Acatalog - Changing name.

[RuralWeb]

stop winging about it and move to another software package then if you think they are all so much better.

[Darren B]

I guess you were never any good at debates then

[RuralWeb]

all of what you are saying has been discussed before so its old hat and not worth the bother of going through it all again. The whole subject of gc is already on another thread which was closed by CD so that tells a story v9 is here and what you see will be with us for the next 2 years so if people are not happy they should move software IMO

[Darren B]

so what your saying is, we should be greatful and never voice an opinion. GC was just an example by the way, along with TAX, Checkout, Upload there are hundreds of requests it makes no difference to me but would be nice to have the ones i would like, but i know i will never get everything i want.

I was merely expressing my views, and as i stated earlier i have paid more for customisation that the software itself, if we can add it to the aug, then perhaps we can add it to the package in the first place.

As for old hat 25% of what go's through this forum is old hat, along with many response to the noobs when they ask questions

[RuralWeb]

yes I've noticed your helpfull replies recently

[Darren B]

Things is i admit it

like this then http://community.actinic.com/showpos...73&postcount=2

[wesleythorne]

having read this entire thread tonight thought I might as well have a word!
For me part of my reason for buying actinic V6 in 2003 was because it had this forum, it is helpful, friendly and mainly UK based.
Other free e-commerce apps seemed to have a rats nest of a forum!

A complete novice can get a store up and running with little computer knowledge, whether this means they should be running a business or there business will be successful is something else to talk about. Why would you start a computer based operation with no knowledge of how a computer or web browser works I don't know.

Google is the new Tesco , at least for now, until it becomes untrendy and someone else comes up with something better, greener, cheaper how or what I have no idea but these things happen.

Of cause we could all move to ebay, personally I don't use it as it reminds me of doing a car boot sale at 6am on a Sunday and I didn't like that much.

I don't like paying for new features, I want everything for free just like the mp3s i can get for nowt on the interweb.
At least I don't like to pay at first, then I have a little think and come to the conclusion, I don't give things away for free in my business so why should anyone else.
To sum up, Actinic is what it is, could be better could be worse, I know one thing for sure, I have orders coming in and make a living with Actinic. If I didn't I would look elsewhere. Business is Business.

The key component of actinic is the forum IMHO, thank you to all who support it.

[completerookie]

A complete novice can get a store up and running with little computer knowledge, whether this means they should be running a business or there business will be successful is something else to talk about. Why would you start a computer based operation with no knowledge of how a computer or web browser works I don't know

the missus has done just that, she has done it because of her disabilities, she's arthritic (and has been since she was 15 - 30 yrs ago) and now has just 3ft of clear vision.

she spent the last 15 yrs sitting on the settee watching the walls come in, when she moved, she had pain. "real companies" wouldn't employer her, she was "unreliable"

She's now able to "occupy" her days but is still able to "fit the business around her pain". emails get answered "reasonably quickly"
Manufacturers/ distributors now refer people to her because she has "bothered" to find out things and become knowledgable.

She's got IP phones, linked to dect headsets, two LARGE screens so she can see the fonts correctly, couriers collect some goods from home (again they let themselves in the door after a while) but most of the goods are drop shipped. and is now "truly employed" again, has stopped her state benefits and now for the first time in 30 years, feels she "contributes" again.

don't knock these novices, she's spent hours reading the forums, studying SEO techniques etc and she's done that all on her own while I go out a do the "day job"

so occasionally, some complete novices have no choice but to turn to PC based business "through no fault of their own"

[george]

Kev, if thats not a worthwhile Actinic Showcase Story I don't know what is.


Respect to you and yours fella.

[Darren B]

the missus has done just that, she has done it because of her disabilities, she's arthritic (and has been since she was 15 - 30 yrs ago) and now has just 3ft of clear vision.

Kevin i take my hat of to you and your lady, i wish you well and to be honest i recon this is one post that some members here would do well to remember

D

[Ginnys Attic]

I applaud your missus's Kevin it's always nice to here success stories but this one is all the more worthy because of the circumstances and your missus obvious determination to succeed, but I would say she could have achieved the same using any other ecommerce software so the success is solely down to her spirit, determination and effort not the Actinic software used. What's the URL of the site she runs?

[completerookie]

the point of the posting was to reply to the thoughts of "a complete novice CAN make a web based business work" rather than "its all down to Actinic"

clearly, part of the success is down to an indomitable spirit that she seems to have.

a clue here was when I worked in Poland, Hungary for 18 months, coming home at weekends - her condition meant that she actually ended up in a wheelchair during that period, but she "hid the chair for the 36 hrs that I came home" and never told me for 12 months until I came home one day unexpectedly and found her in tears in the chair

needless to say, I gave up the commuting to Poland to start working at home soon after.

having said that, she first started using actinic on late v7 (multi-site), worked her way through v8 and is now looking at v9 - we/she looked at other packages but it was the helpfullness of this forum that partially swayed her.

She chose the more expensive multi-site version because it allowed her to experiment with layouts, create new dummy sites to import and play with, throw them away, start again. have another idea, follow it, give up, start again . ..

Previews help no end, but having a nice GUI windows interface where "common buttons and menus do common things" helps her enormously.

there's lots of things inside Actinic she doesn't and probably never will need. but then theres lots of things in Windows or Excel or .... that you never need. At the end of the day its a compromise.

She doesn't like the cost of the actinic software, she's not making a fortune from the website, but is certainly keeping her head above the water.

Spell checking would help no end, but unless the spelling is "in context", it would help totally. - she once wrote that a 4-wheel mobility scooter doesn't need a "diving licence" - of course she meant "driving licence" (remember she's German)

Although I work all day in warehousing intranets, I "forced" her to become as self-sufficient as she can - its no point waiting for me to come home to fix a problem

I'm going on...

the point is, a novice can join the e-commerce world, make a go of it, ask and get help when she needs it, and ask me (if I'm not in too bad a mood) when I get home but Actinic has allowed her to "do it herself" albeit slowly.

She's now busy writing her next site, new layouts, new ideas, same products, new words, new pictures - and at the moment, her spirit is undampened

[wesleythorne]

hi, i didn't intend to 'knock a novice' quite the opposite, I had little knowledge and now doing well out of Actinic myself.

Sometimes though, I don't think people think things through properly let alone create a business plan before jumping in head first. They then look to blame everyone and everything else before looking at themselves.

Wes

[completerookie]

a classic case, "no business plan", just "a desire"