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Location

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Date Posted

Connecticut, USA

BigPumpkins.com is pleased to unveil its new homepage. This new page is quite a bit different than the current one. We would like to take this opportunity to allow the members of our community to preview it.

Great effort was put into keeping it accessible to all our users, including our WebTV members. We hope you find that is easier to use, and quicker to load.

A new feature was also added to allow you to temporarily “back date” your last visit. This will mark items on the site as new if the were entered before the date you specify. This should be helpful to people that have a visit cut short. They can simply back date their last visit, and indicate items as new that would not have shown as new previously.

You can preview the new page by clicking here.
(It will remain the sites homepage until you close your browser and re-visit.)

We invite you feedback. Please respond to this thread with any.

1/17/2001 8:25:04 PM

Choctaw, OK

I think it looks very up to date. I think it might need a nifty background...something with pumpkins of course....background should be something from a real picture, no clip art. I am not sure how to put it on there for it to looked the best, maybe if it was tiled or something...just a suggestion. Otherwise, i like it. Good job. Anyone agree that it could use a background other than white? or do you think it is good as it is??

And the pumpkin tracker thing, i think you should add to the site if you think it will be a handy thing. I am interested in how that thing works.

Case

1/17/2001 10:39:23 PM

Commack, NY

so what will happen in the future if i type in www.bigpumpkins.com?? will it go to the new site eventually? or is there going to be a new address totally?
scott

1/18/2001 9:25:13 AM

Connecticut, USA

Good Question,

The new page will replace the old one. The web address (URL) for the site will remain the same.

John

1/18/2001 12:14:18 PM

Great Job John and Ken!!!!!

1/18/2001 6:59:27 PM

Colorado Hail, CO. Elev. 5,900 FT

John & ken...Looks professional to me! Feel free to help me start one anytime!
Marc

1/19/2001 4:46:24 PM

Connecticut, USA

Thanks for the comments!

The new page is in for real now. Please let me know if you have any difficulties with it.

John

1/22/2001 4:33:45 PM

Buffalo, Minnesota

wow, what a difference i noticed it right away, i was like wait aminute when the page loaded because it looked so much different, but it looks good, very proffesional looking, but i do miss the picture of the giant pumpkin in the corner with all the categorys, but this works too, good job. ~wildbill

1/25/2001 2:07:57 AM

TECUMSEH OKLAHOMA

howdy there, we are new to your site and my 13 year old daughter has just fell in love with all the information that your site offers. she is involved in 4-h and ffa and loves gardening-even thoe her pumpkins didnt grow that big she hasnt give up.thank you for a great website. angela and tabby toney

2/15/2001 7:27:32 AM

Modesto, CA

Hello there, I was surprised to see the new home page but it looks very professional and easy to preview everything. Everything is very organized and I am really excited on starting my 2nd year in growing giant pumpkins. Keep up the good work!

2/25/2001 8:49:56 PM

Midway City, California

nothing else fo me to say, everybody has said it already.

water

2/26/2001 2:47:32 PM

Fayette, Alabama, USA

Well, the home page has a section for free seeds, but when you go to it, there is just a list. How do you go about getting these? Oh yeah, you might want to put a "contact us" on the home page so we don't have to post every little thing, here!
Please contact me about this at ralh@pepperlink.net

5/23/2001 12:31:33 AM

Connecticut, USA

At the bottom of every single page, there is a link to webmaster@bigpumpkins.com

At the same time, this message board serves the rest of the community well. A lot of people have the same questions but are afraid to ask. This board can be thought of as a living FAQ.

This board also serves as a place for the Webmasters to broadcast news and events to the community without having to fire of 9,000 emails.

Lastly, at the top of the Seeds page, there is a quick note informing users that they should check back in the fall. We are all out of seeds.

5/23/2001 12:31:13 PM

Fayette, Alabama, USA

Excuse me for not seeing the microscopic print at the bottom of the page with contact info for the webmaster. Most sites don't want you to contact the webmaster, because they usually have nothing to do with the actual business. They just designed the page.

As for the free seeds page, you might want to go back and read what is there. It says "check for a new selection in the fall". It doesn't say anything about being out of seeds. It leads people to believe that this is what you have for now and there will be a new list in the Fall.

If you are out of free seeds, why even have the page.

