Let me know what you think? ----UPDATE----

[JohnFitzgerald]

I've redesigned Paul's http://www.elknut.com website. Let us know what you think?

[Huntrgathr]

It's looking great guys ! Lot's of improvement with the new buttons on the home page that lead to the forum, products etc. You do some nice work John. Just a few suggestions :

Home Page : When you mouse over the "more products" and "outhouse" buttons the drop down menu is blue with no background - very hard to read. I'd suggest a solid background.

My eye is immediately drawn to the grunt tube. It seems to be the central focus of the page. It looks really good but maybe just downsize it a bit since it's cutting into your banner. Also, maybe swap the second group "playbook, dvd's, other products" with the "chuckler bugle, elknut forums" field, making those products the primary focus...

Aesthetically, the banner (for my taste, which maybe is bad ?) should accentuate the "elknut" part more than the "cutting edge elk calling and tactics" part...

Add a highly visible button (or banner) that links to the store (with sponsored products). It's still hard to find unless you're looking for it. Doesn't come up in google results for search term "elknut" - only if you search "elknut store".

Product Pages : The product pages look GREAT ! Big, bold pictures - nice.

Vortex Page : Maybe offer some links to product reviews, testimonials, specs, etc. to help sell them more...the phone # is a great way to bring folks to Paul but if they are still in the research and comparison phase they may not call... Good linking to relevant sites will help you come up higher in search ranking when people just search "vortex" or "binoculars".

Again, great site overall ! You just need to combine the Main Elknut site, Elknut store, sponsored products store and the forums into a more integrated format and make surfing between them more seamless. Keep up the good work !

[Swede]

The general layout is sharp and the site easy to navigate through. I like the way it looks. I don't understand why only three Vortex optics are shown, considering Paul is a full line Vortex dealer. You even show a range finder, but none are listed. My second suggestion may sound a little self serving, because it is. You have an area tagged "Playbook, but you included my book there. You also have it under "accessories". I would list it only under "Books" where all books are kept. Lastly under "calls", why are the grunt tubes left off there? I know they are easy to find on the side, but again there seems to be some redundancy. Well, you asked.

[ElkNut1]

Chris & others, hit your "Refresh" button, you may be looking at the old Homepage! You should be seeing me as the focal point in center of page with an elk rack tied to my pack!

swede, we will be adding more Vortex Optics, John is still working on it & the Store in general!

ElkNut1

[JohnFitzgerald]

Thanks for the feedback. Paul is correct, some might need to refresh their pages. If this doesn't work, hold the shift key and at the same time click the fresh button.

Pauls also correct on it being a work in progress. Input along the way from those who use it is always important!

Great comments guys.

[dotman]

Looks great, only problem I see is that Paul's pack has no functioning load lifters . Just messin with yeah Paul

[Huntrgathr]

You're right Paul. I was looking at the old page. I swear I had refreshed after seeing John's thread asking for feedback but I guess not. Now I feel kind dumb...

The new home page looks great ! I'll do some poking around and get back to you guys...

[FemoralArchery]

Once I click on the link in your first post, I'm taken to the new homepage, with the great picture of Paul. Once I click on one of teh tabs, and then click home again, it doesn't take me back to that page. How does one get back to that homepage?

[>>>---WW---->]

OK, here are some things I do and don't like!! I DO like the home page. especially the picture of Paul. But that's about it for the DO's!

I DON'T like much of anything else. The little white products list doesn't stand out all that well. The pictures of (ALL) the verious products are way too small.

I miss the vid clips. I have hunters ask me about the best way to sharpen broadheads and what to put in their pack. In the past I have referred them to look at those two vid clips on the site. Maybe you should add those two to the Elknut Clips section of the forum.

Sorry, you ask!

[elkmtngear]

Homepage is awesome, love the "eye candy"

Layout on the home page is direct, intuitive, and easy to navigate. Very easy on the eyes, and no-nonsense. I love it.

John you will be my first choice if I decide to re-design my website this Year.

[JohnFitzgerald]

Thanks again guys. Just an FYI, the old system had Paul's website and store separate. This is the first step in combining the two. The goal will be to have a cart and checkout system directly on the ElkNut.com website.

FemoralArchery - What you see with the home button is expected. For future releases this will not be a problem.

>>>---WW----> - No need to apologize. Everyone's thoughts and opinions matter here on the forum. Pictures will be fixed in future releases and we'll see what we can do about getting those vid's back up. Just an FYI, they are also on Youtube if anyone needs to view them. Just search youtube for "elknut".

[Indian Summer]

Nice John!

One thing... from the home page you can click on any of the other pages including forums.

Once you are on a page you can still navigate to the other pages from the menu on the left... but you can't get to the forums from anywhere but the home page. Maybe a button for that in case someone is looking at a product and decides they want to post a question about it in the forums.

Be nice to be able to access the entire site from each page instead of going back through the homepage. Just a thought.

Homepage is awesome.

[ElkNut1]

Joe, thanks! Yes, there will be buttons/links on all pages once complete to go back & forth from Homepage/Store to ElkNut Forum. It's all coming together very well, John's a master as well as my wife Brenda! John is just giving us a step by step preview as it comes together, it's by no means done yet but we're getting there! (grin) Thanks.

