Shop OBEX P1 Docs P2 Docs Learn Events
Who like the new www.Parallax.com web page — Parallax Forums

Who like the new www.Parallax.com web page

sam_sam_samsam_sam_sam Posts: 2,286
edited 2013-09-14 13:11 in General Discussion
I just went to the www.Parallax.com web page I would like the web page if you would keep the header of the left as it is and move the bottom of the page to the top of the page

What do other think or have any other idea :smile:
«1

Comments

  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2013-09-12 07:21
    It's definitely an improvement over the old site, and it's gotten better since it was beta. One thing I still don't like is the hide/unhide action on the product pages, where you can only see one section at a time. I'd prefer to see Overview, Details, and Downloads (and anything else) all at the same time. But then, I don't shop there all that much, only for special items or pricing. For regular price stuff I just add it to my next Mouser order.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2013-09-12 07:42
    Frankly, I don't want to offer any opinion. I know that Parallax has put a lot of time and thought into revising their web pages in hopes of better reaching the customers in a better way.

    I wish the designers 'good fortune'. It is hard to say what really works and what doesn't. And it is a huge task to manage even minor tweeks and changes. Above all, I know that I can still come here and get a good answer if I just can't seem to find it on the web pages.

    +++++++
    I think Parallax is very happy to hear that you might being ordering from Mouser or Digikey.. as both do provide the ability to sell a very vast array of other items that Parallax can never afford to carry.

    For most of us, we try to do one stop shopping to avoid multiple shipping charges. The Parallax site is mainly for the core of Parallax's market.
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-09-12 11:12
    I wasn't gonna complain, but since you asked...

    Sorry, but the new site looks unfinished & unpolished to me. No margins, words too close to the edges, pages too long, too much scrolling required, and not logically organized. I think the old site is vastly superior in graphic layout and user friendliness.

    I hope there are numerous changes to come.
  • skylightskylight Posts: 1,915
    edited 2013-09-12 13:42
    The empty white bit at the top is a bit strange, will this be filled eventually?

    Edit: As if by magic it is now a full page
  • Jen J.Jen J. Posts: 649
    edited 2013-09-12 14:09
    skylight wrote: »
    The empty white bit at the top is a bit strange, will this be filled eventually?

    Edit: As if by magic it is now a full page

    The site is a responsive design; it recognizes your browser's width and changes the layout accordingly for easier viewing on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. The upper navigation structure for the tablet and mobile views will be improving in the near future.
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2013-09-12 14:32
    I am unable to find the equivalent of the following on the new site:

    http://classic.parallax.com/tabid/440/Default.aspx

    Also, where are the Nuts&Volts columns hiding?
  • skylightskylight Posts: 1,915
    edited 2013-09-12 14:35
    Jen J. wrote: »
    The site is a responsive design; it recognizes your browser's width and changes the layout accordingly for easier viewing on desktops, tablets, and mobile devices. The upper navigation structure for the tablet and mobile views will be improving in the near future.
    Thanks Jen it must have been my laptop playing up but now it looks good.
  • Jen J.Jen J. Posts: 649
    edited 2013-09-12 17:15
    davejames wrote: »
    I am unable to find the equivalent of the following on the new site:

    http://classic.parallax.com/tabid/440/Default.aspx

    Also, where are the Nuts&Volts columns hiding?

    Search the downloads on this page: http://www.parallax.com/downloads

    And they should all be there. You can search by keyword or product ID. If you find any downloads are missing, please let us know.

    Nuts & Volts can be found in a similar fashion (see screen shot). We have zipped them by book volume.

    NutsVolts.png
    NutsVolts.png
    963 x 796 - 116K
  • Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi)Phil Pilgrim (PhiPi) Posts: 23,514
    edited 2013-09-12 19:56
    I guess the bottom line will be the bottom line, so it will be interesting to see how the new website affects sales volume. In the end, that's the only metric that really matters, since it coalesces all the other factors, like user-friendliness and aesthetic appeal.

    Frankly, I'm with erco, though. The old product page layout was vastly superior to the new one. I prefer to have more infomation in one screenful, rather than having to click links and scroll to access all of it.

    -Phil
  • ercoerco Posts: 20,256
    edited 2013-09-12 20:02
    as Skylight noted:

    Suddenly the website does look better (compared to this morning). Were there some changes made today?
  • lanternfishlanternfish Posts: 366
    edited 2013-09-12 21:37
    erco wrote: »
    as Skylight noted:

    Suddenly the website does look better (compared to this morning). Were there some changes made today?

