The redesign was prompted by problems with the old shopping cart. People would place an order yet not receive the email receipt they were supposed to get. I also get a copy of this email for record keeping purposes, which is how I knew there was a problem.
Long story short, I switched shopping cart applications to Woo Commerce. It was more complicated to set up but everything now seems to work, although a few folks are still having issues with the ordering process. If that’s you, just send me an email and let me know what’s going on.
In addition to the new cart, I also beefed up the overall security of the site and simplified the page layout. All of the books are now on the home page and clicking on a cover image will take you to a product page for that title. There you can read a description about the book, read and/or leave a review, and order the book if you choose. You have the option to use PayPal (whether you have a PayPal account or not), or you can pay by credit card. If you choose you can set up an OST store account but that isn’t required for purchasing. At the bottom of the home page are links to the Privacy Policy and my contact information, along with my policy on how to replace a lost ebook file.
The Blog
Another headache with the old site was something that impacted the format of the blog posts. Everything looked fine on my desktop computer but the text was jammed tight to the edges of the screen on my tablet and Susan’s phone. It seems that every post got scrambled and with nearly five hundred posts affected, I wasn’t happy. The issue seemed related to a WordPress update or plugin and I eventually found a work around (after I committed to the redesign of the whole site) that fixed everything at once.
Simon helped me become aware that the address of the blog page had changed, so you may need to update any bookmarks or RSS feeds you have for the blog. Otherwise, things are unchanged, and I hope to return to a degree of sanity soon.
As people use the site, I’m still discovering minor bugs and glitches. I have made my peace with the fact that these will always be a part of this digital voodoo we all rely on now. You folks have been incredibly patient and thoughtful and I can’t express my appreciation for that enough. If you have any questions or encounter a problem, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
I hope the next post will see a return to the normal routine.
Regards,
Mike
Mike, there is nothing “normal” about your routine – if there was, there would be no point in visiting!
Simon,
Normal is in the eye of the beholder I think.
Mike