Rate My Site Please

nogihno

Please rate my new site please,

http://www.sulmeat.com

I would especially like to hear from ye Firefoxians as I dont have it on my PC.

All comment/criticism graciuosly received.

Thanks

Eamonn

Spocker

The delivery page is a bit hard to read with the background (actually make that any page with that background and text on top) and that page doesn't resize properly inside FF - its fine in IE

matrim

It looks ok, but the colour scheme isn't great. It can be hard to read the writing sometimes, especially when it is over the picture of the shop front background.

There is also a problem on the about page where the text doesn't wrap. It keeps going so you have to scroll across to read it.
This also kind of happens on other pages, the right hand border keeps moving depending on each page.

wheres me jumpa

Its a bit clutterred theres a lot going on in each page. Background image doesnt look great especially when images also using the background image are placed in the same area.

Navigation is a bit ugly, the use of images for links makes it load a tiny bit slow on a broadband connection, have you seen it on a 56k? Does it take long to load?

LegacyUser

while it's no work of art, it's better than alot of sites out there.

the usablilty is straight forward, and i had no problem finding out delivery costs, you'd be supprised how hard this is to find on some e commerce sites.

never thought i'd see meat available over the web, if you had oastrich meat i'd be interested.

eoge

It is very difficult to read and very difficult to look at. The layout is cluttered, the colours are harsh and unpleasant. The text is small and when the size is increased, the site falls apart (see attachment).

I'm not being a bastard for the heck of it, just being honest. I suggest you look into modern trends and best practices in web design (e.g. a good start is to read about web standards).

Also explore sites like CSS Beauty and learn about layout with CSS and look at the well-rated sites in the gallery to see what is considered good web design.

Good luck.

impr0v

From a quick look:

As above, less images would be better for loading time, I'm sure 56k would involve a lot of waiting.

I'm not sure the flash in the centre of the home page adds anything, though i think the green field type visual is good.

When i go to a main meat page, e.g. Beef and then select one of the items from the drop menu I'm brought to it, but the drop menu is gone. If i want to select or view a different item i have to go back to the main beef menu. Not a big point, but it would make for smoother navigation to leave the drop menu on viewitem.asp.

The majority of the photography is very good but the odd item looks bland and washed out, e.g.:


Overall the site incorporates a lot of items and ideas and should be applauded as I'd guess it's streets ahead of the web presence of the majority of Irish butchers. However, design wise it does look a little bit dated to me, probably due to the colour scheme and the fact that there is a lot going on.

Personally I'd try to cure this by
-losing the background image of the shop behind the main content.
-shorten down the left navigation by using text rather than images
-lose the central navigation items by adding them to the left or the right (i.e. the packaging and delivery, jobs, about) and maybe grouping menu items
-making the special menu items (kidzone, tell a friend, recipies, etc.) more coherent, i.e. introducing some similarity into their design, there is just too much competing for my attention.
-simplifying things in general

I don't want to come across as being overly-critical, what you have at the moment works and the majority of the above is down to personal choice.

AARRRGH

The design is nice and simple, but that yellow is killing me!

caff

http://www.sulmeat.com/checkout.asp

on the checkout page, the delivery date field doesn't work on FF
where you click and the calendar should pop up alowing you to select a date
should be easy enough to fix

wheres me jumpa

Ive had a look around at other butchers sites, found the following in Ireland;

http://www.jameswhelanbutchers.com/
http://www.eamonkennardmeats.com/
http://www.odonovans.ie/index.htm

Without looking too hard I couldnt find much else. This gives you an idea of what youre up against, which isnt much based on the above. ODonovans is not without its mistakes but it does create a professional image.

Rollo Tamasi

just for the sake of adding another butchers website....my local one at home
http://www.ocrualaoi.com/index.php

Shopping Cart!

nogihno

I appreciate all comments above. Thanks. There is a lot more to our site (i think) than any of the above, in both front end and back end cms.

Our site site revolutionary in trying to ship meat throughout the country including innovative packaging. The online CMS created will allow the site to be updated easily and in real time.

Thanks Again

grahamor

the flash banner is really cheesy, i think it takes away from the fact that everything is very well done. Get rid of the flash !!

Also, rollovers on the nav buttons wouldnt hurt

nogihno

Any Font suggestions?

ChicoMendez

Not bad site. A little outdated looking as was said above... but lots going for it

nogihno wrote:

The online CMS created will allow the site to be updated easily and in real time.

You dont have too give us ur client marketing speil.. i think everyone here know what a CMS is (btw is it custom or you take an OS one?)

The Corinthian

nogihno wrote:

I would especially like to hear from ye Firefoxians as I dont have it on my PC.

Then I suggest you download it, as the site essentailly breaks all over the place, including your CC processing.

I also suggest you look throughout as I spotted a number of spelling and gramatical mistakes.

nogihno

Sorry for the "spiel", all apsects of the CMS is online and custom made, gives us more flexibility in the long run.

The CC processing is done with realex and so there is not much I can do about the browser issue in this regard.

On a general point, what is so appealing about firefox over IE as a browser or is it just anti MS?

As far a percentage of users go, it seems a lot of work to do two different sites for a small percentage of users? Thoughts?

The Corinthian

nogihno wrote:

The CC processing is done with realex and so there is not much I can do about the browser issue in this regard.

No, it’s failing at your end, as you’re not transferring properly. Nothing to do with Realex.

