to other solutions out there in the world! It does exactly what it says on the tin.
I like your site and have a couple of suggestions. Having worked in the office supplies industry for a number of years I know how stupid some customers can be so would suggest
1) Cross Cut, Strip Cut, Diamond Cut - Explain what each of these mean
2) Security Levels - Explain what each security level means
3) On each individual product pages put some narrative to help in your rankings. This is very difficult for us because we sell toners which don't really do much but print. However, you could say "The rexel XXX shredder is the ultimate in office shredders. If could are looking for a shredder to destroy dvd/cd/credit cards as well as paper then look no further" then perhaps repeat bits of the spec
Hope the above helps and good luck with your site!
Welcome Jonathan. Nice clean looking site. I see you have a PR of 3 already, so you must be doing something right!
Regards
Pete
Not that simple or such a newcomer, I see the site goes back to December 1998 so you have a few years experience, must be why you chose Bluepark! site looks good, the only thing I don't immediately like is the long scroll on the home page, I assume it's for SEO, not sure it does much good, the text at the beginning of the page is what really counts.
We are new to the forum - but would like to introduce ourselves/myself!
We are an established independant Garden Centre os some 32 years and have moved into ecommerce after selecting Bluepark from a long list of 'others'. I can only say that its been one of the most painless system introductions that I can remember - very pleased with the result:D. We have even managed to link both Bluepark and our EPOS system so that stock and prices are syncronised.
I like the comment about a quite forum - you're all right, a welcome change from some I have encountered.
Like everyone I beleive, the hard work does not stop once its all set-up - we are now trying to get better visibility on search engines, quite a learning curve this one!
We always welcome feedback (www.podington.co.uk (http://www.podington.co.uk)) and we will help where we can.
Kind regards
Hi Jonathan,
Welcome to the forum and think your site looks really great.
Did you have a website before on this domain name? Very interested to know how you have got a PR of 3 so quickly!
Jonathan Read
20-03-2008, 12:25
We have had a DIY 'brochure' site for some time as you rightly point out - never made any effort to market it other than on our letterheads and advertisments. This page ranking is something I assume is earned over time (unless theres a trick out there somewhere).
I have always had a marketing background and become proficient in photoshop which is usually the big stumbling block. Just emphasise again the Bluepark made the rest of it so easy!
Now we have ecommerce we are open to different customers and so we are entering the worlds of adwords/analytics/keywords and all that stuff, which has all been alien to me.
By the way, I notice I am classed as 'Junior Member', being 42 I quite like that - how old do you have to be to be a 'Senior Member'!
By the way, I notice I am classed as 'Junior Member', being 42 I quite like that - how old do you have to be to be a 'Senior Member'!
Well I am older than you and notice I am a Member. Maybe I will get promoted soon to Senior Member :) To be honest I have not got a clue what the difference is between junior member/member/senior member. Is it the number of posts you make? Is it whether you have completed your profile?
Anyone know the difference?
Plushpaws
20-03-2008, 12:36
Hi Dave,
Membership status is simply based on the number of posts made.
Hi Dave,
Membership status is simply based on the number of posts made.
Thanks for your prompt answer!
I look forward to becoming a Senior Member in the near future :D
Hi Alan,
Its always nice to welcome fellow Bluepark users to the forum. Compared to other ecommerce forums this one is very quiet but thats because Bluepark is so bloody good compared to other solutions out there in the world! It does exactly what it says on the tin.
I like your site and have a couple of suggestions. Having worked in the office supplies industry for a number of years I know how stupid some customers can be so would suggest
1) Cross Cut, Strip Cut, Diamond Cut - Explain what each of these mean
2) Security Levels - Explain what each security level means
3) On each individual product pages put some narrative to help in your rankings. This is very difficult for us because we sell toners which don't really do much but print. However, you could say "The rexel XXX shredder is the ultimate in office shredders. If could are looking for a shredder to destroy dvd/cd/credit cards as well as paper then look no further" then perhaps repeat bits of the spec
Hope the above helps and good luck with your site!
Thanks for your comments Dave. We will be implementing your suggestions! I agree with your comments on Bluepark. They are certainly on to a winner.
Hope your site is doing well.
Regards
Alan
Thanks for your prompt answer!
I look forward to becoming a Senior Member in the near future :D
Its definitely based on the number and not quality of posts.:p. QED!
Thanks for your comments Dave. We will be implementing your suggestions! I agree with your comments on Bluepark. They are certainly on to a winner.
Hope your site is doing well.
Regards
Alan
Hi alan
Very early days and site is only into 2nd month. Adwords costing me a fortune so roll on decent natural search listings. This time next year rodney!
Hi alan
Very early days and site is only into 2nd month. Adwords costing me a fortune so roll on decent natural search listings. This time next year rodney!
Yeah I know how you feel! We started our adwords campaign this week and have spent lots of time putting in negative key words. If we sold garden or food shredders we'd make a fortune! Also, still getting lots of clicks from various parts of ebay which we are trying to stop.
Zazachat gives us excellent information on how browsers are using our site. It's worth checking out.
We feel that the google checkout image makes our ads stand out from the crowd and that we don't necessarily have to be in the top 3 to get a click. Conversion to orders is the big issue though.
Regards
Alan
hmmm, toner cartridges and shredding machines. you could do worse than just swapping ads on your front page!
hope im not speaking out of turn.
Zazachat gives us excellent information on how browsers are using our site. It's worth checking out.
Regards
Alan
Hi Alan
Just checked out Zazachat and notice that it's much the same as the Bluepark built in Shoptalk.
I'd be interested to know if others find the Shoptalk useful.
Hi Mike,
We have used shoptalk a few times and have found it good and without a doubt it can help in the conversion of orders. However, I have used the following before which is an excellent package and much more comprehensive but can be expensive especially if you have multiple sites
http://www.whoson.com/
What I like about the above is that when users land on a page on your site it pops a window up like outlook does when an e-mail arrives. You can then see in real time where that visitor goes on your site and what pages/products they look at and whether they have been before. You can invite them to chat and the stats are very comprehensive indeed.
It is very easy to install with just two scripts to upload and then some html which you can put in a block that displays the chat icon.
Adva Trading
30-05-2008, 06:35
One day old with BluePark.
Please have a look and tell me what you think.
(Some categories are still empty, some descriptions empty or rubish: Had to go live fast as my old site died on me.
I am looking for your feedback on general feel, colours, ease of browsing and shopping, and also:
Do you think you are going to remember this website after leaving it?
Would you trust it as shoppers (After it is full and complete)?
Welcome to Bluepark.
As with all Bluepark stores, it functions well straight out of the box, I find the mix of rounded edge images/boxes and square edge boxes very jarring, i would stick to one style to help the eyes.
The repeated 'Range notes' page after page are probably not going to impress Google, they will look like keyword spamming, which of course is what they are.
Thats all I can comment for now, like all Bluepark sites, I'm sure yours will be constantly evolving and improving.
little-linguist
30-05-2008, 07:42
Hello,
Just a few more opinions.
I find your "contact us" system a bit over-complicated and think that perhaps there should be a more simplified way of getting in touch quickly. I think that maybe just one or two different "contact us"forms would suffice, with a drop-down menu for whether it's a sales enquiry, exisiting order enquiry, feedback or whatever. If more information is needed, then you can just get back in touch with them or give them a call. At the very least, move your "sales enquiry" button to the very top of the list as this is your most important one!
Also, customers especially like a phone number and I couldn't find one. This is especially true of older customers and I imagine that a lot of your customers may fall into that category.
Hello
I'm Llynda from BigDogStuff.co.uk supplying clothing for humans and working equipment and other intersting stuff for large/giant breed dogs. I also print t shirts and do dye sublimation on all kinds of items such as mugs, mousemats etc that can have any print on them including photographs. If any of you need a small run of t shirts, polos or some promotional items in a smallish run - get in touch. I'm not vat registered yet either so even better if you're not too.
Hi
I am Hela from Good Thymes supplying wedding stationery and craft items. I have a retail outlet in Milton Keynes, and started using Blue Park in January, but to be honest have spent very little time on it, as we have been very busy in the shop.
I am terrible at taking photos and this is our biggest problem. Despite spending a fortune on camera, lights and lots of other bits I am still not very impressed. I just dont seem to be able to get to grips with the light and although I am using Photoshop, just am not getting it. I am not very technical - being a arty creative type and with a bit of help from my husbund and lots of help from Rich have managed to get a basic site up and running.
Had an ekmpowershop website before - they were a nightmare. Love Blue park to bits just wish I had more time to spend on it.
Welcome any messages or feedback (please dont be too harsh....).
Hela
www.goodthymes.co.uk (http://www.goodthymes.co.uk)
Your photos need either a better lens, more light, a smaller aperture (to give a greater depth of field) or a combination of all three to improve the images, you can correct alot of things in Photoshop but you can never change out of focus or too shallow depth of focus.
IMHO spend as much on the lens as eveything else combined and you won't be disappointed.
