What Are The Best High Arc Single Handle Kitchen Faucet – Latest Guide

Original Source: https://designrfix.com/reviews/best-high-arc-single-handle-kitchen-faucet

Looking for the best high arc single handle kitchen faucet? There are many choices, but we spent many hours researching all the best models on the market. We narrowed the list by looking for excellent performance products during our search. You’ve come to the right place if you’re after the best product money can buy. … Read more

Delori Theme Review: Will This Be Your Next Shopify Theme?

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/delori-theme-review

Delori is a premium Shopify 2.0 theme designed for fashion and clothing eCommerce stores. It’s a popular choice for high fashion brands because it comes with various media-rich tools that make your products pop. 

Among other things, it allows online retailers and dropshippers to organize their apparel into collections and product categories and create a product lookbook to bring their brand to the next level. All without having to write a single line of code. 

All that to say, if you’re running an online fashion brand (or you’re considering launching one), and you’re in the market for a new Shopify theme, you’re in the right place. Delori could be what you’re looking for. 

With that said, this Delori review will explain exactly what features you can expect from this theme. There’s lots to discuss, so let’s dig in.

Delori Theme Review: About Delori 

delori theme review

Delori is brought to you by the ecommerce theme developer Zemez and can be purchased via ThemeForest. 

As mentioned, Delori is a Shopify 2.0 theme. As such, you can take advantage of Shopify’s drag-and-drop visual builder to create a site unique to your brand. Before 2.0, users were restricted by their theme’s preset layout. But thanks to this upgrade, this is no longer the case. Shopify 2.0 themes empower you to add, rearrange, and remove content from sections throughout your eCommerce website.

For the uninitiated, a Shopify section is a specific area on your web page containing various content blocks. These sections used to be static, so you could only change their content, not where they sat on the page. However, with Delori, you can configure your site pages exactly how you want, unlocking a new level of control over how merchants set the layouts of their stores. 

Similarly, you can expand app functionalities over multiple pages and decide where these applications are displayed. 

But these aren’t all the features Delori has to offer. So, let’s look at the other features you can expect. 

Delori Theme Review: Delori Features

The Delori theme comes with a wide variety of page templates and eCommerce features to help you organize, promote and modify your products.

When it comes to your store’s layout, the Delori theme includes (vie demo here):

8 Home Page Templates 

delori theme review

Delori’s home page templates provide plenty of flexibility over how your brand comes across. For instance, each template empowers you to feature different products. You can also add images, videos, and other media to reflect your brand’s aesthetic. Each template also has a search bar so customers can easily find the products they’re interested in. 

You can embed content directly from your social media, such as YouTube or Instagram, making Delori an excellent choice for Instagram sellers. You can even embed your entire Instagram shop feed, making it the central focus of your home page.

3 Product Page Templates 

delori theme review

From your product pages, customers can view information about your products, including the ability to select different sizes and colors. They can also add the product to their cart. 

You can choose from three different layouts and decide how you want your information and images arranged. Each layout allows you to add your social media links and sizing info, and customers can leave reviews.

2 Lookbook Page Templates 

delori theme review

The lookbook templates enable you to turn a collection of product photographs into clickable, interactive product highlights. Each image has icons hovering over it that link the different products featured in the picture to the appropriate product page. As a result, if customers like what they see, they can easily click on the item to be taken to the relevant product page and add the item to their cart. 

You can choose from a static lookbook where the images link to the product. Alternatively, you can create a lookbook carousel where shoppers can scroll through multiple looks at their leisure. The carousel option is excellent if you want to showcase numerous looks to customers while saving space on your page. 

You can also add a scroll bar of recommended products and delivery information. Plus, you can display how many people have recently viewed or purchased the product – this works wonders for establishing credibility and trust with customers via social proof.  

Blogging 

delori theme review

Delori lets you integrate a blog directly into your store without needing an extension or additional coding. You can post articles and arrange your posts with topic tags. In addition, users can interact with readers by leaving and responding to comments.

Collections Template

Using the collections template, you can group products to highlight related products. This is handy for organizing products into categories and providing customers with a quick overview of the kind of products you sell. Examples of collections you might have for a fashion store include hats, shoes, dresses, etc. 

An About Page and Contact Page Template 

With Delori, you can bring your brand story to life. You can include a carousel of customer reviews on the about page, embed photos from your Instagram page, and provide fun facts about your business. 

Where your contact page is concerned, you can publish professional-looking contact forms that enable shoppers to get in touch with your customer service team. 

You can also use various icons to highlight contact information, such as your phone number, email, address, and/or opening times.

Shopify Visual Editor

As we’ve already mentioned, the Delori theme lets you decide where each section goes. This means you can drag and drop sections to configure your layout without any coding. Similarly, you can add content blocks such as customer reviews, images, and apps to any section of your page. Plus, you can easily customize the element’s color, typography, and content style.

On top of that, you can use the mosaic block constructor to simultaneously apply changes to multiple content blocks. The mosaic block constructor is a feature unique to zemez themes. 

Dynamic Filtering 

Dynamic filtering makes it easy for customers to find your products. 

Users can select multiple categories to narrow their search, making finding what they’re looking for much quicker.

More specifically, shoppers can filter their searches by:

PriceProduct typeColor Featured and best-selling productsBrandSize Availability Discounted products 

Quick View and Hover

delori theme review

The quick view feature lets customers view product information without having to load the product page. 

Instead, when a customer hovers over a product, a little eye icon appears. A brief product description box emerges when a customer clicks the icon.

At this point, it’s worth noting that the Delori theme offers three hover variants that enable you to decide what happens when a user hovers over a product. I.e., add to wishlist, compare items, or enter the quick view. The icon that appears when you hover over the product page will change according to your chosen action. 

Wishlist 

delori theme review

Product wishlists are another built-in product page, and product listings feature. The wishlist functionality appears as a heart icon over the product. By clicking the icon, customers create a list of their favorite products (known as a wishlist) without adding them to their basket. Customers can then view their wishlist once they’ve logged into the account they’ve created on your website. 

Pop-ups

You can set the pop-ups to appear on specific pages, including your home page, when a customer first lands on your site. You can use them to incentivize shoppers to sign up for your mailing list. For instance, you can offer discounts or rewards when customers enter their details into the contact form. You can also customize these pop-ups with your choice of visuals, colors, and text. 

SEO

The Delori theme has several built-in SEO features you can make use of, including:

Multilingual support: There’s LTR (left-to-right) and RTL (right-to-left) script compatibility for different languages. Mobile compatibility: The theme is highly adaptable to different device sizes, promising pixel-perfect images for all iOS and Android users.Page speed: Delori has a grade A page speed (91/100 as ranked by Google Insights and a 93/100 by GTmetrix).Navigation: Thanks to dynamic filtering and a clear hierarchy of pages within the Delori theme, customers and the search engine can easily navigate your products and pages.

Delori Theme Review: Integrations

delori theme review

This theme is highly amenable to Shopify’s Instagram integration, allowing you to embed your Instagram content directly onto your web pages. 

Moreover, as it’s a Shopify 2.0 theme and you have full control over your store’s layout, you can add Shopify apps without worrying about how they’ll affect your store’s layout. 

In addition, a few official integrations come with the Delori Theme, such as Growave and AiTrilliion.

Delori Theme Review: Customer Service

delori theme review

Suppose you encounter any problems with the Delori Theme. In that case, you can contact the Zemez team 24/7 via their contact form, email, phone number, or live chat. 

However, you’ll find that most answers are readily available in their extensive knowledge hub. This included self-help resources such as:

BlogShopify guides and tutorials Facebook group forum

Delori Theme Review: Pricing

There are two payment options. Both are one-off payments that unlock all of Delori’s features. The main difference in pricing is whether you intend to sell the website later. 

