Thinking of starting a ShopSite Resources website... need op

[Brandon]

I am thinking of starting a website dedicated to providing resources for
ShopSite customers. I originally thought of doing it for ALL e-commerce
shopping carts but I like ShopSite and would rather just keep it
specialized. So what I would like your opinion on is this:

1. Would you rather use an online forum (see examples below) to converse
about issues rather than this email client?
http://www.sitepointforums.com
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/

2. Would you like a better database of ShopSite stores than the ShopSite
Marketplace (which is impossible to browse and harly ever updated)

3. What information other than the forum and links would you like? Articles?
Tutorials? Real-life examples of scripts? Success stories? Advice?

I will gladly put in the time to do this if it is something people want.
Since you all are obviously serious about ShopSite (since you frequent this
board) I value your opinions.

Thanks,
Brandon Eley
Creative Drive (www.creativedrive.net)
Web Development and E-Commerce Solutions
www.2bigfeet.com - Large size shoes for men and women

[Guest]

Hi Brandon:
here are my thoughts ..

1. Would you rather use an online forum (see examples below) to converse about
issues rather than this email client?
I think we've tried this before and it's really hard to open another forum
besides this core ShipSite forum; people tend to stay in one place, they are
less like to visit mutliple other places.Also, it usually takes a long time to
get a forum going.

2. Would you like a better database of ShopSite stores than the ShopSite
Marketplace (which is impossible to browse and harly ever updated)
Very good idea .. folks at ShopSite are too busy working on the next release(s)
so this would absolutely make sense. Maybe a small (moderated) published corner
on the ShopSite website that we can update? Or on some other website?

3. What information other than the forum and links would you like? Articles?
Tutorials? Real-life examples of scripts? Success stories? Advice?
People have lots of questions around templates, then some best practices would
help, articles and tutorials are a lot of work - that's something for ShopSite
to consider. They should really begin adding more content to their site - it's
pretty static.

Joachim
webmaster@chinasprout.com


Brandon wrote:

I am thinking of starting a website dedicated to providing resources for
ShopSite customers. I originally thought of doing it for ALL e-commerce
shopping carts but I like ShopSite and would rather just keep it
specialized. So what I would like your opinion on is this:

1. Would you rather use an online forum (see examples below) to converse
about issues rather than this email client?
http://www.sitepointforums.com
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/

2. Would you like a better database of ShopSite stores than the ShopSite
Marketplace (which is impossible to browse and harly ever updated)

3. What information other than the forum and links would you like? Articles?
Tutorials? Real-life examples of scripts? Success stories? Advice?

I will gladly put in the time to do this if it is something people want.
Since you all are obviously serious about ShopSite (since you frequent this
board) I value your opinions.

Thanks,
Brandon Eley
Creative Drive (www.creativedrive.net)
Web Development and E-Commerce Solutions
www.2bigfeet.com - Large size shoes for men and women

[Brandon]

Thanks for your help. I'm not really thinking of having TWO forums... I'm
thinking of putting this one out of business (so to speak). I think it's a
little outdated. Online forums offer so much more than a mail client can.
You can categorize and subcategorize subjects and topics, search databases
instantly, post polls, etc.

I would spend the money to procure the domain name and needed software if
people would be willing to at least consider switching. If I can get most of
the users' support the others will follow.

About the marketplace... I'd much rather let ShopSite owners enter their own
store's credentials and web address. That way, it's more accurate and stays
up to date.

If anyone else has opinions I'd love to hear them. Loren? Jimmy?


<webmaster@chinasprout.com> wrote in message
news:3C1963F0.273E0C6@chinasprout.com...

Hi Brandon:
here are my thoughts ..

1. Would you rather use an online forum (see examples below) to converse
about
issues rather than this email client?
I think we've tried this before and it's really hard to open another forum
besides this core ShipSite forum; people tend to stay in one place, they
are
less like to visit mutliple other places.Also, it usually takes a long
time to
get a forum going.

2. Would you like a better database of ShopSite stores than the ShopSite
Marketplace (which is impossible to browse and harly ever updated)
Very good idea .. folks at ShopSite are too busy working on the next
release(s)
so this would absolutely make sense. Maybe a small (moderated) published
corner
on the ShopSite website that we can update? Or on some other website?

3. What information other than the forum and links would you like?
Articles?
Tutorials? Real-life examples of scripts? Success stories? Advice?
People have lots of questions around templates, then some best practices
would
help, articles and tutorials are a lot of work - that's something for
ShopSite
to consider. They should really begin adding more content to their site -
it's
pretty static.