Hi John,
Thanks for that, guess I need to go and get a new camera, I have been looking at the SLR ones for a while, but you know what it is like I did not want to get a new camera if it was just me being incompetent.
Thanks
Hela
Hi Hela
Like you I'm not that well up on the photography side of things but if you have the option on your camera, save the pic as a RAW file as this gives you a lot more control in Photoshop. The RAW file is high resolution so takes a fair bit of memory. When it loads into Photoshop it automatically opens in a colour adjustment window where you can alter colours, contrasts and lighting and the difference is quite stunning. Once you've made the adjustments you can then save as a .jpeg to save space and load quicker onto Bluepark. Good luck!
Hubscriber
02-07-2008, 10:27
Hi all,
Just taking advantage of this thread to plug my online IT shop containing hardware and software suitable for writers (though we'll happily sell to anyone, of course!)
Google Ads, here I come... :cool:
Hi I'm clive I've been running partywizard for 4 years now and we are about to move over to bluepark
http://www.partwizard.co.uk
Hi I'm clive I've been running partywizard for 4 years now and we are about to move over to bluepark
http://www.partwizard.co.uk
Hi Clive,
Welcome to Bluepark!
You need to change the url in your post as it is not spelt correctly
Hi All,
I am Lee and have recently set up www.snowskateandsurf.com (http://www.snowskateandsurf.com/) and probably like a number of you would be interested to learn from and hopefully maybe even help others work towards what we are all aiming for.
Anyone interested or willing to share thoughts and ideas please feel free to give me a shout at lee@snowskateandsurf.com (lee@snowskateandsurf.com)
Hi Lee,
I just tried to access your website and got a could not display page? Hope you have not got a problem.
Take care
Hela
Hi,
Moving to Blue Park was the best thing that we did.... Good Luck
Take care
Hela
Thanks for spotting that one Dave I meant
www.partywizard.co.uk (http://www.partywizard.co.uk)
Still first week live going ok Just waiting for Google to start indexing my new pages
mikepayn
11-08-2008, 21:54
Hi,
I'm Mike, we moved to Bluepark when eBay changed their ways of working and our sales dropped from 80 to 100 sales per week (increasing) to 5 or 6 sales per week!
It is all new for us and I'm afraid we have plagued Richard (like many others it seems). We are slowly moving now and our users and page views are nearly doubling every month. We have just signed up for AdWords and have signed on with DMOZ and Yahoo so - Fingers Crossed!
Great Forum, we have picked up loads of hints. Maybe one day we will have something to add!!
Best wishes to all,
Mike
http://www.carhamptonemart.co.uk
Hi Mike, and welcome to the forum. As I'm sure you have already realised, you've made a good choice with Bluepark.
Regards
Pete
Hello all
I just wanted to introduce myself. Im Sarah (obviously!) and I joined bluepark 9 days ago and I am extemely impressed so far. Thanks for your help Richard for getting me started last week.
I would really welcome any feedback (good or bad) about my site.
Sarah
www.4gamez.co.uk (http://www.4gamez.co.uk)
Hello all
I just wanted to introduce myself. Im Sarah (obviously!) and I joined bluepark 9 days ago and I am extemely impressed so far. Thanks for your help Richard for getting me started last week.
I would really welcome any feedback (good or bad) about my site.
Sarah
www.4gamez.co.uk (http://www.4gamez.co.uk)
Hi Sarah,
Welcome to the Bluepark Forum!
Just a couple of things I have noticed from the initial look at your site
1) The Catalogue, Welcome headings etc need the left & right images changing from grey to purple
2) There is no telephone number or address which may put some shoppers off from purchasing
Hi Dave
Thanks for that - yes I actually did the ends in purple, but I was outvoted by my business partner who wanted them grey - but I think I'll change them back.
Were moving premises at the moment and as soon as we have a dedicated office line and address I'll add them to the info. Incidentally, what do you think customers opinions are of PO box numbers?
Sarah
Hi Dave
Thanks for that - yes I actually did the ends in purple, but I was outvoted by my business partner who wanted them grey - but I think I'll change them back.
Were moving premises at the moment and as soon as we have a dedicated office line and address I'll add them to the info. Incidentally, what do you think customers opinions are of PO box numbers?
Sarah
Sarah,
PO Box numbers can be a bit off putting as well but it is much better than not having any address at all displayed.
As long as your telephone number is displayed clearly in the header and the postal address on the contact page it should be fine.
Hi Dave
Thanks for that - yes I actually did the ends in purple, but I was outvoted by my business partner who wanted them grey - but I think I'll change them back.
Were moving premises at the moment and as soon as we have a dedicated office line and address I'll add them to the info. Incidentally, what do you think customers opinions are of PO box numbers?
Sarah
It is actually technically illegal not to have a geographical address on site when selling online, together with your company details if you have one, personally I would never buy anything from a site with only a PO box as a contact address, there are too many ways of operating a scam from a PO box and the Royal Mail will not deliver 'signed for' mail to a PO box.
Also I would put your Google Verification code at admin/configuration.php in the correct box, not as a public link on your sitemap.
the funky fairy
09-10-2008, 19:48
Hello Everyone
Just joined Blue Park not had a chance to read my downloaded manual but need to get my site working by next week as we are exhibiting at Earls Court next week so expect to get lots of traffic to the site.
Anyone know of a web designer that can work miracles for me?
www.thefunkyfairy.co.uk
Vicki
mikepayn
09-10-2008, 21:39
Hi Vicki,
Welcome (from another newcomer), you'll not regret joining BluePark. I don't know of any web designers that could help you offhand - I'm sure the others can though. To get your site loaded and up and running in a week I reckon would need more than one miracle :eek:
However, in the meantime, to make the web designers' job easier make sure you have an XL spreadsheet with all your product details, info, dimensions, weights etc ready for them to upload to BluePark. Also be sure to have your images ready also (oh don't forget to use keyword rich file names ie not img123.jpg but a more descriptive title.jpg) - Sorry, You probably know this already!
All the best next week.
mikepayn
Carhampton eMart (http://www.carhamptonemart.co.uk)
Hi Vicki,
Welcome to Bluepark and the users Forum.
I think you will be really struggling to get your site up and running in less one week and think you would be better perhaps having a nice holding page until you can spend more time developing the site.
In terms of a web designer I know at least one Bluepark user has used the following company
http://www.dpdesign.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/
Good luck next week the exhibition and hope it all goes well.
Anyone know of a web designer that can work miracles for me?
www.thefunkyfairy.co.uk (http://www.thefunkyfairy.co.uk)
Vicki
Hi Vicki
It does depend what you are looking to have done, but there are a number of web designers and developers that use the UK Business Labs forum (http://www.ukbusinesslabs.co.uk/forums/graphic-design-web-design-photography-offered/)that would be more than willing to help.
Pete
the funky fairy
10-10-2008, 12:14
Thanks for all your comments and suggestions already keep them coming as I am more than green I know I should have started this website well before Xmas !
Vicki
Green East
10-10-2008, 17:01
Hi, I'm Kay
I have build and optimised my site - to a degree, releasing it last month and going well. Just popped in to introduce myself and look for some advice on coding. See you over in the coding threads if I can find my way :-)
xpertron.co.uk
20-11-2008, 18:12
Hi, it is Tim
Rich is the star! With his help, we managed to build our website in 5 days. Thanks for all tips, advices, guides and comments on this forum. It is very helpful for us.
-----------
www.Xpertron.co.uk
Specialist in Nintendo and Sony Gaming Devices
pinkypie
21-11-2008, 07:50
Hi everyone,
Some of you have probably already seen me around asking too many questions. I've been trading for around 4 years but the site we had before was pants so we looked for a change and found Bluepark.
I have been with Bluepark a month now and find the features great and everything easy so to use. The best thing is being able to send the newsletters which would could never do before. I sent my first this week to tell customers we had relaunched and gace a discount code and I had a good number for sales. So it is all good. The site is still in progress as I have another 500+ lines to add to the site and I am a sole trader so it is a bit long winded doing it all alone.
I used to run my business from eBay but I do not think they are any good now so have moved to just trading from my website.
My site is www.lingerie-heaven.com (http://www.lingerie-heaven.com) and any promotions I have running will be shown in my sig!
Welcome lingerieheaven - feels like you've been around a while already. You've made a great choice with Bluepark (but you know that by now).
Regards
Pete
I've been testing my web site and have received some good feed back.
I've even managed to sell a few travel businesses as well as book some vacations and we haven't officially launched yet.
I would appreciate any feed back you care to offer.
http://www.thebestonlinetravel.com/
Thanks in Advance.
I've been testing my web site and have received some good feed back.
I've even managed to sell a few travel businesses as well as book some vacations and we haven't officially launched yet.
I would appreciate any feed back you care to offer.
http://www.thebestonlinetravel.com/
Thanks in Advance.
Don't mean to be a doubting Thomas, but is this a Bluepark site...?