Regular License – $29 (regular price $48)

At the time of writing, the Delori Theme is currently on sale. The first 100 buyers will get it at a discount. The regular license allows you to create one end product (that won’t be sold to someone else) and includes six months of support from the Zemez team.

Extended License – $1500

delori theme review

This pricing tier is for developers who intend to sell their site for a profit. This license enables you to create one customized site that can be sold to multiple end users.

Please note: You’ll need a new license for each custom website you make. So, if you’re planning to create numerous site variations, you’ll need a license for each one. 

The plan also includes six months of support from the Zemez team.

Delori Theme Review: FAQs

Before we wrap up this Delori theme review, let’s quickly answer some of the most frequently asked questions about this Shopify theme:

How do you add the Delori Theme to your Shopify store?

Once you’ve purchased the Delori theme, download the file to your computer.Now, head to your Shopify account. Choose the website you wish to apply the theme to and go to the admin page.Click online store, then go to themes.Go to the upload theme window and select ‘choose file.’Find the Delori zip file on your computer and click ‘upload.’

Once you’ve done this, you should be able to find the Delori theme within your Shopify theme library. You can then choose to publish it by selecting ‘publish.’ 

How do you add an Instagram feed to your Delori theme? 

You will need an Instagram account to connect to the Delori Theme.

Go to the app store on your Shopify account.Search and install the “section feed” app.Once installed, you’ll be brought to the admin section of the Instagram feed app.Connect the section feed app to your Instagram account. In configurations, select the Delori Theme from the drop-down menu. Select ‘add feed.’

You’ll now be able to customize your Instagram feed from the sections tab in the Shopify editor. Here you can find more details on how to work with Delori Shopify 2.0 theme.

Delori Theme Review: Our Final Verdict

So, that brings us to the end of our Delori theme review. All in all, we think Delori is an excellent choice for creating a modern Shopify store without the hassle of coding. It’s simple to set up and suitable for both beginners and developers. That said, we think those already selling on Instagram (or are planning to) will be particularly drawn to this Shopify theme because of how easy syncing your Instagram shop is.

That’s enough about our thoughts on the Delori theme; what do you think about it? Tell us your thoughts in the comments box below! 

The post Delori Theme Review: Will This Be Your Next Shopify Theme? appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

Exciting New Features in Safari 16

Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2022/09/exciting-new-features-in-safari-16/

Apple has released an OS update. Packaged in with it is the latest version of Safari, 16.

Expected to be released ahead of next month’s macOS 13, Safari 16 is packed with updates, making it one of the most capable browsers available.

For web designers, the significance is the forward momentum in web technologies that enable freer design work and fewer hacks to achieve complex layouts. Little by little, CSS recommendations are being implemented to the point that using JavaScript for layout is rapidly becoming as unnecessary as it is disliked.

Some of this was announced in June in the Safari 16 beta. But a lot has been added in the last couple of months. So here’s what’s new in Safari 16 today.

CSS Container Queries

The most exciting addition to Safari 16 is CSS Container Queries.

It is hard to understate how in-demand this feature has been; if you imagine an edit button on Twitter that gifted you crypto every time you corrected a typo, you’d be getting close to how popular this feature is.

Until now, media queries have detected the whole viewport. And so, if you have an element like a card, for example, that needs to change at smaller viewports, you need to calculate the available space and adapt the element’s design accordingly. Unfortunately, this frequently gets out of sync with edge cases causing more than a few headaches for front-end developers.

Media queries are severely restrictive to modern layout methods like Grid that wrap elements automatically because there is no way to detect how the elements are laid out.

Container Queries solve this by allowing you to define styles based on the size of the actual containing element; if a div is 300px wide, the contents can have one design, and if it’s 400px wide, they can have a different design—all without caring what size the whole viewport is.

This is dangerously close to OOP (Object Orientated Programming) principles and almost elevates CSS to an actual programming language. (All we need is conditional logic, and we’re there.)

The latest versions of Chrome, Edge, and now Safari (including mobile) support CSS Grid. Even discounting the rapid decline of Twitter, this is way more exciting than any edit button.

CSS Subgrid

Speaking of Grid, if you’ve built a site with it (and if you haven’t, where have you been?), you’ll know that matching elements in complex HTML structures often results in nesting grids. Matching those grids requires careful management, CSS variables, or both. With CSS Subgrid, grids can inherit grid definitions from a grid defined higher up the hierarchy.

CSS Subgrid has been supported by Firefox for a while but is not yet part of Chrome or Edge. Until there’s wider support, it’s not a practical solution, and using a fallback negates any benefit of using Subgrid. However, its introduction in Safari will surely herald rapid adoption by Google and Microsoft and moves the web forward considerably.

CSS Subgrid is likely to be a practical solution within 18 months.

AVIF Support

AVIF is an exceptionally compact image format that beats even WebP in many instances. It even allows for sequences, creating what is essentially an animated GIF but smaller, and for bitmaps.

AVIF is already supported by Chrome, with partial support in Firefox. Safari now joins them.

AVIF support is one of the more valuable additions to Safari 16 because you’re probably already serving different images inside a picture element. If so, your Safari 16 users will begin receiving a smaller payload automatically, speeding up your site and boosting UX and SEO.

Enhanced Animation

Safari 16 introduces some significant improvements in animation, but the one that catches the eye is that you can now animate CSS Grid.

Yes, let that sink in. Combine Container Queries and animation. The possibilities for hover states on elements are tantalizing.

Safari 16 also supports CSS Offset Path — known initially as CSS Motion Path — which allows you to animate elements along any defined path. This enables the kind of animated effect that previously needed JavaScript (or Flash!) to accomplish.

Chrome, Edge, and Firefox all support CSS Offset Path; the addition of Safari means it’s now a practical solution that can be deployed in the wild.

Web Inspector Extensions

Announced as part of the beta release, Web Inspector Extensions allow web developers to create extensions for Safari, just as they would for Chrome.

Web Inspector Extensions — or Safari Extensions as they’re destined to be known — can be built in HTML, CSS, and JS, so the learning curve is shallow. It’s a good route into app development for web designers.

Because the underlying technology is the same as other browser extensions, anyone who has made a Chrome, Edge, or Firefox extension will be able to port it to Safari 16+ relatively easily. As a result, there should be a rapid expansion of the available extensions.

Improved Accessibility

Accessibility is key to an effective and inclusive web. Be like Bosch: everybody counts, or nobody counts.

When testing a design for accessibility, emulators don’t cut it. In my experience, Safari has some of the most reliable accessibility settings, especially when it comes to Media Queries like prefers-reduced-movement.

Further gains in this field mean that Safari continues to be an essential tool for QA tests.

Reduced Resets

Finally, I want to throw up my hands to celebrate the reduced number of non-standard CSS appearance settings.

For years we’ve been prefacing our style sheets with elaborate resets like Normalize, designed to undo all the assumptions browser developers make about design and the UI preferences of their engineers.

Safari 16 has reportedly “Removed most non-standard CSS appearance values.” How effective this is and how much we can rely on it given the other browsers on the market remains to be seen. However, like many of Safari 16’s changes, it’s a step towards a browser that’s on the developers’ side instead of an obstacle to overcome.

