Care to review my new site?

[Anita]

The link works for me now. 

[xppman]

I see the purple, one-eyed monster with FF.  8)

[stardust]

All *I* have to do is look in the mirror every morning....

[xppman]

I knew that... but was NOT going to say it. 

[thentavius]

LOL! Sorry for the delay.

The freelancers were able to get in afterall (they had their firewall set in some way that MC wasn't allowed through). All that is fixed now. I appreciate everyone's input.

I am so glad I decided to hire outside help to get these things up faster. I wish someone from here had decided to do it (more moola for them), but such is life.

While they're adding products, I'm getting new designs ready and working on SEO, advertising, and a master RSS feed. I think I found some software on Tucows that lets you create RSS feeds faster, although I'm still looking for some kind of program or service that can rip products from your site and turn them into a feed. LOL.

[thentavius]

Need a few more eyes on this project, again.

http://www.plasticpumpkin.com

We've got 109 products added so far. Keep in mind there will be hundreds more (probably thousands more), but it's very slowly taking shape.

Before we get too laden with products, I'd like some help with the categories. I have general product type categories in the left hand menu bar (like T Shirts, Mousepads, etc.). I also have a few carnival-themed categories which purport to break products into themed groups, instead of by product types (Like Attractions >> Fantasy Items).

At the bottom of the main index page, I also have a set of Series links--to product themed groupings.

BUT, I'm not sure if this is going to work.

As shoppers, do you guys go into general categories and look for "T-Shirts" then burrow down? Or do you start with conceptual ideas like "fantasy art"? This is, of course, barring the idea that you've been to the site before and already know what they have.

As a shopper I usually search for keywords, then often allow myself to be pulled into like categories.

I need more feedback on this as I want the categories to be as logical as possible.

[BellisimaJ.]

Okay, I'll give you my impressions as a female shopper.

I like the way you created the themed group categories. If I were shopping today, given what you currently have as categories on the left, I might go directly to these.
However, I never shop for t-shirts. I shop for "women's t-shirts" unless I am buying for a man.
Therefore, I would be more likely to find something and to buy if your left-hand categories were more specifc. Below is an example:

CLothing
  Women
    Tank Tops
    T-shirts
    Whatevers
  Men
    Tank Tops
    T-shirts
    Whatever
  Children
      Whatever
      Whatever
Fun Stuff
  Mousepads
  Whatever

[thentavius]

Thanks, Belle.

I was hoping for something like that. I've been looking at it too long.

I wonder if MC allows me to show the subcategories inset like that...  I'll check. If not, I can do top-level: clothing, fun stuff, etc.

For womens t-shirts, do you like the fitted styles? Or do you also wear mens cut t shirts?

[BellisimaJ.]

For womens t-shirts, do you like the fitted styles? Or do you also wear mens cut t shirts?

Mostly fitted or semi-fitted. The men's cuts always look weird in the shoulders and arms---for me anyway.

[BellisimaJ.]

Thentavius, you changed the categories! Good job--they seem much more "shopable" to me now!

Does Monster allow you to insert a javascript menu? That could work really well and allow you a little more latitude with your cats. Just a thought.