    And for me too (browsing on tablet).

    Overall I like the look of the new site though like Phil I preferred the old product pages.
  • LoopyBytelooseLoopyByteloose Posts: 12,537
    edited 2013-09-12 22:49
    In the olden days, companies suffered mightily in pondering how to publish their in-print catalogs to best reach their customers. I wonder why the internet should change all that.

    What the internet did change was the amount paper, ink, and shipping that was deployed in putting out a catalog to the public. Sears-Roebuck prospered because it was centrally located demographically in the USA to send out catalogs to the nation, and Chicago printers happily toiled away as the job was never-ending.

    I suspect that less distraction from graphics might be a good thing. People might read more and have better outcomes with less questions. There is a huge amount of technical documentation to provide and it certainly won't hurt to have people reading more of it in a way that engages their creativity.
  • davejamesdavejames Posts: 4,047
    edited 2013-09-13 04:43
    Jen J. wrote: »
    Search the downloads on this page: http://www.parallax.com/downloads

    And they should all be there. You can search by keyword or product ID. If you find any downloads are missing, please let us know.

    Nuts & Volts can be found in a similar fashion (see screen shot). We have zipped them by book volume.

    NutsVolts.png

    Ma'am,

    ...but how do I know what to search for, if I don't know it's there? :confused:

    A new user would not intuivately know that the information was available.
  • RDL2004RDL2004 Posts: 2,554
    edited 2013-09-13 04:51
    What the internet did change was the amount paper, ink, and shipping that was deployed in putting out a catalog to the public.

    This relates to certain aspects of web page design that make me want to bang my head on the desk.

    Why restrict text to the center 1/3 of my 1920x1080 monitor? (hello Wordpress themes and all your copycats)

    Why do I have to click "more" to see the rest of the text, even when it's just one more line? (hello YouTube and everybody else)

    What is the point of thumbnail pictures when the original is already small? (hello vBulletin and most other messageboard software)

    It's as if someone is trying to save paper or something. I just don't get it. It's not user friendly. If it's caused by trying to cater to both the desktop and mobile users at the same time, then stop. That's why Windows 8 is such an abject failure. I'm not saying Parallax is guilty of all these things, I'm just pointing out what I see as failings of web page design in general.
  • Jen J.Jen J. Posts: 649
    edited 2013-09-13 09:52
    erco wrote: »
    as Skylight noted:

    Suddenly the website does look better (compared to this morning). Were there some changes made today?

    Changes are made very often. Improvements coming all the time.
  • Ken GraceyKen Gracey Posts: 7,392
    edited 2013-09-13 12:09
    Speaking of the web site, I like this image presently shown on the home page. To our customers: please hold us to a very high standard for quality, support, documentation, service, warranty and creativity. Never be concerned about bringing your concerns to these forums or to people on our team - always give us the opportunity to improve and do the right thing for you.

    We don't make these statements because they are trendy, but because we believe in what we do and we know that you appreciate it too.

    HPI_MadeUSA.png
    HPI_MadeUSA.png
    938 x 296 - 283K
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2013-09-13 13:46
    davejames wrote: »
    Ma'am,

    ...but how do I know what to search for, if I don't know it's there? :confused:

    A new user would not intuivately know that the information was available.

    A few days ago I needed to load PST onto a customers computer. I could not find it without using the search tool. I much prefer a listing of all things available than to have to know beforehand what to search for.
  • xanaduxanadu Posts: 3,347
    edited 2013-09-13 13:54
    I think the new site is great, I liked the old site too. One thing that really drives me nuts is changing the layout often and you definitely don't do that. I hope you stick with the new layout for a long time like you did with the old one.

    Can you offer a feature or use a cookie to remember a view preference and offer an option to show everything expanded or condensed. Personalize the experience a little?

    I do find it a little odd that you can't open "Overview", "Details", and "Download" at the same time but I also don't see it as a problem unless I'm trying to compare two products side by side in separate windows. It seems like fewer clicks than the old site which is good.
  • sam_sam_samsam_sam_sam Posts: 2,286
    edited 2013-09-13 14:19
    I just went on it today and a lot better now than it was other day I like the lay out the new web page it will a take a little time to get use to it
  • Jen J.Jen J. Posts: 649
    edited 2013-09-13 14:38
    davejames wrote: »
    Ma'am,

    ...but how do I know what to search for, if I don't know it's there? :confused:

    A new user would not intuitively know that the information was available.


