I just recently uploaded my website.... Not quite finished....but, I'm getting there.
keepsakephotoprints.com

Let me know what you all think...good or bad

Thanks,
John

Looks good John,

my main suggestion would be to add more information actually in each category. I got really frustrated searching everywhere for prices and other information. I like to see the price and other relevant information with the product or at least on the front page of a category so I don't have to go searching.

Similarly a button to get more information or purchase actually at the product would be better.

Best to make it as easy as possible for the customer or they will go elsewhere.

A great job though...well done!

Hiya John,

I think your site is nice, looks clean and to the point. I would love to see you utilize instances of Lightbox2 in your site where the images you have opening in new pages would open in a popup box (see my homepage site at http://accessoriesoftheworld.com for how this looks). Allows you to put multiple images into one box that opens or you can setup separate little ones for each image, but I think it would really make a nice addition to your site and make it more current.
http://lightbox2.com/

Lemme know if you want any help figuring it out, if you decide to use it. Otherwise it's a good site, well done

Hi John
I just can't say it often enough... you should avoid using non-core fonts unless you embed them in an image or use sIFR to be certain they show up.
You have Ashley as a font, and unless ALL your users have that installed, it just will not show up and a good percentage of your users will probably see another serif font instead. Serif fonts are not really a good idea on web sites as they are not easy on the eyes.

I agree that using an image viewer of some sorts would be nice. You should maybe download CC's own image viewer for a free trial to experiment a bit. Otherwise, I would suggest that each enlarged image is actually presented on a web page of its own, just like all the other pages in your site.

Nice clean work and I don't think it will take a great deal to give this the professional punch that you are seeking.

Thanks tassietiger,

I will be adding more information on every page soon, I just am not a man of many word, well, not when it comes to descriptions, but, I know I have to...... you're right about the pricing and relevant info. Is a button on every product page directing to the order page a good idea, or under each product itself?

Thanks again for you input

John

Hi Jo Ann,

Thanks for responding..... I'm gonna have a longer look at lightbox2 later tonight, it sounds like a great idea, if it's not too hard I will definately be using it...... as long as my site can stay clean (clutter free), I'll be happy. Clean and easy to use are mainly what I want...... Well slaes too LOL

Thank you,

John

To make it super easy for the customer I'd put it under every product, but if not at least on every product page in a very easy to spot position.

I just had a thought and I don't know if it possible or not but it would be good to have something like a Wish List that the customer could add products too and then copy and paste it into the order form at the end...or transform it to the order form. Not sure how to do it though.

Ultimately a shopping cart would be easier but I can see that with the customer needing to add input, you are opting for the order form.

Hi John, you can set the opacity and color of lightbox too, makes for a neat effect
here is a sample of a red overlay with opacity at 5
http://www.davebeall.com/node-gallery-g … -lake-park
click on one of the thumb nails to fire the lightbox

Hi Janys,

Thank you also for responding,

I did originally have a banner type image identical to what you see on my site now, but I can't remember why I chose to do it this way... I'm gonna have to change it though, I don't wanna be one of those sites that irritate potential buyers. Is that a better idea.... a banner type image.
About images on their own page..... what would be the reasoning behind it? I'm going to check out the cc image viewer and see if it is something I can handle.... I'm just a concrete guy, tring something I always wanted to do..... definately not a web designer, as you may have noticed LOL.

Thanks again Janys,

John

Hi John... no reason not to use a banner though the header you have looks ok. It just isn't showing up for me in anything but a large serif font and that would occur for many of your users. Not sure what font you have used for the horizontal menu and left-hand column since they are both showing up as a rather ragged serif font also. I will add in a screenshot to highlight that.

As I mentioned to David recently - a bit more breathing space between your lines would make for easier reading, so try giving greater "line-height" on those pages where they are a bit cramped. Yet again, something which makes reading a bit easier on the eyes. And don't go over the top with your use of italics for large areas of text. Another cause for headaches for those with even minor visual problems.

The point I made about your images opening up on new pages... as you are aware, when someone clicks on one of your images to view the enlargement... the image just opens up in the browser without all the template of your page surrounding it... right? Setting the enlargement in one of your normal pages means that navigation back to the rest of your site is immediately obvious - otherwise your users have to go and use the browser "back" button. This is no big deal of course, but to my mind just looks a bit more professional and well finished if there is a proper page, even around the enlargements. The alternative is one of the methods mentioned already... a lightbox or some kind of image viewer such as the CC one.

If you check out my CC forum signature here you will see the site for www.mattiabeninati.com which incorporates a lightbox, as also does the other site for the violin school (scrapbook album), which incorporates a coloured lightbox such as Dave Beall mentions. Don't forget to credit the guy who created the original lightbox - I just stuck a comment in my code
though you might use a different version. Check it out on internet before incorporating it into your site so that you know more about it.
http://www.huddletogether.com/projects/lightbox2/

Anyway - keep up the good work. Not far to go now!