How to Use the New Web Site

So, it’s the beginning of a new year. As usual thoughts to turn to starting over, making improvements… to the web site. Yes, once again it’s time for a new year, new web site.

The most obvious change to the web site is the design. Everyone needs to spiff up the wardrobe a little, even a web site.The design is wider (for most users). The green is brighter. The proofs are shown on a white background (and can be enlarged). Big changes, but mostly cosmetic.

Searching Proofs

It became apparent last year, that you all really like the ability to quickly search for photos of your dog. So, I made it easier. There are now multiple ways to search the proofs from just about anywhere on the site.

1. Search by dog name: I added a search box at the very top right corner of the page. Enter your dog’s name and you can find photos from any page in the site.
2. Search by dog name and breed: You can search the whole catalog by name and breed from two pages — the proof list page and the search page.
3. Search by year, dog name and breed: Just want to look at this year’s (or any year) proofs of your dog? You can search each year from that year’s proof list page or by selecting the year on the search page.
4. Search by event type, year, dog name, and breed: Just want to look at the agility proofs from this year (or any year)? You can search those proofs from the event type, proof list page for that year (i.e., 2008 Agility Proofs) or by selecting the event type and year from the search page.
5. Search an event by dog name and breed: You can also search just the proofs from a specific event for your dog from the event page (i.e. Riverside USDAA agility trial).

Navigation

We rearranged the main navigation a bit, taking some things out, and adding others. One section that seems to be constantly overlooked is the blog. It includes quite a bit of information about new photo products, new events we’ll be at, new proofs added to the site, and other happenings. So, we added it to the main nav so you all could find it.

Instead of two main nav items for links our products and services, we added links to each product page and each service page in the footer on every page in the web site. That way if you have a question about collages while you’re viewing your proof, you can click collages in the footer and learn all about that product — even order on from the product page!

In fact, the footer is now like a mini site map, including links to the About section pages, Proofs, Products, Services, and Help pages.

Proof Page

I spent quite a bit of time redesigning the proof page. Most people who had problems, had them on this page. It’s always been a tricky page to design because it needs to show off the proof — at a legible size — but it also needs to allow you all to select a reprint size or photo product and order it. A lot to do in one page.

Some people had trouble with the product windows last year. So, this year all the ordering information will load into the proof page. There are two (or four) sections on each proof page: Proof Information and Buy this Proof (and maybe also Comment and Rate this Proof).

You can toggle each section open and closed by clicking on it’s title. The Proof Information section, by default, is open. The Buy this Proof section, by default, is closed. Click on its title to open it and you will see four tabs.

The first two tabs provide access to the two types of products you can order: prints and photo products. Beneath each tab is a list of subcategories in each type. Click on these links to see a list of products to order.

The second two tabs offer additional ordering information. The Order Offline tab provides information on how to order through the mail, at an event or by phone. You can also access the order form and credit card form to download and print. Click the Help tab to see a list pf FAQs associated with ordering. There is a list to more FAQs in case your question isn’t included there.

Newer proofs (since last September) will also include the Comments and Rate this Proof sections. You can add your comments to an image or rate the ones you really like (1 to 5 stars).

A number of people asked to view the images at a larger size. So, starting from proofs added last September, you can click on the proof and it will open larger on the screen. Please be patient — larger image size means longer load time*. We will be upgrading previous proofs as time is available during the season.

^*If you have a dial-up connection, you may be in for a very long wait. You may be better off not trying to see the enlargement.

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