I've handed in the reviews that I posted yesterday and presented them to the class. I really would have liked to have had a working website at the end of the class but things happen. I've learned so much from this experience. If I had to do it over, I would have probably tried to work more with a team as opposed to by myself.
Next step is to look more into Shopify. I'm glad I at least still have my photoshop file as that was a good chunk of work!
Tuesday, April 6, 2010
Monday, April 5, 2010
Volusion Challenges
- In the three months that I used it, Volusion was down for maintenance at least four times. This is how many times my site would have been down had it been live.
- No tech support. Waiting for 45 minutes on live chat to speak with someone, only to be told they couldn't help me and I had to purchase a $10 ticket to get help.
- Features appear and disappear without notice and sometimes images you've uploaded will disappear once you refresh the page.
- Limitations in the CSS and HTML (can't touch the Volusion logo or the credit at the bottom)
- Expensive! $50 to sign up and then packages range from 24.99/month or 159.99/month.
- Do not have a choice of who you host with.
- Weak code; doesn't validate.
- Does not have a default page for when the site is down (which is often).
- No tech support. Waiting for 45 minutes on live chat to speak with someone, only to be told they couldn't help me and I had to purchase a $10 ticket to get help.
- Features appear and disappear without notice and sometimes images you've uploaded will disappear once you refresh the page.
- Limitations in the CSS and HTML (can't touch the Volusion logo or the credit at the bottom)
- Expensive! $50 to sign up and then packages range from 24.99/month or 159.99/month.
- Do not have a choice of who you host with.
- Weak code; doesn't validate.
- Does not have a default page for when the site is down (which is often).
Ecomm Reviews
To finish up my project I am doing a brief synopsis of five eCommerce solutions. They are listed below and later I will post the challenges I faces using Volusion.
Mal's Ecommerce
Mal’s Ecommerce is a free shopping cart system that advertises itself as being free from the limitations of normal shopping cart systems. However, if you want to upgrade to premium (which would allow you to upload your own template for cart pages, amongst other features) the cost is $8/month.
There is also unlimited access to free 24/7 support. One thing that drew me to Mal’s is that there is no limit on the number of products to sell. Also, it’s easy to set up a donate button if you work with charities.
Unlike Volusion, Mal’s Ecommerce has a forum where users can discuss tips, tricks and troubleshooting. From looking at the forum, there appears to be many glitches, but the majority of the reviews from external sources are positive.
Wordpress
The WordPress e-Commerce plugin takes only a few minutes to install. It’s as easy as downloading the plugin, copying it to the plugins folder and activating it via your admin panel. WP e-Commerce integrates with Google Checkout, Paypal, Authorize.net, Payment Express and many other trusted payment processors.
Wordpress Ecommerce caters to “design perfectionists” by allowing the to use WordPress PHP template tags, wordpress shortcodes and wordpress widgets.
PrestShop
PrestaShop was founded in Paris, France and is still quite new to the scene. The thing that grabbed my attention about PrestaShop is that it’s FREE. That’s right, this eCommerce shopping cart application is open source. It advertises itself as being “customizable, stable, and ‘weighing in’ at only 2.2MB for easy installation.” Its backend lets you manage your inventory, orders, shipping and customers.
Judging by reviews, PrestaShop doesn’t have the best technical support (but at the price, this isn’t a surprise). Also, according to reviews, PrestaShop’s PHP construction and SQL Database is quite advanced. This means that someone with limited programming knowledge (like me) might hit some road bumps.
Compared to some backends, like Volusion, PrestaShop offers an impressive forum full of tips and tricks as well as troubleshooting (so if you encounter a problem, it is probably already addressed in the forum).
Several users vouche for the code being easy to customize.
Shopify
Shopify is a hosted shopping cart solution that advertises itself as having no CSS or HTML limitations, so that your site will look just the way you designed it (there is no programming knowledge required). The shopping cart software is made by JadedPixel Inc. out of Ottawa. Shopify has built-in support for a many payment processors including PayPal, Google Checkout, Authorize.net, and dozens of other payment gateways. You can also accept payments using money orders, COD, or bank deposits.
The backend interface is uncluttered and helps you to organize your orders. Sellers can track payment and shipping status and can also recieved new order notifications via email, RSS, and text messaging.
Shopify has a free 30 day trial, but after the trial is up you have the option of paying anywhere from $24/month to $699/month. If none of the plans work for you, they do have the option of customizing your own plan. There is no setup fee and no cancellation fee.
One downside to using a hosted ecommerce software, like Shopify, is you can’t upload additional software. For example, you can’t upload forum software to www.myonlinestore.com/forums because you won’t have access to your store’s hosting account. But that’s an issue with all hosted software, and you can easily work around that restriction
by having software installed on a sub-domain (eg., forums.myonlinestore.com).