Source

p img {display:inline-block; margin-right:10px;}
.alignleft {float:left;}
p.showcase {clear:both;}
body#browserfriendly p, body#podcast p, div#emailbody p{margin:0;}

The post Exciting New Features in Safari 16 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

What Are The Best Nintendo Cube Controller For The Money

Original Source: https://designrfix.com/reviews/best-nintendo-cube-controller

Looking for the best nintendo cube controller? There are many choices, but we spent many hours researching all the best models on the market. We narrowed the list by looking for excellent performance products during our search. You’ve come to the right place if you’re after the best product money can buy. We’ve collected all … Read more

Quick Tip: How to Transform the Character Case of a String in JavaScript

Original Source: https://www.sitepoint.com/transform-string-character-case-javascript/?utm_source=rss

How to Transform the Character Case of a String in JavaScript

Learn how to transform the character case of a string — to uppercase, lowercase, and title case — using native JavaScript methods.

Continue reading
Quick Tip: How to Transform the Character Case of a String in JavaScript
on SitePoint.

Exciting New Tools for Designers, September 2022

Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2022/09/exciting-new-tools-for-designers-september-2022/

The Summer’s over, and we’re back at our desks to discover that the web’s best app builders, font designers, asset creators, and developers have been hard at work to deliver this bumper collection of exciting new tools for designers and developers.

Below you’ll find productivity apps, icons, gradients, AI, and some awesome new fonts. Enjoy!

CSS Scan

Forget right-clicking on a website to see how it’s coded. CSS Scan is a browser extension that lets you view the CSS styles of any element and copy them to your clipboard.

Slicons

Create stand-out UI designs with Slicons, a set of 300+ pixel-perfect icons. Light, regular, and bold versions match your typography and work with Figma, Sketch, XD, and Iconjar.

Codex

Codex is an IDE extension that lets you comment on your code like a pro. Anyone on your team can add comments, questions, or notes to any lines of code.

Gradientify

You too can leap aboard the gradient design trend using Gradientify, a collection of 100+ beautiful, human-designed gradients. Copy the CSS, or download PNGs for free.

90 Bitmap Shapes

Create unique logos, social media assets, apparel, and abstract icons using this editable set of 90 Bitmap Shapes in vector form for Photoshop, Sketch, and Figma.

BlockBee

Get paid in crypto using BlockBee. The Web 3.0 payments infrastructure integrates with the best ecommerce carts, including PrestaShop, Opencart, Magento, and WooCommerce.

Flatfile

Banish the woes of importing CSV data with Flatfile, a CSV importer that formats human-edited data files to eliminate errors and speed up B2B onboarding.

ClipDrop

Effortlessly clip the backgrounds from images in Figma with the ClipDrop plugin. One-click removes backgrounds, objects, people, text, or defects.

Craiyon

Craiyon is an AI drawing tool based on a stripped-down version of DALL-E. You can generate any image you like using a simple text prompt.

Google Headline Tool

Use Poll the People’s powerful Google Headline Tool to optimize your headlines for more effective search ads and clickable blog post titles.

Retro Postcard Effect

Embrace the trend for retro images using this Retro Postcard Effect for Adobe Photoshop. Easily drop your custom images into the placeholder layer for an instant vintage style.

Hugo

Hugo is an admin suite for freelancers that takes care of business with intelligent contracts, audit trails, and an integrated wallet, so you can focus on being creative.

CTA Examples

CTA Examples is a database of call-to-action examples for every possible scenario. So no matter what you want to persuade your users to do, you’ll find the best prompt here.

Superhuman

Create unique 3D characters to wow your customers using Superhuman. You can customize clothes, hair, and poses using 1500+ elements or choose from 500 pre-made characters.

PostHog

PostHog is an extensive set of tools built on a modern data stack. You can do more with your data by creating your own app or using one of the 50+ that are included for free.

Radix UI

There’s no need to reinvent UI components for React when you can use Radix UI. The high-quality, accessible components are perfect for web apps and dashboards.

KB Clip

Now you can create a searchable wiki for your business with a fraction of the effort thanks to KB Clip. Just highlight a Slack conversation, and transform it into an article in one click.

DropBlok

A great way to monetize your followers is with a custom app. DropBlok is a no-code tool that will build the app for you.

Blofishing Font

Blofishing is a gorgeous handwriting font that adds personality to your layouts. It’s ideal for wedding stationery, social media marketing, and anything that needs a personal touch.

Haratte Font

Haratte is an elegant font with graceful curves and a modern aesthetic. It’s perfect for logos, magazine design, social media assets, and more.

Source

p img {display:inline-block; margin-right:10px;}
.alignleft {float:left;}
p.showcase {clear:both;}
body#browserfriendly p, body#podcast p, div#emailbody p{margin:0;}

The post Exciting New Tools for Designers, September 2022 first appeared on Webdesigner Depot.

Best Appointment Scheduling Apps for 2022

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/articles/best-appointment-scheduling-apps

Long gone are the days of pen and paper scheduling for businesses—but also emails, phone calls, and Excel spreadsheets. Efficient businesses utilize some of the best appointment scheduling apps for booking clients through an online interface, managing appointments, and even getting paid.

Whether you run a local yoga studio or handle client meetings as a realtor or lawyer, you’re bound to save money, time, and your overall sanity by working with one of the best appointment booking apps. 

There are plenty of appointment scheduling software options on the market, but we’ve tested them all to compile a list of the top contenders. We’ll first explain what types of features and functionality you get from these apps. Then, we’ll share the absolute best appointment scheduling apps based on our research of pricing, features, and the pros and cons. 

Keep reading to make your appointment scheduling significantly easier and more profitable!

What is an Appointment Scheduling App? 

An appointment scheduling app is an online portal for businesses to list potential appointment times, accept bookings for those appointments, and manage elements like pricing, cancellations, and client information. 

Appointment scheduling apps usually come in SaaS (software as a service) form, where you can either sign up for free or pay a monthly fee to utilize all of its features. The apps are hosted and published online, resulting in two interfaces: the frontend portal where customers and clients make appointment bookings, and the backend interface where the admins manage the schedule. 

What to Look for in an Appointment Scheduling App

The format and features of each appointment scheduling app varies, but you want to look for these primary features: 

A frontend calendar: For customers and clients to come to your calendar and see available appointment times; after which, they can make bookings, edit their bookings, and even make payments.A backend admin management portal: For business owners to edit their schedule, view appointments, and communicate with clients.A connection to your website: That may be with a direct integration/embedded calendar, or a simple link that you can use in your website’s menu.Support for multiple business locations and team members: This is particularly important for multi-location businesses and those with independent workers (like therapists, doctors, or personal gym trainers).Full appointment control: Admins and clients should both be able to cancel and change appointments.Payment processing and upsells: The option to offer free appointments should always be available, but it’s nice to see payment processing for premium bookings, along with the ability to add upsells (like yoga mat rentals for a yoga studio).Automated notifications: Admins and customers should receive confirmation emails, along with SMS/Text messages if requested. You’ll also want an appointment app with reminder messages and notifications about cancellations or other changes.Alternative appointment/payment types: From memberships to subscriptions, and gift certificates to packages, the best appointment scheduling apps provide this type of flexibility for your business. 

Now that you understand what features to look for in a booking app, keep reading to see the best appointment scheduling apps available on the market. 

What are the Best Appointment Scheduling Apps?

We’ve compiled a list of appointment scheduling apps based on which ones offer the best overall value: with pricing, features, and their pros and cons all factored into the equation. 

1. Squarespace Scheduling – Best Overall Appointment Scheduling App

Squarespace Scheduling - best appointment scheduling apps

Squarespace, the popular website builder and ecommerce platform, offers a separate product called Squarespace Scheduling. You can run the calendar booking app on its own (hosted on a separate subdomain name) or add it directly to any website (Squarespace or otherwise). 

