Good v9 sites - your suggestions

[Luddite]

I feel like Alan Davies on QI whenever I post on here - expecting sirens to go off because i've said/asked for something thats soooo obvious, or been asked a million times before. However the long and the short of it is i'm trying to find some really good examples of V9 sites as we are at long last going ahead with our upgrade and site re-launch. I'm particularly interested in sites that have made good use of a graphic designer to create something that doesn't look 'off the shelf'.

Your suggestions are most welcome - and if there is a thread on this already, i'm sorry, I did search!

Nick

[jont]

Nick have you seen this thread http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=22725 .. it is in v8 forum but v9 is essentially v8 with a MOTO tab ... may be some ideas in there.

[Mike Hughes]

I would approach this differently. If you want a site that doesn't look like an actinic site then actinic sites are probably the wrong place to start.

Try the link on this thread http://community.actinic.com/showthread.php?t=38511 and look for inspiration.

The key thing with actinic is that it can pretty much operate in any design you want. You just need a clear concept to start with and a good designer.

Mike

[chris ashdown]

Many people knock off the shelf, and designers can come up with either great designs or poor looking or acting ones

What we really need is someway to compare sites along with sales but negating advertising to see what basic site actually works at selling the best

Unfortunatly I think this is impossible

[Luddite]

Thanks for the replies guys - Jont, good thread - but I think you are right Mike, I need to look further afield. Chris - I'm definately not knocking 'off the shelf' sites, more that i'm looking for a healthy measured balance of design and functionality.

One of my neighboring shops has got a website that I definately aspire too:
laundryroom co uk (bespoke build) - though I accept that my product range is much larger than this, so I will need to be more practical.

Cheers,

Nick

[chris ashdown]

I understand that, I am just in the process of having all my sites redesigned by a great designer

What I meant was the site design means different things to different people, and what would be nice, is to see what designs are financially strongest to the owner

By that I mean if all things were equal and say Actinic smart theme for a shop produced £30,000 in sales a month and xxx design with every thing else the same brought in £10,000 per month, we could then have a yardstick to what the public want to see and would prefer to buy from

It would be great but just not possible and also what may work for one catergory of goods may be crap in another

[Darren B]

I have to be honest, i hated my kites r us site, but the sales were good, i have recently changed it, a new theme and a small amount of tweaking but no major redesigns and at this moment in time sales are around the same but i shall still keep an eye on it.

There are a far number of sites out there that i find pleasing to the eye, yet someone else will not i actually think the market you are aiming for is the biggest factor in the design of your site, it could be the best looking site but if it does not fit the products you sell or it then your sales wont be great.

I am no designer but i hate sites that use loads of graphics and adds with no clear navigation, if im looking for somethign i want to find it in an easy way, i dont want search between banners looking for the items.

[george]

But do the v9 sites actually `work` as well as v8 ones yet?

[guccij]

But do the v9 sites actually `work` as well as v8 ones yet?

Sample of one (mine) = yes, they do.

[Darren B]

Pmsl

[leehack]

There are a far number of sites out there that i find pleasing to the eye, yet someone else will not i actually think the market you are aiming for is the biggest factor in the design of your site, it could be the best looking site but if it does not fit the products you sell or it then your sales wont be great.

There is certainly an element of truth in that for sure, your captive audience can often dictate/guide various factors on a website. For example you wouldn't really want a dynamic menu or too much interaction on a site aimed at silver surfers, whereas a site built for a younger audience could be far more likely to have something dynamic.

I think most people just want a site that is trustworthy, looks good, works fast, well priced, informative and easy to navigate. These factors are all good whatever your age or ability.

[leehack]

But do the v9 sites actually `work` as well as v8 ones yet?

An impossibility at the moment, even if everything you use is working fine, it is still slower, thus not working as well. 9.0.3 is the benchmark IMO, if that is as miserable as the current version, then we are in a bit of trouble. I think we may just turn the corner with this version though, feeling my first bit of optimism for a while.

[Darren B]

I think we may just turn the corner with this version though, feeling my first bit of optimism for a while.

I'll drink to that

[Mark H]

"The key thing with actinic is that it can pretty much operate in any design you want"

This is the approach we took (still V7 but the principal is the same), we just designed and built the site, then dropped the relevant Actinic code into it. For us this was a lot easier than trying to make Actinic do what we wanted in design terms.

[pinbrook]

I think we may just turn the corner with this version though, feeling my first bit of optimism for a while.

Big A does seem to be calling more external peeps in to test 903 - lets hope the strategy sees a more stable version