Pete
Think Thomas maybe trying to get some extra seo brownie points / business with his post. As you say it's not a Bluepark site and therefore his post should be treated as spam and deleted!
Hi Everyone,
I'm Neil from www.plantsbypost.com (http://www.plantsbypost.com), we went live on 2nd Jan and so far so good, website hits have been good and sales have starting coming in, and people seem to be spending time to look round the whole site.
We are starting off selling vegetable plants by mail order, before adding additional items during the summer.
Please take a look at our site and tell me what you think, good or bad, we have spent 2 months designing the site, 1st with Ekm, then with Shopmaker before we found Blue Park, which I have to say was a breath of fresh air compared to the others. Thanks Richard.
Still uploading products to the site so not the complete package yet.
Regards
Neil
Hi Neil,
Welcome to the Forum. Always nice to welcome a fellow Blueparker and East Midlander :)
You have made the right choice in Bluepark and will not be disappointed!
Site looks very nice, job well done
The only thing I noticed not working from a quick look is the navigation bar. The home, about us and contact us links do not work
On a slightly different note create a signature on the forum (quick links-->edit signature) which includes your url. Can not do any harm and will help search engines find you
Got me worried now as the links work on all our computers, what browser are you using?
Neil
Got me worried now as the links work on all our computers, what browser are you using?
Neil
It is only the navigation bar which is not working. Everything else seems to be working fine.
Does not work for me in Firefox or Safari so don't think it will be a browser issue
It is only the navigation bar which is not working. Everything else seems to be working fine.
Does not work for me in Firefox or Safari so don't think it will be a browser issue
Not sure if you've fixed this in the interim Neil, but the Navigation works OK for me.
Nice looking site - welcome to the fold.
Regards
Pete
Another East Midlander
Not sure if you've fixed this in the interim Neil, but the Navigation works OK for me.
Nice looking site - welcome to the fold.
Regards
Pete
Another East Midlander
Strange pete because it still does not work for me :confused:
Try it now!
It was a firefox problem, have had to download to see and Richard quickly picked up the problem, so 5stars to him.
Back to Explorer for me. Do not like Firefox at all.
Neil
Try it now!
It was a firefox problem, have had to download to see and Richard quickly picked up the problem, so 5stars to him.
Back to Explorer for me. Do not like Firefox at all.
Neil
Now it's stopped working for me! (just kidding).
Try it now!
It was a firefox problem, have had to download to see and Richard quickly picked up the problem, so 5stars to him.
Back to Explorer for me. Do not like Firefox at all.
Neil
Hi Neil,
Yep that's working fine now :)
I use both Firefox and Safari both of which are much better than IE in my humble opinion and also offer greater security!
One thing I noticed on your contact page was your e-mail address. I would remove this because it will get picked up by spammers and you will get bombarded with e-mails. You have the contact form so should not need to show your e-mail address.
If you still want to show it do it as an image
It is an image, i've made that mistake before.
Forgot to say, thanks for pointing out the navigation bar problem.
Neil
Hello Everyone,
Finally we can add our site to this thread, we went live today and although we still have lots of items to add and there are currently a few empty categories we're happy with the site and hope to finish adding the rest of our stock over the next couple of weeks.
Our new 2009 lines arrive on 2nd March so there will be lots and lots of new items being added almost daily so keep checking back!
www.LeonardsGifts.co.uk (http://www.leonardsgifts.co.uk)
As a little treat for BluePark users and to thank those who helped us build the site please use the following code for a 5% discount off your order: bluepark5
Thanks :D
We have around 1000 lines for on-line sale, about 120 of which are currently listed so the site still has quite a way to go yet before it's fully stocked.
If you spot any bugs or errors let me know.
Ive been signed up on the forum since last year, and i keep checking it day in day out for help and tips.
Now we have managed to get our bluepark site online
You can take a look at www.wearsideelectricals.com
Thanks
Lewis
Hi Lewis,
Welcome to the forum.
Nice looking site, well done. Had to look twice because didn't think it was a Bluepark Site as it looked so different from the normal templates.
Good luck with the site.
Hi Lewis
The site looks bright and inviting as a first impression which is really good.
I wonder if some people may be put off by the 0871 phone number though which although not high premium rate still charges the caller a premium.
Is there any reason for that?
I certainly would not want to be paying premium rate for calls to a site where I may want to purchase something and even more so if I'm chasing a delivery or have a problem of some sort.
Hi Mike
Thanks for looking at the website.
I don't actually run the business i am just designing the website for the company so its there choosing for products and services.
All i can do is put on what i am told.
I will properly keep updating the site but thanks for feedback dave and mike
Lewis
Nice professional looking site Lewis - presses all the right buttons.
Welcome on board.
Regards
Pete
Joanne_UK
18-03-2009, 16:53
Hello ,
Our website went live last week even though there are still a bit of work to do (setup protx, adding more products, Meta tags and writing more content).
We already had one order (from google base) and we just started to be indexed in google.
The website is www.mygiftworld.co.uk (http://www.mygiftworld.co.uk) any feedback would be appreciated.
thank you
Joanne
Hi to everybody,
I'm Stuart and currently run beautifullygorgeous.co.uk (http://www.beautifullygorgeous.co.uk) as well as salon1336.co.uk (http://www.salon1336.co.uk) both of which use the fanatstic and easy to use software that Rich has so thoughtfully created. Have used various other platforms but this is by far the best.
Hi to everybody,
I'm Stuart and currently run beautifullygorgeous.co.uk (http://www.beautifullygorgeous.co.uk) as well as salon1336.co.uk (http://www.salon1336.co.uk) both of which use the fanatstic and easy to use software that Rich has so thoughtfully created. Have used various other platforms but this is by far the best.
Hi Stuart,
Welcome to the Forum and the wonderful world of Bluepark!
Two very nice looking sites you have created..well done
Hello ,
Our website went live last week even though there are still a bit of work to do (setup protx, adding more products, Meta tags and writing more content).
We already had one order (from google base) and we just started to be indexed in google.
The website is www.mygiftworld.co.uk (http://www.mygiftworld.co.uk) any feedback would be appreciated.
thank you
Joanne
Hi Joanne,
Very nice site, good luck and lets hope the sales come flooding in :)
One thing I did notice was some of the narrative in your terms & conditions are in UPPER CASE which does not look right. If it is important perhaps have it in bold instead?
Hi Dave,
Many thanks for your kind words. Looking forward to exploring the forum in detail.
Kind regards
Stuart
mikeyred
31-03-2009, 19:25
Hiya!!
Welcome to the Blueparkers - great sites and a southerner to boot, we are a bit thin on the ground down here :o) ..... "NOTE TO SELF" must remember to keep your sites from the other half or I know it will cost me dear
Joanne_UK
31-03-2009, 19:28
thank you Dave.
I have made the changes and I agree that it is better in bold.
Hi to everybody,
I'm Stuart and currently run beautifullygorgeous.co.uk (http://www.beautifullygorgeous.co.uk) as well as salon1336.co.uk (http://www.salon1336.co.uk) both of which use the fanatstic and easy to use software that Rich has so thoughtfully created. Have used various other platforms but this is by far the best.
Hi Stuart
Great sites - welcome aboard.
Regards
Pete
Hi,
Our site has finally gone live (after 2 months), please have a look and let me know what you think. www.thetoyforest.co.uk (http://www.thetoyforest.co.uk) all comments welcome good or bad.
Thanks
Kate
Welcome, first impressions are very professional.
A boring point is that I think all business web sites are supposed to give actual company address as a legal point. Others can correct me if I'm wrong. Usually this would be in about us or contact us, it helps build customer confidence.
Personal prefererence but I would make the welcome banner say welcome to toy forest, nothing about site being new as customers may prefer extablished business. Same goes for latest news, loose the new web site stuff?
Good work, looks nice.
mikepayn
13-04-2009, 11:30
Hi Kate,
Nice site, bright and uncluttered, well done!
I'll second Robin's comments about contact details. We receive phone calls daily with queries etc which result in sales. And, for some reason, a few people still prefer to order, and pay by card, over the phone. Also we allow people to collect (by prior arrangement) and this ALWAYS results in them increasing their order once here!
Oh, and definitely dump the "New", I personally wouldn't buy anything from a "New" website, I'd rather pay a little bit extra (if necessary) and go to an established website.
Still a nice site tho - it has made me want to tidy ours up!!
Thanks for the comments (I'm on the Toy Forest team too!)
I think we will drop the "new" and perhaps go for "updated" instead as we have been trading since 2007
Will check out the address comments as I thought it was only for limited companies, but it may help us out anyway as we have the collection option on the shipping
Please keep the comments coming, we've been looking at the site for so long it can be difficult to spot the obvious (like spelling mistakes...)
Nic
Hi,
Our site has finally gone live (after 2 months), please have a look and let me know what you think. www.thetoyforest.co.uk (http://www.thetoyforest.co.uk) all comments welcome good or bad.
Thanks
Kate
Hi Kate,
Nice looking site well done.