Shopify does not offer features standard on more mature ecommerce platforms like cross-selling/up-selling on the checkout page and sales (temporary store-wide or category-level temporary price reductions). There is also no way to issue a gift certificate.
FoxyCart
FoxyCart is not a CMS, but is built to integrate into whatever CMS you like. You can even use your existing templates on your own server, instead of trying to customize a pre-existing template. Foxy Cart is free while you’re developin so if you do hit a snare and want to switch you’re not out any money. Once you’re ready to use a Live Gateway, the cost is $19/month (there are no sign-up, cancellation fees or transaction fees). Included with every store is a minimum of 100MB of space
for downloadables.
As far as support goes - there is a forum but it is not very organized. There is no live chat and there is no phone support. The only way to contact FoxyCart is to email them. Also, FoxyCart makes it clear that they do not provide any technical support.
Mal's Ecommerce
Mal’s Ecommerce is a free shopping cart system that advertises itself as being free from the limitations of normal shopping cart systems. However, if you want to upgrade to premium (which would allow you to upload your own template for cart pages, amongst other features) the cost is $8/month.
There is also unlimited access to free 24/7 support. One thing that drew me to Mal’s is that there is no limit on the number of products to sell. Also, it’s easy to set up a donate button if you work with charities.
Unlike Volusion, Mal’s Ecommerce has a forum where users can discuss tips, tricks and troubleshooting. From looking at the forum, there appears to be many glitches, but the majority of the reviews from external sources are positive.
Wordpress
The WordPress e-Commerce plugin takes only a few minutes to install. It’s as easy as downloading the plugin, copying it to the plugins folder and activating it via your admin panel. WP e-Commerce integrates with Google Checkout, Paypal, Authorize.net, Payment Express and many other trusted payment processors.
Wordpress Ecommerce caters to “design perfectionists” by allowing the to use WordPress PHP template tags, wordpress shortcodes and wordpress widgets.
PrestShop
PrestaShop was founded in Paris, France and is still quite new to the scene. The thing that grabbed my attention about PrestaShop is that it’s FREE. That’s right, this eCommerce shopping cart application is open source. It advertises itself as being “customizable, stable, and ‘weighing in’ at only 2.2MB for easy installation.” Its backend lets you manage your inventory, orders, shipping and customers.
Judging by reviews, PrestaShop doesn’t have the best technical support (but at the price, this isn’t a surprise). Also, according to reviews, PrestaShop’s PHP construction and SQL Database is quite advanced. This means that someone with limited programming knowledge (like me) might hit some road bumps.
Compared to some backends, like Volusion, PrestaShop offers an impressive forum full of tips and tricks as well as troubleshooting (so if you encounter a problem, it is probably already addressed in the forum).
Several users vouche for the code being easy to customize.
Shopify
Shopify is a hosted shopping cart solution that advertises itself as having no CSS or HTML limitations, so that your site will look just the way you designed it (there is no programming knowledge required). The shopping cart software is made by JadedPixel Inc. out of Ottawa. Shopify has built-in support for a many payment processors including PayPal, Google Checkout, Authorize.net, and dozens of other payment gateways. You can also accept payments using money orders, COD, or bank deposits.
The backend interface is uncluttered and helps you to organize your orders. Sellers can track payment and shipping status and can also recieved new order notifications via email, RSS, and text messaging.
Shopify has a free 30 day trial, but after the trial is up you have the option of paying anywhere from $24/month to $699/month. If none of the plans work for you, they do have the option of customizing your own plan. There is no setup fee and no cancellation fee.
One downside to using a hosted ecommerce software, like Shopify, is you can’t upload additional software. For example, you can’t upload forum software to www.myonlinestore.com/forums because you won’t have access to your store’s hosting account. But that’s an issue with all hosted software, and you can easily work around that restriction
by having software installed on a sub-domain (eg., forums.myonlinestore.com).
Shopify does not offer features standard on more mature ecommerce platforms like cross-selling/up-selling on the checkout page and sales (temporary store-wide or category-level temporary price reductions). There is also no way to issue a gift certificate.
FoxyCart
FoxyCart is not a CMS, but is built to integrate into whatever CMS you like. You can even use your existing templates on your own server, instead of trying to customize a pre-existing template. Foxy Cart is free while you’re developin so if you do hit a snare and want to switch you’re not out any money. Once you’re ready to use a Live Gateway, the cost is $19/month (there are no sign-up, cancellation fees or transaction fees). Included with every store is a minimum of 100MB of space
for downloadables.
