Darth Invader wrote:
Tomorrow morning I want to send a quick test email. Then, I'd like you to try unsubscribing, see if it all goes smoothly. If you find anything jacked up or just too damned confusing for the average musician, post a reply in this thread. If it's all good, you might post that to bolster my delicate self-esteem.
Hi Dave,
This is pretty great. I'm a recent G&L fan but been programming for a *looong* time. I've got a good starting list of advice for you on improving this form, and I'd be willing to help you out more if you want. First, here's what I came up with from using this:
* Set the field type of the password field to be type=password so that it'll star out the user's password when they enter it.
* Give a second password field that is the same as first, but give it a different name=password_repeat. The user enters their password again so that the chance they get it wrong is reduced and you know they typed it right.
* Make sure to check that these two passwords match so the user got it right.
* Instead of an alert that drops down when they get the required fields wrong, have it turn the field red and focus there, with a little message to the right saying it's required. This actually isn't much more javascript than your alert, assuming you use something like jquery. If not it's a lot more javascript.
* It's not clear what the "login" is. I'm assuming it's the email address, but maybe mention it.
* Consider figuring out why you need the extra information you have, and then put a little blurb above. For example, why ask for phone number unless you plan on calling. Most people will see this Phone field and not fill out the rest at all. Put it at the end and people are more likely to fill out the other stuff. If the address information is for sending out a catalog periodically I know many G&L fans will fill it out very quick (I would).
* Have the State field just be an entry, maybe with an autocomplete. Most countries will either have a 2-3 character code or just not have anything for this.
* For countries, while it's nice to be equitable, the majority of your visitors will be from the US or Canada so put those at the top.
* Don't have the submit button open a new window. Just have it go to a new page like normal with options to go back to the site.
I signed up but didn't unsubscribe. If you want help with this kind of stuff in the future, feel free to ask me. I've been building websites for years and would love to help you.
Zed
