New website is really bad.
 

What is with the new website? It's really bad. I can't even navigate in it. Please return to old style.

I think you need to be more specific and give constructive criticism. ;)

I have to say the old layout was much easier to navigate. With the new one, lets say I want to look at skimmers. I now have click 4 links and visit a total of 5 pages to get there which is incredibly annoying.

[Home Page] Shop Now>Dry Goods>Aquarium Equipment>Protein Skimmers

I can "hover" over it with my mouse, but if I move too fast or slightly on an angle, the menu disappears and I have to start from the beginning (I'm sure we have done this on other sites, and how annoying it can be)

I think a vertical side menu w/ filters is a smart idea [when implemented correctly] but should be in its own 'frame' and not load an entire new page just to get there. Keep what is on the screen to the right, where you can navigate through the menu, and the right side of the page changes when clicking on a link.

Here is an example. Click Shop Now, and then when you hit the links with the + beside them, a sub menu pops up below it, and you can navigate much easier. A click would be required and no more hovering.

[Home Page]
*click* Shop Now
[New menu opens on left side page]
Dry Goods
+Aquarium Equipment
++Protein Skimmers [Right side of page opens showing Skimmers when clicked]

I hope that make sense...

Instead of clicking anything you could just type in protein skimmers in the search and voila :)

The look of the new site is OK, but I agree it's much harder to find specific things when trying to browse by category. Making more use of the search facility, and that helps a bit, but the onus in on the searcher to come up with good search terms. For example if "widget A" isn't something for sale but "widget B" is, but it might not turn up in a search for "widget A".

Now I'm more tempted to just send an email with inquiries. This may or may not be welcome by the receivers of said emails depending on the number of people who feel the same way. ;)

It's much more difficult on mobile I have to go on my computer to view website

Agreed. The new site looks good but thats where it ends on the good. Your site used to be great. It looks fancier now but much less user friendly. Get rid of it. Or at least get the category/item list back that used to be on the left side of the page.

I bought something over the weekend and found it very confusing. I had to use my boo's pc to find the item name, then go back to my iPad to order..AFTER i had to make a new account per the instructions. Guess we will all get used to it!

They must of spent 5 to ten grand on this new site. I don't think there going back

Sad thing is I haven't even looked at the site in a couple weeks, I use to check it every other day. It's like Canada corals the new websites don't make sense to me, by trying to make it sleek and modern it seems more complicated then it needs to be.

I have to agree
 

I have to agree that the new J&L website is not as user friendly as the old one. I also agree with that old saying: if it ain't broke don't fix it!

AquaAddict

I do appreciate being able to search now!

You could search on their old website. I used it almost every time was on it lol

The new site will take some getting used to but I'm sure I'll like it more once I do.

Sent from my SM-N920W8 using Tapatalk

glad to know I am not the only one.

Although you can search for an item you are specifically looking for. I find myself constantly filling up my basket "browsing" to get Free Shipping, which is now very difficult on the new site.

I have to agree with some other posters here, and I don't frequent the site as much as I used to now.

It definately looks polished and pretty, but practibility and function has been lost :/

I think the old layout was fine, but maybe a fresh coat of paint (while maintaining the same layout) would be awesome.

I actually like the new website, the functionality thats built into it will be awesome once its fully utilized.

As with all new things there will be a few teething problems and changing code takes time and effort as anyone in programming knows.
They are also taking in constructive input and no doubt these changes will be implemented later down the line.

The website has barely been up 3 weeks so give them a chance

Thanks for all the feedback guys! I've tried to reply to specific statements as best I can:

- Sorry for the negative experience. If you don't find your woes addressed in this reply, or elsewhere in this thread, please let us know specifically what you would like to see and I'll add it to the list :)

- Thanks for the feedback! We're working on a persistent menu similar to what we had on our old website. Given the feedback received here, and elsewhere, it will alleviate a lot of the navigation issues experienced thus far.

- I completely understand what you are saying. Often times one is shopping for items LIKE what one has in mind, and the search isn't the best approach in that circumstance. We will look at increasing the "power" of the search to suggest other options to the user, but I agree that the menu system is a key element in this area.

- Lol! Please feel free to send us emails. at least until we get this jjjuuuussstttt right :mrgreen:

- Many people have expressed concerns about the mobile version and we are listening!:biggrin: We are reviewing our options to see what the best plan of attack is. I'm thinking it would be nice to have an option to revert to the desktop version (or said another way, higher resolution) version of the site.

- Menu changes are in the works! Beyond that, the new website is built on a platform that allows incredible customization and we will work to optimize the site based on the feedback we receive here and elsewhere!

- I appreciate you acknowledging that! Please keep in mind though that this platform can be modified and improved with your feedback, so if you think of something not elsewhere described shoot us an email :mrgreen:


Thank you to everyone!!

Jeff O'Neill
J&L Aquatics Ltd.
sales@jlaquatics.com

Jeff,

It's really great to see someone in retail who takes the time and effort to specifically try to address concerns expressed by members and customers in this way. Good job and keep up the good work.

Anthony

Anthony, very well said!

Jeff, keep up the great work.....just remind yourself Rome was not built in a day.

Totally agree with you Anthony, it sometimes takes time to tweak everything to make it work to the optimum.
It's sort of like a new skimmer, you don't just throw it in your sump and turn it on and have it perfect right from the get go. It can take some time to dial it in just right.
With positive feed back Jeff will address the problems.
I actually like the new site and when the adjustments are made I'm sure it will be great.
Thanks Jeff for your efforts :smile:

Thanks a lot guys.

This dose of support really hit the spot.

Jeff

Jeff, can we get the color changed to more of an aquamarine? The blue isn't doing if for me. Thanks.