Noticed one spelling error "girl with blone hair". Also I would recommend you turn image verification on in the contact form to stop bots from using it to send spam.
The reference to new site does not worry me but you will have to change it at some point so perhaps best to drop it now.
Best of luck
Hi Dave,
Thanks for your comments, have changed the spelling and added the image verification to the contact form (hadn't realised it was there!)
Kate
Hi Kate
Welcome and well done on your site - the hard work has been worth it - the site looks great. Small typo on the testimonials page. Forst instead of forest. Don't you hate sticky fingers. :)
Gill
Luxury Silk Lingerie (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com)
pinkypie
14-04-2009, 09:31
Great info on the new sites guys and welcome to BP. Welcome to getting addicted to checking who is online 'now' (so why are you not buying...., LOL)
Beautifully Gorgeous, your site is fab. Can I possibly ask how you get those little box things down the side with the search bar and the catalogue in them? It looks fab and I've been looking to try something like that, do you mind sharing? Thank you.
No problem happy to help with this one. To create the images you described on the beautifullygorgeous.co.uk website for the navigation/menu boxes. I simply created the title/block heading graphic with the text in this as you would normaly. I then added a top left corner image and top right corner image. When all of these are added together you get the effect you refer to.
If you go to the template editor and then click on the left or right blocks tab you will see where you need to add the images. Of course you will also need to include left side, right side and bottom images to complete the look.
Hope that makes sense any problems let me know. :)
dantheman
16-04-2009, 20:54
Hey team
I'm a complete newbie seeking help and support from all you BP experts!
The site we're running on bluepark is http://www.intensifyinc.com
but our mothership is
www.IntensifyGroup.com
(http://www.intensifygroup.com)
I thought I was fairly proficient and web stuff, but am completely baffled by bluepark.
Haha, I'll post some questions up on the board and if anyone can help that'd be FANTASTIC!
Keep it real and happy selling
Cheers
Dan
Welcome Dan,
I am sure you will find BP gets easier. I am no techie but with a little help soon got things going. That was three years ago and like many here I never regretted moving over to BP. You will find loads of friendly help here also. So welcome again.
Cheers
Gill
Real Silk Lingerie (http://www.ever-so-sexy.com)
Hi Dan,
Welcome to the Forum.
As Gill says you will find plenty of help from fellow Blueparkers here. Bluepark is not difficult to use and is one of best e-commerce solutions we have come across and are sure you will soon get to grips with it.
Best of luck with your site.
pinkypie
17-04-2009, 21:46
Hi Dan.
Welcome to BP.
I joined BP last October and I spent 2 weeks totally baffled by the whole thing and I went to get go to the template pages of the screens I liked, printed them out and them used them to modify the pages I wanted in the template I wanted to use. It sounds daft but it really helped me work out how the how BP worked and this is the key. I still have problems but I am now on another site design that I've spent this week doing. I think this is my 6th or 7th in that time, LOL, it gets a bit addictive and I go to bed wanting a different site.
It'll come in the end. Use a basic template to start and then copy it and start working adding other bits and bobs and you'll get there and see how it works. I am not saying know everything but I can work most of it out now.
Hi everyone,
My wife and I have started a new online business www.KosherVitaminShop.co.uk (http://www.KosherVitaminShop.co.uk)
We stock a large range of quality vitamins and herbal supplements.
We are very 'green' about online business and are jumping in head first :rolleyes:, please comment on our site and offer any advice.
Thanks!
David
Ps - if you are currently taking any vitamins/supplements, feel free to buy them through our site, and if you are taking something that is not listed please let me know and more than likely we can order it in for you at a competitive price ;)
Hi everyone,
My wife and I have started a new online business www.KosherVitaminShop.co.uk (http://www.KosherVitaminShop.co.uk)
We stock a large range of quality vitamins and herbal supplements.
We are very 'green' about online business and are jumping in head first :rolleyes:, please comment on our site and offer any advice.
Thanks!
David
Ps - if you are currently taking any vitamins/supplements, feel free to buy them through our site, and if you are taking something that is not listed please let me know and more than likely we can order it in for you at a competitive price ;)
Hi David,
Welcome to the forum.
Perhaps put the telephone number in the header to make it more visible to shoppers? Also I recommend putting a postal address on your site to give more confidence. You can also add a comment saying something like "we are an internet only business (if indeed you are) and this address is for correspondence only"
Very nice site. Well done and hope everything goes well for you.
Magqueen
06-05-2009, 14:26
Hello everyone! I've been lurking for a couple of weeks as I've been preparing to go live with my site, and now I've finally done that it's time to say hello... and of course I have a question so I had to register!
Anyway, I've done something really quite different with Bluepark in that I'm not really selling any products at all. I have built a directory site listing community magazines around the UK. I run a community magazine myself and through a subscription site I also own, I support a couple of hundred other people who run magazines around the UK.
The idea of the directory site - www.findlocalmagazines.co.uk (http://www.findlocalmagazines.co.uk) - is that if any small business or advertising agency is looking to place adverts they can very easily find publications in their target geography. The majority of publications are independently owned so at the moment are difficult to find.
The people browsing the site don't pay anything - although they do have to register to help control the 'cold callers' - but the people featuring their magazines have to pay a monthly fee to be listed.
I've been really really impressed with the BluePark software. It's testament to its flexibility that I've launched this in under a month, and that I've been able to make the software do something that it wasn't originally designed to do.
Thanks all - I'll go and post my question now.
Tania
Hi there,
my name is Aley (Allison) aka Clerk to the Fairies my website is for crafters/cardmakers. :)
www.midnight-fairies.co.uk (http://www.midnight-fairies.co.uk)
entertaintoday
19-05-2009, 08:42
Hi there,
my name is Aley (Allison) aka Clerk to the Fairies my website is for crafters/cardmakers. :)
www.midnight-fairies.co.uk (http://www.midnight-fairies.co.uk)
Welcome to the forums Aley.
Just been looking at your site, quite a good start, but are you aware your contact us button at the top is only visible if someone happens to hover over it? Might wanna take a look at that.
Look forward to seeing your site develop :)
Hi Everyone.
I'm Simon and work for greenpeople.co.uk, a company that makes and distributes organic skincare products.
We have used BP to launch a Danish version of our UK site http://www.greenpoeple.dk and have found the software and support to be excellent.:):)
Hi Everyone.
I'm Simon and work for greenpeople.co.uk, a company that makes and distributes organic skincare products.
We have used BP to launch a Danish version of our UK site http://www.greenpoeple.dk and have found the software and support to be excellent.:):)
Hi Simon,
You need to change your url as you have typed greenpoeple.dk instead of greenpeople.dk
Good luck with the site
Hey Everyone,
I'm Tom, my partner and I have just launched our new site for Azure Boutique selling fashion jewellery and accessories. Any comments are gratefully recieved,
regards,
Tom
www.azureboutique.com (http://www.azureboutique.com)
mikepayn
29-06-2009, 21:53
Hi Tom,
Welcome to Bluepark. Nice clean looking site, just had a quick "nosey" and it all seems to work as it should (to my untrained eye anyway!). My personal opinion regarding contact details is that people like to have a phone number they can ring. We regularly receive orders over the phone (some people still prefer to give their details over the phone rather than on-line) and countless queries leading to orders.
Best of luck in your venture.
Hey Everyone,
I'm Tom, my partner and I have just launched our new site for Azure Boutique selling fashion jewellery and accessories. Any comments are gratefully recieved,
regards,
Tom
www.azureboutique.com (http://www.azureboutique.com)
Hi Tom,
Welcome to the Forum.
I agree with Mike with regards to the telephone number. It always give customers more confidence if there is a telephone number clearly visible on every page which they can call if any problems.
We have freephone numbers which get diverted to either a landline number or mobile number (if we manage to get a holiday, which is very rare!). This may be of interest
http://www.planet-numbers.co.uk/
Also include your full address details. If you trade from home you can always add some narrative saying something like "please note we are an internet only business. The address shown is for admin purposes only etc etc"
Finally, turn on image verification on the contact form. This will stop any bots from sending spam e-mail via the form.
Your site looks very good and hope everything goes well for you.
Hi - just launched our site Xcite Books (http://www.xcitebooks.com) today so it's still a bit bare in places but I'd welcome your comments and feedback. I love Bluepark - was with another host before and it is such a joy to find such a simple way to build sophisicated sites.
I'm planning on adding free stories on individual pages since these would be very text rich and help our SEO - any advice on the best way to do that?
All the best,
Miranda
Hi - just launched our site Xcite Books (http://www.xcitebooks.com) today so it's still a bit bare in places but I'd welcome your comments and feedback. I love Bluepark - was with another host before and it is such a joy to find such a simple way to build sophisicated sites.
I'm planning on adding free stories on individual pages since these would be very text rich and help our SEO - any advice on the best way to do that?
All the best,
Miranda
Hi Miranda,
Welcome to the Forum.
