Working with Artfire's New Layout

Last October, Artfire changed the user interface of its site to make it equally accessible by mobile phone, tablet, and desktop. Apparently, the site didn't want to force people to download an app just to browse the site. (Apps are expensive to develop and must be updated to accommodate new phone models. Also, Etsy has a shopping app, but I've heard it isn't as easy to navigate as getting on a desktop to view the site itself.)

Shortly after Artfire made the changes, google announced that they will start to actively penalize websites that are not mobile-friendly at some point in the future, so even if you do not personally use a smart phone or tablet to browse the web, you can't say that being mobile-friendly isn't important.

Here's what's different and how you can work with the new layout...

Site Header
A lot of things changed in the appearance of the site to accommodate mobile browsing. Artfire's large logo up at the top of the site was replaced an orange navigation bar with the shop's name and a small link to "on Artfire" below it.

Shop Sections & Merchandiser
Shop sections used to be prominently displayed on the side of all pages. Now, there is a link called 'catalog' which will cause them to appear on the side if you click or tap on the area.

Site with visual catalog
enabled. Note the site
has a grey background.
Also, that green baby blanket
in the upper right is not a
square thumbnail, which
breaks up the grid.

The new rollout took down a popular tool known as 'merchandiser', which allowed you to re-arrange all of the photos in your shop. Apparently, the tool was a major resource hog and the site wanted/needed to speed up the database, so the developers decided to rebuild it from the ground up. The new merchandiser version is not a drag & drop interface, so it's a bit different to work with, but allows you to rearrange the order of items for both the whole shop and individual sections. If you had an Artfire account prior to October 1, 2014, you have been grandfathered into what is called a 'legacy account' and you can access the new merchandiser tool by going to MyArtfire -> Studio -> Merchandiser. If you opened an account after Oct. 1, then you will have access to merchandiser if you are paying for the higher priced tier of service (webstore).

In order to give shops some way to control the look of their front page while Merchandiser was being rebuilt, they provided a 'visual catalog' option. You can turn on this option by going to MyArtfire -> Studio -> Sections. You can also change the order sections appear on the side (for both the visual catalog and the catalog bar that pops out from the side).

If you decide to use the visual catalog option, the site will display a single thumbnail for each shop section along with the section's title. For example, my shop has sections for 'aprons, bookmarks, lace appliques, Christmas ornaments, etc.' Artfire generally uses whichever product is 'newest' (meaning whichever one was either sold most recently or added most recently). However, if you opt to use the new merchandiser tool, it'll display whichever item is at the top of the queue for a given section.

If you don't use the visual catalog option, then artfire displays all products in your shop. Again, they use the most recently sold/listed items first unless you change the order with the new version of merchandiser.

I've adjusted my avatar
on Artfire to take advantage
of the grey background. On
the site, my logo looks like
a white circle because I've
matched the grey color
in the corners.

Site Colors & Image Sizes
The background of the site used to be white. Now it's a combination of light grey and white. They use light grey behind the product images and white behind the text description. Shipping information is now moved up to be alongside the price and the item's photos. This makes it easier to get a full idea of the price, but it also means you have to scroll down further to read the item description.

Also images are all quite a bit bigger now. The site used to display images that are 500 x 500 pixels, but now you can zoom to see up to 1000 x 1000. Larger format photos are also easier to see on mobile devices.

Thumbnail Format
Photos are no longer cropped for thumbnails. If you upload a horizontal or vertical image, the entire image shows on a thumbnail because they display products similar to how Pinterest shows photos. All images now appear with the same width and are stacked - if you have a long, skinny image, it'll take up more space on the screen. Horizontal images will take up less. (Before October, the site displayed a uniform square preview - it made for great alignment and uniformity, but sometimes it would cut off important details if you uploaded a non-square image for the preview photo.)

Although the full-sized photo now shows in your shop, it may still be beneficial to crop your lead photo to a square because Arfire still uses the square image format for collection widgets, promotional emails, and RapidCart. (If you don't know what RapidCart is, it's a bit of code you can insert on websites and blogs. I've included it on the side of mine, for example.) Facebook still uses square thumbnails for social shares too. On the other hand, vertical images show up better on Pinterest and people are most likely to pin the first image.