The idea behind Squarespace Scheduling is to automate every aspect of your booking calendar, from bookings to reminders, and payments to availability. You can promote your availability with a frontend calendar, stay organized with calendar software integrations, and customize appointment confirmations and intake forms. 

Not only that, but Squarespace Scheduling has built-in payment processing with discounts, packages, and subscriptions, allowing you to sell any type of appointment bundle you want. 

Pricing

Squarespace Scheduling offers annual and monthly pricing plans, where you’d save a little money if committing to a full year. You can also sign up for a free trial to test out the booking software. 

Here are the monthly pricing plans:

Emerging: $15 per month to get one calendar per team member or location, along with calendar syncing, custom payments, invoicing, automatic reminder emails, and card vaulting Growing: $25 per month for 2-6 calendars per team member/location, everything in the previous plan, plus SMS/Text reminders, subscriptions, memberships, gift certificates, and packages. Powerhouse: $50 per month for 7-36 calendars for each team member/location, everything in the previous plans, plus multiple time zones for locations, access to the custom API, CSS controls, and HIPAA (BAA) compliance. 

Pros 

The interface is beautifulEasy to integrate into your website (particularly with the Squarespace Scheduling module)Reasonable pricingOne of the few appointment scheduling apps with HIPAA (BAA) compliance measuresAccept payments through Stripe, Square, or PayPalCalendar syncing with iCloud, Google, Outlook, and Office 365Simple reminder emails and SMS notifications

Cons

No free planThose with previously held Acuity Scheduling accounts are left to use the older Appointment Scheduling block in SquarespaceYou need to upgrade to one of the higher plans to get things like multiple time zones, memberships, and packages

Who is it Best For? 

Squarespace Scheduling works particularly well for businesses using Squarespace for their website, but it’s not a bad choice for other platforms, since the calendar is still embeddable. Those familiar with Acuity Scheduling will also enjoy the interface, since it’s almost exactly the same. 

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illustration of a cat climbing a ladder

2. HubSpot Scheduling Software – Best Free Solution

HubSpot best appointment scheduling apps

HubSpot offers a free scheduling software with decent tools for smaller businesses to accept appointments. After which, you can upgrade to a paid plan for more advanced features like payment processing, multi-language content, and automated marketing packaged into the premium plans. 

We will say, however, that HubSpot is, perhaps, the most complete free scheduling app available, seeing as how the vast majority of the features you would need are included in the free plan. We’re talking an online calendar, calendar syncing, grouped meetings, and more. 

Pricing

The main HubSpot Scheduling Software is free to use. 

For more automation and scaling features, you’d upgrade to one of the premium HubSpot plans. Those plans give you a lot more than online appointment scheduling, so your desire to upgrade may depend on what is provided. 

Here’s a look:

Starter: $50 per month to remove branding from the meeting scheduler, documents, live chats, and 1-to-1 emails. You also get things like payments for the scheduler, repeating tasks, Stripe integration, conversation routing, and email/chat support. Professional: $500 per month for everything in the previous plans, plus more advanced tools for sequences, required fields, teams, video messaging, eSignatures, and phone support.  Enterprise: $1,200 per month for everything in the previous plans, plus hierarchical teams, advanced permissions, playbooks, conversation intelligence, and more. 

We covered the monthly pricing, but you can save a little money by paying for a year upfront. 

Pros 

Free plan with most scheduling features you’d need for a small businessIntegrate with and sync calendars from Gmail, Suite, or Office 365Direct meeting scheduling toolGroup meetingsSync with CRM contactsIntegrations with video conferencing toolsAutomated follow-upsSleek frontend booking/calendar interface

Cons

Expensive premium plansPremium plans have many sales features that many small businesses won’t needA premium plan is required for payment processing and 1-to-1 emailYou must pay to remove HubSpot branding

Who is it Best For? 

HubSpot is primarily meant for businesses with sales teams (even small ones). We can’t imagine a yoga studio or gym would find it as useful, but scheduling for lawyers, software sales, and product demos are great in HubSpot, especially since the upgrades lead to even more advanced sales and lead generation tools. 

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illustration of a cat climbing a ladder

3. Calendly – Popular Solution

Calendly homepage to show the best appointment scheduling apps

Calendly removes the need to send emails back and forth for scheduling purposes, all due to its multi-format meeting type scheduler. 

With Calendly, you can schedule meetings for:

Collective meetingsRound robinsGroup meetingsOne-on-one meetings

The sales-oriented scheduling hub offers automated reminders, follow-ups, and a quick online scheduling calendar that links directly to video conferencing and calendar apps. 

Pricing

Calendly has a free trial and discounts for annual billing. 

Here are the monthly pricing plans: 

Basic: Free for 1 calendar connection per person, syncing with calendar software, unlimited one-on-one events, polls, a booking link, automated notifications, and you can integrate with some cloud-based software and add the calendar to your website.Essentials: $10 per seat per month for everything in the free plan, plus group events, email reminders, follow-ups, reporting, and more.Professional: $15 per seat per month for everything in the previous plans, plus customizable notifications, text notifications, redirections, and more.Teams: $20 per seat per month for all previous features, plus round robin events, the locking and syncing of managed events for your team, and more.Enterprise: You must contact Calendly for a custom quote.

Pros 

There’s a free plan with a customizable booking link and automated event notificationsThe premium plan pricing is reasonableAccess to automated reminders and SMS messagingVersatile meeting types like conference calls, round robins, and 1-on-1 meetingsIntegrations with software like GoToMeeting, Zoom, and SalesforceOptions to collect payments through Stripe and PayPal

Cons

There are simple branding elements, but not much advanced customizationChat and phone support is limited/non-existent

Who is it Best For? 

Calendly is a simpler, more intuitive, and more affordable version of HubSpot, in that it’s primarily made for scheduling sales calls. We like it for sales, marketing, customer success, revenue operations, recruiting, and IT. 

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4. Square Appointments

Square Appointments homepage to show the best appointment scheduling apps

Square Appointments, from Square—the payment processing company—gives businesses a scheduling point of sale for handling bookings, collecting payments, and simplifying the overall scheduling process. It integrates with the entire Square ecosystem for immediate scheduling in person or online, so someone like a barber could allow a client to schedule their next appointment as they walk out the door, or the client could opt for scheduling through the barber’s website. 

Pricing

Square Appointments has a free plan, custom pricing, discounts for qualifying businesses, and the option to cancel or change your plan at any time. 

The plans are as follows: 

Free: $0 per month for a single location, the scheduling app, custom availability, automated text and email reminders, blocking for personal events, multiple time zones, recurring appointments, payment processing, and access to other Square features like team management, website building, client management, and the booking system API. Plus: $29 per month per location for everything in the previous plan, decreased credit card processing rates, multiple locations, processing time, multiple staff appointments, daily appointment limits, no-show protection, double booking prevention, rescheduling, automated confirmations, Google Calendar syncing, and more. Premium: $68 per month per location for even more decreased credit card processing rates, everything from the previous plans, resource management, write access to the Bookings API, and Team Plus features like custom permissions and multiple wage rates. 

Pros 

Offers a simple and beautiful booking interfaceAppointment remindersProcess payments, even with the free planBuild a free ecommerce site with your bookings softwareIntegrates with Square POS for in-person and online bookingsUnlimited staff accountsIncludes card and contact information managementHas staff and customer management modules

Cons

It’s very ecommerce-oriented, which may not be necessary for some businessesNo built-in tool for importing appointments dataDoesn’t integrate with that many personal calendar toolsCustomization is limited

Who is it Best For? 

Square Appointments has the unique ability to combine directly with the Square point of sale ecosystem, so it makes the most sense for retail and professional services where in-person bookings may occur; we’re talking businesses like hair salons, barbershops, auto repair, cleaning services, tutoring, and personal training. However, professional services (like lawyers and realtors) can benefit from Square Appointments as well, seeing as how it offers bookings online. 

