Please could you give feedback on my infant site?

[Fraise]

Hi-we've got this online but not advertised yet as we know it's not up to it.We've got a technical problem in that the "send now" button doesn't work on the "bookings" page
1. Which are your target markets in order of importance? Examples: families with children, retired couples, newlyweds, students, big groups, walkers, surfers, birdwatchers, etc. - I guess in the summer it will be families but maybe a small group of city types too? I've got several offspring in this category and they feel they and their friend swould be interested. I would think probably folks without children out of season

2. What would you say is the single biggest selling point of your rental property-
Not sure-the fact it's in an area of outstanding natural beauty and within 2kilometres of the water? Own lovely pool,house well furnished? I think we need some feedback but also need to know how to make the changes if they are technically difficult? Please help if you can ,thankyou,I'll be one happy strawberry!!!! Oooops,nearly forgot-it's www.thepetitmanoir.com Thanks again



This sounds a bit feeble after I've re-read it!!Sorry. I really DO want the help! How do we get the "send now" button to work on the bookings page??Pretty vital to get that bit right I think!! Please help with this site!!The house is smashing,just the site that's a bit lacking!!!

[livinginitaly]

Hi Fraise,

The site was obviously written with Microsoft Frontpage, which is fine .... however, some of the features that frontpage has (such as how it handles forms), require the hosting server to have 'Frontpage Extensions' enabled.

This all may sound a little technical, but basically at the moment it appears that they arn't enabled and if you can't access the control panel on the server direct, then chances are you'll be stuck.

Not all hosts support 'frontpage', you may have found one the doesn't ........ in which case you've two options.

1 - move hosts

2 - rewrite part of the page to handle the 'form' in a more acceptable way. This could include using a script called 'formmail' or 'mailform'.

Who do you currently 'host' with? I'll probably be able to offer more positive advice if I knew this

[Fraise]

Hi
This is Mr Fraise!

The Host we have chosen is ipowerweb.com and it is supposed to support Front Page extensions et al. This web site was being developed by a third party but he dropped out and let us down. I have taught myself Front Page and can manage most of the cosmetic bits but this form handling bit I think was designed to return a csv form for inserting into Excel. If you could help we would be most grateful.

Thanks for your time

Fraise II

[livinginitaly]

ah .... Hi 'Mr' Fraise

I've checked ipowerweb.com and yes their servers do support Frontpage Extensions, however, this is not active as standard.

The help section states that you have to go to the vDeck Control Panel > Settings > Frontpage .... then enter your password and select 'install' ........ if you havn't already of course.

I've checked the code and it all seems ok .... so i'm guessing either the 'frontpage' isn't active or the form isn't 'addressing' the script correctly in this section of code .......

Code: Select all

<form method="POST" action="_derived/nortbots.htm" onSubmit="location.href='_derived/nortbots.htm';return false;" webbot-onSubmit name="form" webbot-action="--WEBBOT-SELF--">

I can't actually get to see the code at 'nortbots.htm' so i don't know what instructions are contained there. Although, you mention that the data should be saved as a CSV file, and i'm pretty sure if that was the case, your code would need to look something like this (note the 'SaveResults' part) ......

Code: Select all

<form method="POST" action="--WEBBOT-SELF--">
  <!--webbot bot="SaveResults" U-File="fpweb&#58;///_private/form_results.csv" S-Format="TEXT/CSV" S-Label-Fields="TRUE" -->

Not sure if this helps, but it's pointing the right direction

[Fraise]

Hi Tony

Thank you for your advice, I've enabled extensions for Front Page on vdeck, but to no avail, it still seems not to work. The advice on coding will I'm afraid fall on deaf ears as I'm a complete novice as far as html is concerned. Perhaps you could email me at enquiries@thepetitmanoir.com so that I can send you anything you require to take your investigation further? We are very grateful for your time and patience, thank you

Mr Fraise

[Fraise]

Hi,sorry if this is getting a bit techie!!!I've no idea what Mr Fraise and Tony are talking about. I just wanted to apologize!!!We have a problem with our site cos we are using a combination of what we were left with when our web-builder had to debunk and all the rest which Monsieur Fraise struggled to put together.Basically we have a "send now" button which doesn't seem to want to send anything anywhere and we are desperate to get it sorted.I am sorry if it's all got a bit technical but that's what's needed at this stage I think - and maybe just a big gulp of the red Thankyou

[paolo]

Can I suggest something? Dump it!

