New Banner

[michael78651]

Looks like there's a bit of a delay updating that list. Could be because there's so much posting going on right now too, like about a new book available in someone's store and such.

[zz09tk]

I find the new banner and BidStart very cumberson to work with now. It makes me wonder what you are going to mess up next.

When I try to list stamps from one country using previous stamps as a guide. I have to go back to mybidStart and search for the next country instead of clicking at the left and finding the new country.

WHAT A MESS

[michael78651]

Under the my bidStart my Account could you add a link to review feedback left under the account.

[Mark]

When I try to list stamps from one country using previous stamps as a guide. I have to go back to mybidStart and search for the next country instead of clicking at the left and finding the new country.

I don't understand what you are referring to? Please explain. If you were referring to going to your store and then sorting through your items - you can still do this the exact same way. Before the 'My Store' link was under the 'Store' button in the header. Now it is simply under the 'sell' button. You can click on 'sell' and then 'My Store' to get to your store. You should be able to do this faster than before since there is no hover delay, and then roll down delay.

-Mark

[Mark]

Under the my bidStart my Account could you add a link to review feedback left under the account.

yes

[zz09tk]

When listing stamps from several countries - I sometimes go to selling and find the country that I listed before and use that to list a new stamp in that country - some times I use scheduled stamps to find the country I am working on .

This is very time consuming and not east to use.

[Mark]

I don't understand what this has to do with the header? The my bidStart and store areas are the same as before. Please explain in detail what you are stating you could do before that you can not do now.

What do you mean by "sometimes go to selling" - if you want to go to the Items I'm Selling section you can do so, as well as if you want to go to your store to find an item. With "Items I'm Selling" being under the 'my bidStart' menu and 'My Store' being under the 'sell' menu. From what you are describing - selecting your listings by category on the left - this is your store. You can easily get to your store by clicking on 'sell' and then 'My Store' at the top right. This replaces previously hovering over 'Store' waiting for the menu to appear and clicking on 'My Store'. So you can easily get to your store still - you don't need to go to the Items I'm Selling section if you do not want to.

-Mark

[Mark]

And, as you (Mark) are talking about improving the BidStart experience for new users, it makes even less sense. New users are not going to know about D-o-D, so they will not be looking for it in the menu. As even veteran members frequently comment on finding certain featurres, links, etc, they had not previously been aware of, it only stands to reason that newbies are not necessariy going to find the D-o-D link, except by accident, someday.

This is exactly why the buying links were moved into the 'buy' section. We believe that new buyers will go to the buy section, click on buy and now see full links for all of the main buying sections - including deal of the day - along with more descriptive titles. We believe this will make it much easier for new buyers to find these features and understand them. As previously stated, almost 100% of new users preferred the new header strongly over the old one. They also independently believed that the site would be easier and more friendly to use solely based on the new header. So we don't think this is counter productive. It also groups all of the key features together. For example, under sell you can now quickly see how to list an item individually, in bulk or import your items from ebay. By grouping links together new member can see what they're interested in, in detail, but at the same time in a simpler presentation overall.

In particular with the deal of the day, we believe that deal of the day participation will now increase - not decrease. We're going to post the numbers on the page views in a few days.

-Mark

[Mark]

And, as Mark pointed out in another post, you can go to Buy and search for item by specific sellers while still in the forum too!

You can actually now search for items in general as well in the forums. Which you could not do before.

-Mark

[Mark]

OK, thanks, Mark. I'll just bookmark to my own store page and skip the site's home page for now.

Actually we will have a solution for you very very soon...

[khj]

1) The new way should be much faster. Before there was a delay in which you needed to hover over a menu item before the menu popped up.

I agree, it will be faster. I say "will be" because I've gotten used to the automatic drop-down and find myself sitting there with my mouse over the button waiting for it to drop down. I will need to re-train my brain again. Not sure how many more times that can be done.

Thanks for mentioning about clicking on the button again to get rid of the drop-down. I don't think many people knew about it. Also in the drop-down, now that the "X" has been removed, that "close" button at the bottom right really isn't noticeable at all. Perhaps you can make a button outline, or make the entire bottom bar the close button?

Some of Mark's replies are already mentioned in the newsletter. Either click on this link or use the "community." drop-down to visit the site news.
http://www.bidstart.com/New-Streamlined-Header-for-bidStart-as-We-Pass-40-000-Members_QQtitleQQ257QQidQQdisplaynews

[Mark]

You should be able to see close more clearly now... And we've added custom links for both the my bidStart drop down area, as well as the main header next to 'Contact Us | Help' (which will appear at the top right (but not in the forums - since the mini header is displayed here). So for example if you want to add a link to your store directly on the main header - you can do that now. Just go to your store - click on 'my bidStart' and then click to add a custom link.

-Mark

[khj]

You should be able to see close more clearly now...

Thank you!

[thepostcarddepot]

You should be able to see close more clearly now... And we've added custom links for both the my bidStart drop down area, as well as the main header next to 'Contact Us | Help' (which will appear at the top right (but not in the forums - since the mini header is displayed here). So for example if you want to add a link to your store directly on the main header - you can do that now. Just go to your store - click on 'my bidStart' and then click to add a custom link.

-Mark

Mark, that's great! Thanks very much. Custom link to store home works a treat.

Rich told me at Land of Lakes postcard show that you guys were very responsive. You've just proved it - in double quick time - and Rich has been a great help in recent days in getting me all set up here.

thanks again, Brent

The Postcard Depot

[cocollectibles]

1) The new way should be much faster. Before there was a delay in which you needed to hover over a menu item before the menu popped up.

I respectfully disagree; the hover time for me was negligible and it was much easier to point and click with the drop down menu directly from Selling, than to click on mbS, move the cursor over half the page to Selling, go down to the section I want (e.g., Scheduled), then click that. Previously, hover over Selling, nanosecond wait, immediately go to Scheduled, bada bing.

edit: One suggestion might be to put the Selling and Buying sections more directly beneath the mybidStart tab so you don't have to travel to the most commonly used items, and not have the less commonly used items like My Account and My Feedback in easy access range.