Joachim
webmaster@chinasprout.com


Brandon wrote:

I am thinking of starting a website dedicated to providing resources for
ShopSite customers. I originally thought of doing it for ALL e-commerce
shopping carts but I like ShopSite and would rather just keep it
specialized. So what I would like your opinion on is this:

1. Would you rather use an online forum (see examples below) to converse
about issues rather than this email client?
http://www.sitepointforums.com
http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/

2. Would you like a better database of ShopSite stores than the ShopSite
Marketplace (which is impossible to browse and harly ever updated)

3. What information other than the forum and links would you like?
Articles?
Tutorials? Real-life examples of scripts? Success stories? Advice?

I will gladly put in the time to do this if it is something people want.
Since you all are obviously serious about ShopSite (since you frequent
this
board) I value your opinions.

Thanks,
Brandon Eley
Creative Drive (www.creativedrive.net)
Web Development and E-Commerce Solutions
www.2bigfeet.com - Large size shoes for men and women

[Fred Holliss]

In article <9vbmmu$1k2$1@support.shopsite.com>, "Brandon"
<brandon@2bigfeet.com> wrote:

I am thinking of starting a website dedicated to providing resources for
ShopSite customers.

Sounds like a good idea.

1. Would you rather use an online forum (see examples below) to converse
about issues rather than this email client?

I'm actually using a news reader rather than an email client. It's leaner,
meaner, faster, cleaner than either an email client or a browser. But I do
take your point about doing finds, etc.

2. Would you like a better database of ShopSite stores than the ShopSite
Marketplace (which is impossible to browse and harly ever updated)

This makes little difference to me. Although it is nice to see what some
other people have done with ShopSite I'm usually too busy to browse
aimlessly. (Although I did look at http://www.2bigfeet.com for ideas when
we overhauled http://www.fitter1.com. I still have a print of your
previous version from July 17th stapled to the wall in my office.).

3. What information other than the forum and links would you like?
Articles?

Maybe.

Tutorials?

Definately.

Real-life examples of scripts?

Absolutely.

Success stories?

Maybe.

Advice?

Dear Abby? Sure, why not.

But those don't address my real need: I need a more centralised location
for resources to extend the functionality of ShopSite. I know that I've
failed entirely in finding someone that can do real-time credit card
processing for a Canadian company doing business in US dollars. Figuring
out how to extend the navigation with DHTML took a long time, and I'd
still like answers to some of the questions I've seen here in the Forum
such how to generate "wish lists" etc. Being able to turn to one location
that either offers some of those solutions or links to them would be
invaluable to me and, I'm sure, other ShopSite users.

--
Fred Holliss, webmaster, Fitter International Inc.
"Balance and Fitness for Life"
Toll Free: 1-800-FITTER-1 | Int'l: +1-403-243-6830
http://www.fitter1.com | mailto:webmaster@fitter1.com

[Brandon]

How ironic it is... I too have printed your site to see how you integrated
cascading style sheets, custom product and page templates and the
customization to the shopping cart and other elements into your store when
we were doing our redesign recently.

You have a very well designed site.

"Fred Holliss" <webmaster@fitter1.com> wrote in message
news:webmaster-1412012016060001@192.168.123.133...

In article <9vbmmu$1k2$1@support.shopsite.com>, "Brandon"
brandon@2bigfeet.com> wrote:
I am thinking of starting a website dedicated to providing resources for
ShopSite customers.

Sounds like a good idea.

1. Would you rather use an online forum (see examples below) to converse
about issues rather than this email client?

I'm actually using a news reader rather than an email client. It's leaner,
meaner, faster, cleaner than either an email client or a browser. But I do
take your point about doing finds, etc.

2. Would you like a better database of ShopSite stores than the ShopSite
Marketplace (which is impossible to browse and harly ever updated)

This makes little difference to me. Although it is nice to see what some
other people have done with ShopSite I'm usually too busy to browse
aimlessly. (Although I did look at http://www.2bigfeet.com for ideas when
we overhauled http://www.fitter1.com. I still have a print of your
previous version from July 17th stapled to the wall in my office.).

3. What information other than the forum and links would you like?
Articles?

Maybe.

Tutorials?

Definately.

Real-life examples of scripts?

Absolutely.

Success stories?

Maybe.

Advice?

Dear Abby? Sure, why not.

But those don't address my real need: I need a more centralised location
for resources to extend the functionality of ShopSite. I know that I've
failed entirely in finding someone that can do real-time credit card
processing for a Canadian company doing business in US dollars. Figuring
out how to extend the navigation with DHTML took a long time, and I'd
still like answers to some of the questions I've seen here in the Forum
such how to generate "wish lists" etc. Being able to turn to one location
that either offers some of those solutions or links to them would be
invaluable to me and, I'm sure, other ShopSite users.

--
Fred Holliss, webmaster, Fitter International Inc.
"Balance and Fitness for Life"
Toll Free: 1-800-FITTER-1 | Int'l: +1-403-243-6830
http://www.fitter1.com | mailto:webmaster@fitter1.com