Website feedback request

[racolvin]

Hi all!

I'm busily adding to my website and I thought I'd ask for some feedback. If any of you would be so kind as to go to my site and check out the following sections:

Our Products -> Fragrances

Our Products -> Seasonal Specials

Our Products -> Accessories

FAQ

I've got to get some new photography done to replace the banner picture at the top of my pages - the summer picture is still up there but I'll get that taken care of and replaced with something seasonally appropriate

Thanks in advance for any feedback you can provide!

Regards,

Ronnie Colvin

Madison CandleWorks - "Fragrance Illuminated"

http://www.madisoncandleworks.com

[TwinMom]

I love your pictures, the colours of your jar candles are awesome! I love the page with the blue background cloth and the bucket and starfish. The only thing that is a bit off is that it takes a while for your picture to come when you change pages. But other then that I like it!

[Luci]

I think your pictures are wonderful! I really like the look of your site and how easy to read everything is. The only thing that confused me was price. It took me a few minutes to figure out that I had to go to a different page in order to see prices.

When I'm shopping online, I prefer to see the prices with the products. Otherwise, You've really got a very appealing website!

[racolvin]

Thanks for taking a look for me I'm not sure what's happening with the pictures taking time to load - I tried to make them nice and small so they wouldn't take too long. I'll look into it and see what I can figure out

Ronnie

[racolvin]

I think your pictures are wonderful! I really like the look of your site and how easy to read everything is. The only thing that confused me was price. It took me a few minutes to figure out that I had to go to a different page in order to see prices.

When I'm shopping online, I prefer to see the prices with the products. Otherwise, You've really got a very appealing website!

Luci:

Thanks for the comments. I'm sort of torn on that subject. I agree, most times I like to see a price as well but from a web-maintenance perspective, I haven't figured out how to have the database price entries show up in all the various places that it could possibly be used. The shopping page is currently the only place that a price is shown because if I change a price in the database it would automatically show up in the shopping cart. If I manually type the price in other locations, there's the fear of those entries being out-of-sync with the database.

Long way of saying I'm not sure what to do about it

Ronnie

[BLSoaps]

I've always liked your site visually. The pictures are beautiful (and loaded quickly for me), the candles are well presented, but I always get confused with the navigation. To me, it honestly doesn't make sense. Your side links change depending on which top link you've got.

Am I right in guessing that you have most of the site as a basic website, then all the shopping goes through a separate cart? That's how it seemed, as well as the only reason I could think of for your listing prices only on the shopping page. I understood your explanation. If they were linked together, any price changes would carry through automatically.

But back to the navigation.... if you hadn't asked us to check out those specific areas (subsections of the products page), I probably wouldn't have noticed the new nav buttons on the left side. Your whole site design is nice and subtle, I LIKE THAT. (too many sites out there just shout at you non-stop) But for me, it also hindered the navigation, because those new buttons popping up on the side weren't obvious.

I hope that all made sense. I still think the site is gorgeous, just difficult to maneuver through logically.

[candlelady]

Very nice site, clean and uncluttered!~ Maybe I should take some notes! LOL

I'm Ditto on what the other's have said as well.

My Question: Why offer a custom color? Boy, you are going to be pouring night and day! Also, why don't you all have the scents/oils in stock? Part of great customer service is being prepared for the next order.

These are IMO only.

Thanks and have a great evening!

Carrie

[mystical_angel1219]

I think it looks great, but I have a few small suggestions.

I love the black and tan, but that tiny font on the tan color is very hard to read, IMO. Perhaps a lighter shade of tan and/or a font adjustment might be a good thing to try. Otherwise, it is simple and easy to navigate. Good work!

Edited to add: I have to agree with candlelady, if you are pouring to order and get busy online with orders, you will be a slave to pouring. LOL! The custom candle idea is a good one, but during peak candle season it would be a PITA to keep up with. Plus all candles need to cure, IMO. It just gives you a better finished product.

[racolvin]

I've always liked your site visually. The pictures are beautiful (and loaded quickly for me), the candles are well presented, but I always get confused with the navigation. To me, it honestly doesn't make sense. Your side links change depending on which top link you've got.

Am I right in guessing that you have most of the site as a basic website, then all the shopping goes through a separate cart? That's how it seemed, as well as the only reason I could think of for your listing prices only on the shopping page. I understood your explanation. If they were linked together, any price changes would carry through automatically.

But back to the navigation.... if you hadn't asked us to check out those specific areas (subsections of the products page), I probably wouldn't have noticed the new nav buttons on the left side. Your whole site design is nice and subtle, I LIKE THAT. (too many sites out there just shout at you non-stop) But for me, it also hindered the navigation, because those new buttons popping up on the side weren't obvious.

I hope that all made sense. I still think the site is gorgeous, just difficult to maneuver through logically.

Lindsay:

Very interesting comments and I thank you for taking the time Let me answer a probably obvious question right off - Yes, the vast majority of the site is static content. The only parts that are database driven are the Fragrances listings and the shopping cart itself. The shopping cart is totally custom written, which is why the site doesn't appear like a cookie-cutter Agoracart or Zencart site

On the subject of navigation, I'm very interested in your (and others) comments. It's interesting because I've always thought that certain navigation items ought to be static and others should change with the content. The left side items change depending on what section of the main navigation item you've chosen. Inside the "Products" section the left side items are all the same (or should be, I'll check again).Inside the "About Us" is just a Contact Us option, since product info wouldn't make sense in that section. Further, product info wouldn't make sense in the FAQ section.

Would it be any better if the Major sections were always on the left as well, with subsections that appeared, indented, magically when you clicked on some bit + symbol or something? Ultimately it's the same ending, sub-sections with specific content under them but is it just an issue of them being seperated - across the top for the static major sections, dynamic on the left? Would it be better if those left side choices were different somehow, in color, font, etc?

Thanks again for the input!

Ronnie

[racolvin]

My Question: Why offer a custom color? Boy, you are going to be pouring night and day! Also, why don't you all have the scents/oils in stock? Part of great customer service is being prepared for the next order.

Thanks and have a great evening!

Carrie

Carrie:

I offer the custom coloring as a service to my customers. Frankly it's there to give them the illusion of choices since the vast majority choose "default". I've only had a couple of customers want candles in odd colors relative to the fragrance. I do mention in the shopping instructions though that orders can take up to 10 business days, which gives me time to get anything I might need if I'm short, allows me time to pour, and gives them time to cure.

Ronnie

[racolvin]

I think it looks great, but I have a few small suggestions.

I love the black and tan, but that tiny font on the tan color is very hard to read, IMO. Perhaps a lighter shade of tan and/or a font adjustment might be a good thing to try. Otherwise, it is simple and easy to navigate. Good work!

Edited to add: I have to agree with candlelady, if you are pouring to order and get busy online with orders, you will be a slave to pouring. LOL! The custom candle idea is a good one, but during peak candle season it would be a PITA to keep up with. Plus all candles need to cure, IMO. It just gives you a better finished product.

Oh definitely, curing is a good thing especially in soy. 10 business days gives me plenty of time to get things done and give them time to cure. If I deliver them shortly after I've made them, I'll always tell the customer to let them sit with the lid closed for a few days before they burn them and I've never had a customer complaint about a few days of curing time.

As for the font size/color issue, you're not the first person to mention that - my mother says its hard to read for her. The fonts and sizes are done as CSS style sheets so I can try to play with it a little and see if I can make it better.

Ronnie