    Downloads related to the use of a specific product have links in the downloads tab on their product pages.
    Links to our most downloaded tools (USB Driver, Propeller Tool, BASIC Stamp software) live in the upper nav under support.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2013-09-13 14:46
    Jen J. wrote: »
    Downloads related to the use of a specific product have links in the downloads tab on their product pages.
    Links to our most downloaded tools (USB Driver, Propeller Tool, BASIC Stamp software) live in the upper nav under support.

    PST?
  • EmilyKurzeEmilyKurze Posts: 127
    edited 2013-09-13 14:56
    W9GFO wrote: »
    PST?

    I'm not sure I know exactly what you are referring to? If you could provide me more details I would be happy to look into it for you.
  • sam_sam_samsam_sam_sam Posts: 2,286
    edited 2013-09-13 15:09
    davejames wrote: »
    Ma'am,

    ...but how do I know what to search for, if I don't know it's there? :confused:

    A new user would not intuivately know that the information was available.

    It there
    http://www.parallax.com/search?search_api_views_fulltext=Nut+and+volts

    It would be nice to have a link to where this is
  • GordonMcCombGordonMcComb Posts: 3,366
    edited 2013-09-13 15:28
    I like the new design. It's clean, and easy to navigate -- though some of the links at the top look like they're not active. Being in a dark shade suggests they're not complete or live. (They're okay at the bottom of the page.)

    Anyway, I think the biggest problem is that many (most? all?) of the current Google searches to Parallax's store pages result in a 404 Not Found. This will really hurt the site's ranking on these pages, as Google re-spiders these pages and notes they're gone. They should all have permanent redirects, so Google can keep the relevancy of those pages in its index, and only change the URL. Otherwise, the new site has to rebuild authority for all the changed URLs.

    Lacking redirects also means everyone's links to the old Parallax site will frustratingly result in 404 Not Found codes. Some people don't update their site links for years at a time. Lots of lost traffic.

    I'm not sure what CMS is being used for the new site, but it is usually possible to do on-the-fly redirects, going to the correct page for surfers, while also telling Google the page location has been updated.
  • EmilyKurzeEmilyKurze Posts: 127
    edited 2013-09-13 15:28
    sam_sam_sam wrote: »
    It there
    http://www.parallax.com/search?search_api_views_fulltext=Nut+and+volts

    It would be nice to have a link to where this is

    You can also find the Nuts & Volts articles but selecting Articles from the Download Type on this page https://www.parallax.com/downloads
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2013-09-13 16:15
    I may be one of only a few, but the SX page with SX resources, downloads and tutorials is gone. Not all of this is on the forums or easy and convenient to find. I've invested many hundreds of dollars in SX and that SX support page was my goto place.
  • Invent-O-DocInvent-O-Doc Posts: 768
    edited 2013-09-13 16:16
    On a positive note. The page layouts are clean and the site works well on my tablets.
  • W9GFOW9GFO Posts: 4,010
    edited 2013-09-13 16:37
    EmilyKurze wrote: »
    I'm not sure I know exactly what you are referring to? If you could provide me more details I would be happy to look into it for you.

    Sorry, I thought everyone knew that PST was the Parallax Serial Terminal.

    It is found at http://www.parallax.com/downloads/parallax-serial-terminal but is not on the list at http://www.parallax.com/downloads/.

    edit: oh I see now, I first have to select Software as the download type then click Search.

    It works but it is not as easy to use as the old way. They are not organized, it is just a long list of things. For someone new, I think it is not as user friendly.
  • propMakerpropMaker Posts: 65
    edited 2013-09-13 17:03
    I don't like that the old browser version at work can't properly display the page. I'm forced to use my phone or wait till I get home for my Parallax fix.
  • Duane DegnDuane Degn Posts: 10,588
    edited 2013-09-13 17:20
    What I really dislike are all the now broken links in the forum.
    I don't suppose some bot could go through and change the "www" to "classic" to fix these links?
    I've fixed a bunch myself today.

    One was to the SpinZone articles. I gave up trying to find them on the new site (I hadn't seen the links in this thread yet). Switching "www" to "classic" fixed the old links.
Sign In or Register to comment.