Rockettheme Templates Missing the Mark?
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- Leland Hicks
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 344
- Thanks: 2
- Loving RocketTheme!
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Hello Rockettheme,
I have been a huge fan and have used Rockettheme for years. Ever sicne the determination to create industry based themes replaced the previous design standard, I was inititally excited about the prospect of industry specific themes.
However, I am currently having difficulty in selecting a usable theme for a variety of reasons.
To begin with, I can certainly appreciate the new designs from an aesthic point of view, but in many respects, they are much less user friendly (for the public) than they used to be.
For instance, the Remnant template, designed for musicians primarily is a great design but falls short on the usability aspect. Musicians want a site that helps them sell music, not listen to it. The audio player is void of having the option of a simple buy button for each track where we can place an iTunes link, CD Baby Link, Band Camp, etc. In its current state, it is useless for me and music clients I have presented this template to. Main Question: How can I sell my tracks through the audio player?
Did anyone conduct a research analysis of what musicians really need in terms of functionality for their websites?
The last two templates, Flux and Supra fail to contain Read/Learn More buttons on the FP Slideshow/Showcase, while taking up the entire screen with huge pics, and instead we are directed to deal with Gantry to edit the particle, and that can be taxking, since there are no tutorials in how to add a button to a showcase particle. Trial and error are becoming more the norm with these templates versus getting the site up and operational without a ton of code fixes.
Web analysis 101 teaches web designers that users/folks need to access any area on the site from at least 3 distinct areas, 1 being the main menu.
In short, these templates while attractive, are becomming just pretty faces to adorn the internet as opposed to well thought out usability objectives for each of the industry sectors you are building to serve.
And from these latest experiences, the prespective favors the designers versus the users.
That said, I prefer Rockettheme over other providers for the last few years due to the fact the whatever the theme, Rockettheme templates perform with less headaches out of the box and I can only hope that Rockettheme takes a closer look at how each industry sector's users are interacting with those websites. - Last Edit: 7 years 10 months ago by Leland Hicks.
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- Ryan M Pierson
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 243
- Thanks: 164
- Technical Writer
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Leland Hicks wrote:
Hello Rockettheme,
Hello Leland!
Leland Hicks wrote:I have been a huge fan and have used Rockettheme for years. Ever sicne the determination to create industry based themes replaced the previous design standard, I was inititally excited about the prospect of industry specific themes.
Thanks! We have been excited about it, too. Though this direction is certainly not everyone's cup of tea. When we are specific the feedback on the forum is "be more general" and when we're general the feedback is "there's nothing I can use this for!"
Leland Hicks wrote:To begin with, I can certainly appreciate the new designs from an aesthic point of view, but in many respects, they are much less user friendly (for the public) than they used to be.
For instance, the Remnant template, designed for musicians primarily is a great design but falls short on the usability aspect. Musicians want a site that helps them sell music, not listen to it. The audio player is void of having the option of a simple buy button for each track where we can place an iTunes link, CD Baby Link, Band Camp, etc. In its current state, it is useless for me and music clients I have presented this template to. Main Question: How can I sell my tracks through the audio player?
That is a totally reasonable request - to which we have a variety of answers.
First, we didn't add a sale feature because doing so would have made the particle a lot more complicated. Development time would have extended, and we would have had to bring in third-party resources like SnipCart or PayPal or something along those lines to make something like that work. The reality is that the extra effort wouldn't have worked for everyone anyway, because not everyone wants to use the same cart/checkout system. They'd be undoing our code too put their own in, anyway.
Another point that kept us from going that far is that our themes are meant to be a starting point on which developers create their perfect website. It's a picture frame and canvas on which you paint your masterpiece. The more specific we make the frame, the less people would want to use it. We created Remnant to be a cool theme that looks great and lets people easily embed music playlists and manage tour dates and/or events. It's from that base developers can adjust it to add ecommerce options and individual touches.
Particles, which are what the elements you mentioned are comprised of, are easily customized and configured to meet your needs. They're designed in human-readable Twig with YAML configuration. For a developer, this should make adding a cart/checkout feature fairly straightforward.
While yes, having a checkout system on that theme would have been totally nifty, it just wasn't practical. Even without it, Remnant remains one of our most popular themes in recent history - in part because of its versatility.
Did anyone conduct a research analysis of what musicians really need in terms of functionality for their websites?
A research analysis? Not to the extent you may be implying. We made it to be versatile for not only musicians but podcasters, traveling magicians, improv groups, radio shows, and anything else that would want tour information and video/audio players embedded.
This theme is great for musicians, but it is not specifically and solely FOR musicians. It's for a much wider userbase than that - and it has to be. Otherwise we wouldn't sell enough to make its development worthwhile.
