A couple of weeks ago I finished a task that was way overdue, but somehow other stuff just kept getting in the way. Or maybe I let it get in the way, because I really wasn’t looking forward to all the coding. Which is silly because once I get started with the coding I really do enjoy it!
But now it’s finally done. Although to be honest with you, ‘done’ actually means ‘done for now, because I probably can’t stop tinkering with it’. Anyway. My shop got a major overhaul, so it now has a fresh clean look. Green! And pink!
I did away with the previous menu because there was both a partial one in the sidebar and one with images, as you see on the left there. The new menu is all text, with collapsible sub-menus, and I can change it from the back-end in my shop. Which is a big time saver!
A small thing I’m pretty excited about is when you hover over the images in the main or sub-menu views, the thumbnails enlarge. So it looks like they’re coming toward you. And you can see a slightly larger version of the images without even clicking on them. Yes, that’s the sort of thing that makes my day. ;-)
The photos have also got a bit more space so they’re bigger and you can see the patterns better.
I’ve also added FAQ and About pages. And I changed the contact email so it now has my name in it. Before it was info@polka…. now it’s carina@polka… ‘Info’ just sounded kinda cold and impersonal. Since it is just me doing all the jobs around here it made more sense that people know the name of the person they email.
The ‘feedback’ page is also still there and if you’ve ever made a purchase from my shop, or do so in the future, I hope you’ll take a few minutes to let me know what you thought of the thing you bought. When you’re not meeting your customers in person it really means a lot to hear what they think.
Although not entirely related to the update of the look, I’ve also added more pattern sets to the shop. As of this writing, there are nine sets available and more to come in the future!
A big change is that I have moved my free patterns to the shop and now they’re called ‘donationware patterns’. You can still have the patterns for absolutely nothing, but now there is also the option to make a small donation for them if you like. I moved these patterns into the shop to make it easier for me to update information and such. I’ve also added a few more free patterns and I will add more in future. Again, the donationware patterns are free, but if you do make a donation: thank you, you’re awesome. :-)
It’s been a lot of work, but it’s totally worth it! And can I just say how happy and proud I am of myself because I’m able to do all this myself and I didn’t even break any of the code! ;-) I hope all these changes are helpful for anyone shopping with Polka & Bloom.
