New mycomicshop layout, graphic designer(s) wanted

[mycomicshop]

Earlier today I put up a preview of the new look of mycomicshop.com we'll be deploying soon:

 

preview of our new look

 

If you feel so inclined, take a look and let me know if you encounter any bugs--things that don't look right, problems with the cover image popup behavior, etc. To clarify, this preview is just a demonstration of our new layout--it's only a cover gallery and doesn't yet replicate our full functionality in terms of being able to browse through a list of titles, add items to your cart, etc.

 

Also, I'd like to hear from anybody that might be interested in doing some graphic design work for us. I know there are some very talented web and graphic designers on the boards. I'm looking for somebody that is both good with graphics and knows comics well enough to be able to source comic-related images as needed for use in graphic assets.

 

In the new layout, if you look in the upper right corner you'll see a theme selector dropdown. Right now we have four themes that were developed to demonstrate the theme picker concept: Batman, Superman, Wolverine, and Watchmen. I'd like to develop a larger theme gallery with many more choices. If you're interested, please PM me or email webmaster@mycomicshop.com. Expanding the theme gallery is the only immediate project, but there could be additional work down the road.

[PokerKid]

The new look is nice and the in-stock tab is a nice feature for hunting older books.

 

My only concern is that you don't lose the ease of use and functionality of your current site. I have always found it very easy to navigate, a super resource for seeing covers and probably the best search function of any comic site I have used.

 

 

[999ghosts]

Looks great but I do see some problems.When I go over a cover the pop up will be behind the covers instead of in front.

 

 

This is in IE 6.0 (I know, old version on this PC)

in Firefox, no problem

[mycomicshop]

The new look is nice and the in-stock tab is a nice feature for hunting older books.

 

My only concern is that you don't lose the ease of use and functionality of your current site. I have always found it very easy to navigate, a super resource for seeing covers and probably the best search function of any comic site I have used.

 

 

Thanks--yes, ease of use and functionality remain my top priorities. I don't think we'll be making any changes that will be a step backward from what we have now in terms of usability.

[gpanalysis]

Very nice (thumbs u

[mycomicshop]

Looks great but I do see some problems.When I go over a cover the pop up will be behind the covers instead of in front.

 

This is in IE 6.0 (I know, old version on this PC)

in Firefox, no problem

 

 

Good old IE 6...

 

It's a small and shrinking percentage of our traffic, but not yet small enough that I'm comfortable writing it off.

 

Thanks for the screenshot. I'll see what I can do.

[DarkKnightReturns]

The new look is nice and the in-stock tab is a nice feature for hunting older books.

 

My only concern is that you don't lose the ease of use and functionality of your current site. I have always found it very easy to navigate, a super resource for seeing covers and probably the best search function of any comic site I have used.

 

 

+1 on the in-stock tab. Great idea

[JWKyle]

And I just got used to the old version

[nocutename]

These are just my opinions but your search is a strong asset on your site. For me I loved that I could type in a title and was presented with links so I could select the title or see how many other volumes are available under that title. The new look displays the cover gallery and there is no way as a user that I would navigate through 64 pages to find something I am looking for. Do a search under Batman and the results are unwieldy.

 

Next, while I love that your original site displays all the covers for a title, under the new design I think you In stock tab should be displayed first. You are selling comics first and a nice resource second.

 

I am using IE 8 and the In Stock tab is not working.

[fantastic_four]

Looks great but I do see some problems.When I go over a cover the pop up will be behind the covers instead of in front.

 

This is in IE 6.0 (I know, old version on this PC)

in Firefox, no problem

 

 

Good old IE 6...

 

It's a small and shrinking percentage of our traffic, but not yet small enough that I'm comfortable writing it off.

 

15% - 20% of people last I heard are still using IE6. I suspect the majority of that percentage are corporate users whose company have had little reason to upgrade, but probably at least 5% - 10% are home users on old computers.