The last two templates, Flux and Supra fail to contain Read/Learn More buttons on the FP Slideshow/Showcase, while taking up the entire screen with huge pics, and instead we are directed to deal with Gantry to edit the particle, and that can be taxking, since there are no tutorials in how to add a button to a showcase particle.
You got us there, and you're right. There isn't a readmore button on those slideshow particles. You can add one very easily, though. I'll create an internal ticket to let our dev team know. I can't speak for them on whether or not this could be added after the fact, but I'll make sure they know this is a point of concern so we can adjust it in the future.
Web analysis 101 teaches web designers that users/folks need to access any area on the site from at least 3 distinct areas, 1 being the main menu.
I'm not sure how ours isn't set up that way. You can add ANYTHING you want to the main menu at the top of the page. You can add as many menus / links to any given page as you'd like. You can link to any area of your website from the front page. The Gantry admin, if that's what you're referring to, can be accessed in one or at most two steps (depending on your CMS) from the main admin dashboard.
And from these latest experiences, the prespective favors the designers versus the users.
Your thoughts are certainly noted and appreciated. I'll make sure we discuss it in length internally.
That said, I prefer Rockettheme over other providers for the last few years due to the fact the whatever the theme, Rockettheme templates perform with less headaches out of the box and I can only hope that Rockettheme takes a closer look at how each industry sector's users are interacting with those websites.
We certainly will. Your feedback means a lot, and it helps us to grow and improve our products. Thank you. - Ryan Matthew Pierson / Technical Writer / Buda, TX USA
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- Ryan M Pierson
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 243
- Thanks: 164
- Technical Writer
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Just wanted to give you an update.
Reggie has added a Read More button to both Supra and Flux's big slider particles. It's off by default, but is accessible through the particle's settings.
This addition will be applied to the next released update of these themes. We're going through feedback and any bug reports to address any other issues prior to releasing them. - Ryan Matthew Pierson / Technical Writer / Buda, TX USA
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- Leland Hicks
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 344
- Thanks: 2
- Loving RocketTheme!
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Hello Ryan,
Thanks for responding. I think you may have missed what I was trying to communicate in a couple of areas.
1. The music "Buy" button is not an ecommerce button. I am simply referring to an html link that can be placed behind the
Buy button so users can be forwarded to the html address of music sites like iTunes, an others. Similar to a Read More button that simply allows the user to be directed to other ecommerce sites, where the music can be purchased.
2. Most musicians have their products placed on music ecommerce sites, and use their personal sites for marketing, listening, and directing folks to the ecommerce sites where their ablums/tracks can be purchased for download. To be clear, I am not suggesting that a Buy button is linked to an internal ecommerce platform to be hosted by any Rockettheme template.
3. You mentioned template specifics regarding design. As a developer, like many, who are working on multiple sites at once and for the sake of delivering client experiences on time, any simple functionality should be included in each template. Having read more button options on slideshows and showcase particles is just basic stuff. Unless you are designing the sites aimed at photographers, with photo carosels that only show pictures, well, hey, I will have to go elsewhere, as I don't have the time to travel over to Gantry every few minutes to execute a basic web requirement.
4. Thanks for clearing up the design usage intent for the Remnant theme. As you described it, this is not really a site for musicians at all. It is everything but. Therefore, I along with several musician clients, have no use for this template in its current state.
5. I know you can add any menu item(s) to the top of the page. There should be multiple areas on each page that allows users to get to the desired pages, including the menu items at the top, or wherever the designer chooses to place them. What I am speakcing of, is that there should be a link on each slideshow or carousel image, and there should also be an option to include
another link furhter down the page in a module, etc. Whatever information that is below the fold, or requiring a user to have to scroll, there should be button link capability, other than the footer menu. Rockettheme's designs are straying away from that aspect, and as you stated, the designs are meant to be a starting point to be painted by the developer to his or her choosing.
I totally agree, however, there should be a starting point that includes link options in the particles that can save real estate, and time.
6. Yes, I understand that you can add links to any page on the site, but when a developer likes the main attributes of the template design, there shhould be consideration of including linkable assets within the particles. Again Saves Time!
Thanks for listening and I appreciate all that Rockettheme does. I still believe that Rockettheme templates work far less buggy than other template manufacturers.
Best,
Leland
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- Leland Hicks
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 344
- Thanks: 2
- Loving RocketTheme!
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Hello again,
If you can, please include instructions from the dev team for adding read more buttons to Flex, and Supra slideshow.showcase particles.
Oh, and is there a way to add a read more button to the audio player particle at the top of the Remnant theme?
