My New Website

Fiddleback

Fiddleback

Knifemaker
Moderator
Knifemaker / Craftsman / Service Provider
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
Messages
20,005
My neighbor is a web designer, and made this for me. The previous website was a freebie, done by a buddy with a drag and drop webpage creator. This one is the real deal. I'll be able to grow into it for a while! The best part from the perspective of a knifemaker is the shopping cart area. (Currently not taking orders and don't have any stock, but this is a powerful tool that will allow a lot of growing into this site.)

www.fiddlebackforge.com

Comments welcome. Site was designed by Orcutt Labs.
 
Andy,
Your new web page is excellent.I used to get frustrated with the old one because the info. was so limited. If I were you I would get a good stock of steel and grinding belts because you are going to need them.
 
Andy, that's a great looking site! Very professional and well polished. The only suggestion I might have is to do away with the scrolling boxes at the bottom of the home page that comprise the "About Fiddleback" and "What's New" columns. Currently, there isn't enough text in the boxes to warrent the scroll in my mind. Maybe as things get added to the what's new section, the scrolling boxes would make more sense.

Great job to you and your web designer!!

--nathan
 
Nathan, I kinda thought so too, but decided not to nitpick. It was don'e in trade, and is LIGHT YEARS ahead of the placeholder I had there before.
 
Good call. And its' really not a big issue. I thought you two were collaborating on it, but as they say, it's a good idea to never look a gift horse in the mouth.

--nathan
 
Andy,

Congratulations! The new website looks great. I will offer a few comments. First, photos. I'm sure you'll update them in the future, but you might want to consider losing the cork and find another way to prop up the knives. The cork hides a big portion of the blade in the Bushboot photo in the "Our Line" section.

In the Gallery, the photos scroll left-right way too fast. I feel like I'm playing an old arcade game to get to the photo I want to see. It's great if a customer is familiar with your line and wants to see photos of a particular model.

But what if you are a new customer and want to see more photos and variations of a particular model? You really need to be able to link from "Our Line" to the Gallery to be able to show a customer the variety of handle options that can be done with a particular model. They can find it in the drop-up (as opposed to the more common drop-down) menu, but you have to remember the name of the knife you are looking for from the Our Line page to look for pics of a particular model. If you want to look at pics of another particular model, you then have to go back to the Our Line page to get the name, etc., unless you are happy with just browsing through all the pics to find the one you wanted.

Handles--your laminated wood handles and bullseye tubes have become features that make your knives readily identifiable to those that know you, and now even those that don't. How about a little on the webpage about how you construct them for those unfamiliar with your work? You want customers that don't know you to say, "THAT's THE GUY that does those handles on that knife I saw. . ."

Sheaths--I didn't find anything on your site about sheaths. A potential customer unfamiliar with your work might wonder whether or not they are available, what the options are (leather/kydex or belt/neck carry, etc.) whether you make them or not, and if not, whether there is a link to the person/company that makes your sheaths. Some customers want to see the "whole package" before deciding on a purchase. This will be especially important if you are going to have a direct purchase option on the website.
 
Looks great Andy!!!

The only thing I'm wondering about (not to say concerned!) is the "we" stuff on the homepage. Are you working with someone else, or just didn't want to have "I" all over the page?

I only ask because that type of thing does mean a lot to some buyers.

The site is VERY PROFESSIONAL!!! I'm most impressed! :) :thumbup: :cool:
 
Using I all over the place sounded arrogant, and more like a facebook page. It was hard to decide that issue.
 
Love it.
Your knives are probably the most gorgeous of any knifemaker out there, Andy. Something about the simplicity and form following function.
Definitely heirloom quality stuff, but also something that a person wouldn't be afraid to use.
Hardly ever does a person come across such an amalgamation of looks and performance.

I think the first I'll do once the Master's is finished is reward myself with one of your fine knives.

If I don't die of old age before I finish it.
 
Looks great Andy. Only thing I will say, and I don't know if it's just me but on the "About Us" page there is some kind of strange characters towards the end of the second paragraph. Both seem to be related to the word "won't". Just a heads up for you.

Other than that I love everything about the site. Well done :thumbup:

-Matt
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top