Fresh start!
Three years, more than 20 potential developers, and now a profound respect for people who know what they are doing with the technical end of things … we’re back, with this new look and hopefully a structure that will make us more visible online and (umm…) jump-start sales again. We’re grateful for old customers who stuck with us through all the speed bumps, and now we will welcome those of you who never knew how we used to look!
Why so many developers? Our original site developer some 14 years ago started with a template that was going out of date even then, and modified it according to our own many wishes and demands. Because we never pretended to be experts in development, we didn’t realize that websites are really living, breathing things and need as much care and attention structurally as our own bodies do. Don’t get us started on how we finally figured that out, but our search for someone to help had some key requirements:
1) At least one key person must be here in Hong Kong so we knew we could have local contact and get a good feeling about our working partner;
2) They had to promise they could use some kind of programme to migrate all 40,000+ card entries into the new site. We couldn’t even think of doing all that manually, one at a time.
3) They had to demonstrate that they understood why we wanted the changes we wanted — mobile responsiveness, SEO-friendly, and so on.
We found, and highly recommend, Quix in Hong Kong, an affiliate of an Australian company. And we are very glad we did, because even the most dedicated procrastinators among us would say that three years is about two and a half years too long to *do something* when it clearly needed doing. So here we are. All systems “Go”.
As you are browsing the site, if you see something that looks wrong or needs fixing, please let us know. We are bringing ourselves up to speed on this WordPress dashboard, and can use all the experience we can get. We’ll try to re-start more frequent Blog entries and share successes along the way.
Until soon …
I like your format and the clean sharp look of your new face. I particularly enjoy the information you give for each card. And the occasional wit. You must spend every waking hour writing it.
I know you will miss it but I do hope someone buys your favourite card from Antarctica.
~Goloh answers: the pain of losing it would be offset by the joy of knowing it found a good home. Thanks for your kind words!
Wow! Amazing postcard website. This is the most diversified postcard website so far!!! Thank you for giving us a fresh new platform~
~Goloh answers: We are grateful for all our Blog readers, and our customers too. Many thanks…
Hoorayfark! Looks Ab-Fab, if you know the saying! Also, seems to be quick. I am sure that as the new look and feel grows on you, and you get used to the new ways of doing things, you will not miss the old site, at all. I see you got the archived blogs over too, well done, I think a series of decisions well made.
Now, …. “build it and they will come.” Hope the same rings true here too.
Besides, there must be millions of people out there now, all locked down, looking for something to do….
Best wishes for the future of the site, and yourself.
Melbournite.
~Goloh answers: Ah, the blog. The things we learned. Those old entries, and even the comments, had to be faithfully re-entered manually. The good news was that we learned how to replace them in their original dates and sequence. Full disclosure: a few, not many, of the entries were so wildly dated that we just dumped them. Thanks for your good wishes and now let’s watch these cards fly off the shelves!
Mixed feelings. Kinda miss that old clunky website. It reminded me what a bookshop should look like if it sold antiquarian books. Not too professional, a bit dusty, you could smell the cards. Just joking. Love the new site.
~Goloh answers: We miss the look. But we miss typewriters and punch cards too! (Many thanks for your kind words.)