Maybe it's too late now, but there is a thing called "beta" in the software/web development world where you basically release your software to a small, controlled group to test the reaction and flushing out the bugs.
For future reference.

I think that beta testing has its place but not in this situation. The entire premise of a website is to attain a presence on the web to reach a very high upper limit of users with one scalable application. If the goal is to debug actual errors in functionality, such as a system crash when trying to add to a wishlist, then that should be handled internally by User Acceptance Testing. If you're trying to tailor the application based on user feedback aka 'opinions' then it isn't feasible to do so for a website (since you're trying to go 'viral'). It becomes really expensive very quickly if you're trying to make every potential user on the world wide web (or even just Canada) happy. And believe me, everyone has a different opinion on what they dislike.

Personally, if I'm just looking for info and I come across a frustrating website then I just go somewhere else. If I'm trying to purchase a service or product from a known vendor and their website is frustrating then I just call or email.

resources: Programmer/analyst for the last 15 years.

I see that Jeff is glued to that computer behind the cash register way too much and I don't thing he's just browsing the web looking at pictures of corals and fish. :lol:

Thanks for all the hard work Jeff.

Among all the other things that are driving me nuts about this new site that everyone has all ready mentioned like reef save and difficulty to keep levels for livestock and coral (And I do terrible when the sites I like change)... I don't notice a filter for brand...? (I apologize if that has been mentioned all ready)

I used to really like how I could go onto your old side, select fish food, and go right into the section and only see Omega One food.
Perhaps on the left there where for example I can sort by type of food, you can also allow a filter for brand? Like how Walmart or Petsmarts websites have 100 different things you can choose to filter by and list each brand, price, type, etc...
I used to do this for numerous items on there and loved how I could click one of the options on the main page and only see a certain type of that item.

And perhaps it's just me and the settings I use but when you use the side menu there and hover dry goods, then have to choose between Supplies or equipment (I liked how the old one showed all the options all the time, I was never sure if 1 item was classed as 1 or the other haha) But in particular for the "equipment" category, my screen isn't big enough to show all the options with out scrolling down, then I loose the whole menu, and if I scroll down enough to show where the bottom "wavemakers" would appear, I can no longer see the top where I first hovered "dry goods" or equipment" and then I loose my menu and have to scroll up and re-hover. I don't keep my display settings at the smallest option, but their also not at the largest.

Gave up on trying to use it on my phone.

I do love how "New and Noteworthy" still remained a nice easy button/page to locate.
And your hours are still shown on every page so their way easier to access then more websites as you're trying to figure out what section they've hidden their address and hours under.

I actually find this new site easier to navigate and find the search works better.

However it either works awesome or returns no products (through menu link or search) possibly a db connection is but I'm sure it will fixed up soon enough. Keep up the good work!

Just bought a skimmer today, didn't really think twice about the site. Although, I have been out of the hobby for a few years.

Thanks Jeff!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

@ Coasting - It looks like they either took your advice about the Brands thing or you just missed it but there's a big "Brands" button at the top of the website beside "New and Noteworthy". I feel you on this one too because I used to search that way every time I went to the old site.

I do still like this site better and I can see the potential for a much easier to navigate and much more visual experience. I personally like to see bigger photos of what I'm buying and lots of information, this new layout seems better in that regard.

On another note, I just noticed that all your flowchart links to the external water pumps that I've looked at seem to be a dead link. Those charts are pretty handy to have.

Thank you for mentioning this - it has been fixed!

No email confirmation from order. And about the color....

The order confirmation email bug is known and is on the "shortlist".

As to the color, sorry we like the color and are not changing it :mrgreen:

Ok, fine, keep the color. Also, I got billed for shipping on over $100 order. Known bug?

But that's just as messy and as much of a PITA to look through.
I liked being able to go to Food, or skimmers and only see the brand of food I feed or the brand of skimmers I was trying to compare. Just like 99% of the websites out there, they should add a filter to the left side to sort by brand once you are all ready in a specific category. Plus the way they have "Brands" sorted.... I don't often know the COMPANY name, while I know the BRAND of the item I am looking for... Omega Sea Vs Omega One.... I have never in my life looked for Omega Sea... and would have never known to look under that category despite the tiny little logo on the back of the container with that company name.

That and their list for "dry goods" equipment and what not is still poorly sized to work for everyone.
Or Livestock > Marine Fish. Too big for the screen then you have to scroll down to see the options, and so you scroll down and the menus snaps back and disappears, so you have to scroll back up and try again, but oh look you cant see the bottom fish unless you scroll down, and you cant scroll down with out the menu disappearing....
Its irritating that it takes 10+ tries to get to where I want to go because it doesn't fit my screen then disappears every time I move my mouse wrong.

Im doubting they care about 1 customer, but this isn't the first time I've refused to shop at a store because their website was horrible and not user friendly.

Where did all the fish go? Can you not search through the different types anymore and check prices? Even when I select 'livestock' in the search bar and type a word nothing comes up

Shop Now> Livestock> Marine Fish, gives you a menu down the side with all the species.

Is that just on the 'computer' site. I can see nothing of the sort on the mobile one. I click on shop now and it just brings up dry goods. If I click on livestock from the drop down menu it just brings up a list of a load of stuff I'm. It interested in

Found it.

There's a lot of wine in this thread, here's some cheese. I think this one will do...

http://cdn0.lostateminor.com/wp-cont...se-650x365.jpg

I just got an email acknowledging my order! Order was sent in Sept 27 and shipped the next day :)

Actual paying JL customers are upset with a change and want to see things fixed or more useful. How is you mocking those of us who shop with them regularly, and use their site regularly and are having issues with it, helping at all?