ElkNut/Paul

[Vanish]

Honestly, I'm lost! The only thing I am seeing looking good is the home page and contact page.

[JohnFitzgerald]

Honestly, I'm lost! The only thing I am seeing looking good is the home page and contact page.

Vanish - In a few weeks, every page will look like the Home and Contact page. Baby steps.

[FemoralArchery]

John, fantastic work. I (maybe some others, too) was under the impression that you had done the whole thing already. Now that I know it was just the homepage to start with, WOW, I love it. I can't wait to see what else you do. I really like it.

[JohnFitzgerald]

John, fantastic work. I (maybe some others, too) was under the impression that you had done the whole thing already. Now that I know it was just the homepage to start with, WOW, I love it. I can't wait to see what else you do. I really like it.

I think that was the case. My apologies guys, didn't mean to lead you all astray. Since this website is for every one of you, I wanted to get some input before I continued. It's easier to prebuild than unbuild. Keep up the comments guys, they are very helpful.

[Indian Summer]

Had a thought... can we get spell check on our post/reply page?

[JohnFitzgerald]

The elknut.com website has been updated. I've combined the website and store front into one.

www.elknut.com

Still to come:
Field/Pro Staff
Video

Anybody miss something else from the old website?

Let me know what you think!

jf

[Vanish]

The store pages need a bit of padding. Currently, the text butts right up against the border.

I would also experiment with a more neutral color / pattern for the outside of the site (replacing the straight black). Currently, you have the black outside and white inside, and I find it a bit rough on the eyes. I would try a dark grey based pattern, or #282828. That's my opinion anyway!

[JohnFitzgerald]

The store pages need a bit of padding. Currently, the text butts right up against the border.

I would also experiment with a more neutral color / pattern for the outside of the site (replacing the straight black). Currently, you have the black outside and white inside, and I find it a bit rough on the eyes. I would try a dark grey based pattern, or #282828. That's my opinion anyway!

Good eye Vanish! I'm currently working on the padding and the white.

[Swede]

I am not sure what you are asking for here. No offence, but Did you make the requested changes? Are you just asking about cosmetics/eye appeal things? This thread is starting to remind me of the name the forum contest thread. No ones idea was accepted and you folks just did what you wanted. I really have no problem with you doing what you want, but let's not play like Lucy and the football.

[JohnFitzgerald]

I am not sure what you are asking for here. No offence, but Did you make the requested changes? Are you just asking about cosmetics/eye appeal things? This thread is starting to remind me of the name the forum contest thread. No ones idea was accepted and you folks just did what you wanted. I really have no problem with you doing what you want, but let's not play like Lucy and the football.

No offense taken. Actually Swede, a little correction. If you look through this thread, I've addressed several suggestions and some I still have to address. Maybe you need to refresh your browser?

Another correction, the forum name, Rocky Mountain Ready, was suggested by a forum user. We had to shorten it down to Mtn. Ready because of space restrictions in the link row. And just as a reminder, Paul purposed the idea of combining the Elk Hunting - Equipment - Deer Hunting forums into one. By popular vote from forum users, we kept all three separate.

Lucy and the Football is the complete opposite of what we try to accomplish. Just like with team hunting, sometimes we need to do what's best for the masses and not the individual.

[Swede]

John thanks for the feedback. I certainly intend no offence, but offer my observations. I fully accept your explanation, but did I miss something? I never heard about the Winner of the contest. Why not at least recognize the individual? Wasn't there some prize? Toot the horn.
As far as the update is concerned, I suppose I could catalog the suggested changes and figure out what was changed and what wasn't, but why not tell us? Say something like; "we changed a,b,l,and p. The other recomendations did not fit our plans for the forum. Thanks to all." You are really free to do what you want, but if you keep asking for input, give us clear feedback. Thanks
P.S. OK my computer says it is ready for me to make an update.

[JohnFitzgerald]

It's all good Swede! I thought there was a prize as well so I'll check into it. You make a good point on defining what's still in the works, what's done, and what just doesn't fit. I'll make sure to define those in future threads like this one.

Hey Swede, do you want to come play some football?

[Swede]

Count me in. I appreciate you guys more than I ever let on.

[bullrub]

Its been awhile since i have been on the site. It looks and works great. Paul and John my hats off too you both.
I know there is alot of hard work that goes into a site like this, and it is always a work in progress. I don't think it is ever really done.
No matter how hard you try, not everyone is going to like the changes,but hay thats life.

GREAT JOB GUYS

[Huntrgathr]

Hey John, maybe limit the size of the avatars a little more. One line posts are taking up a lot of space with some of the Giant Bulls that guys are displaying . It gives some of us a little "bull envy"...

[Vanish]

Hey John, maybe limit the size of the avatars a little more. One line posts are taking up a lot of space with some of the Giant Bulls that guys are displaying . It gives some of us a little "bull envy"...

Yeah, its not a site update, but some of these avatars are over 200 px and just the personal info side ends up being HUGE compared to the post. Most site I am on limit it to 100px.