Use the Page Manager for your stories. Create a stories page and then add sub pages for each story. On the stories page treat this as an index and put brief narrative about each story with the associated link to the page.
Make sure you add the stories page in the navigation manager.
Thanks Dave - don't suppose you know the best size to make images to replace the title bars in side blocks do you? Also if affiliates can have more than one referring website? Just two questions that have cropped up this morning!
Miranda
Hey Everyone,
I'm Tom, my partner and I have just launched our new site for Azure Boutique selling fashion jewellery and accessories. Any comments are gratefully recieved,
regards,
Tom
www.azureboutique.com (http://www.azureboutique.com)
Hi there and welcome.
A nice clean site you have put together there, but can you tell me how you did the Latest Arrivals scroller.
Thanks
Neil
Hi there and welcome.
A nice clean site you have put together there, but can you tell me how you did the Latest Arrivals scroller.
Thanks
Neil
Hi Neil, Thanks for the feedback, and thanks to the others for their feedback and their very good ideas which I will aim to implement on the site soon.
Regarding the scroller; I made this by inserting a standard open source Javascript marquee on the hompage. I inserted the html code for the scroller directly into the body of the page and saved the js script on the server, then just positioned the marquee absolutely on the page. These scripts are quite cool as you can play around with the settings of the html to change how fast they scroll, the size of the marquee, what happens when you hover the mouse over etc.
I cant remember exactly what script i used but http://www.dynamicdrive.com/ has lots of usefull javascript for this kind of thing.
Tom
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex2/crawler/index.htm
Was it this one?
How easy is it to put in your page, would you be able to put it in a block so can turn it off and on for maintenance do you think?
Regards
Neil
http://www.dynamicdrive.com/dynamicindex2/crawler/index.htm
Was it this one?
How easy is it to put in your page, would you be able to put it in a block so can turn it off and on for maintenance do you think?
Regards
Neil
Yeah thats the one. I think I tried to put it within a block for exactly that reason but could not get it to work. Since I'm an amateur at html I could not figue out why, although I found that when I inserted the html directly into the body of the page it ran the script just fine. The only thing that was a bit tricky was then positioning the scroller where I wanted it as this involved absolute positioning which then took the scroller out of the flow of the page and messed up its alignment with other blocks. I'm sure there are easier ways to layout 3rd party coded elements on Bluepark sites.
Tom
Adva Trading
27-10-2009, 14:11
Just re-designed my site.
Few things still missing (Testimonials on home page is one, few spelling mistakes here and there :(...).
Any general comments (fishing for complements here :D)?
Anything you think I should take out?
Any additions you think I should have?
mikepayn
27-10-2009, 14:51
Hi Eran,
Looks good, nearly there. Few things I noticed - your scrolling message (cashback, free uk shipping & measure your wrist) is partially hidden on all but the Home Page. On all pages your left side block extends lower than the centre page content you wont therefore be able to effectively apply SEO in the Layout Manager. I wonder if people scroll down on your first page to read your info we moved ours onto a separate page so we could grab their attention more on the first page.
Hi Eran
Nice and clean, well done. A few comments:
I would drop the "s" from the Feedbacks page title.
I presume you will zeroise or add some starting numbers to your polls, as numpties like me are likely to click anything when testing.
Your Guarantees page is nice and clear - I think un-wanted should be one word, though, not hyphenated (I know you said you hadn't sorted all the typos, but I hope pointing them out is useful)
Your Cash-Back page has a typo as well " The value of the Cash-Back Points (Including earned points) may change without previous notification. Cash-Back Points cannot be redeemed in conjunction with discount coupons."
Your title on the above page has no hyphen, but elsewhere you refer to it as Cash-Back.
Very generous Cash-Back scheme, I must say.
I would drop the following from your Feedback Page "We receive many emails every day with feedback about our service and products. There is simply not enough time in the day to enter all comments..." It may be true, but it does evoke in me a bit of a "Oh yeah, really?" reaction. May be better to say that here are highlights from the feedback emails we regularly receive from our customers".
I'm not sure about the About Us page (gawd, I'm just whingeing, sorry, but I have a massive headache right now, so take it all with a pinch of salt). The problem for me is the lengthy Personal Testimonial, which you get on a lot of one-man bands and family-run sites (nothing wrong with that, we are one), but it lacks professionalism IMHO.
On the positive side, the pictures are great, though I don't like the company name watermarked over the top (I’ve ruined it again, haven’t I?). It’s only really a problem in zoom mode, though, as it is pretty subtle.
I really like the little flags to change currency, instead of a drop-down box. Seem to remember seeing that in the Forum before, so I'll go off and have a look soon.
You have a lot of repeated text on different product pages – for example, all the Titanium bracelets say the same thing. You’ll need the opinion of one of the SEO experts on here, but it’s not supposed to be good for Google.
When you add a product to the basket, I suggest that the “You might like” page has some clear bold text near the top saying that “the item has been added to your basket”. I found it a bit confusing at first, and didn’t think it had been successfully added. You might consider using the new “Shopping Basket” block that BP has added.
Your Resources Page states that you are providing these links for the benefit of your customers (we all know it’s really about SEO), but if that is the case, you need to categorise them into types of link. I can’t imagine a customer going through the list alphabetically.
I’m really getting picky now – you navigation menu item Information Center is spelled the American way. As a Brit, I find this mildly annoying when I see it.
You might want to change/add to your Contact Us page radio button options. It is more usual to see things like “Order Enquiry”, “Returns Enquiry” etc.
Your “About our Range” pages are very comprehensive, and should be good for SEO. Again I defer to the likes of *********** etc.
I’m going to stop now, before I lose all my friends…
Hope this has been helpful.
Regards
Pete
Adva Trading
27-10-2009, 22:25
On all pages your left side block extends lower than the centre page content you wont therefore be able to effectively apply SEO in the Layout Manager
Richard,
I thought it is about the size in charecters, not in length in inches that maters. so, what is it?
Adva Trading
27-10-2009, 22:28
mikepayn,
I wonder if people scroll down on your first page to read your info...
The written info is for the benefits of serach engines :D. What people need to see is the actual looks of the products.
Thanks for the feedback.
Adva Trading
27-10-2009, 22:56
Pete,
I am a bloody foreigner :o, so every little helps.
Very generous Cash-Back scheme, I must say.
Prices were set with those Cash-Back points in mind. But mostly, I want discounts of all sorts to be noticable. I am considering making the points worth even more :D
Good points about the Feedback page and the About us. Will take on board.
About the water marks - Most images do not have them - still using some old ones with them - scheduled to be replaced (Tomorrow. How many times do I need to tell you, I will do it tomorrow...Every day I am telling you...:))
I really like the little flags to change currency, instead of a drop-down box. Seem to remember seeing that in the Forum before, so I'll go off and have a look soon.
Very simple to do, just look at the link you get when you change currency in your site, and apply it to flag images. Richard have them also in the Bluepark website.
You have a lot of repeated text on different product pages – for example, all the Titanium bracelets say the same thing. You’ll need the opinion of one of the SEO experts on here, but it’s not supposed to be good for Google.
Sure it is not so good. But as some info on the page is different - mainly the specifications (Lengths and so on) - I hope to get away with it- and hope that google will acknowledge that the content is not identical. Any other takes on this issue?
Again, this is also something I want to work on, but feel that my creativity have limits...
“Shopping Basket” block that BP has added.
Will check it out.
And yes, the links pages are in a mess. I cannot make up my mind where to take it - it depends on how far away in the future I am willing to look...
Pete, thta's it, I should stop answer and get to work on all the issues you mentioned, a very big thank you.
WhiteRabbit
27-10-2009, 23:02
Hi Eran,
I'm going to be Simon Cowell here...to be totally honest, it looks pretty spammy and I don't know if I'd trust your site.
The links to Ugg boots in the polls and the general look just makes it look untrustworthy...sorry!
I've just Googled 'buy magnetic bracelet' and there are at least 4 sites that I'd rather buy from, just purely based on a 3 second first impression.
As I always say "trust is the biggest obstacle to overcome in ecommerce" - I think you need to spend more time on the visuals and customers than search engines and iffy links.
Sorry but you did ask for feedback :)
Giles
WhiteRabbit
27-10-2009, 23:09
But as some info on the page is different - mainly the specifications (Lengths and so on) - I hope to get away with it- and hope that google will acknowledge that the content is not identical. Any other takes on this issue?
I'll chip in on this...
Sorry, also not good news. Google is INSANELY clever - I spoke to an SEO company a while back that did work for Virgin. Virgin spent a fortune on a very clever random copy generating tool for it's products to overcome duplicate content. Google spotted it straight away and they had to resort to doing it all naturally/properly. Just mixing up a few words isn't going to fool Google :)
Having said that, I personally think that duplicate content is less of an issue with ecommerce sites than with other sites. Think about it...if you sell cars most of your descriptions are going to feature very similar words and phrases - it's the nature of an ecommerce site. I personally think that Google recognise this and as a result, are more lenient. (Just my opinion though).