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5. Setmore

Setmore homepage

The Setmore app helps businesses stay a step ahead with a simple yet powerful online booking page. It’s one of the best appointment scheduling apps for getting paid in advance, minimizing no-shows, and reaching a more global customer base with 1-click Teleport and Zoom meetings. 

The Setmore app lets you generate your booking page within seconds. Thereafter, you can customize the page a bit, show reviews for your business, and link the page to your website, Facebook, and Instagram. 

Pricing

Setmore is one of the more affordable appointment scheduling apps, and you can save even more by opting for annual billing. 

The monthly pricing plans include:

Free: $0 per user per month for unlimited appointments, email reminders, payments with Square, Teleport video meetings, social media integrations, and a custom booking page with unique URL.Premium: $12 per user per month for everything in the previous plan, plus SMS reminders, payments (with Square, Stripe, and PayPal), a two-way calendar sync, recurring bookings, support for 2 staff members, and 1-click video meetings through Teleport and Zoom.Pro: $9 per user per month to receive everything from the previous plans but for 3+ users (we’re assuming this is a promotional price—since it’s cheaper than Premium—but nothing else is listed).

Pros 

Free plan with simple payments, email reminders, and unlimited appointmentsAffordable premium plans, especially when opting for an annual packageEmail and SMS remindersCustomizable notificationsRecurring appointmentsQuick integrations with Zoom and TeleportAccept bookings on social media or your website

Cons

The online payments are limited only to Square in free planCalendar customization options are limitedCalendar syncing only available for Google and Office365

Who is it Best For? 

Setmore seems like a winner for the budget-conscience businesses out there, particularly since both Premium and Pro plans cost only $5 when paying annually. Other than that, it works well for those who need video conferencing or integrating with website builders/ecommerce stores. 

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6. Zoho Bookings

Zoho Bookings - best appointment scheduling apps

Zoho touts a myriad of tools in its suite of products, including a calendar, CRM, business email, and appointment booking module. Zoho Bookings is a free solution made for appointment scheduling, where clients book appointments and pay for services. 

All bookings get managed on the Zoho dashboard, which has an Android and iOS app for on-the-go tinkering. You receive templates and customization options for the online calendar, while notifications and reminders send to both the admin and customer. Other than that, you can update your CRM right from Zoho Bookings, and handle tasks like two-way calendar syncing and team meetings. 

Pricing

As with most Zoho products, there’s an introductory free plan with decent features. Having said that, most Zoho free plans aren’t quite enough for growing small businesses. 

Here’s what to expect when it comes to pricing for Zoho Bookings:

Forever Free: $0 per month for 1 staff member, notification emails, online meetings, and two-way calendar syncing with Outlook, Office365, Zoho, and Google.Basic: $8 per user per month for everything in the previous plan, plus notification emails, round robin allocation, mobile apps, more integrations, brand color palette for the booking page, auto time zone conversions, a Zapier integration, and reporting.Premium: $12 per user per month for everything in the previous plans, plus an appointment sign-up portal for customers, Zoho Assist integration (remote support sessions), text notifications, upsells like rooms and equipment, recurring group events, removal of the Zoho branding, and a booking page on your own domain.

The yearly plans from Zoho Bookings save you a little money. 

Pros 

There’s a free planTeam management toolsSyncs with your CRMManagement from a mobile app or the online portalNo-show and last-minute cancellation preventionTime-off and special hoursBuffer times for meeting preparationSyncs with the entire Zoho ecosystem, and external tools like Microsoft Teams, Google, Slack, and SalesforceUses Stripe, PayPal, or Authorize.net for payment processingNotifications for confirmations and cancellationsUse with online meeting tools like Zoom, Google Meet, and GoToMeetingEmbed on any website

Cons

Syncs with some calendars, but not enough of the most popular onesCustomization is limitedZoho tries to sell you a lot once you’re in their ecosystemYou must pay for the most expensive plan to remove Zoho branding

Who is it Best For? 

We like Zoho Bookings for businesses already entrenched in the Zoho ecosystem, particularly if you enjoy using their CRM, Zoho Meeting, and Zoho Flow. If you’re not a consistent user of the Zoho suite, it’s still a nice solution for the budget-conscience, particularly if online meetings are a big part of your business. 

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7. SimplyBook.me

Simply Book me

SimplyBook.me pairs simplicity with flexibility, with its stylish, modern interface and intuitive ease of use. It’s perfect for service industry bookings, as you can accept online bookings, send notifications, receive payments, and add custom features like coupons and gift cards. There’s even a cordless checkout tool, along with beautiful templates to build a site just for your booking module. 

The main reason we consider SimplyBook.me one of the best appointment scheduling apps is because you can publish its booking module on any website, social site, or even the Google Maps Bookings page. 

Pricing

SimplyBook.me offers monthly pricing, and annual billing for discounts. 

Here are the main plans: 

Free: $0 per month for 50 bookings, 1 custom feature, 5 users, an admin app, booking website, booking widget, and directory listing.Basic: $9.90 per month for everything in the previous plan, plus 100 bookings, 3 custom features, 15 users, a client app, sale POS, coupons, and gift cards.Standard: $29.90 per month for 500 bookings, 8 custom features, 25 users, everything in the previous plans, and HIPAA compliance.Premium: $59.90 per month for 2000 bookings, unlimited custom features, 50 users, a branded client app, everything in the previous plans, and removal of the SimplyBook.me link.

Pros 

Get a free booking website from SimplyBook.meThere’s a free appointment scheduling planPublish anywhere, from social media to your websiteMultiple users, even with the free planOne of the few scheduling apps with HIPAA compliance optionsThere’s an admin and client appCoupon and discount supportPayments through PayPal, Stripe, or SquareMemberships, classes, and tickets

Cons

Limits on the number of bookings for all pricing levelsYou must pay for the most expensive plan to remove SimplyBook.me branding May not be as customizable as some people want

Who is it Best For? 

SimplyBook.me has the right stuff for service industry professionals with the need for absolute simplicity. It’s affordable and easy to install on social media and your website; or, you could just use the website they give you. 

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Which of the Best Appointment Scheduling Apps is Right for You?

Some of the best appointment scheduling apps are catered to sales teams, while others lean toward ecommerce or service businesses. If you’re still debating between two or three of these apps, use our final recommendations to help: 

Squarespace Scheduling: Great all-around booking tool, especially for small businesses and Squarespace usersHubSpot Scheduling Software: A robust sales team platform for booking client calls and video conferencesCalendly: A simpler alternative to HubSpot; for sales teamsSquare Appointments: Ecommerce-oriented; perfect for an in-person/online booking hybrid Setmore: Budget-friendly, great video conferencing, nice for collecting paymentsZoho Bookings: Budget-friendly, and excellent for Zoho-familiar usersSimplyBook.me: Ideal for service-based industries; nice for adding a simple booking page to all online platforms (even social media

Have you used any of the best appointment booking app on this list? If so, please let us know what you think of them. If not, share any questions you may have in the comments!

The post Best Appointment Scheduling Apps for 2022 appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

1Password Review: Everything You Need to Know About This Password Management Software

Original Source: https://ecommerce-platforms.com/password-management/1password-review

Password security is a major talking topic for both individuals and businesses. As more and more of our daily lives become digitized, the amount of sensitive information to be found online also increases. Although passwords are supposed to protect us from hackers, it’s challenging to manage and remember all our login details for all our online accounts. 

