A new start!

A new start seemed to me an appropriate title for my first blog post.
Why a “new start”?
Because this is a complete new website / shop design compaired to my previous old version.

I have started with my first collector site in 1998 and over the years I changed designs and setups several times.
My first actual webshop I setup in 2010 with help of the zencart program.
However, in that time I did not have the time to design it my self.
It was build by 2 teenagers who did it for fun and that were cheaper then a proffesional webdesigner agency.
Not that I was not willing to pay, but the shop was set up as a hobby project.
I had enough of paying increasing fees on Ebay, limited time you got on sale pages and restrictions on what ever page I wanted to put items for sale.
Zencart seemed to be THE software I needed for my webshop without huge costs.

Over the years it served me OK, but got frustrated more and more with the software over the last couple of years.
There was no Dutch support and if I had questions I was directed to an English language forum.
English is no problem for me, but it is not my native language, so I do have my limits.
What I also experienced as a problem was the reactions I got on my messages on the forum.
The all seem to think I am programmer from profession and started technical terms I did not understand.

So, I needed help to keep my shop up and running.
The guys who designed and build my shop were out of the picture.
Needed other people who knew more about CSS, PHP and other technical hocus pocus.
If this would be for once in 2 – 3 years, I had no problem with that.
But for some reason it seemed that it got worse and worse that I needed external help.
I don’t want to be depending on other people!
Everybody needs help, but if the ratio becomes 80% external and 20% my self, then is the wrong way around to my opinion.

In April 2020 I got to the point I was fed up with Zencart after another technical issue that I could not resolve my self in an easy way.

I started to search for an alternative.
The search criteria were: userfriendly to design, Dutch support or forums / facebook pages, common use in the Netherlands.
So I came to WordPress with the Wocommerce plugin.
I also changed hosting service, added the Astra theme to WordPress and started using Elementor as a page builder.
Played around for 2 weeks and upgraded the Astra and Elementor to their PRO versions.

My vision of my site was:
-simple
-responsive to mobile devices
-personal
-fast
-easy to navigate
-clear
All what I like my self when I visit a site.

Well, the result is in front of you!

I hope you like it and I am going to try to post blog messages on regular base.

The only thing I want to add is: enjoy your stay and happy shopping!

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