Utilikilts vs. KiltThis!

[Superspence1]

Thank you. I'm waiting for my addition to the merchants on XMTS so then we can do some specials here to if they allow me to. They said it would be around March.

[jkane]

Just some feedback on the web site.

Put the links on the left side instead of the right. Some of us do not do full screen and any stuff on that right side get's hidden in our browsers. Makes it a pain to move around.

Having the pictures link to another web site is bad form. Especially going to facebook! I don't even know what would happen if the person wanting to see those images did not have an account there since facebook is blocked from my work. I can't see them at all. Put images on the same web page.

Feel free to ignore these suggestions at will.

Kilts look interesting from what I saw of them. I will have to go back there next time I am in the market for a canvas kilt.

[The Barry]

Sounds like an interesting alternative to the UK. I'm in Seattle, so I have to see UK's all over. Nothing really wrong with UK's, but I've had bad experiences with their company (attitude, etc).

That being said, I believe that the only right answer is one of each!

Just looked at the KiltThis website, and the prices are going to jump significantly come March 15th. Get it while it's hot!

[Superspence1]

Just some feedback on the web site.

Put the links on the left side instead of the right. Some of us do not do full screen and any stuff on that right side get's hidden in our browsers. Makes it a pain to move around.

Having the pictures link to another web site is bad form. Especially going to facebook! I don't even know what would happen if the person wanting to see those images did not have an account there since facebook is blocked from my work. I can't see them at all. Put images on the same web page.

Feel free to ignore these suggestions at will.

Kilts look interesting from what I saw of them. I will have to go back there next time I am in the market for a canvas kilt.

Thank you for your suggestions. When I set up the site, it was all very spur of the moment and we've changed it up a few times but we don't have a lot of time to spend on it, even though, we know it is a priority in order to get our point across. When we did have all the pictures on the site, it overloaded and people couldn't download all the site was bringing up so, it was actually GoDaddy.com's customer service that suggested we add a flash player that doesn't load in all the pictures when you open the page. The photos can overwhelm computers and then people get impatient and don't even look at the site. In addition to that, it takes forever to load up the pictures onto any site so, doing it mulitple times takes up a lot of time. Luckily, we are bringing a couple people onboard, our first employees, to do some of the leg work of working on the site and correspondences from emails. I am going to check and see if there is a way to move the tool bar to the other side of the screen tho....thanks for your suggestions!
Serena

[BLAZN]

The photos can overwhelm computers and then people get impatient and don't even look at the site.

The trick to fast loading photos and having them on the same server is to use thumbnails! On top of that, keep photos in the 640x480 range. Take the photos in the highest possible resolution, then reduce them to 640x480ish neighborhood and save as "photo_large.jpg" (as an example). Then, reduce them again to something around 100x75 (same aspect as 640x480, but a little smaller than 1/6 the size) and save them as "photo_thumb.jpg." The photos that load into the browser will be the thumbnails... the larger versions will be linked to, and will only load if the viewer wishes.


Website help aside, I like the look of the KiltThis kilts. My #1 issue is the turnaround time... I understand it takes time to produce a good product, but I'm too impatient to pay for something and then wait 2 to 4 months to get it. Maybe if my pen turning business gets into a higher gear, I'll place myself a KT order.

[Superspence1]

The trick to fast loading photos and having them on the same server is to use thumbnails! On top of that, keep photos in the 640x480 range. Take the photos in the highest possible resolution, then reduce them to 640x480ish neighborhood and save as "photo_large.jpg" (as an example). Then, reduce them again to something around 100x75 (same aspect as 640x480, but a little smaller than 1/6 the size) and save them as "photo_thumb.jpg." The photos that load into the browser will be the thumbnails... the larger versions will be linked to, and will only load if the viewer wishes.


Website help aside, I like the look of the KiltThis kilts. My #1 issue is the turnaround time... I understand it takes time to produce a good product, but I'm too impatient to pay for something and then wait 2 to 4 months to get it. Maybe if my pen turning business gets into a higher gear, I'll place myself a KT order.

Fixed!! I think Thumbnails did the trick I think.
Yes, the wait time has a lot to do with the way this just sort of snowballed and we have been playing catchup since the beginning. I slipped a disk in my back a couple of months ago and then our whole house came down with a bad flu/bronchitis so, that held up production for a couple of weeks. We thought it would be a nice extra income type of hobbie, but the hobbie has gone full blown business, so we have made arrangements to hire some help, which fortunately (unfortunately), we have a lot of friends that are out of work that need some help and that works out for everyone. So, the wait time is going to be cut in half very shortly once we get everyone trained and our system in place. We are in the process now. In about 2 weeks our new employees start working with us part time and Cris and I will just be doing sewing for the most part. Trust me, I get anxious to work on a kilt just for me too, which is on the back burners until I have time to work on it. We have a ton of design ideas too but, we don't have time to make prototypes right now, so, this summer will be quite a whirlwind of designing and making some stock kilts for festivals and people that need orders asap and they are pretty generic like all black or all kaki, etc. So, keep an eye peeled, KT will be wrangling down the wait time. It doesn't actually take us 4 months, but we have learned that if you say 2 they want it in 1 and if you say 1 they want it tomorrow. 4 months is a definetly wait so, people tend to be patient and that helps us not spend too much time on the computer when we should be sewing.

[BLAZN]

Big time improvement on the photo handling for KiltThis.com! My one suggestion would be to shorten the time till the "control bar" fades away. It tends to hide the photo description. That aside... BRILLIANT!

[QdBrown]

I'm very torn right now. I've been planning / jonesing for a Utilikilt for a very long time.

I can remember when I was doing the same thing. My first Kilt was a UK Mocker as well. I think those things have to be the trainer for what is next. I will say I really liked those early days of the UK, but you still cannot beat a good comfy medium or heavyweight kilt in my opinion.

The Kilt This Kilt has punk attitude all over it. The price is definitely cheaper than the UK.

BTW, if you are looking at UK's, check out Alt.Kilt as well.

[jkane]

It doesn't actually take us 4 months, but we have learned that if you say 2 they want it in 1 and if you say 1 they want it tomorrow.

Scotty Factor

The 'Scotty factor' is used to inflate estimates of the time required to complete a project. In strict terms it is a factor of four: the number cited by Kirk in the film Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.[12]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgomery_Scott

James T. Kirk: How much refit time before we can take her out again?
Montgomery Scott: Eight weeks, Sir, [Kirk opens his mouth] but ya don't have eight weeks, so I'll do it for ya in two.
James T. Kirk: Mr.Scott. Have you always multiplied your repair estimates by a factor of four?
Montgomery Scott: Certainly, Sir. How else can I keep my reputation as a miracle worker?
James T. Kirk: [over the intercom] Your reputation is secure, Scotty.

http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Star_Tr...arch_for_Spock

[Superspence1]

LOL! That's GREAT!