As a result, security often falls to the wayside in favor of convenience. Consequently, many of us are underprepared to securely handle our logins. For example, 53% of people rely on memory alone to manage their passwords, and more than 60% of workers use the same password for their professional and personal apps. 

But, password security shouldn’t be taken lightly- two out of five people have had their passwords compromised or identities hacked.

The solution? 

Password management software 

This enables you, your family, and/or employees to quickly log into their most-used services while keeping passwords secure and helping everyone establish safer online habits. 

1Password is one such solution, which we’ll take a close look at below. More specifically, we’ll discuss 1Password’s password management features, how much it costs, and who it’s best suited for.

Table of contents

Toggle

About 1Password
1Password Review – Key Features
1Password Review – Pricing
1Password Review – Customer Support and Resources
1Password Review – Security
1Password Review – Pros and Cons
1Password FAQs
1Password Review – Our Final Thoughts

That’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive in.

About 1Password

1Password is password management software explicitly designed to meet the needs of two key audience groups: 

Families looking to remain secure onlineBusinesses looking to stay safe online

More than 100,000 companies already use 1Password to secure their passwords and sensitive data, including IBM, PagerDuty, Intercom, and Shopify. On top of that, 1Password has also achieved several credentials from G2. These include the ‘Most Implementable for Small Businesses’ in Summer 2021 and ‘Momentum Leader’ in summer 2021.

1Password has been around since 2005 and is continually adapting to meet new security requirements. Its features suit all kinds of organizations – even enterprise-level companies can benefit from advanced protection, password and username generators, security features, and more.

1Password also offers courses about the frequently changing landscape of online security to help ensure you remain up to date on the best cybersecurity practices. 

Finally, it comes with developer tools that allow you to simplify and secure your workflows using Git.

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1Password Review – Key Features

1Password offers a wide range of password and account security features. With that said, here are some of its most noteworthy tools:

Username and Password Generator

1Password Review

Using 1Password’s password and username generator, forging strong and secure passwords for all your accounts is easy. 

You decide on the password length and whether to include numbers and symbols. The generated password is entirely randomized and unique, making it much harder for hackers to guess. Alternatively, you can develop a random but memorable password using four random words strung together. 

Store Your Details

Store logins, secure notes, SSH keys, and sensitive documents in one centralized place and be able to access everything you’ve stored, regardless of your device (desktop or mobile devices) or web browser (Windows, macOS, Linux, iOS, and Android are all supported)

This makes it easy to manage, review, and organize your passwords from the convenience of a single interface. You can also grant your coworkers, and family members access to sensitive items using secure ‘vaults.’ 

Dashboard

1Password Review

Get an overview of your company’s cybersecurity health from one simple dashboard. Here, you’ll also find actionable insights and reporting features. 

More specifically, you’ll be informed of potential breaches, password health, team usage, and more. You can also set user permissions at scale or customize access per individual user. This enables you to quickly and safely delegate responsibility to trusted team members to help you manage your 1Password account.

Single Sign-On (SSO)

Single-Sign-On enables you to sign into one account to verify your identity. Once this is done, you can then sign into a whole range of your accounts without re-entering your login details every time. 

1Password works with SSO to save and encrypt one main password to add more security to your single-sign-on applications. This is especially handy if your business uses single-sign-on to give employees access to multiple pieces of software simultaneously, and you want to boost the security of this process. 

Alerts

You’ll automatically be notified if an account is compromised, so you can update passwords immediately. 1Password also identifies weak passwords, duplicate passwords, and reused passwords, and websites that permit you to turn on two-factor authentication for tighter security. 

The 1Password Browser Extension and Mobile Apps

1Password Review

1Password is available as a browser extension. This enables you to manage your browser passwords, create new, stronger passwords as you go, and autofill details like usernames and passwords.

Firewall Rules

1Password Review

Create your own custom rules that automatically allow, report, or deny sign-in attempts from specific locations, IP addresses, and more. You’ll be notified of sign-in attempts from any recently reported or blocked addresses.

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1Password Review – Pricing

1Password Review

As 1Password is suitable for any number of people, it comes with a wide range of pricing options to suit different use cases. Each plan is billed annually, and a 14-day trial is available.

All accounts include:

1Password Watchtower, from which alerts you if your accounts/passwords are compromisedA digital wallet to store debit and credit card information securelyOne-on-one supportTravel mode – this allows you to remove sensitive data from your devices when you cross borders and restore them upon your returnAccess to 1Password on unlimited devicesAdvanced encryptionTotal privacy – only you have access to your data

The Personal Plan 

This is suitable for a single individual and is available at $2.99 per month. With this plan, you can create, autosave, and autofill passwords and sensitive information, share secure details, unlock two-factor authentication and restore recently deleted or previous versions of products. You’ll also have access to 24/7 email support.

The Family Plan

Here, five family members can access 1Password for limited sharing at $4.99 per month. However, you can invite more family members to join for just one additional dollar each. You’ll also benefit from account recovery for locked-out family members, and you can manage what members can see and do. 

Teams Starter Pack

This includes ten member accounts for a flat monthly price of $19.95. This also comes with admin controls where you can view and manage user permissions, unlimited shared 1Password vaults, and item storage. You’ll have 1GB of document storage as well. This plan additionally features 24/7 email support and duo integration for business-wide multi-factor authentication.

The Business Plan 

This will set you back $7.99 per user per month. In addition, you can create up to 20 guest accounts for limited sharing. You also benefit from custom role design, custom security controls, and fine-grained access control for each vault. 

It also features an activity log for tracking changes to vaults and items, plus usage reports for creating an audit trail. Each team member also gets a free family account to help them, and their family members stay secure online.

The Enterprise Plan

An Enterprise plan unlocks a dedicated account manager, onboarding, and tailor-made setup training. This is available for a custom quote, so you’ll need to get in touch with 1Password to learn more.

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1Password Review – Customer Support and Resources

1Password offers support to its customers via email on a 24/7 basis. This is available not only in English but also in German, Spanish, French, Italian, and Japanese. But thanks to its thorough self-help documentation, you might never have to get in touch. There’s plenty of access to multi-lingual articles containing tips, migration instructions, helpful videos, and more.

Or, if you need support but don’t want to jump straight into the team’s email inbox, you can also turn to the 1Password community. This is a moderated forum where peers discuss online security, various 1Password features, and troubleshoot problems. The team is active on the forum, so chances are you’ll receive help this way while aiding others by asking important questions – win-win!

The password and username generator is also available on its website.

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1Password Review – Security

When it comes to security, 1Password has you covered. For starters, you’re the sole owner and accessor of any information you store on the platform, so no one at 1Password can see, share, or sell your data. On top of that, 1Password’s security starts with AES 256-bit encryption. Still, it also uses several other technologies to keep your data secure.

Your 34-character secret access key to 1Password is created locally on your devices. You don’t have to remember this key to access your account, but you should print it out and save it in your emergency kit for recovery. 

The master key is combined with a master password to authenticate that you are who you say you are with the server; only then will you get access to your data. Your account also uses SRP to establish your credentials without sending them over the web.

The software only works on verified internet browsers and only autofill passwords and login details when you want it to. 

1Password’s entire security protocol can be reviewed in this document if you want a more in-depth look at how they protect their users. 

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1Password Review – Pros and Cons

Lastly, before we bring this 1Password review to a close, here are its key advantages and disadvantages:

Pros 👍
Cons 👎

Pros 👍

The app works with various operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS.
1Password makes it easy to manage and organize all your passwords.
You benefit from secure and yet simple authentication to add new devices.
It supports multi-factor authentication.
Ease of use is a priority.
Businesses get 1GB of encrypted file storage.
You can save virtual payment cards.
1Password’s customer support is reportedly excellent, as are its online self-help resources.
This software is very affordable for individuals, families, and small teams. We also like that business accounts get a lot of great value, including free family accounts.