Adva Trading
28-10-2009, 07:30
***********,
This is not live TV with Simon the landlord, here there is a chance to answer.
The reasults for your search are:
1. Price Comparison site.
2. American, half backed with hematite only site.
3. Google products whith most top reasults from large sites (overstocks, JL)
4. Bioflow.
5. Part of a large network of pages all leading to one site with very small range
6. Bioflow.
7. bioflow.
8. Same as #5.
9. American.
10. American.
All in all, there is not even one stand alone competitor in that natural search reasults.
I have only one competitor in that list, and he is somewere in the Price Comparison site.
I find the other posting very very usfull, as they are from people that looked at my website with a real shopper eye, not "professional" eye.
But I do take the point that the polls are a shamble (I think that is what you said) and need to be re-considered - they are new addition and an experiment.
needundies
28-10-2009, 09:00
Eran, I am not a designer, I rely on Giles @ *********** for that, but from a potential customers perspective I would probably suggest the following:
- Contact Telephone number perhaps larger/more obvious.
- Same with the basket on the header, but additonally utilise the new Basket block function on the right of the page.
- Would it be worthwhile removing some of the bangle graphics on the header therefore making room for more company information, such as contact, account login etc?
- Unfortunately I have to agree with the feedback on the Polls, they completely confused me when I saw the reference to Ugg Boots :confused: Perhaps just have a single poll so that it does not clutter the right side bar?.
Once you get into the product pages. the images are really good as is all the useful information about the product.
Just my thoughts.
Adva Trading
28-10-2009, 11:18
needundies,
Contact Telephone number perhaps larger/more obvious
Good point. Still, it is orders number for you, while for me it is confidence line - I would not take orders over the phone - After 15 years in retail management - this business is a full on-line only. So it is a balancing act between having the number visiable and not incourage using it. Will re-think this one again though.
About the basket - the new block is now on thanks to a posting here reminding me about it. The smal icon - well, it is again a balancing act between having it and using a VERY VERY VERY valuable top of the page real estate for non-productive thing. I will stick with my miniature basket icon.
About the images on the headers - I think they are most important - to tell potential buyers in a glance what is available in the site (People scanning page from top to bottom). But you are correct - account login is someting I fogot - shame really - as 40% of my buyers are repeat buyers. Will do, one way or another. Thanks for that.
The polls- yes, they are just wrong.
RICHARD - The reason I am looking for outside polls (and got it so wrong) is that your polls are changing - can we have some developement on polls - castomising and diffrent polls at will (I will be happy to pay a little extra for that if needed :mad:).
needundies, thanks for the very productive feedback.
Now to work - try to find the time to fix all that was found wrong so far.
Any more please please please?
I am a bloody foreigner :o, so every little helps.
So am I , technically...
Currency Flags - Very simple to do, just look at the link you get when you change currency in your site, and apply it to flag images. Richard have them also in the Bluepark website.
Thanks for that, I will give it a go.
Best of luck with all the changes.
Regards
Pete
Hi there
Just thought I would pop in to introduce myself. I have three website and am in the process of transferring the first of these to bluepark, hopefully in December.
The website is www.icegems.co.uk (http://www.icegems.co.uk).
I've been building the development site at the moment and have been driving Richard crazy with all my questions! So I think he will feel mighty relieved I've signed up here and will be driving you lot crazy with all my questions.
I look forward to getting to know you all.
Nadine
Hi,
Think it was me who rec. Blue Park to you on UKBF - glad you were impressed, you won't go far wrong with it and Rich is very good.
If you need any design work i'd rec that to give giles at white ****** a call.
Regards
Neil
Welcome Nadine - good choice with Bluepark.
Don't worry about the questions - we'll do our best to help before the final resort of Rich.
Hi Nadine.
Welcome to Bluepark and the Forum.
You will find plenty of useful information here and plenty of people who are always willing to help you if and when they can.
Good luck with moving your sites across and see you on the forum!
Hi,
Think it was me who rec. Blue Park to you on UKBF - glad you were impressed, you won't go far wrong with it and Rich is very good.
If you need any design work i'd rec that to give giles at white ****** a call.
Regards
Neil
Hi and welcome and I'd second the above. Plus you will find friendly and helpful folk on the Forum.
Cheers
Gill
Luxury Lingerie (http://www.ever-so-sexy,com)
Hi thanks for the welcome and Neil thanks for the recommendation. I have been looking for a suitable replacement for my current provider for about 18 months. So far so good although it is a completely differet mindset to what I'm used to but getting there slowly.
Hi
I have finally found the courage to come onto this thread and ask for feedback on my site.
I have not been with Bluepark for very long and would appreciate your assistance.
Thanks
Lynne
http://www.yourpresents.co.uk
mikepayn
05-11-2009, 10:51
Hi Lynne. Nice clean. crisp site. Well done. I have just had a quick browse and it all seems to work as it should. I like the phone number being clearly visible - I think it gives people confidence. Hope all goes well.
Hi Lynne,
Welcome to the Forum.
Very nice looking site and hope all goes well for you.
Hi
Dave and Mikepayn thank you for your comments.
What is your thoughts on the SEO aspects of the site? If any other SEO experts are looking at this thread i would really appreciate feedback from you guys/girls on your take on my site.
It is very difficult when working closely on a site to see the wood for the trees sometimes.
Any feedback good or bad would be very much appreciated.
Lynne
Hi
I have finally found the courage to come onto this thread and ask for feedback on my site.
I have not been with Bluepark for very long and would appreciate your assistance.
Thanks
Lynne
http://www.yourpresents.co.uk
Hi Lynne
Welcome to the forum. Will have a proper look over the next day or so and give feedback. Just noticed a potential typo I thought I'd mention - do you mean "re-started" rather than "re-stated" in your Royal Mail message?
Regards
Pete
Hello Pete
Thanks for pointing out typo.... it was late but no excuse. I have corrected it.
I would be grateful for your time in looking at my site as I do not have any previous experience in this business.
Lynne
Hello Pete
Thanks for pointing out typo.... it was late but no excuse. I have corrected it.
I would be grateful for your time in looking at my site as I do not have any previous experience in this business.
Lynne
Hi Lynne
Very little to say actually, as you really do seem to have all the essentials covered off. Nice site, and very well done for a first time effort (don't mean that to sound patronising - I'm genuinely impressed).
If I'm pushed to make any comments, then here are a few minor things:
- in the Gift Ideas section at the bottom of the front page, I would turn the bold text references into hyperlinks to the relevant categories/products, as this should help a bit with Search Engine Optimisation, and general customer navigation
- You might want to add an About Us page and a FAQ page for commonly asked questions (not essential). Note that if you are a registered company, you must by law show your registered company number somewhere, so the About Us page is a good place for this. Same goes if you are VAT registered.
- on your shipping terms, I was a bit confused by the charges - you might want to say an "additional" packing and admin charge of £1 etc..., as at first I thought your postal charge was just £1
- appropos of nothing, I noticed that you have a Disney Flashing pen in the Jungle Soft Toys category, which is a bit odd?
Regards
Pete
Hello Pete
Thank you for taking the time to look at my site. It is nice to know there is not too much wrong.
I will act on your suggestions.
The Jungle section with flashing pen. I put unrelated items into categories sometimes to hopefully trigger an impluse buy (deluded....probably)!:D
Lynne
Adva Trading
06-11-2009, 23:10
Very nice choice of colour.
Few things:
1. Regarding Privecy:
The Data Protection Act 1998 requires all organisations which handle personal information to comply with a number of important principles regarding privacy and disclosure, and registered with the Information Commissioner's Office (http://www.ico.gov.uk/).
2. Personally I like to see items on a white background.
WhiteRabbit
11-11-2009, 11:21
Hi all,
I'm introducing this site on behalf of my client, who will no doubt be joining the BP forum soon!
The site is http://www.winepoole.co.uk - online sellers of independent fine wines, so you can buy all your Christmas tipple from them!
There are probably a few areas that will be tidied as they go and they've yet to start the SEO slog but post up what you think. I'm particularly interested if the shop categories make sense...or would you browse in a different way?
Cheers,
Giles
Hi all,
I'm introducing this site on behalf of my client, who will no doubt be joining the BP forum soon!
The site is http://www.winepoole.co.uk - online sellers of independent fine wines, so you can buy all your Christmas tipple from them!
There are probably a few areas that will be tidied as they go and they've yet to start the SEO slog but post up what you think. I'm particularly interested if the shop categories make sense...or would you browse in a different way?
Cheers,
Giles
Hi Giles,
Another great site. You must be very expensive :D
I like the idea of showing the wine labels but think it would be good to also show pictures of the bottles as well. This may well also be in hand but thought I should mention it!
looks nice. brief suggestion: would say that sub categories need some pictures and text. When click by country, then click say Italy it is just red / white / rose. Need big pictures to click on, even if a red / white / rose wine bottle photo with no label on.
Looks good Giles. My first thought was exactly the same as Dave's (scary...), that it would be nice to see some pictures of bottles.