As far as support goes - there is a forum but it is not very organized. There is no live chat and there is no phone support. The only way to contact FoxyCart is to email them. Also, FoxyCart makes it clear that they do not provide any technical support.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Ecommerce solutions that don't suck
I have cancelled my Volusion account.
I showed what I have so far to the class and explained some of the hardships that I have been experiencing. Fortunately, Doug recognizes that it's futile for me to continue down this path if I'm just going to trash the site once the class is finished. SO, in effort to be more productive, I am now going to find five ecommerce solutions that don't suck and write a review about them. I am also going to summarize what I learned from using Volusion and hand it in next week.
I think this is a much better approach. Sure beats banging my head against the wall with a CMS that claims to be customizable but really isn't.
When I cancelled my account there was an input field asking why I was cancelling. I didn't go into a lot of detail but I did mention the poor customer service. Now my phone is ringing off the hook with them trying to rectify! Too late buddy...
I showed what I have so far to the class and explained some of the hardships that I have been experiencing. Fortunately, Doug recognizes that it's futile for me to continue down this path if I'm just going to trash the site once the class is finished. SO, in effort to be more productive, I am now going to find five ecommerce solutions that don't suck and write a review about them. I am also going to summarize what I learned from using Volusion and hand it in next week.
I think this is a much better approach. Sure beats banging my head against the wall with a CMS that claims to be customizable but really isn't.
When I cancelled my account there was an input field asking why I was cancelling. I didn't go into a lot of detail but I did mention the poor customer service. Now my phone is ringing off the hook with them trying to rectify! Too late buddy...
Friday, March 26, 2010
Volusion
So I'm starting to feel a little better as I've been showing the back end of Volusion to a few of my programming friends and the consensus is: Volusion sucks. (In other words, not entirely my fault).
I've been trying to customize the pre-established frame that they have and now realize that parts of it aren't even customizable...PLUS their own code doesn't even validate!
Volusion has terrible cross-browser compatibility and the back end is a total mess. I found this blog post which pretty much sums it up: http://www.urbanpit.com/2008/03/volusion-sucks.html
I tried to use their live chat to get some help the other day, and ended up waiting about 45 minutes before giving up. Needless to say, once this assignment is over I'm going to find a new ecommerce solution. It's too late for me to start over right now so I'm going to keep plugging away, but the end result will not be anywhere close to what it's supposed to look like.
I've been trying to customize the pre-established frame that they have and now realize that parts of it aren't even customizable...PLUS their own code doesn't even validate!
Volusion has terrible cross-browser compatibility and the back end is a total mess. I found this blog post which pretty much sums it up: http://www.urbanpit.com/2008/03/volusion-sucks.html
I tried to use their live chat to get some help the other day, and ended up waiting about 45 minutes before giving up. Needless to say, once this assignment is over I'm going to find a new ecommerce solution. It's too late for me to start over right now so I'm going to keep plugging away, but the end result will not be anywhere close to what it's supposed to look like.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Programming...
So I'm definitely not a programmer. I am having a lot of issues with the programming. I've had a few of my programming friends look at the CMS I'm using and apparently it's crap - which is just great because I'm paying for it.
APPARENTLY it would have been a lot simpler if I had gone in and sliced it all from scratch instead of trying to what Volusion provided me with.
At this rate, I'm not going to have a completely finished working site when the course is done. It will look alright, and the shopping cart will work, but if I want to use this I'm going to have to put in a lot more hours.
Hoping this will not affect my grade too much, but the website will definitely be unfinished...
APPARENTLY it would have been a lot simpler if I had gone in and sliced it all from scratch instead of trying to what Volusion provided me with.
At this rate, I'm not going to have a completely finished working site when the course is done. It will look alright, and the shopping cart will work, but if I want to use this I'm going to have to put in a lot more hours.
Hoping this will not affect my grade too much, but the website will definitely be unfinished...
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Programming
I started programming last night! Wow it has been a while. I read some tutorials to refresh myself...the first hour was very frustrating. It's starting to come back to me; I don't think it will take quite as long as I thought it would (knock on wood).
I also installed a CSS plugin for firefox which is very helpful. Unfortunately it's only available for older versions of firefox so I had to downgrade.
The link for the plugin is here.
I also installed a CSS plugin for firefox which is very helpful. Unfortunately it's only available for older versions of firefox so I had to downgrade.
The link for the plugin is here.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Fingers crossed!
I showed the class my psd file last class which included all of the inside pages. There was some good feedback and just some minor tweaks. I made those tweaks and sent to Doug a few minutes ago. Once I receive approval I will start on the programming which I am actually very nervous about. I have a feeling I'm being too ambitious and won't be able to have the entire site finished by the time it's due.
