Your first week
Most of the first week is checking that what the website says about your store is true. This chapter is a short list for each stretch, then a ten-minute routine to keep it that way.
In this chapter
Day one: make the website tell the truth
Customers read your hours and phone number before they read anything else. Start there.
- Turn on two-step sign-in. It takes about three minutes and keeps your store's records yours. Chapter 27, Signing in safely walks through it.
- Check your phone number, email and address. They are on Chapter 3, Hours, closed days and contact details. The email is also where messages from the contact page are sent.
- Check each day's hours. Fix any that are wrong and add the next holiday as a closed day.
- Set the baby chicks sign to what is true today. Chapter 4, The sign at the top of your website shows how, and how to put up a message such as "Fresh hay just arrived".
- Look at your website. Wait a few minutes after saving, then open it in another tab and read the home page as a customer would.
The first few days: look at what you sell
- Scroll through your products. Check that prices, sizes and photos look right. Chapter 9, Finding your way around products explains the list and its filters.
- Open the five you sell most. Look at each one's sizes, price and photo. Chapter 10, Add or edit a product covers changing them.
- Hide anything that should not be online. A product can stay in Roadside and stay off the website.
- Set a reorder point on your fast movers. Roadside then marks them Low when the count drops, and the Website home page lists them. See Chapter 13, Stock.
- Add your Google and Facebook ratings. Type them in once and update them when they change. See Chapter 6, Reviews, and questions and answers.
- Send yourself a message. Use the contact page on your website, then find the note in Messages. If it arrives, customers' notes will too. See Chapter 5, Messages and your website assistant.
- If you take orders online, read each tab of Store settings. Pickup days, delivery distance and checkout wording are yours to set. See Chapter 17, Store settings.
A ten-minute routine
Website home is the page to start from. It shows what is waiting for you without making you open every screen.
| When | What to check | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Each morning | New messages, and orders to prepare if you sell online. | Messages in the menu shows a red count. Online orders to prepare is a card on Website home. |
| Once a week | Products that are low on stock, how many people visited, and where your website changes stand. | The Low on stock tile and the visits chart on Website home. Website changes in the menu. |
| Before a holiday or a storm | Add the closed day. Put up a temporary message if you want customers to know sooner. | Store info and Store sign. |
| Once a month | Update your review counts. Look at your invoices. Your website changes start over on the first. | Reviews, Account and Website changes. |
What Dirt Road looks after
You change the information. We look after the website itself: its design and its technical upkeep. When you want something the panel does not change, such as the photo at the top of the home page, a new page or a different layout, you send it to us as a website change and we do the work. Chapter 24, Website changes explains how that works and what counts as one change.
When to write to us
| If you need to | Do this |
|---|---|
| Swap a photo, rewrite a paragraph or add a page | Send a website change from Website changes in the menu. |
| Add or remove someone who uses Roadside, or change their role | The Store owner does it under Admin, then Users. A Manager asks the Store owner. See Chapter 26, Your team and what each role can do. |
| Change what a role is allowed to do, or connect a card processor | Write to support@dirtroadsoftware.com and tell us what you want to change. |
| Get back in after losing your phone or being locked out | Read Chapter 27, Signing in safely first. If you are still stuck, write to support. |
| Report something that looks wrong on a screen | Write to support with the name of the screen, what you pressed, what you expected and the message you saw. A picture of the screen helps. |
| Ask about an invoice | Reply to the invoice email, or write to support. |
Something here does not match your screen? Write to support@dirtroadsoftware.com with the name of the screen, what you pressed and what you expected. A picture of the screen helps.