Everything else, as I would have expected from a *********** site, seems to be covered.
WhiteRabbit
12-11-2009, 20:45
Thanks Dave, Bather and Pete - I did design the site around bottles but unfortunately they aren't able to easily get photos of the bottles so it was either labels or home done photos of bottles...if anyone has tried taking a photo of a bottle of wine, it's actually not that easy, so we went down the label route. Shame as it looked beautiful with bottles!
May well look at the category images with bottles, if I can find some bottle shots that are similar enough across the range of colours/types...either that or I'll shoot them myself (naturally I'll have to open each one afterwards to make sure the flash hasn't pickled it!!)
Thanks again for the feedback,
Giles
Thanks Dave, Bather and Pete - I did design the site around bottles but unfortunately they aren't able to easily get photos of the bottles so it was either labels or home done photos of bottles...if anyone has tried taking a photo of a bottle of wine, it's actually not that easy, so we went down the label route. Shame as it looked beautiful with bottles!
May well look at the category images with bottles, if I can find some bottle shots that are similar enough across the range of colours/types...either that or I'll shoot them myself (naturally I'll have to open each one afterwards to make sure the flash hasn't pickled it!!)
Thanks again for the feedback,
Giles
Hi Giles,
If will be much better if you can eventually get pictures of the bottles because from what I can see most of the competition have them.
There is another Bluepark user selling wine but to the Swiss market
http://www.chateaudirect.ch/
Hi All
Giles at White ****** has recently worked his magic and done a great makeover on the Purse Angels site.
It's like having a new site but took less than a day (from me) to set up.
I'm sure it took Giles a good deal longer.
Any feedback is much appreciated. www.purseangels.co.uk (http://www.purseangels.co.uk)
Hi All
Giles at White ****** has recently worked his magic and done a great makeover on the Purse Angels site.
It's like having a new site but took less than a day (from me) to set up.
I'm sure it took Giles a good deal longer.
Any feedback is much appreciated. www.purseangels.co.uk (http://www.purseangels.co.uk)
Hi Mike,
Another fantastic makeover by Giles.
Good luck with your new look site (Just in time for the xmas rush!)
Lovely! Well done to Giles and Purse Angels.
mikepayn
17-11-2009, 13:40
Hi Mike, Well done! Another success! Since Giles did our site the conversion rate is way up - I'm sure it'll do the same for you. Don't forget to let us know how it goes. I'll publish mine as soon as I have a couple of months to judge by.
Hi Mike, Well done! Another success! Since Giles did our site the conversion rate is way up - I'm sure it'll do the same for you. Don't forget to let us know how it goes. I'll publish mine as soon as I have a couple of months to judge by.
Hi Mike,
Great news to hear your conversion rates have increased. Be interesting to get some feedback from the other people who have had a site makeover done by Giles.
Looks like I will have to start saving my pocket money to get one of my sites done :)
:)
Hello everyone!
Thought i'd finally introduce myself, my names Mat and I have two Online Store's on the go with Bluepark.co.uk. Although I've been with Bluepark for over a year now, I have never posted anything of the Forum, although I use it regularly for sourcing information and tips, thanks.
There you go, I'm finally out in the open!!
Good luck with all your sites and may the Christmas rush be good to one and all.
:)
Hello everyone!
Thought i'd finally introduce myself, my names Mat and I have two Online Store's on the go with Bluepark.co.uk. Although I've been with Bluepark for over a year now, I have never posted anything of the Forum, although I use it regularly for sourcing information and tips, thanks.
There you go, I'm finally out in the open!!
Good luck with all your sites and may the Christmas rush be good to one and all.
Hi Matt,
Welcome to the forum after lurking in the background :D
It's nice to see you have built the sites using the tips and information thats on the forum without having to ask any questions. Just goes to show there is a lot of clever people on here ;)
Hope you will be able to find some time to use the experience you have gained over the last year to help any newbies.
Very impressed with the look of your site and hope business is good for you.
:)
Hello everyone!
Thought i'd finally introduce myself, my names Mat and I have two Online Store's on the go with Bluepark.co.uk. Although I've been with Bluepark for over a year now, I have never posted anything of the Forum, although I use it regularly for sourcing information and tips, thanks.
There you go, I'm finally out in the open!!
Good luck with all your sites and may the Christmas rush be good to one and all.
Hi Mat
Good to see you have finally come out...
Nice niche site you have there with the taxi trade products.
Regards
Pete
Many thanks to White ****** for loads of help with my site makeover. Anyone considering getting started or can't really do graphic design: I would say money well spent if you get them to do a site make over.
Anyway comments welcome. Many products need updating as still in old format but hopefully general look & feel about there along wityh about / contact etc.
Any one want to rent a hot tub to have out in the snow? (http://www.1066pools.co.uk/hot-tub-hire-spa-rental.html)
Many thanks to White ****** for loads of help with my site makeover. Anyone considering getting started or can't really do graphic design: I would say money well spent if you get them to do a site make over.
Anyway comments welcome. Many products need updating as still in old format but hopefully general look & feel about there along wityh about / contact etc.
Any one want to rent a hot tub to have out in the snow? (http://www.1066pools.co.uk/hot-tub-hire-spa-rental.html)
Another very nice looking professional makeover from Giles.
Hope it all goes well.
Many thanks to White ****** for loads of help with my site makeover. Anyone considering getting started or can't really do graphic design: I would say money well spent if you get them to do a site make over.
Anyway comments welcome. Many products need updating as still in old format but hopefully general look & feel about there along wityh about / contact etc.
Any one want to rent a hot tub to have out in the snow? (http://www.1066pools.co.uk/hot-tub-hire-spa-rental.html)
Looks really really good but thank you if its all the same I'll stay dry right now lol!
It's a lovely time of year to get wet outside! (however I am hiding indoors rather than getting my hands in freezing cold broken down swimming pools just now).
PS Ice gems thought your site looking fantastic but in the advice section or even home page should you say ice = in case of emergency for idiots like me that took a while to suss it out!!!!
PS Ice gems thought your site looking fantastic but in the advice section or even home page should you say ice = in case of emergency for idiots like me that took a while to suss it out!!!!
I can not believe you didn't know that ..... neither did I, thanks for pointing it out :)
It does say it on the home page but looking at it maybe it isn't obvious.
I'm about to have most of the text rewritten for the search engines and more specifically for conversions so I'll definately make sure that is more obvious.
Thanks for pointing it, that is really helpful.
Roadking
08-01-2010, 11:51
Hi All,
Just thought I'd introduce myself and my site.
My name is Andy and I am the webmaster for Roadking.co.uk (http://www.roadking.co.uk)
We have only been using Bluepark for about a month so are still getting used to it. Seems like great software that does everything we need and more!!
If anyone has any feedback I'd be pleased to hear it (good or bad!)
Thanks and regards,
Andy.
As said in other thread NIce Site! And Welcome.
Hi All,
Just thought I'd introduce myself and my site.
My name is Andy and I am the webmaster for Roadking.co.uk (http://www.roadking.co.uk)
We have only been using Bluepark for about a month so are still getting used to it. Seems like great software that does everything we need and more!!
If anyone has any feedback I'd be pleased to hear it (good or bad!)
Thanks and regards,
Andy.
Hi Andy,
Welcome to the Forum.
The only thing I can think of is the product pages look a bit strange with nothing in the right hand column. Would look better with something in there whether it be best sellers, info on delivery etc or just loose it altogether. You may well already have this in hand but thought it was worth mentioning it!
Very nice looking site.
All the best.
Looks very proffessional and well organised, nice site, can't see any obvious problems.
Roadking
08-01-2010, 14:05
Thanks for all your comments.
Yes Dave, I see what you mean.
The shopping basket does appear there when you add something, and that is why we kept it blank. As you add things it is more obvious that the basket has appeared from nowhere.
What would be ideal is if we could have the shopping basket block to stay there all the time even when empty, but I dont think this is possible? Unless you know differently?
Regards,
Andy.
Hi everyone
I have been using Bluepark since early December and I finally feel the websites are ready to unleash on the forum. We are going to ask Giles for a makeover re the top banner etc as I think they look a bit plain but otherwise I hope you like them!
www.happybags.co.uk (http://www.happybags.co.uk)
www.quirkybags.co.uk (http://www.quirkybags.co.uk)
Thanks for all your comments.
Yes Dave, I see what you mean.
The shopping basket does appear there when you add something, and that is why we kept it blank. As you add things it is more obvious that the basket has appeared from nowhere.
What would be ideal is if we could have the shopping basket block to stay there all the time even when empty, but I dont think this is possible? Unless you know differently?
Regards,
Andy.
I put the welcome block on the front page, changing on to the shopping basket block when you go to the catagory and products page - declutters the homepage a bit.
Welcome KayJay, you will find the forum helpful. Most questions have been asked before so often a search gives an immediate answer or people are usually fast to give suggestions.
Nice clean sites hope setting up the BP sites was easy.