Much appreciated!
Leland
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- Ryan M Pierson
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 243
- Thanks: 164
- Technical Writer
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Leland Hicks wrote:
Hello again,
If you can, please include instructions from the dev team for adding read more buttons to Flex, and Supra slideshow.showcase particles.
Like I said, it's going to be accessible in the particle's settings on the next theme update for those themes. You don't need dev team instructions at all. Just access the particle settings like you would when you customize any other particle.
The reason you're not seeing these fields yet is the update hasn't been released. It will be soon, though. - Ryan Matthew Pierson / Technical Writer / Buda, TX USA
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- Ryan M Pierson
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 243
- Thanks: 164
- Technical Writer
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Leland Hicks wrote:
1. The music "Buy" button is not an ecommerce button. I am simply referring to an html link that can be placed behind the
Buy button so users can be forwarded to the html address of music sites like iTunes, an others. Similar to a Read More button that simply allows the user to be directed to other ecommerce sites, where the music can be purchased.
I'll pass this along to the dev team. I can't guarantee it'll be added or at what time frame, but I will make sure they see this. I'll also submit an internal ticket.
I should add that with minimal dev work you can customize the particle to add space for a description for each track using the button classes to create this feature yourself in the meantime.
I need to emphasize again this theme was not created specifically for musicians. It is a base on which devs can build a website that includes several types of audio players, a video player, etc. When we initially conceived this theme, the concept was all about making something that was a bit more edgy and artist-oriented than the ones we had done in the months prior.
We appreciate the insight, and I will make sure the dev team gets the ticket.
4. Thanks for clearing up the design usage intent for the Remnant theme. As you described it, this is not really a site for musicians at all. It is everything but. Therefore, I along with several musician clients, have no use for this template in its current state.
Didn't say it was everything but, at all. We have several bands and musical artists that are using Remnant to great effect. It's a base on which developers can build something better suited to their needs. We could take six months and build a theme that does everything for everyone, or we can build one that acts as a good foundation for a large number of people.
Time constraints are a hinderance, but you've seen how folks react when we take time to add additional features to a theme. We had to find a balance with Remnant, but we are always open to looking at ways to improve our products. Your feedback helps.
5. I know you can add any menu item(s) to the top of the page. There should be multiple areas on each page that allows users to get to the desired pages, including the menu items at the top, or wherever the designer chooses to place them. What I am speakcing of, is that there should be a link on each slideshow or carousel image, and there should also be an option to include
another link furhter down the page in a module, etc. Whatever information that is below the fold, or requiring a user to have to scroll, there should be button link capability, other than the footer menu. Rockettheme's designs are straying away from that aspect, and as you stated, the designs are meant to be a starting point to be painted by the developer to his or her choosing.
We are adding that link in the next update of Supra and Flux. - Ryan Matthew Pierson / Technical Writer / Buda, TX USA
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- Ryan M Pierson
- Sr. Rocketeer
- Posts: 243
- Thanks: 164
- Technical Writer
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EDIT: Updated
We're giving it an effort to add these buttons to Remnant per your request. We are working out how best to do so to add it as a core feature of the particle.
This requires a little development time on the part of our team, testing, etc. It's a matter of getting priority requests (bugs and critical updates) handled first.
Reggie has a cool concept for the buttons worked out, and we're hoping to have it available on an upcoming release of Remnant. However, we can't provide an ETA at this time as we don't know when we'll be able to loop in everyone to focus on development, testing, and release.
That said, we certainly have it in our list of things to get done as time permits. - Last Edit: 7 years 10 months ago by Ryan M Pierson.
- Ryan Matthew Pierson / Technical Writer / Buda, TX USA
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- Leland Hicks
- Hero Rocketeer
- Posts: 344
- Thanks: 2
- Loving RocketTheme!
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Hello Ryan,
Thanks for the updates and your dedication to Rockettheme customer requests!
The Buy button sample jpg is exactly what I was suggesting! Please notify me when the updated version of Remnant is ready for download. I will build one for myself with the anticipation of updating.
By the way, I also appreciate your insight with regard to bands loving the Remnant template, and I can see the instant value for bands that are touring or playing live in their own communities, a huge plus. That said, there are also just as many musicians that are producing and selling their music and videos without the need for having to tour or play live for that matter. The Buy button will appeal to those opting not to do live performances, so it will now be good for both strategies. Well done!
The addition of the "Read More" buttons for Flux and Supra Slideshows is a huge benefit! Thanks for putting that request on the docket. If you would be so kind, I would also love a notification for the download updates for these templates when they are avaiable.
Really Appreciate You!
Best,
Leland
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