Over the years we have changed the look and feel of the SBG Sword Store quite a few times, both to adjust it as it has grown in size and scope, but also just because – as with any website – it is never quite “finished” and always something of a work in progress..
We have done the same with the main site, what you see today is nothing like when it first started – though as always, the essence remains the same..
In the last few weeks we have tried several different approaches and have finally settled on a new look that matches that of the main website. With this new look, the images of the swords we offer are bigger, clearer and the whole layout I think is easier on the eye. But there are still quite a few cosmetic tweaks we need to do – with hundreds upon hundreds of different sword pictures of different sizes it is going to take some time before we update each image to the largest, clearest pictures possible to match the new look. And right now, there are some cosmetic issues with the way some products are displaying – i.e. items on sale just cross out the original price without showing the on sale price unless you click through to the “more info” page, and not everything is lining up the way it should..
We will be getting these issues fixed in short order and then working hard to update the various sword pictures and add some additional functionality, so for the time being, please bear with us if things don’t display exactly how you might expect.
As always, the site itself remains 100% secure and the only changes are cosmetic, so it is business as usual. In the meantime, let’s take a quite trip down memory lane with some pics of the store as it appeared over the years..
SBG Sword Store Over the Years..
November 2006 – Started as a retail store stocking Cheness Cutlery (only).
November 2007 – attempting to match the look of the main site.. Hanwei and Darksword join the line up.
November 2007 – continuing to evolve, Valiant Armoury and the first generation of the SBG Custom Katana!
November 2009 – stabilizing and searching for a new look..
2010-2013 – We hire a pro to design a new site that matches the main site. Just like what we are doing now.. This look and feel persisted until late 2013..
November 2013 – different browsers meant that we needed to strip it back to basics..
November 2014 – we go with a basic “red stripe” and logo style on all SBG sites.
November 2015 – a temporary style as we search for a new unified theme..
Current theme as of today – professionally designed and matching the main site, we will be using this format as our new base for at least the next 3 years..!
It is still early days for this new format – we will continue to tweak it, expanding the right hand column, working on the navigation, graphics, etc. But this is the new base that, if the previous professionally done version from 2010-2013 is any indication, is going to be our look for the foreseeable future..!