Having a consistent size allows you more control over the order of your items using the new merchandiser tool. (In theory, you could use a different format - as long as the image dimensions are the same for all the lead photos, you'll have a consistent grid in your shop. It just may not mix well with other photos in promotional emails.)


Banners
Although it took a little while to roll out the changes, shops now have several options for their store's banner.

• You can opt for no banner (just the orange bar at the top of the screen will appear with your shop's name, on Artfire). 
• You can also pick a background image (either from the pattern library or your own custom image that you upload). 
• You can also have Artfire layer text over the banner (or you can opt for no text), and you can also customize the text. 

Colors
The first tab you see is for something called 'colors'. If you allow a banner, and do not turn the text option off, then any text you have Artfire add to your banner will appear on a small, transparent rectangle of color. (The rectangle is to ensure that the text is readable and does not blend into the background pattern or photo.) The only color the color tab changes is the shade of that rectangle behind the text. In my case, I have picked a purple color. I specifically chose my photo because it would better harmonize with that particular shade of purple.

Custom Image

This is the photo I've uploaded for my shop's banner. The
red rectangle shows the area that appears when people
visit on a desktop. Mobile visitors see the entire image.

The second tab allows you to upload a photo to use as your banner's background. I say your "banner's background" because not all of the custom photo you upload will appear on all devices. Artfire will show portions of the image depending on the viewer's screen size. On a desktop, only a small, horizontal slice of the image will show. However, on a phone, the entire image may show.

As an example, I've uploaded a photo of a lace applique. The red rectangle shows the area that displays when a customer visits my shop from a desktop. When that same customer visits my site on a phone, they see the entire image.

This makes the site more flexible for different devices, but it means you have to be a bit more careful about what image you upload - especially if you decide to add your own custom text to your banner (and disable Artfire's text overlay). If it looks good on a desktop, the text may look too small on a phone. If the text looks good on a phone, parts may be cut off on a a desktop.

Artfire will allow you to select the area that shows on a desktop by sliding around the image in the image preview. By the way, they ask that images be jpegs - at least 1000 x 750 pixels and less than 5mb.

Pattern Library

If you don't have a custom image you want to use as a banner
background, you can select a pattern from the library.

The backgrounds found in the 'Pattern Library' are all from a site that provides royalty-free patterns that Artfire has tapped as a resource. Most of them are really subtle. If you don't have a good looking banner, there are some decent ones. From there, you can have Artfire add text over it. If you don't like any of them, you can always turn off the banner option entirely. (Note: on the forums, several sellers have reported better sales once they've added a branded banner.)

Text
You can opt to have Artfire use your shop name - in which case, it will display your shop's username along with 'on Artfire' below it. Or, you can use the custom text option, which will let you get rid of the 'on Artfire.' You can also format your shop's name with proper spaces and capitalization. You are allowed up to 40 characters, so you can display a more expansive shop name. For example, my shop name is 'polkadotOrchid'. However, I've opted to change my text to read 'Polkadot Orchid Embroidery'.

If you click on 'Use my shop name', Artfire will paste your
username over your banner (which might not have proper
spacing and punctuation). Leaving the text box blank, will
only show your background image. If you choose to add text,
it will be visible to search engines.

The site warns that the text is visible to search engines, so it's wise to make the text count. I've encountered some sellers who display more of a tagline to describe their products. You can also pick custom text and then enter nothing to make the text overlay disappear - you would probably want to do this if you have text on your background image.

If you decide to have no text, you potentially loose an important tool to attract the attention of search engines. On the other hand, you can opt for a text style with more personality. Artfire's overlay only offers one boring (but readable) option.

If you decide to have Artfire add the text, then you can pick the font size. Artfire will adjust the text from there to work on variety of screen sizes.

I personally decided to use the text overlay because my artfire username does not incorporate the word 'embroidery.' I wanted the word to be more visible for search engines. I also didn't want to fuss around with a background image trying to make sure the text would be easily visible on all devices.


Please let me know if any of you have found this to be useful or if I've missed anything.