My dear ole' Momma always said that if you don't have enough for everybody, son...then don't offer to share"

5/24/2001 8:15:39 AM

Long Island,New York

My Dear 'ole Momma says...."you snooze....you lose". She also says "Don't look a gifthorse in the mouth.....don't bite the hand that feeds you...and don't burn the bridges behind you" (but it may be too late for that).I don't know of anyone who asked politely for seeds and didn't get free seeds from this forum. These guys spend alot of time/effort to do this stuff....its not fair that a last minute freebie hunter trash them. Perhaps your "Dear Ole Momma forgot to teach you manners.....................................G

5/24/2001 2:02:26 PM

Connecticut, USA

Well said.

5/24/2001 4:02:20 PM

Saskatoon, SK

Absolutetly awesome web site....very impressive indeed!
Love the setup of the message forum and NEW images.

5/24/2001 4:09:56 PM

Connecticut, USA

I hope to be putting some of the un-claimed seeds back into inventory very soon. So check the Seeds page again over this weekend. We will now institute a 30-day claim period for seed requests. If we don't receive a bubble pack or postage within 30 days of the request the seeds will be returned to inventory and the request will be expired.

John and I are just two people who created this site for the FUN of it. BigPumpkins.com is NOT a big company! We gave out hundreds of seeds this year alone. Unfortunately, there are going to be times when we don't have any seeds left to give. Please don't take the fun out of this for us.

5/25/2001 7:14:43 AM

Western Pa.

Why does Eharky just happen to rhyme with malarkey? I'm willing to send you a five pound bag of seeds. (Assorted weed seed), cuz that's just what you are, a bad weed! These 2 gentleman have worked very hard to create this site, and so have the growers that have DONATED the free seeds. Sorry, tell your momma that there aren't enuff seeds in a pumpkin to supply every person with a computer on the face of this earth ! Ken and John, please keep doin what you're doin!

kilr

5/27/2001 4:27:24 PM

dc

Don't like that fact your advertiser Amazon.com might be collecting information on me using a web bug. unauthorized !

check out www.bugnosis.org, install it in your IE 5.0+
and go to www.bigpumpkins.com and you will see....
a suspicios report identifying the privacy issue.

6/13/2001 9:11:18 AM

Connecticut, USA

I tried this, pretty neet tool.

It brought three warnings to my attention about an image on the home page. The image is in the Amazon.com box at the top of the page as you pointed out.

However, the warnings are easily explained. The image is from another domain, Amazon.com. They do this to see how many times the image is surved up. This information only tells them how popular our main page is. Not who is viewing it. This correlation to our web site is due to our affilliate tag in the URL of the image. This lets them know what site is pulling the image (but not who). It is this affilliat tag (bigpumpkins.com) that causes the other two warnings.

So, in this case, the web bug detector is reporting a false positive. I do thank you for bringing it to our attention though.

John

6/13/2001 9:41:19 AM

Sidney, Ne

I'm having big trouble with wilt. The county agent saysmy pumpkins have fusarian wilt. They get to the middle of July and then wilt and die. They are beautiful one day and the next they are gone. Any suggestions or remedies out there? Thanks Vince Heeg at vaheeg@hamilton.net

7/16/2001 1:02:38 PM

Charlotte, North Carolina

Vince,
Try posting that on the Gardening and General Discussion message board, more people will see it.

-P.

7/18/2001 6:38:24 PM

Omaha, Nebraska

This is the most Interactive of ANY Pumpkin site and the most well put together! Very professional and informative and the pages and Graphics are perfect!

7/30/2001 3:55:15 PM

Omaha, Nebraska

John or Ken,

Can you setup a BigPumpkins Chat Room for real time conversation? Also, You could have a heading on the Message Board called "Ask the experts". Just a few suggestions.

8/8/2001 5:52:37 PM

Ga.

Couldn't be better,,,in hope of growing the big one with everyones advice....Thanks everyone

8/8/2001 7:41:05 PM

Connecticut, USA

CC,

We have a chat room, however, it isn't public yet. We are waiting for our new server... We will announce when it is ready.

I think that you "Ask the experts" would make for a better chat room than a message board.

Thanks for the suggestion...

John

8/9/2001 9:10:41 AM

Charlotte, North Carolina

Yeah! It could be like one of those radio shows where you call in and ask a question and the show host or another person answers it.

-P.

8/10/2001 9:25:27 PM