Website Structure

website page navigation diagram

Today’s post was supposed to be about my new shopping cart that I added to my site; however, I had to disable it because it broke the visual editor in my wordpress dashboard. It’s a shame because I spent a good 6 hours the other night configuring it and another 3 hours this morning trying to fix it. Since I’m only offering parent’s of the kids enrolled in my after school clay class the option of paying by credit card, and I am not currently selling anything on my website, I need to move on. I’ve already invested too much time on the shopping cart. Double dang.

My easy solution? I added PayPal and Google Checkout buttons on my “Teaching Schedule” page for the parents who choose to pay via CC. Google Checkout was easy to set up, and I’ve never used it before. Fees are lower than PayPal, however, making this an attractive option. The only drawback is that customers have to sign up for a Google account if they don’t already have one.

PayPal Fees for “Premier” account holders	Google Checkout Fees for non Adwords users
2.9% + $0.30 USD	2% + $0.20 per transaction
Fees are lower depending volume and type of account.	Fees are free if you are an AdWords user and have high volume.

Back to the title of the post…I decided to diagram pages I think would be good to include on my site using good old fashioned pen and paper . I know several of you are currently revamping your sites and I highly recommend diagramming it and also to be thinking about what kind of functionality you want to have both on the back end and also what is available for public consumption. I did this after I started adding pages – slaps self on head – but as soon as I drew the diagram, it was so much easier to move forward. To help me decide how I wanted to structure my site, I looked at several other people’s site – mostly other clay folk, but also other artists in other media.

Thanks for the great responses to the word of the year post! I have taken some of your advice and broken my website down into small chunks to make it a less daunting task. I am using the same strategy for the Potters Guild site as well. I still have some projects on my to-do list as it relates to my site but, I feel like I have a better handle now. In the meantime, I need to finish the Guild’s site.

My next post is going to highlight some of the WordPress Plugins that I am using that are proving invaluable!

Have a great weekend,

~Cynthia

13 comments

andrea

January 10, 2009 at 3:48 pm // Reply

Your energy frightens me. I have been sticking my head in the sand about these issues myself, but I can certainly get some useful inspiration in my armchair with my cup of coffee watching you! Happy New Year, Cynthia.
- Cynthia
  
  January 11, 2009 at 11:03 am // Reply
  
  Me? Energy? I think you’re reflecting your own self on me! You seem like one of the most energetic people I know I’m hoping to move on this week and get back into the studio.
Sarah Regan Snavely

January 10, 2009 at 5:41 pm // Reply

I tried ZenCart and a shopping cart plugin (exact name I don’t remember). I couldn’t get either to work right. Just don’t have enough time — I totally feel your frustration over all the time it takes!

I want to know about the plug-ins!
- Cynthia
  
  January 11, 2009 at 11:02 am // Reply
  
  I was seriously looking at Zen Cart, Sarah, but it looked way complicated to integrate it with WP. I downloaded and installed wp e-commerce plugin and had it functioning. In fact 2 parents paid for their kid’s clay class through my cart with no problems. But, when I went to write my post about the cart, the visual editor had disappeared. I could have used the html editor, but one of the things I like about wp is how easy it is to use. I don’t want to have to think to hard to write a post. I searched and searched the developers support forums for answers, but nada. I was using the free version too, so I imagine that a paying user would receive direct support.
ang

January 10, 2009 at 5:46 pm // Reply

ahh excellent info as always, i purchased my name but haven’t got any further with a site i’m wondering if i should look for a template and just use it as standard starting point …and work from there up.. yes good idea ang get on with it! thanks C
ang

January 10, 2009 at 5:49 pm // Reply

ooh another thought, in your sketch you have tuts and process as sub pages i actually think that’s a major part of what you do so i’d create a space for them in head menu..
- Cynthia
  
  January 11, 2009 at 10:57 am // Reply
  
  Thanks for the feedback, Ang – I was sort of thinking the same thing so to hear it from someone else is good!
Jean Levert Hood

January 10, 2009 at 5:57 pm // Reply

Well, I am totally impressed.
- Cynthia
  
  January 11, 2009 at 10:56 am // Reply
  
  Thanks Jean! There’s still a lot of work to be done….
Emily Murphy

January 11, 2009 at 8:13 pm // Reply

I can’t wait to read your post about plugins! (Yes, I’m a WordPress geek too…)
- Cynthia
  
  January 12, 2009 at 7:05 am // Reply
  
  Well since it’s snowing today and only in the 20′s, it will be a good day to be thorough with the plugins post… I looked at your website, Emily and saw that it was powered by wordpress – looks good!!
Red Flashlight

January 12, 2009 at 10:56 am // Reply

Know what else? The chart you scanned looks like art, all by itself. Even more interesting if the words were mostly blurred out, but with maybe one or two tantalizingly recognizable words.

Just a quick aside from my mostly non-3D art brain.
Nona Kelhofer

January 13, 2009 at 8:42 am // Reply

Thanks for the great insight Cynthia! I got my blog up a couple of months ago but considered the effort to be just a first stab. Now is the time figure out what to improve for ease of use and clarity. Great idea on process!