Welcome to the KStar Design Newsletter! Here's the latest...
Please Note: our last few newsletters (the ones sent since the server change last year) may not have been sent through properly. So I'm re-sending last month's newsletter to make sure everyone receives it. If it doesn't look familiar, please be sure to start by clicking the "Previous Newsletter" Link at the bottom of this newsletter (& continue on the next one, etc.) so you can catch up on the last few issues too and don't miss any of the most recently released blinkies and freebies! :)
Happy 2011!
Happy New Year! I don't know about anyone else but I was thrilled to be kicking 2010 to the curb. Here's hoping for a great year ahead...
I have started things off with a lot of site tidy-up here, including fixing up a few "oops"es that I wish I'd noticed a ways back! The "Site Search" page I had been linking to for some time at the top of the site was actually the search *results* page, so I have remedied that by fixing up the Search feature and adding back on to most of the pages again in the footer area and being sure that it is added to the Search page. That way, when you click on the Search page link for the first time, you just get the search box to start a fresh search and then after a search is done, you will start to see results appear on that page. Hopefully this will allow page visitors to easily find the blinkies and freebies they are looking for!
Please note that if at anytime you notice a bug with the site set-up, you can e-mail me by replying to a site newsletter or by sending an e-mail to k -at- kstardesign -dot- com! Thanks!
Search for Free Blinkies: Type in search words (example: "breastfeeding" or "twins") to see site pages that may have the blinkie type you are looking for.
New Blinkies for 2011 Moms
The first set of new blinkies I have is for moms expecting in 2011! I did introduce a set of blinkies for these mommies last newsletter in the regular blinkie size, but now it's time to go a little bigger!
I dare you to tell me you don't think that little pram is adorable... had so much fun creating it. I even tried it out on a Baby Birth Plaque and it looked absolutely adorable!
E-mails sent for Orders
I have discovered a bit of an issue with e-mails that are sent when orders are placed through the website and wanted to be sure as many website visitors as possible were aware of this: when an order is place through the site (or any site, really, if they use Paypal's buttons!), an e-mail comes to me from the customer's e-mail ONLY. Nothing comes from Paypal's email. So that means any filters that I may have to filter e-mails from Paypal into certain folders, do not have any effect! And unfortunately the same e-mail addresses that a lot of regular everday people have (gmail, yahoo, hotmail) are the same e-mail addresses that spammers also get because they are so easy to obtain. So the junk filters that my webserver host or my Internet Server Provider has might send those e-mails to the Junk folder!
This did cause a problem for me just recently when I did not see an order come in because it was not sent from Paypal - it was sent from a yahoo e-mail address! Luckily, the customer sent a couple of e-mails and also had her husband send an e-mail from a different address which helped flag the search. So the best thing to do if you've ordered something through the Paypal system and haven't heard back (usually I would e-mail you back shortly to confirm about the order or to ask about colours, etc.) would be to e-mail me again directly, try from a different e-mail address, etc. The best e-mail addy to use is one from your local ISP and not a free web-based service (these tend to be less likely to go to Junk, I've found).
Thanks for reading and being aware and this issue and I hope it's helpful (like I said, even if you're not planning on ordering something from me, it's good to know for ANY site that uses Paypal buttons!). The little things I have for sale on my site are just a tiny part of my online world these days (which is just a tiny part of my real world these days!) but I wanted to get the word out there because I felt so bad about what happened with this other customer. By now she should have her Birth Plaque though and I hope she really enjoys it! :)
KStar is Tweeting...
Tweet tweet! Yes, we're going to try getting a little birdie to send out a little "peep" when we have some new blinkies on the site... these newsletters just take too long to get out!!! Hopefully being able to send out a super quick note to say "Something new! here you go!" will be a better way to get the news out fast to blinkie fans who are just as busy (or more so) than we are. :) Go take a look at our new Twitter account at: www.twitter.com/kstardesign and please follow us to get regular updates. For now, our Twitter feed will NOT be replacing the Newsletter, but we will see how things go. Feel free to send us an update about which type of update you prefer!
That's all for this newsletter, please stay tuned for more new blinkies and other freebies next time!
KrisOwner / Designer
KStar Design
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