Cons 👎

There are limited import options for importing existing passwords into 1Password.
No password inheritance features are available that allow account members to hand off their passwords to new users. For example, when a new employee takes over a role.
One-click password updates aren’t available.
There isn’t a free version, which makes 1Password a bit of an outlier amongst the best password managers. However, limitations on free plans with other providers make this gap less significant. On top of that, 1Password offers a 14-day free trial, and its Personal plans are very affordable.
No phone support is available.
The mobile apps aren’t as full-featured as the desktop apps.

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1Password FAQs

Last but not least, let’s answer some of the most frequently asked questions we hear about 1Password:

Is it safe to store all my passwords in the cloud?

Having all your passwords in one place might seem like a risk. In a way, you’re putting all your eggs in one basket, right? However, every time you use 1Password, your data is encrypted before it leaves your device. So only you have the keys to access your passwords and details. No one at 1Password can review or use them, and you’re protected similarly from anyone else who might try to access them.

What is a Secret Key?

A secret key ensures that if anyone obtained data from 1Password, they would still be unable to do anything with it. This is a 34-character encryption key that protects your account and ensures that only your authorized devices can make sense of any data linked to your account. That way, data breaches are near-on impossible.

What can I store in 1Password?

Of course, you can use 1Password to store passwords, but the 1GB document storage and the ability to create vaults enable you to store other kinds of data. For example, you can save your bank accounts, social security numbers, mortgage account codes, medical data, or anything else you want within 1Password. This makes it easy to access sensitive information you might need only semi-regularly, so you don’t have to memorize anything. 

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1Password Review – Our Final Thoughts

It’s hard to imagine that 1Password was, once upon a time, a niche password manager for Apple products. However, since its origins, the company has come a long way to make its services available on all operating systems and devices. On top of this, they offer a wide range of valuable features, including a browser extension, web vaults, and mobile apps.

Although 1Password doesn’t offer a free plan, its pricing is affordable for individuals and families. Businesses also enjoy great value for money. All in all, if you don’t mind paying for the peace of mind and security of a password manager, we think 1Password is a great option – especially for small teams and families that want to take online security more seriously.

If you’re not yet convinced, why not sign up for a free trial, or browse the many online resources to learn more about password security? Or are you considering other password manager apps like LastPass or Dashlane? Then, let us know how you get on the comments box below!

The post 1Password Review: Everything You Need to Know About This Password Management Software appeared first on Ecommerce Platforms.

Are Modals In Web Design A UX Disaster?

Original Source: https://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2022/09/are-modals-in-web-design-a-ux-disaster/

Modals, a nifty little feature that allows you to display different messages at the top of your website, have been touted as extremely useful. Some even claim that they are helpful enough to completely replace the banner ads we all hate so much. But are modals in web design a UX disaster?

If you are unfamiliar with the term, a modal is a dialogue window appearing when a visitor clicks on a hyperlink or hover image.

Suppose you want to collect on-site subscribers or you want visitors to sign up for a freebie. In that case, you can use modals.

However, many web designers – and some website visitors – are against using modals in web design. The main argument is that it affects the user experience. But are modals in web design a UX disaster? Read on to find out.

What Do Modals Do?

Modals often appear as pop-up windows on a web page, requesting a visitor to take action. Most times, they appear following a click on a page element.

Also known as lightboxes, modals isolate the page’s main content. The user will have to complete the action requested by the modal or close it before reassessing the page.

Web designers use modals to capture a visitor’s attention. Since other page contents are inaccessible, a visitor must interact with the modal.

Cons Of Modals In UX

While there are different cons of modals in UX, they all sum up to one con – interruption. When modals appear, they interrupt whatever the user is doing.

Unlike regular pop-ups, users cannot simply ignore the modal and continue browsing. As a result, modals demand immediate attention. 

A user may be interested and decide to interact with the modal. However, if the modal’s content differs from the page’s, the user could forget what they were doing after interacting with the modal.

Furthermore, sometimes modals require action related to information on the page. For example, suppose the user wants to review the information before taking action. In that case, they’ll have to close the modal since the main page is inaccessible.

Statistics show that up to 82% of users dislike pop-ups. Most website visitors aren’t knowledgeable about the technicalities of web design. As a result, they won’t be able to differentiate between regular pop-ups and modals.

After all, modals are a type of pop-up. Some users may consider modals worse since they darken the page’s primary content, making it inaccessible.

Furthermore, people want to visit a website and get what they want immediately. Hence, time is significant. Therefore, modals that require actions that take time can make a website lose visitors.

With all of these cons, you can understand why many web designers say modals are a UX disaster in web design.

Can Modals Be Useful in UX?

In some situations, modals are helpful, and they can improve UX. Many web designers swear on the usefulness of modals, and it’s not difficult to understand why.

Firstly, modals can help simplify a website’s content. For example, a user can immediately exit the page if your website is relatively complex, with lots of content and elements.

You can use a modal to explain the content on the page so that the user doesn’t get confused. Perhaps the modal can display when the user clicks on the back button. The modal can highlight the most critical content on the page and tell the user what to do next.

Secondly, modals are invaluable if you must capture your user’s attention. For example, perhaps you want to display a warning or pass any crucial information that users must know before they continue browsing.

As mentioned before, a user can easily ignore a pop-up, especially if it opens in a new window. However, with modals, the user must at least view the content before they proceed.

Thirdly, a modal can make a web page easier to navigate. It sounds ironic considering the cons, but it’s true if properly implemented. Rather than packing different elements on a web page, you can set some to display as modals.

For example, you can have a page with just text to improve readability. Then, users can click to view visual elements like images and videos as modals.

How To Use Modals the Right Way

Using modals correctly is key to ensuring they don’t negatively affect UX. Here are some ideal situations when you can use modals:

1. Display Warnings

Using modals to give users crucial warnings is ideal, especially if their subsequent actions have serious consequences.

For example, most websites display modals when users click the delete button. Deletion is always critical because, in most cases, it’s irreversible.

A practical example would be an eCommerce website where a user opts to delete items from their cart. You can use a modal to ask the user to confirm before deleting.

2. Input or Collect Information

Modals are effective in prompting users to input information. Sometimes, users must enter specific details before they continue browsing.

A practical example would be a review site where a user wants to submit a review. Before submitting the review, you can use a modal to request the user’s name and other necessary information.

3. Simplify Navigation

As mentioned before, modals can simplify a complex website. In addition, it will help a user navigate better, which is a UX boost.

A practical example would be a news site with many stories and updates. You can use a modal to highlight the day’s trending news stories so that users can visit the web pages with one click.

Conclusion: Are Modals a Disaster in UX?

In conclusion, modals affect a site’s user experience since visitors must interact with them. However, it doesn’t always have to be a negative effect.

Modals become a UX disaster in web design when wrongly used. However, if you follow good practices, modals can improve your website’s user experience.

Generally, only use modals when necessary and in a way that won’t frustrate the users.

 

Featured image by Freepik.

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EngageBay CRM: How Does This All-in-One CRM Stack Up? (Review)

Original Source: https://www.hongkiat.com/blog/engagebay-crm/

EngageBay is one of the leading names in automation software, especially popular amongst small businesses. It offers a full suite of tools designed to help organizations to streamline their operations to maximize efficiency.

To understand it better, we have laid down a review on EngageBay to see how it works and assess its functionalities as an all-in-one CRM and marketing platform.

EngageBayEngageBay
Why should you consider using EngageBay?