On a general point, what is so appealing about firefox over IE as a browser or is it just anti MS?

Personally I like some of the features and plug-ins you can get for it. Others I’m sure like it because they hate MS or somesuch. However, this is irrelevant if you are developing a Web site as given most estimates of Firefox use sit at between ten and twenty percent (much higher for some sites such as this one) of browsers, it’s frankly too high to ignore.

As far a percentage of users go, it seems a lot of work to do two different sites for a small percentage of users? Thoughts?

It shouldn’t be that much more work if you approach the design with this issue in mind.

eoge

nogihno wrote:

Sorry for the "spiel", all apsects of the CMS is online and custom made, gives us more flexibility in the long run.

The CC processing is done with realex and so there is not much I can do about the browser issue in this regard.

On a general point, what is so appealing about firefox over IE as a browser or is it just anti MS?

As far a percentage of users go, it seems a lot of work to do two different sites for a small percentage of users? Thoughts?

If you developed with web standards you'd have relatively no problems here. Plus, even if you do decide to say "it only affects 10% of the visitors", would your client be happy losing 10% of his or her potential customers?

dangerman

What's the clock there for?

CuLT

I'd be surprised if this is a service that many people avail of. It's one thing buying DVDs, books, electronics, etc online; but meat? I wouldn't buy a piece of ham without picking it myself from whats displayed; and I consider myself an advocate of online shopping

Still, I'm guessing you've done your research, and if it's a local service in a rural area then I'd hazard a guess that would make a big difference.

The Corinthian

eoge wrote:

Plus, even if you do decide to say "it only affects 10% of the visitors", would your client be happy losing 10% of his or her potential customers?

What are the odds on his / her deciding to say nothing to his / her client?

CuLT wrote:

Still, I'm guessing you've done your research, and if it's a local service in a rural area then I'd hazard a guess that would make a big difference.

I’d be curious to know whether they’ve worked out their business model properly. The site is unlikely to be inundated with people buying online, however it is quite possible that someone eventually will. Unless the client feels that sending a stake in the post is a viable option, I wonder how profitable it would be to otherwise send a single order to Dublin? My guess is €7.50 isn’t going to cover the petrol.

Or is there a way of transporting and delivering a single stake to its destination, cross-country, which is commercially viable and hygienic?

Gordon

nogihno, do you have a stake in the business? hehe

Personally I don't like the yellow as yellow connotations towards meat don't bode me well. presumably you are using the colours of the logo though? Also I don't like the semi transparent image of the shop behind the text "Welcome to Sulmeat.com, your online traditional butcher shop. It would be our pleasure to serve you." as it's quite distracting.

Oh and the name of the website "sulmeat.com", maybe it's just me but that name gives me an icky feeling.

Otherwise it's fine imo (Firefox1.5/Mac)

nogihno

dangerman wrote:

What's the clock there for?

Orders are based on time. If you order before 11am today you will receive your meat tommorrow. See Delivery Schedule.

For those of you worried about whether the stake (steak by the way) will arrive to you in a fresh condition see packaging and delivery section about our revolutionary packaging methods.

As for those of you who are worried about me, my client and my stake in the business, we have put the site up for review in an attempt to get some constructive critiscism on the new site we have put together, no more. There are some items we will look at, others we wont. We thank you for your comments and appreciate your honesty and time.

rsynnott

The Corinthian wrote:

I also suggest you look throughout as I spotted a number of spelling and gramatical mistakes.

It's a well-recognised fact that every criticism of spelling and grammar will contain at least one such issue itself.

rsynnott

CuLT wrote:

I'd be surprised if this is a service that many people avail of. It's one thing buying DVDs, books, electronics, etc online; but meat? I wouldn't buy a piece of ham without picking it myself from whats displayed; and I consider myself an advocate of online shopping

It's actually moderately common on the high end in the US. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000DJ83H/sr=8-4/qid=1140803466/ref=pd_bbs_4/103-0649188-6316666?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance - Yes, that's STEAK on Amazon.)

And get someone to proof-read it; there are a number of grammar and spelling issues.

Graham

Wow, if I spent weeks surveying teams of focus groups asking what would be the worst possible background colour to display raw meat against I doubt that I could have come up with baby-squirts orange.

Sorry to be so blunt but its absolutely awful. Apart from the fact that the day-glo background makes the produce look washed out, the site is almost guaranteed to induce a migraine 30 seconds into the ordering process.

What exactly is supposed to attract my attention when I load the home page, where are you trying to draw my focus? Is the animation deliberately trying to detract me from the real purpose of the site or is that just accidental?

Take 5 steps back from your monitor, squint and look at that home page again. Are your eyes drawn to one specific area (your main message)? I doubt it.

Look at the site again and ask yourself "if this were the companies shop window, what sort of shop would I be looking into"?

When I think of a butchers shop I want to see clean, white, concentration on the product, its quality, standards of hygiene etc. I definately do now want to be presented with a background that reminds me of a bad dose of the squirts.

Please please please consider the phrase "less is more", then start again.

The Corinthian

rsynnott wrote:

It's actually moderately common on the high end in the US. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B0000DJ83H/sr=8-4/qid=1140803466/ref=pd_bbs_4/103-0649188-6316666?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance - Yes, that's STEAK on Amazon.)

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2006/02/27/ebay_food_dodgy/