Company Website

[Vinspire]

I am currently working in cal-lab lightning isolators company. My boss ask me to re-design and work on the website but i am sorta stuck on how to work it out.

currently this is the website : www.cal-lab.com

and this is our multiply site : http://callab.multiply.com/

my boss also wanted to have a forum on the website.

The current site and multiply definitely look too messy .... what do you guys think i should do to make the site more user friendly ?

currently what i have in mind is using mambo / joomla + smf forum.

[J. Williams]

Your Joomla decision is wise, as hand-coding and designing a site can be terror if you have limited knowledge.

For a good design, you need to take a lot of things into mind:

• What is its purpose?
• What is its feel?
• What is the target audience?

To satisfy your audience, do a survey to collect votes as I think it would be relevant to do so.

[Jacen]

I haven't used Joomla, but I find MKPortal and SMF is fun and easy to use

[Panzer-]

Joomla probably would be the way to go, its easy to customize and add pages and doesnt require much work. Also it integrates well with SMF

I suggest a clean simple site, your current one is pretty busy and if i were buying something from it i would probably turn away from the site. Give it a nice clear navigation menu and dont try and cram everything onto one page.

[Vinspire]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Anyway, as a consumer. You prefer a forum board as a help center or a help system ( submitting ticket style ) ?

or both would be great ?

if help system ( submitting ticket style ) ... which software do you think its recommended ?

here is the list

        Crafty Syntax Live Help
        Help Center Live
        osTicket
        PerlDesk
        PHP Support Tickets
        Support Logic Helpdesk
        Support Services Manager

[Jacen]

As a consumer, I prefera simple faq page with all the answers on it. I get annoyed if I have to email my question or post in a forum or something.

[Panzer-]

FAQ page is good. There might be a ticket support system for Joomla, i dont know. Try integrating everything as much as possible. Once the customer leaves the site and there is no link back then you may lose them. You could iFrame it in.

[Jacen]

Iframes are not a good idea. They tend to confuse searchbots.,

[H]

I redesign would be good as the colours at the moment actually hurt my eyes. Joomla sounds like a good idea although it does use a lot of queries. If SMF integration isn't required with the main site you should also take a look at drupal.

I am interested in why you have a multiply site? It seems to be similar to MySpace. It is actually worth developing?

[Vinspire]

As a consumer, I prefera simple faq page with all the answers on it. I get annoyed if I have to email my question or post in a forum or something.

FAQ page is good. There might be a ticket support system for Joomla, i dont know. Try integrating everything as much as possible. Once the customer leaves the site and there is no link back then you may lose them. You could iFrame it in.

A simple FAQ page - Noted

I redesign would be good as the colours at the moment actually hurt my eyes. Joomla sounds like a good idea although it does use a lot of queries. If SMF integration isn't required with the main site you should also take a look at drupal.

I am interested in why you have a multiply site? It seems to be similar to MySpace. It is actually worth developing?

Hmm ... I did have a look at drupal but I am not really sure what does it do. Is it another software like mambo and joomla ?

The reason why we have a multiply site and such is because the previous company is sort of like a newbies in computing. So, they are just trying their best to look for the most user friendly media.

My other question is, do you guys think having a forum on the site is necessary ?

Thanks everyone for the feedback

[Jacen]

Depends. You want to build a community or just give out help?

A forum is great for the first. But for the second, a simple email address will do. Maybe a ticket system

[H]

Hmm ... I did have a look at drupal but I am not really sure what does it do. Is it another software like mambo and joomla ?

It is more basic to start with however IMO it becomes better than Joomla once you start adding modules.

My other question is, do you guys think having a forum on the site is necessary ?

A ticket system will probably be better if you don't want to answer people in another country who just need quick support

[SpilltheBeans]

The pictures on the site look washed out. You should address that.

As for a forum, what do you plan to use it for? Is it just as a help system or do you want people to have discussions on your products and company?

I don't know what that multiply site is, but it seems to just add confusion. Better to just have one website.

[Vinspire]

Depends. You want to build a community or just give out help?

A forum is great for the first. But for the second, a simple email address will do. Maybe a ticket system

The pictures on the site look washed out. You should address that.

As for a forum, what do you plan to use it for? Is it just as a help system or do you want people to have discussions on your products and company?

I don't know what that multiply site is, but it seems to just add confusion. Better to just have one website.

The idea of the forum is just for a support purpose.

Ermm ... What do you mean by the pictures of the website is washed out ?

Hmm ... I did have a look at drupal but I am not really sure what does it do. Is it another software like mambo and joomla ?

It is more basic to start with however IMO it becomes better than Joomla once you start adding modules.

My other question is, do you guys think having a forum on the site is necessary ?

A ticket system will probably be better if you don't want to answer people in another country who just need quick support

I c. Thx for the clarifications regarding drupal. Interesting i shall said

Anyway, is there any system that could be integrated like the microsoft troubleshooting system where if anything went wrong then they will click according to the error ?

[J. Williams]

I think SpilltheBeans meant that they're bad quality.

[SpilltheBeans]

Yes, it looks like the picture with "your peace of mind" is too compressed.

You can use a forum for a support system and my webhost, bluehost, uses a forum as supplimental support. There's also a Joomla ticket system extension:
http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,151/Itemid,35/

I think SpilltheBeans meant that they're bad quality.

[Vinspire]

Yes, it looks like the picture with "your peace of mind" is too compressed.

You can use a forum for a support system and my webhost, bluehost, uses a forum as supplimental support. There's also a Joomla ticket system extension:
http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,151/Itemid,35/

I think SpilltheBeans meant that they're bad quality.

Thanks for the feedback. This is why we plan to collect some feedback before we re-design the site

[Jacen]

You can use a forum for a support system and my webhost, bluehost, uses a forum as supplimental support. There's also a Joomla ticket system extension:
http://extensions.joomla.org/component/option,com_mtree/task,viewlink/link_id,151/Itemid,35/

But to be honest, would the adverage user sign up to a forum? Or even know how to use one? Personally, I don't mind a good community to seek help from... but I prefer to be able to find the answer myself

[Panzer-]

Im with Jacen, mayby not having a forum altogether is a good idea. The standered person who needs their plumbing fixed wouldnt bother signing up on a forum. They would want to send for help straight away.