[Prince Namor]

The old format, I agree is one of the best.

[Bosco685]

The old format, I agree is one of the best.

Agreed!

 

I like the old style better. If you want to improve anything, why not focus on the book grading?

 

[sckao]

 

First impression: You're going to lose sales.

 

(More later... gotta head to work.)

 

 

[mycomicshop]

These are just my opinions but your search is a strong asset on your site. For me I loved that I could type in a title and was presented with links so I could select the title or see how many other volumes are available under that title. The new look displays the cover gallery and there is no way as a user that I would navigate through 64 pages to find something I am looking for. Do a search under Batman and the results are unwieldy.

 

I probably need to make this clearer, not just to you, but to everybody--I'm not intending to make the cover gallery format the default search results with the new site. I've just set it up that way for this preview as kind of a tech demo since it's new and I wanted to get feedback on any problems with the cover popups. I agree that making the cover gallery the default format when you do a search would not be good for usability, because there are way too many results returned for most searches. I'm currently setting up the other search result formats (list of titles, list of issues one per row). Once all formats are ready, the behavior will be very similar to what's on our current site, except you'll have a few more options than before--like easy filtering with the in-stock tab, or optionally viewing results as a cover gallery. And, there will be somewhat more room, since the new layout has one full-width column without our current layout's sidebars.

 

 

Next, while I love that your original site displays all the covers for a title, under the new design I think you In stock tab should be displayed first. You are selling comics first and a nice resource second.

 

Well, in the usual search results, if an item is not in stock you can still add it to your want list, so there's value to the "selling comics" side of the site in showing even the out of stock comics. I think it will be less of an issue once title listings are returned from searches rather than just the cover gallery.

 

I am using IE 8 and the In Stock tab is not working.

 

Thanks.

[Justin Case]

The old format, I agree is one of the best.

 

When i click tyhe 'in stock' tab then place the cursor on the particular comic i get a larger picture with details but nothing else. Wouldnt it be better if it had the grade and price as well.

[mycomicshop]

The old format, I agree is one of the best.

 

When i click tyhe 'in stock' tab then place the cursor on the particular comic i get a larger picture with details but nothing else. Wouldnt it be better if it had the grade and price as well.

 

Yeah, sorry for not explaining this clearly enough. That kind of information will all be there. This page isn't at all final, it's just a demo intended to help me get feedback about any page elements that aren't working in various browsers.

 

I'll post an update when the full search functionality is in place, and then you should see everything you'd expect to see.

[shortstack comics]

So how do I get the pop up of the covers shrunk down again on my iPhone?

[Broken Shakespear]

Umm.... Am I missing something?

 

I don't see any pop ups, cover images, or anything using the link in the OP.

 

Also, I tried changing the theme to another of the ones you mention and nothing happens.

 

Also, from the link in the OP, if the first thing I do is click in stock, let that page load, and the click all issues, it doesn't go back to all issues.

 

I'm using Firefox 3.6.6.

[mycomicshop]

Umm.... Am I missing something?

 

I don't see any pop ups, cover images, or anything using the link in the OP.

 

I'm in the process of setting up the standard title listings and issue listings (similar to what's always been on our site). Right now, the preview link (http://www.mycomicshop.com/search2) is showing our title listings rather than the cover gallery it was showing when I first started this thread. Tomorrow the basic search functionality will be completed, and you'll be able to move between all three types: title list, issue list, and cover gallery.

 

Also, I tried changing the theme to another of the ones you mention and nothing happens.

 

I'm assuming that you don't have Javascript disabled, because that would do it. It's working fine for me in Firefox 3.6.6. I was working on it earlier tonight--maybe you had the bad luck to look at the page while there was a breaking change in place, but its working for you now?

 

Also, from the link in the OP, if the first thing I do is click in stock, let that page load, and the click all issues, it doesn't go back to all issues.

 

Bug, and I've fixed it now. Thanks.