New site update!

Sooo, my website is screaming this at me: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyx6JDQCslE

And I can’t help but agree :D

Just put a ton of work into the newest sitewide update at Whispering Pines, and I would love to know what you all think! Please post feedback below!

There is a small design issue that I’ve got my team working out now. On low-stock teas, the “only X left” text overlaps the “In Stock” text. So that should be fixed pretty soon.

What do you like? What don’t you like about it? If you find any broken links or other errors, please post them here!

Hope you’re all having a lovely summer! :)

Cheers,
Brenden
www.whisperingpinestea.com

46 Replies

When you’re viewing the tea in grid view, the name of the tea is really far above the picture, and it makes it a little confusing because it gets close to the above tea’s price. Also, for some reason, the phrase “per ounce” is one line below the price and left justified. It looks a little goofy that way.

I like the new site layout but I definitely preferred the old logo! :P

Thanks for the feedback! Both of those issues are being worked on.

As for the logo, I may change it back, but I was asked to leave Middle Earth by a few people ;)

I guess I didn’t really mean logo, I meant the font that your site title used to be in. I think it’s the same one you’re still using for the big Golden Orchid advertisement on the front page.

Yeah that’s what I was referring to…some people mentioned that it reminded them too much of Lord of the Rings. Haha

Alrighty, so I’ve fixed the square image boxes sitewide. Now there shouldn’t be any extra space surrounding the images :)

It’s much better, thanks. :) On a side note, is there a reason not to have the “per ounce” on the same line as the price? I feel like the bold font would still make the price stand out.

Sadly, no, there’s no reason, but the developer team I’m working with hasn’t been able to figure out how to get them on the same line yet. Hopefully soon :)

Just put the old logo back up. What do you think? :)

I like it a lot, especially since it matches the images on the front page. It’s funny, I don’t get LotR from that at all – it makes me think of log cabins in the woods which is kind of perfect. :P

I like it, but honestly the logo isn’t a deal breaker for me either way.

:) Good to hear. I’ll have to change the one at the bottom too. I totally see that log cabin feel, too…but I also see LotR, which also makes me happy. Haha.

I’m sure that someday I’ll make at least one tea inspired by a movie series, and I’m 99% sure it’ll be LotR :)

Uniquity said

I LOVE whichever logo it is at the top at the moment – presumably the old one? Non-LOTR. My (poor) eyes perceive it as a little fuzzy so slightly larger or clearer might help but it really appeals to me. Not a deal-breaker either but apparently I have a preference!

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Like that’s a bad thing?

Right? I SO wish I could live in the Shire :)

Hobbit hole please. I’m short. <3

Yes please!

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Other updates:

For an additional $5, I now offer worldwide shipping on sample packs :)

Specialty coffee, when stocked, ships to Canada for $12.50/lb and worldwide for $20/lb

Ahh you know what, I do actually have a shipping policy page, but I haven’t linked it on the update yet. Thanks for pointing that out! :)

Dexter said

Sorry I took down my original post because I just found the shipping page. I was just going to say, that the shipping page needs to be easier to find. Happy that you have one though…

No worries, I just added the two shipping exceptions above to that page, too. I’ll be adding it to the About Us dropdown as well as in the footer. Do you think that’s the best place to put the link?

Dexter said

I always look in the footer first – I think that’s where it belongs and I see that it’s there now. Perfect. Maybe at the top where you have your free domestic shipping over 50.00 banner – add a “details” button to link to the shipping page?

I’ll look into that. It’s now also linked in the about us dropdown. Thanks for the feedback :)

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This may be peculiar to me, but I hate having perma-icons for FB, Twitter, etc., obstructing my view of a website. It’s annoying. I know how to get post to Facebook, I don’t need it constantly in my face. On your site, they appear twice! The smaller ones in the upper right hand corner are fine. The ones on the left margin are very distracting and block some of your site content.

I agree, I don’t like that overlay.

Hmm, yes, that is a good point. So far, I dont have enough site traffic to tell if they are actually even being used, so I’ll need to keep them there for now until I can prove otherwise.

I do know what you mean though…and on the top right and left side bars there are little arrows that will hide them from the page :)

If you’re talking about the ones along the left side, you can actually collapse it if you hover over the bottom.

Cwyn said

Agreed plus those logos often lag when loading.

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Cameron B., sorry, but I don’t understand. When I hover, the icons become even bigger, making me want to do nothing more ardently than navigate away from the page. LOL

Right under the plus sign on the bottom of it. It’s totally hidden on the front page because of the banner background, but you can see it on anything with a white background

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I just saw that they are in three different places! Feels like stalking!!!! ;-)

Counting the one in the middle of the front page?

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Maybe it’s based on your browser, I don’t get a collapse option either.

OK I see it now. Honestly I think all of those menus make it seem like a lower quality page.

Yeah :/ I think I’ll go ahead and take the left bar off.

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The collapse option is not available on my Samsung netbook. So if I want to read your text, I have to move it up above the clunky icons.

Sidebar is gone :)

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Much better, much cleaner, much sleeker… Plus now it doesn’t look like you work for FB. lol

Seriously, the less clutter the better!

^ I think the clean and uncluttered look goes well with the company image of outdoorsy.

Ha! I would hate to put off the corporate vibe! ;)

Thanks for helping me improve the site :)

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It would be nice to choose how many ounces I wanted, rather than having to bounce back and forth between the cart and the page where the tea is located. Also, being able to adjust the number of ounces from the shopping cart would be easier when you only have a certain budget to work with. Also, if you offer samples with purchase, it would be nice to be able to choose, or at least suggest. I just placed an order (PM me if you want to know which one I is) and I pretty much only drink black teas currently. Hope this helps!

On each product page, right above the add to cart button, there’s a box labeled “Ounces/Quantity”. If you click add to cart, it automatically adds 1 ounce. If you’d like to choose the amount of ounces, you have to enter a number in that box before clicking add to cart.

There’s also that same box on the cart page.

As for samples, I’m really trying to grow my inventory to the point where I can offer all of my teas as a sample, but right now I’m pretty much stuck with a set list of sample teas I can add. I’ll message you for your sample request and see if I can do that :)

oh….i guess that wasn’t apparent to my brain. :) I’ll know that for next time!

Haha no worries :) Thanks for the order, by the way!

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