I would recommend Giles who did a makeover on my site this winter.
Hi everyone
I have been using Bluepark since early December and I finally feel the websites are ready to unleash on the forum. We are going to ask Giles for a makeover re the top banner etc as I think they look a bit plain but otherwise I hope you like them!
www.happybags.co.uk (http://www.happybags.co.uk)
www.quirkybags.co.uk (http://www.quirkybags.co.uk)
Nice sites, will have a proper look later (I've a serious addiction to bags). Can highly recommend Giles as well, he has done one site for me and I'm just waiting for him to do the next site before I set it live.
Hi All,
Just thought I'd introduce myself and my site.
My name is Andy and I am the webmaster for Roadking.co.uk (http://www.roadking.co.uk)
We have only been using Bluepark for about a month so are still getting used to it. Seems like great software that does everything we need and more!!
If anyone has any feedback I'd be pleased to hear it (good or bad!)
Thanks and regards,
Andy.
Great site, agree with the comments about the right hand column, maybe you could add a recommended block or something like that and so it doesn't look completely bare until something is added to the basket?
I've had one site live on Bluepark for about a month and have to say I'm incredibly impressed with all the features of it. Every day I seem to discover something new!
Hi everyone
We are going to ask Giles for a makeover re the top banner etc as I think they look a bit plain but otherwise I hope you like them!
Ahhh, but then the header redesign leads to the next step and before you know it you have a custom template designed, and that's when it makes a big difference.
He has just done my plants site before xmas - not the headers tho, they were done by an artist and are changed every month. Well worth the money.
Hi, I'm Amit and I run www.retrotouch.co.uk.
Happy to discuss discounts for Bluepark Users :)
Hi, I'm Amit and I run www.retrotouch.co.uk (http://www.retrotouch.co.uk).
Happy to discuss discounts for Bluepark Users :)
Hi
The site looks really good, I like that template it works well for your products.
Good luck.
Ahhh, but then the header redesign leads to the next step and before you know it you have a custom template designed, and that's when it makes a big difference.
He has just done my plants site before xmas - not the headers tho, they were done by an artist and are changed every month. Well worth the money.
Hi Neil
Yes, I suspect you may be right, I can feel a redesign coming on!
On another note, aaarrrgggh, you do chilli seeds. I am a chilli plant widow as my husband fills our greenhouse every year with different chillies and tends to them like they are children. I suspect we will be a customer very soon! We had a poor crop last year after our son 'weeded' the seedlings out of the tray. Have you thought about putting the Scoville units rating for each type of chilli on the description?
Nice sites, will have a proper look later (I've a serious addiction to bags). Can highly recommend Giles as well, he has done one site for me and I'm just waiting for him to do the next site before I set it live.
Thanks IceGems. Maybe we can come to some sort of arrangement as I love your 5teel bracelets!
Hello
We have just launched PACT Animal Sanctuary's new site with Bluepark.
Please could you look at it and make comment Please be kind!
It only went live last night so would appreciate feedback.
Anyone that would be kind enough to link to us on their twitter, facebook etc and their own sites would be greatly appreciated as we have not got to grips with that side of promoting the charity yet. We need all the help we can get!
Thanks
Lynne
www.pactsanctuary.org (http://www.pactsanctuary.org)
http://yourpresents.co.uk
mikeyred
16-01-2010, 12:19
Hiya Lynn
Send me an image/logo you want me to use and I will link you on the Green Bear site, put a little text on what you want said in the description of the site like I have for the other sites on the links page.....
Informative site, looks good and can't see any major problems. Couple small things:
double "and" typo near bottom of ferrits page.
"sponsor Holly allow 10 days for despatch" - could be a little clearer as I expect people don't actually want the goat to be delivered!
Good luck with the site.
just clicking around and came across broken link on newsletter page. 'I need a home' cat link image leads to http://www.pactsanctuary.org/catforrehomingone.html which is not a page. I think the correct link should be http://www.pactsanctuary.org/cats-for-rehoming.html
you also have test product £0.01 on animal sponorship category.
under "availability" you have products listed as "In stock, immediate despatch" which perhaps sounds a little strange. go to the language manager in admin to change it to something more appropriate maybe?
your homepage slideshow has the image name listed for each image "image1", "image2" etc. perhaps go into the code for the slideshow and amend to something more appropriate maybe...
thats just a quick click around. other than that all seems fine. good luck with it!
Col
Adva Trading
16-01-2010, 22:38
I would use the News Flicker for statistical facts about you.
The question would be - which facts to use?
If you want to impress, you may want to use:"...Over the past thirteen years, PACT has rehomed or released over 5,000 animals..."
If you want to assert that you are legitimate, you may want to tell people that you got a National lottory grant.
And so on.
Good luck.
Thanks everyone for taking the time to give feedback.
It is still a work in progress. I will go over the points raised and rectify them.
Eran what is the news flicker please. we are working on our future plans page but make reference in the Hallam therapy centre to the fact that it was built with a lottery grant of £50,000 with of course matched funding. Our re-homing figures i will have to check.
Mike thank you for link offer i will sort something and email it to you.
Again many thanks
Lynne
www.pactsanctuary.org (http://www.pactsanctuary.org)
what is the news flicker please.
Hi Lynne,
If you have watched bbc or sky news you will see at the bottom of your tv screen it displays the latest headlines and this is essentially a news ticker.
If you create news pages via the news manager and then enable the news ticker block within your page layouts it will display the news headings and when a visitor clicks on this it takes them to the relevant news page.
If you follow this link and click on the link in Gills unrelated post you will see news headlines at the top of her page.
http://www.bluepark.co.uk/forums/showpost.php?p=5067&postcount=3
Hope this explains but any queries then please let us know.
Adva Trading
18-01-2010, 11:50
And you can relocate the New Flicker anywhere on the page, eccept the Header / Footer (...Richard - would it be possible to have the NF on the header?)
Thanks Dave i will have a look and see if i can work it out.
Just had an over haul on the site....
let us know what you guys and girls think.. give you 3 guess's on who did this master piece..
http://www.mobilityoffers.co.uk/
Adam
Just had an over haul on the site....
let us know what you guys and girls think.. give you 3 guess's on who did this master piece..
http://www.mobilityoffers.co.uk/
Adam
Adam,
Looking much much better.
On the navigation bar across the top the spacing looks weird. Big space between Home and Account. Same between FAQ and Vat Exemption. After Vat Exemption the grey bar then extends past the right hand column into the background.
Tested on Safari, Chrome and Firefox and all looks the same.
Looks really good Adam, a great improvement. Good luck with the conversions!
I can't see the issue Dave is talking about in IE, but it's definitely there in Firefox - white spaces showing in the navigation bar.
needundies
01-02-2010, 18:54
Really nice site makeover.
I am getting the spaces on the Nav bar as well in Firefox 3.5
mikepayn
01-02-2010, 19:28
Another beauty from "the man"!
I get the spaces on Firefox 3.5.7 too.
WhiteRabbit
01-02-2010, 19:28
Spacing issue fixed :)
mikepayn
01-02-2010, 19:30
I should've waited ;)
Adva Trading
01-02-2010, 20:27
Perfect. Great design. I am sure it will translate to more sales.
Looks really great, a huge improvement.
Just had an over haul on the site....
let us know what you guys and girls think.. give you 3 guess's on who did this master piece..
http://www.mobilityoffers.co.uk/
Adam
Nice...Can i say told you so!!!!
Perhaps the pictures on the homepage could be a bit bigger...remember your target market!!
Nice...Can i say told you so!!!!
Perhaps the pictures on the homepage could be a bit bigger...remember your target market!!
Well you have said it now mate.....
and Giles has done a cracking job... site is looking spot on...
thanks for all your comments. feel free to find any spelling mistakes (one already pointed out) im blaming the rushing around to get it sorted as mitsy decided to skip a few steps and jump in with both feet and no armbands yesterday!
mitsy decided to skip a few steps and jump in with both feet and no armbands yesterday!
someones got to take risks :)
Hi,
Giles done a makeover on the following site. Comments on a postcard please!
Crazy Toners (http://www.crazy-toners.co.uk)
PS Although the site is fully live it is still very much work in progress.
Love it Dave, another great one from Giles, and yippie Canon ink, im a happy bunny.
Love it Dave, another great one from Giles, and yippie Canon ink, im a happy bunny.
Hi,
Glad you like it.
Like I say it's still very much WIP which means hundreds of products still to add so if you can't find anything let me know and I will add it straight away.
Early days yet but have certainly seen a good increase in conversion rates since the makeover :)
Yes i will get my ink numbers, i have to keep empty boxes or i buy wrong - blonde dont you know.
WhiteRabbit
04-02-2010, 18:44
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WhiteRabbit
04-02-2010, 18:45
Oooops...that's what happens when you have an 18 month old sat on your lap while reading the posts!!
Oooops...that's what happens when you have an 18 month old sat on your lap while reading the posts!!
Made as much sense as the rest of us :)
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