Meanwhile, at Warmoth...a li'l website refresh.

[aarontunes]

Here is what my desktop looks like today. On the right you can see a little refresh the web department just finish. New buttons, new sliders, improved verbiage, and other little tweaks here and there. Nothing big...just a quick spruce-up. Oh.....and we are bringing the turtle back. See him in the upper left? From now on the little guy is back in all our marketing.

The post-it under the left monitor is a lunchbox love-note from my wife. Life is good.

But wait...what's that on the left monitor? Could it be another Warmoth giveaway in the works? Hmm....

 

[spauldingrules]

I'm waiting for the next sale...

 

[aarontunes]

I'm waiting for the next sale...

Don't hold your breath. No, seriously....you're turning blue.

 

[Jet-Jaguar]

Speaking of website changes, whatever happened to the "beta" search?  That stuff was cool.

 

[Slackjaw]

Will Mooncaster necks ever make it to the builder? You can customize a Mooncaster body, after all... why not the neck??

 

[aarontunes]

Will Mooncaster necks ever make it to the builder? You can customize a Mooncaster body, after all... why not the neck??

The Mooncaster neck is currently in a "staging" phase in the builder, and may be made live at some point in the future.

However, we are in the midst of a total and complete redesign of the website. For the most part the functionality of the current website is going to continue to exist as it is until it is replaced with the new one. That's the plan, anyway.

 

[aarontunes]

Speaking of website changes, whatever happened to the "beta" search?  That stuff was cool.

Are you talking about the "beta Showcase" that existed for a while in tandem with the normal showcase? If so, it's gone forever. See the above post.

 

[DocNrock]

I like it!  I was hoping the builder would create mockups of body styles other than Strat, Tele, Soloist, etc.  Is something like that in the works?

Also, a neck "builder' would be a really cool feature, as well!

 

[aarontunes]

Here's the hard, cold truth.....and nobody's going to like it: when the new site is launched the visual builders are going to go away for a while. The new site will feature basic builders only, in it's first iteration. We are fully prepared for weeping, wailing, and gnashing of teeth, but that is the way it has to be.

It cannot be overstated how much of a revamp the new website will be. It will enable a major sea-change in our production, allowing us to go paperless in the production flow for the first time ever. It is also going to be take a mobile-down approach, making it easier to navigate and buy with phones and such. The project is so big, with so many moving parts, that we have to push it in increments. Waiting for every part to be done would put us in a Duke Nukem type scenario, where nothing ever gets released...or released so slowly that it's already outdated by the time it rolls out. Unfortunately most of these sweeping changes will be unobservable and go unnoticed by end customers, who will just be mad because they don't have the visual builder any more.

We know the visual builders are popular, but they have a major Achilles Heel: adding new models is a ridiculously laborious process. We are painted into a corner with our current visual builders, and there is not easy way out. Our first priority once the new site is launched (still a ways off) will be to create new visual builders. The new ones will be designed with maintenance and admin in mind. This means they will probably lose a little functionality in exchange for making them easier to admin for all models, including new models.

 

[rgand]

Oh, weep, wail, gnash, snap! OK, that's out of the way.

I've used the virtual builder enough that I can imagine how things look. It's probably most important to new time builders to your site so they can visualize their ideas. Is there any way you can have a simplified builder off on a separate site just for visualizations? You could eliminate a lot of things like loads of pickups and other hardware other than a few simplified representations. I found the most important thing for me when I first found the site was to choose a color and match it up to a pickguard and basic hardware. Will there be a page of body representations with colors on them like the ones that appear in the lower left when you choose a color?

Good to have the turtle back. Good move, there.

 

[aarontunes]

Oh, weep, wail, gnash, snap! OK, that's out of the way.

I've used the virtual builder enough that I can imagine how things look. It's probably most important to new time builders to your site so they can visualize their ideas. Is there any way you can have a simplified builder off on a separate site just for visualizations? You could eliminate a lot of things like loads of pickups and other hardware other than a few simplified representations. I found the most important thing for me when I first found the site was to choose a color and match it up to a pickguard and basic hardware. Will there be a page of body representations with colors on them like the ones that appear in the lower left when you choose a color?

Good to have the turtle back. Good move, there.

Yes, there will be photos off to the side that show all colors and options, for sure.

The most complex part of the current visual builder is generating the bursts and dyes. It's a ridiculous process. Single colors (solid and transparent) are much easier to accomplish. My guess at this time is the new version of the builder will most likely forgo bursts and dyes in favor of being able to add bodies to it more easily.

 

[rgand]

Yes, there will be photos off to the side that show all colors and options, for sure.

That's good.

The most complex part of the current visual builder is generating the bursts and dyes. It's a ridiculous process. Single colors (solid and transparent) are much easier to accomplish. My guess at this time is the new version of the builder will most likely forgo bursts and dyes in favor of being able to add bodies to it more easily.

It'll be good to see a few more bodies on the builder. Thanks for the update.

 

[mark1178]

As a fellow web designer, I feel your pain as I'm the lead in my company's redesign...thank Hendrix I switched to vapor cigarettes, I'd be dead now if it wasn't for them.

 

[Axl12]

Without the visual builder you will lose many customers. Painted into a corner or not it's the demand of the consumer and the age we live in, where people want to interact with the product, this will go down with ex- users "remember  when  Warmoth had that kickass builder." Unless this is a late April fools joke?
Like any company that USED to do it correctly then changed under pressure to save the bottom line or whatever reason they give publicly. I would see this a challenge to improve and include every product you offer .. The job is to capture the imagination of the consumer not take it away.
That's my cry...

 

[Cagey]

Whose builder is better?

In fact, I would submit that I don't buy from some suppliers simply because their builders are either non-existent or pitiful. Some of them don't even price things up; you have to ask for a quote. Hard to shop that way.

I could be wrong, but I don't think Warmoth is going to get rid of the builder altogether, per se. They're just gonna lose the interactive animation part, where you see cavities, holes, finishes, etc. show up on a model off to the side as you pick and choose different options/features.

 

[musicispeace]

I'm waiting for the next sale...

Don't hold your breath. No, seriously....you're turning blue.

I get the impression there is some similarity with the span of time between major comet sightings. Back to saving up our allowance folks......

 

[spauldingrules]

Well I bought one right before a sale two times now - seems like Warmoth is becoming like JC Penney (at least to my timing), where you shouldn't shop without a coupon or a sale....

 

[Cagey]

That's the danger of having sales that I mentioned earlier somewhere else. If people expect them, they stop buying unless one is underway. Makes for an inconsistent business environment that is difficult to plan around. You don't want that. Causes unusual things to happen, like thinking you need inventory when you don't so you invest but the money stands still. Then, you've got to have a sale so you can dump the stuff asap or run out of capital or worse, get taxed on it.

 

[spauldingrules]

Maybe a 5 percent sale wouldn't have bugged me, but I bought a body for $325.  If I waited a little while, I wouldn't saved $65, which would've covered all of my hardware and pickguard.

 

[Jusatele]

That's the danger of having sales that I mentioned earlier somewhere else. If people expect them, they stop buying unless one is underway. Makes for an inconsistent business environment that is difficult to plan around. You don't want that. Causes unusual things to happen, like thinking you need inventory when you don't so you invest but the money stands still. Then, you've got to have a sale so you can dump the stuff asap or run out of capital or worse, get taxed on it.

seen a lot of businesses get dependent on stuff like that.