Wordpress / Storestacker Integration Project

[edavis]

Hey all,
This is a new project of mine www.alpineskigear.net.  I've only been working on it for a couple of weeks off/on.  Lately I've been working on making the redstore template look as close as possible to the (beautiful) wordpress portion of the site.  This seems to be coming together pretty well.
I do have a couple of issues: 
1. I want to create a smooth link back to the blog portion from my SS portion.  Can i make a page a live button?
2. YouTube video feed is all junked up with spam.  Same problem others have had with that RSS.  Anyone have a solution?
3. The space under my SS header is annoying.  Is that for a page bar? or Do I need to modify my css style sheet more?

I hope you all like it.  Feedback is certainly welcome as I'm pretty new at this.
Thanks

[Omar]

Hi there.. nice site and store. About your questions..

1. I am not sure wha you mean by "make a page a live button" but you can create a link by using the Links menu in SS, name itr Blog or somehting..

2. That is not really something we can do, SS can not know what is spam on utube.. just try better keywords, or just remove bad videos after you grab, and not grab same rule again, so not get all the spam back

3. That is because the original header was bigger (in height). You need to either edit css or make your logo bigger (higher)

[Curious]

Hi Edavis, I love your site.  Question: is the store on your site a Store Stacker one?.

I have looked at pages that works this system and none of them captures my attention but yours, you see, it looks like a proffesional store not created only to make a few bucks but with a purpouse, of course, the "bucks" part is paramount I know, but your integration with wordpress and stuff is great, the overall look is so nice.

I'm a newbi who have some domains and a page with about 3 million visits per month, I will like to do business w/ storestacker but I don't really know where to start or how to implement it.  So lets see.

[patri]

Hello edavis,

This is really stunning....very very effective and it is just perfect how you have shown us about using the power of WP and how well attaching SS works.  This is what I wanted to accomplish with the various ideas I have and you have been an inspiration.

About linking back to the WP home page from SS, I see what you mean.  The 'home' on the SS of course means home page of the shop.  Is there someway you can relable this to 'store home' .  For the readers that would be clear.  And for me, when I visit a site and can't find a way back...I do try clicking on the logo at the top (as you have done on your WP pages)...so perhaps this is one solution for you?

I am still playing with my SS, but wouldn't it be possible to create a linkable text back to WP pages something like 'click here to return to alpineskigear.net home page' ? Congratulations on your fantastic endevour...truely inspiring!!!

[edavis]

I'm glad that you all like it.  Thanks for the encouragement.  I'm still working the kinks out as you can see.  In reply to Curious, this is a store stacker store.  I simply altered the appearance a little to more closely match my WP site.  It took a little work, but mostly just changed a few of the color codes in the CSS Style sheet for the redstore.  I was able to locate the background wallpaper image in my WP CSS Style and copy that to the store stacker css file.

Patri, I appreciate your thoughts and support.  I decided to spend some more time and energy and go with the WP front for the website so that it would have more value and be more engaging for potential customers.  If you've been keeping your ear to the ground you probably have heard that google is adding some new criteria to its algorithm for search engine placement and that most of the 'experts' think these new criteria are centered on how engaging your site is.  In other words, does it have original content, videos, useful information, and is it attractive.  Also, ebay has recently cracked down on sites that are basic stores without good content and engagement that will make it unique in its niche.  In fact a whole bunch of ebay affiliates lost their accounts in October and November and this is likely the reason.  It is also more difficult to get an ebay account now and for the same reasons. 
So....as a result of these changes (and I think there will be more of this in the future) I would encourage anyone who wants a long lasting business to build a good content site (whether its in Wordpress, expression engine, or droopl) and then adapt this great store platform to that website.

I like the idea of making the logo a link...... I look into that.  Also, I think I am going to have to settle for a "Click here to return to Alpine Ski Gear Home" in the Link block.  I can't figure out a better way to display it.  I can put a text link other places in the store at the bottom of pages, etc, but isn't the point to keep people in the store once they are there? 

[JayMan]

Really innovative approach here.  The WP blog is first-class theme and you've done an awesome job on the content integrating all the videos into Posts.

I'm assuming you simply went down to a sub-directory and installed the SS store with customized Red Store template to sortof match the WP theme. Is that correct?

WP blog install--> http://www.alpineskigear.net/
WP Blog Post --> http://www.alpineskigear.net/ski-equipment-reviews/dynastar-exclusive-fluid-limited-skis/
SS storing installation -->  http://www.alpineskigear.net/ski-gear-store/alpine-skis/

So what you did was just put the link to the SS directories in the WP Menu. Correct?

Very nice job and this is easy except the Smarty template mods.

What is the name of the WP Them you used?

Best,
Jan

[edavis]

Thanks Jayman,
Your are correct.  It is installed as a subdirectory, no mystery there.  The main link to the store is in the page strip across the top.  However, I'm  also linking from equipment reviews and articles directly to the product category for that ski brand.  As time goes on I should have hundreds of links from the blog portion to the store portion.  I believe the real staying power of websites over the long haul is carefully crafted content/revenue integration. 
The WP theme is called "Church 20" from Revolution2.  Really great theme for $49.  There is a good free theme called Ikarus available too with similar features.  Its a little limited and has a couple of small photo feature issues though if you ask me.
Cheers

[edavis]

Quick update.  I had a massive database catastrophy yesterday and am working to fix it.  Meanwhile the site is essentially down.  I''ll post when its fixed.

[edavis]

Great News!  AlpineSkiGear.net is back up and better then ever.  Oh and while I was repairing I decided to convert one of my other sites (www.roadbicycles.org) to the same wordpress/storestacker combo.  Take a look and let me know what you all think.

Oh, and by the way, backup early and back up often!