At Shopify we’re all pretty competitive, and are serious about settling differences in a professional way. This is why we decided to start out first (annual?) Shopify Street Fighter 4 Tournament.

We’re playing a double elimination-style tournament using Challonge!, and you can see the live bracket by clicking on the image below. So far the battles have been intense, with some really close fights and some trash talking. We’ll be posting the results sometime next week.

If you think you’re good enough to join future Shopify tournaments, click here.

Designed by the awesome Lee Martin, the store features everything from t-shirts to CDs, so have a look.

Also until this Monday, enter the code SHOPIFY at checkout for 10% off everything in the store!

Two Shopify peeps were featured in an awesome New York Times article published yesterday, written by Lora Kolodny.

Tobi was interviewed for the article and Daniel got the photo credit.

You can read the article here.

We are very excited to announce the acquisition of MNDCreative, and with it StoreSync, which many of our merchants use to manage their stores with great ease and mobility right from their iPhone.

MNDCreative’s CEO and lead developer Matt Newberry will be joining the Shopify team to be the Mobile Lead, and StoreSync will now be available exclusively for Shopify customers. What does this mean for you?

1) StoreSync will now be free for those who currently use it with Shopify
2) Tighter integration with Shopify features means the experience will be even better for our customers
3) More exciting developments in mobile ecommerce

Keep checking for very exciting new announcements related to mobile payments in the future.

You can see the official press release here.

Welcome to the team, Matt!

Update: TechCrunch is reporting on this.

We recently launched the new Wiki design and wanted to share how its design evolved from how it looked then to how it looks now.

The Old Wiki

The old wiki theme was just the default from MediaWiki. From a UI perspective, the theme leaves a lot to be desired.

Having "Go" and "Search" is confusing to the user:

Most of the navigation links won't be used by the majority of the users (ex: Special Pages):

These tabs are confusing and generally unhelpful. It looks like a main navigation but isn’t:

Redesigning the theme to be visually more appealing was important, but these issues had to be addressed.

Mockup Version 1

For the first mockup, we didn't stray too far away from the original Wiki layout. We scrapped it because we ended up feeling that light text on a dark background made it more difficult to read, though this is a controversial topic on the web.

Mockup Version 2

In addition to switching back to dark text on a light background, we took out the Shopify logo because it was unnecessary. We started from scratch again because the Wiki's navigation was just as bad as the original navigation – the focus is on the wiki-specific links like “Recent Changes”, and we wanted it to be on the primary content instead: the Getting Started section, Using Shopify, Designing Themes, etc.

Another reason for scrapping this mock up is consistency. This mock up is a completely different visual design than anything else on Shopify.com

Mockup Version 3: The Finished Product

Here’s the final product: a significant step up from the original theme in terms of usability and design:

The Forums and Wiki now share some common design elements, so users will feel more at home:

The new navigation is better then what we had before. We had bigger plans for improving the navigation, but because of some technical limitations of the MediaWiki platform, this was the most pragmatic solution:

The new search bar is much cleaner and less confusing. The unnecessary and confusing buttons have been removed, yet it keeps the same level of obvious functionality:

The new Wiki is also a fixed width layout; not a liquid layout. This means that no matter how big your monitor is, the Wiki’s content will always remain the same width. Fixed vs. Liquid is a hotly debated topic, but fixed layout makes the Wiki's content less intimidating and more readable.

What do you think of the new Wiki design? Do you prefer light text on a dark background or vice versa? Do you miss the old liquid layout? I would love to hear your feedback in the comments.

This is a collection of quick articles to help new users discover Shopify and get started.

A. Finding Resources & Answers

After starting your online store, it’s normal to have many questions. Here are some tips:

• The Wiki is the fastest way to find your answer with its detailed instructions and step by step tutorials.
• Looking to hire a designer? Use the Job Board to post your projects and have them send you quotes.
• Engage fellow shop owners on the community forums and share ideas about running your online business.
• Contact us directly for account-specific questions, report bugs, and account issues. Please note that Shopify cannot answer design-related questions (e.g. custom CSS or Javascript issues) and recommends the community forum instead.

B. Setting Up Payment Gateways & Domain Addresses

For your store to accept credit cards, you need a payment gateway, which is like a point of sales terminal in a brick and mortar store. Choose one of the many gateways Shopify supports – each has its own benefits which might depend on your geographic location. If you need help picking the right one, email us.

After setting up a payment gateway, link it to your store by logging in to your admin panel, clicking on “Preferences”, and going to Checkout & Payment. If you’re not sure what to do, check out the more detailed extra instructions on the wiki.

Shopify provides you with a free “yourstore.myshopify.com” domain address. You can also use your own domain name such as “yourstore.com”. Your own domain name is often seen as more professional and makes it easier to promote your brand. Learn how to set up your own domain name with Shopify here.

C. Traffic & Getting Customers via Adwords

The more traffic you get, the more chances of sales happening. An easy way to increase traffic is by advertising using Google AdWords. Adwords promote your store and products alongside or above Google search results, letting you reach customers looking for things you sell.

Our most successful stores all use AdWords, so we’ve decided to set up all new Shopify stores with free AdWords credits to get you started on the right path. Click on the Marketing tab, then Online Promotion in your Shopify store to claim your AdWords coupon.

We can’t emphasize enough how effective AdWords are in generating sales, so here are 4 simple tips from our top sellers:

1. Install conversion tracking
2. Keep Adgroups focused
3. Use negative keywords
4. Create multiple Ads

D. Designing & Branding

The shopping experience you create for your customers is just as important as the product you sell. If they don’t enjoy it, they won’t come back to make purchases.

It’s easy to choose one of the beautiful hand-crafted themes our in-house designers have created and customize it with your logo and colors by clicking on the Assets tab, and playing around with the Theme Gallery and the Theme Editor. The following blog post covers this section in greater detail.

Are you a more advanced user or a “DIYer”? Tailor a theme to fit your shop’s personality by adding graphic elements, asking customers for additional information, displaying lightboxes, or changing menu navigation. The ways in which you can customize your shop are limitless. Learn more about theme customization on the Shopify wiki.

Leverage the expertise and talent of a professional designer to optimize your store’s layout while you can focus on other important elements of your business. Find a list of some of our more well-known third-party Shopify designers here.

Note that Shopify doesn’t officially support design questions. However, the answer you’re looking for is likely in the wiki, or in the forums. If you’re still unsure, email us at guide@shopify.com and we’ll be happy to help you find your answer.

E. Enhancing with the App Store

The Shopify App Store offers a selection of upgrades and integrations with other services to extend the functionality of your shop.

Product Tweeter is a great first App to install. It makes it very easy to promote a product via your twitter account. Get it for free here.

Here are some other examples:

• Fetch – Securely and automatically deliver digital products
• RateVoice – Add customer reviews and ratings to product pages
• StoreSync – View orders, statistics and more on the iPhone
• OrderCup – Print shipping labels for UPS, FedEx and USPS faster
• Campaign Monitor – Send email campaigns without managing contact lists
• Less Accounting, Xero, Freshbooks, KashFlow – Work seamlessly with your favorite accountancy and bookkeeping software

Visit the App Store to see what’s out there for you.