Fingers crossed!
Fingers crossed!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Reading Break...what??!
So I didn't really get a break this past week...working 40 hours while going to school will do that to you. But that's ok. I made some revisions to my home page and got it ok'd by Doug. I now have all the inside pages designed, including rollovers and subnav. I will be showing it to the class tomorrow and I'm sure I'll want to make some more changes after that. Once the design is totally signed off on I'll start programming. In the meantime, I'm familiarizing myself with Volusion's CMS and trying to brush up on my dusty programming skills.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Feedback
Last week I showed a jpg of what I've designed so far from my website. I received some great feedback from both Doug and the rest of the class. It was really helpful to show it as they brought up some things I probably wouldn't have thought about otherwise. I just made some revisions and emailed it to Doug. Waiting to hear his thoughts before moving on with the inside pages.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Ongoing Design
Design is going well. I have been making some tweaks to the home page and plan on starting the layout of the inside pages very soon. I also setup my blog which I will link to from my site. I've been familiarizing myself with Volusion - fortunately they have a great support system.
I plan on running my design my Doug tomorrow before I go any further.
I plan on running my design my Doug tomorrow before I go any further.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
WOOHOO!
Information Architecture and User Personas are approved! YAY! There were a few spelling mistakes in my user personas - oops. And I could have expanded more on one of them...but now I get to move onto the fun part: the design.
Monday, February 1, 2010
Sigh
Well I had a little mini breakdown this week. It's just so hard to balance school and work. But I'm doing better now - I have my learning contract and briefing document signed off and I've created my user personas as well as my information architecture. Hopefully I will get those signed off tomorrow. Next step is signing up for Volusion and creating the design - the FUN part! yay :)
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Update
I handed in my learning contract last week but it needed some tweaks. I recieved a virtual sign off from Doug so I continued with creating the briefing document and (finally) signed up for PayPal.
Really hoping to get the learning contract signed today so I can continue with the Information Architecture.
Really hoping to get the learning contract signed today so I can continue with the Information Architecture.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Working away...
Right now I'm taking a break from working on my Learning Contract. Going over the rough draft last week with Doug answered a lot of questions and I think I'm on the right track now. I'm finding all this planning really helpful...it's not something I normally do. At work we don't normally have time to do this much planning (unfortunately).
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Learning Contract
Right now I'm working on my learning contract due this week. This is what I have so far for a breakdown:
- Process Journal / Ongoing / 15%
- Learning Contract / Jan 12 / 10%
- Client Contract / Jan 12 / 5%
- Briefing Document / Jan 19 / 10%
- Information Architecture / Jan 26 / 10%
- Initial Design / Feb 9 / 10%
- Site Design / March 1 / 20%
- Programming & Testing / April 5 / 20%
I think figuring out the dates and the percentages was the easy part...I'm now struggling a bit with the evidence and the verification (how are you going to know when you learned it/how are you going to show that you've learned it).
I'm going to fight the urge to reply "You know when you know". ;)
- Process Journal / Ongoing / 15%
- Learning Contract / Jan 12 / 10%
- Client Contract / Jan 12 / 5%
- Briefing Document / Jan 19 / 10%
- Information Architecture / Jan 26 / 10%
- Initial Design / Feb 9 / 10%
- Site Design / March 1 / 20%
- Programming & Testing / April 5 / 20%
I think figuring out the dates and the percentages was the easy part...I'm now struggling a bit with the evidence and the verification (how are you going to know when you learned it/how are you going to show that you've learned it).
I'm going to fight the urge to reply "You know when you know". ;)
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Here we go!
Today was day one of DIGI 496 and we have been introduced to our project for the year. It sounds like this course is to be very self-directed, which can be expected for a fourth year course. The majority of the student are working in groups to create a project for a real-world client. Two potential projects popped into my mind: a website for a folk singer and a website for a music promotion company. However, as I work full time and deal with clients and work in groups on a daily basis, I thought I might learn more from working independetly.
I think I'm going to create my own website for my jewelry company, Namaste Jewelry. I actually find it harder to do my own work than client work so this will probably be good for me. This week will involve drafting up a learning contract as well as a contract between Doug and myself as he will be the client.
This project excites me which makes me think it will be the right one. It can be hard to stay motivated but I think if I'm passionate about it should make it a lot easier!
I think I'm going to create my own website for my jewelry company, Namaste Jewelry. I actually find it harder to do my own work than client work so this will probably be good for me. This week will involve drafting up a learning contract as well as a contract between Doug and myself as he will be the client.
This project excites me which makes me think it will be the right one. It can be hard to stay motivated but I think if I'm passionate about it should make it a lot easier!
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