It’s a given that businesses today need to automate their processes to provide a seamless customer experience.

Besides, automation tools help in reducing operational costs by over 90%, according to a Mckinsey’s report.

Enter EngageBay.

EngageBay is an all-in-one platform that streamlines and automates various aspects of your business, including marketing, sales, and customer service.

It’s an award-winning software that bagged the award for the Best Momentum Leader in 2021 by G2.

What makes it popular amongst small business owners is its affordability over its excellent range of functionalities.

The software helps you acquire web visitors and nurture them into leads, providing perfect opportunities to convert those leads into satisfied customers.

EngageBay’s features:

Let’s break down the features of EngageBay into three categories:

Marketing Bay,
Sales Bay, and
Service Bay.

1. Overview of the Marketing Platform
marketing platformmarketing platform

EngageBay excels in automating all your marketing efforts – from segmenting the audience to analyzing your audience behavior, monitoring your campaign efforts, and scoring leads.

With little to no human intervention, it automates repetitive tasks, such as data entry, report generation, and more. Thus, you get time to focus on strategic tasks that result in increased work productivity.

Email Marketing

email marketingemail marketing

Using the EngageBay dashboard, you can easily automate the whole email sending process. You can decide when you will send what messages and to whom, set up the sequences once, and you are good to go.

Moreover, its drag-and-drop builder lets you fully customize its pre-designed templates to send appealing emails to your targeted audience.

Landing Pages

landing. pagelanding. page

EngageBay offers builders that enable you to create a simple, responsive landing page within minutes. It offers many pre-designed templates that you can customize as per your business needs. You can add or delete content blocks as you like and get full control over your layout.

Website Forms

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You can capture leads directly by embedding forms on your website. It offers two types of web forms – popup forms and inline forms. You can add various elements to your forms, including input boxes, radio buttons, and more.

What’s more, you can embed these forms anywhere on your website with ease. The software captures all your subscribers’ information and updates information automatically on your contact base.

Contact Management

contact managementcontact management

EngagaeBay’s contact management software allows your business to meet customers at multiple touchpoints. It collects and stores all customer interactions across various channels, such as emails, calls, chat boxes, and others, in a single platform.

In other words, it centralizes all your contact information and organizes them based on various factors – demographic, behavioral, preferences, and more. This empowers your marketing as well as the sales team to have contextual, meaningful engagement and communication with all your prospects.

Appointment Scheduling

appointment scheduleappointment schedule

EngageBay’s appointment scheduler automates the entire scheduling process for webinars, online meetings, product demos, and more. You can share a URL with your leads or clients, who can book appointments at their convenience.

The best part is that the appointment schedule easily syncs with Google Calendar and Office365. No more overlappings!

Click here to learn more about its Marketing Platform.

2. Overview of the Sales Platform

EngageBay’s sales automation is designed to help close sales faster. It offers solutions that eliminate repetitive, manual tasks and automates them to allow the sales team to focus on important tasks such as following up with leads and giving product demos.

360-Degree Customer View

EngageBay gives you a complete overview of every interaction made with your leads. It allows your sales reps to pick up the conversation right from where they left it the last time. They instantly get all the updates about their leads on a single screen, which helps them better serve their customers and close deals faster.

Moreover, it provides deep insights into each customer that helps with cross-selling and upsell opportunities.

Multiple Deal Pipelines

multiple deal pipelinesmultiple deal pipelines

EngageBay makes it easy to manage your pipelines. You can create multiple sales pipelines for different product categories, demographics, or other parameters, and efficiently monitor your sales tasks.

It gives you a clear visualization of all the leads in your pipeline – right from new prospects to closed deals, and all the stages in between.

Reporting and Analytics

Using the EngageBay dashboard, you can easily monitor any KPIs you want. It offers a powerful reporting and analytics tool that automatically generates weekly, monthly, and yearly reports for both your marketing and sales campaigns.

Moreover, you can keep track of each sales rep’s individual performance as well as the overall performance of your sales department. It gives you complete insights into deals won, lost, new leads acquired, and more. It even lets you compare your data reports from previous months or years to see how your company is performing.

Task Management

This will delight all the sales managers in the house. Using EngageBay, they can easily assign tasks to each individual and keep track of their progress. This also ensures that no tasks get overlapped, and each employee can be held accountable for their work. Whenever you assign a task, the assignee gets notified automatically.

Similarly, you can automate plenty of other tasks, such as notifying every time a file is shared, a change is made to it, a new lead is generated, or more.

Lead Management

EngageBay lead management platform automates the sales lead capturing process. You can create a workflow based on your lead distribution strategy. It automatically captures your leads and assigns them to the right sales reps.

Moreover, it helps with lead scoring – prioritizing your leads based on their responses and other activities with your website or other channels. This results in a higher chance of converting leads into paying customers.

Click here to learn more about its Sales Platform.

3. Overview of the Customer Service Platform

EngageBay’s customer support automation platform aims to reduce or eliminate the need for human involvement when providing assistance to customer requests. Let’s look at some of its different tools under the service bay.

Support Groups

support groupssupport groups

It automatically routes your customer queries to the right customer support agent based on location, service skills, priorities, etc. The software alerts the members of the relevant support group when a new request is received.

Custom Ticket Views

EngageBay helps you organize your raised tickets by grouping them into lists based on different criteria. You can create views for pending tickets, new tickets that need to be assigned, and closed tickets.

These views help you prioritize which tickets need attention from your team so that you can take action accordingly.

Canned Responses

vanned responsesvanned responses

Canned responses are designed to save time and increase customer support efficiency by sending the same replies for routine queries. It lets you save your email and message responses as ‘canned’ for later use. So, every time you get the same query, you need not write the same messages.

Smart Workflow Management

EngageBay allows you to create a custom workflow where you can automate the process of defining ticket priorities, setting their status, and assigning them to the support team. It helps save time in routine tasks, allowing your customer agents to focus on higher value-added tasks.

Click here to learn more about its Customer Service Platform.

Who EngageBay is a good fit for?
1. Businesses with multiple customer touchpoints

EngageBay helps provide excellent customer experience by integrating communications across all channels into a single platform.

You can connect with your audience via email, text, social media platforms, etc.

2. Businesses looking to streamline their entire operations

EngageBay aligns your marketing, sales, and service teams into an all-in-one, integrated platform. It empowers each department and simplifies every business process for maximum efficiency.

3. Small businesses with remote teams

EngageBay syncs every update and piece of information on various devices in real-time. Thus, managers can easily manage their remote team as all activities can be viewed on a single platform.

EngageBay’s pricing

One good thing about EngageBay is that it has plans for every business size. It offers a free plan for up to 15 users, and once your business starts to grow, you can easily upgrade to one of the paid plans.

In its free plan, you get access to features like email marketing, landing pages, live chat, helpdesk, and more.

If you want access to advanced functionalities, you can easily upgrade to its paid plans that include workflow automation, service automation, advanced reporting tools, and so much more.

Moreover, its paid plan offers free onboarding, migration, and implementation training. You won’t have to pay any extra to migrate from any other system to EnageBay.

EngageBay has four pricing plans:

Free Plan: $0 (For up to 15 users)
Basic Plan: $11.99/user/month
Growth Plan: $39.99/user/month
Pro Plan: $79.99/user/month

Wrapping up

Overall, the EnageBay all-in-one platform is an excellent automation software solution for small businesses. Its affordability and flexibility make it ideal for small business owners and help them boost their company revenue.

EngageBay’s integration with popular third-party applications like Zoho, Zapier, DocuSign, etc., helps you create a more seamless user experience.

With its extensive automation tools, any business owner would see a rise in work productivity and increased customer satisfaction.

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