I don't think there is any point in having a form to make a booking. It doesn't really make the enquirer's life much easier, and it doesn't help you either because you don't get any sense of who you are dealing with, which you would from a normal email enquiry.

I would just have your contact details, your availability (optional) and rates. Plus some friendly text explaining your basic booking terms. After all, you're not a hotel, you're a one-to-one operation and I think you should make a virtue of that.

[livinginitaly]

Yes, i would have to agree with Paolo .....

Getting the site 'up and running' is the first priority. Putting your efforts into getting the layout, images and content 'right' is probably best for now.

Having the ability to download all of your bookings and quickly import the file into excel or access may make life easier from an 'accounting' point of view. But i'd put this down as an 'advanced optional extra' to a website, rather than a 'must have'.

That said, i've sent an email and i'd be happy to help if you still want to go down that route

[Fraise]

Doh,I didn't actually think it wasn't very useful to either party.Is this the general concensus? I know what you mean about terms and conditions as well but I know of several successful sites who do a page like this however I did have my reservations about sounding remote!!Mmm,back to thinking this one through I think!!Thankyou very much for the input-exactly what we need(well,maybe a lottery win would be useful too!!)
A thoughtful strawberry

www.thepetitmanoir.com

[Fraise]

Well,after some thought we've decided to see if the bookings page can be made to work as Monsieur Fraise is keen on it.Tony from "Living in Italy" is taking a look at the technical stuff-it may be a useful lesson in either how to or how not to!!Time will tell,fingers crossed

[Fraise]

Tony got the "send now" form to work- yippee!!!!!I've still got the terms and conditions up there 'cos I'm not sure whether they are useful or not? I now need to dip my toes in the advertising pond, yikes... We should be able to start replacing the pictures soon as the builders have completed on time!!Wow,they worked their socks off the week before Christmas. Happy New Year everyone Fraise x

www.thepetitmanoir.com

[HolidayWebs]

Hi Fraise,

I've just had a quick look at your site & in particular on the contact/booking form page as this provoked some discussion. I have always used a form for enquiries as it reminds people to send you the info you need e.g. dates, no of adults/kids etc. as well as their contact details. However I only ever use these for enquiries - I think people are unlikely to book straight off. I then post a little brochure which includes the Terms & Conditions, & a booking form which they return with their deposit cheque. A lot of people are still very wary of the internet & I always send the information in printed form as well. I also have a .pdf of my brochure & booking form on the site if people want to download it.

I don't think it's necessary to put the complete T&C on the site but you could put info re payment, deposit etc.

If this is your first season I would backup your web site with magazine advertising with links to your site for further info. See posts in the forum on non-Internet marketing viewforum.php?f=14

Good Luck.

[Fraise]

Thankyou for your comments,I think maybe you have a point about the T&C's.Paolo said something similar I think? I hadn't really considered Magazine marketing as I did not believe it to be cost effective? Hmm, possibly back to the drawing board again?

[Paul Carmel]

Hi,

The first thing that strikes me is your photo, as we all know a good photo is worth a thousand words! What this photo says to me is here is a closed down house with a lean-to shed/workshop next to it.

What I would suggest is to invest in a cheap digital camera so you can take as many shots as you like without wasting expensive film & development costs. Then you will find the best angle to take the shots from. Make sure it's a sunny day, that does not mean to say you have to wait til summer, you have lots of clear blue crisp winter days. I can see a nice palm tree in the garden, palm trees make you think of sunshine and holidays! Get the shutters open, make the house look as if people live or are indeed on holiday in it.

Happy new year and good look with your rentals.
Cheers hic!
PC

[Paul Carmel]

Damm just seen your disclaimer and feel a bit of a prat now.......sorry.

PC