jazzing up

[kessock]

Update

Hi again,
thanks for all the input.
I have now loaded one the what I hope is a frameless theme.
Is it possible for someone to check this for me and confirm either way.
Thanks.
Mark

[Duncan Rounding]

Much better! No Frames.

[kessock]

A Result

Thanks.
I will now try and getting it loking better.
Think I need to invest in version 8.
Thanks.
Mark

[Duncan Rounding]

Perhaps but there's a lot you can do with the V7 that you have.
Why not try out some other themes such as smart or best seller and see what you think about them?

[RuralWeb]

That looks so much better. Your title tags are working correctly as well now. As Duncan says have a play with some other templates - switch to test mode so your customers dont get confused. You will then be able to fine tune the site without having to go to V8 which only really has some marketing features over V7 - you can manually create these in V7 by setting up a new products section and a best sellers section.

See if you can put together a eye catching banner for the top of the site once you have decided on a template design/colour.

[kessock]

themes

Thanks again guys,
I will give it a go, how does one switch to test mode as I have only ever run live.
I really would like to have boxes to the left and right with things like specials etc but haven't got a clue how to start.
I have tried reading up but really dont understand NETVAR etc etc.
Is there an easy option.
(don't laugh).
Thanks.
Mark

[RuralWeb]

Test mode is under web. You need to walk before you run with designing. Search the forum on each area you want to improve on - it is all there - take one step at a time.

[Little Lou]

Mark, as suggested don't forget to take Snapshots as you go.

I was in a similar boat a few months ago and was concentrating that hard on altering things I tended to forget about Snapshots until it was too late

Mind you 'once bitten, twice shy'

Printing off the Actinic Resource Guides can be helpful too.

[Big_Dave]

I quite like the banner you have at the top of the page. I'd leave that for now and concentrate on getting a suitable theme and working on the content and design.

I use the Smart theme and that creates the boxes down the left and right that you mentioned. Its easy to also create additional boxes.

One thing (not sure if it has been mentioned), The picture of your shop is huge (1075 in length). This means on my 17 inch monitor at 1024 x 768 there is a nasty scroll bar at the bottom of the page. Not so much of a problem for me but someone viewing in 800 x 600 will have a hard time.

I recommend you don't have any images that exceed 800 width (dependant on the theme as you may want to go smaller if you also have boxes down the left and right).

regards
Dave

[kessock]

Image

Thanks for that.
I will make the shop front smaller.
I too have a widescreen so didn't realise the problem existed.
I will take on board was has been said and go forth and fiddle (with the site guys!!!).
Snapshots are taken daily so hopefully this will not be a problem for me, but thatnks for the warnings.
Thanks again.
Mark

[kessock]

Shop Picture

Can someone please take a look and see if the image is now a better size for me.
Thanks,
Mark

[kessock]

Clarify

Hi,
Sorry me again.
I am playing with the smart theme and have a query.
I have found the place where you change the property of the box on the righthand side, however.
I don't know how to say, have special offers or range of offer products appearing in the box in picture form, is there an easy (ha ha) way of doing this.
I am unable to get to my advanced users guide at present and have confused myself reading this site.
I am afraid I cannot get my head around what a custom var is so please be gentle.
Thanks for your patience.
Mark
P.S, sorry about all the I's

[RuralWeb]

I am unable to get to my advanced users guide at present

It is available to download from the actinic website

[kessock]

Download

Thanks I will ry an plough through it.
Don't think this program is an easy one if you are looking to do things simply without a great amount of fiddling.
Anyway, here comes yet another late night trying to get my head around what I need to try and do.
Thanks again.
Mark