no way. two examples: when i go to log-in, i get three different places to enter my username and password. second example is that on any given page, there are currently three different ways to get to each individual forum. not only that but there are hidden forums. such as comments on the pic gallery and comments/question section in gear swap. its all too much. i was just starting to get used to having to check six or seven different forums just to keep up. then all of this starts changing. mad props to you guys for trying to make it better. i'm guessing that alot of this is in prep for you guys expecting alot more traffic and expanding but to me the best thing about the buzz is its focused topic which seemed to be the colorado boating community. but now we have subject areas that get little to no traffic.
Well I think we have spoken, I am glad to hear the I am not the only on here that thinks there needs to be some major changes. We all know that the site is a work in progress, but with one look at any of pages, and this is not a dis to Andy, but what were the designers thinking when they crammed as much crap on every page that they could. Take one look at it and realize that no one knows how to navigate. And you could argue that its just because it's new so we are not used to it, but bottom line is, and it seems most buzz users feel the same way, the site needs to be more simple and straight forward. Todd said best, what's the point in 5 boaters forums? Why do we need to go to a different forum to ask about gear or a trip, why do the femms need/want there own page, we are one big community and as one we should be able to discuss these topics together without having to jump around through all these places. How many people really look through every forum every time they get on the buzz, or do you just hit the boaters forum, flows and jam up to the river? I mean I think there are some good ideas here, but why put them all on every page? Having links throughout the site to every page is great, but how hard was it to hit "back" or even not have to switch pages since the forum mostly took place on the same page. And who cares about "Last profile updates?" Well those are just a few thoughts, thanks everyone for your 10 cents.
Why bring up the mulitple forums now? Its not like we suddenly increased the number of forums when we changed software. In my opinion we actually have tools to find the latest posts now and its not a big deal to have multiple forums. Holley is right the old software was a nightmare and yes the new software is the way to go. We talked quite a bit about the site being visually busy but honestly its the people and the posts that make this site and that hasnt changed at all. Now we just have to refine it and learn to use the tools that now exist.
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"I'm not here to make a record, ya stupid cracker" Governor Pappy O Daniel
Professor, you smelled blood in the water and went for the juglar. I like that. Your thinly veiled plug for your competing website was nothing short of shameless. My kind of scum.
Holley, you make me laugh..."ya punks" Damn right.
Andy...these boaters can be pretty gruff and get territorial about their little corner of the internets. Didn't you smell the piss? Don't cry...your website will be sweet. You just need to trim the fat, tuck in the corners. A few humble suggestions..
1. As mentioned before, the "CLICK HERE TO REGISTER" thing...that whole square should be chucked. I appreciate your businessmindedness...you'd like the site to grow in number of "parishoners". It's all about ad revenue, which is why I know the ads, though they annoy everyone, must stay. I think they're pretty tactful, actually, as far as ads go. But the appeal for outsiders to join us shouldn't be so dominant. If people want to join the buzz they will look for a little link that says "join" or something and click on it.
2. You're right, clicking the "forums" link does bring you to a nice page reminiscent of the old buzz. However, directly beside it is the "quick links" which become entirely redundant and displeasing to the eye. 86
3. I really like that you can see so many recent topics and in what forum they appear...I kind of miss seeing the other info like who started the thread, who posted last and when. I know, I contradict myself when I say "give us less" and then "give us more". If you've ever dealt with a woman, though, you should be skillful at knowing what I mean. If you don't know I'm not going to tell you.
4. Only one "door" would slim things down a bit, too...one way in or out. Others brought it up, there's a few different places to log in. I don't particularly mind but it makes sense to slim it down.
5. The "rules" gotta go...we don't like rules. Even if they're there and we know it we don't like to be reminded. I see rules and I want to break them on principle. Makes army life hard.
6. Last profile updates, as stated..kind of extraneous.
Correct those things and I think you'll go a long way to quell the mini uprising. We're like children or animals...introduce change a little at a time and we'll be blissfully unaware. Too much too fast and we're going to cry/bite.
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I hope in the future Americans are thought of as a warlike, vicious people, because I bet a lot of high schools would pick "Americans" as their mascot. -Jack Handy
Aaron, I never log out, so I haven't experienced the multiple log in thing. I hear you on that, sounds like a drag.
Personally, what I'd like to see is the Forum Listings page with some eye candy, and I would just save that as my home page. I think if the side nav was replaced by photos and vid, it would look pretty clean. And it would be easy to navigate with the drop-downs. When I look at the home/portal page on Frenchy's screen, I think it looks pretty sweet. Lots of info, but not too cluttered. When you have a smaller screen like mine or many others, it looks like a lot of stuff in too small of a space. But for the big screeners, I think it's a nice option to have.
Initially, I was not a fan of splitting off into so many forums, and I was definitely opposed to the OT forum. But after seeing how much use it gets, and how the OT stuff has now been eliminated from the most recent topics list, I'd rather have the political and BS banter there than in the boaters forum. Just my preference...maybe others want to see Iraq war funding come up to the top of the list in the main forum over and over again. And the Betty Buzz thing was my idea, so I'll own up to that one. After talking to lots of ladies about it, I realized that most of the gals I spoke with had been following the Buzz for years, but never posted. They felt they'd either get pounced on for a simple question, or some creep would make a crack about teaching them how to kayak if they're cute or whatever. So after seeing a successful girl-forum on Mtbr.com Forums - Powered by vBulletin I thought it might be a good idea. If it gets no traffic this season, it can easily be blended back into the main forum. If the girls feel it's valuable, and they get good info and meet boating partners out of it who aren't looking for a date, then great. It will stay. Simple.
Work on a way to give you the options to turn things off including:
Hide the whole left column (some ads will then display at the top)
hide the Recently Updated Profiles
A page where you can see all the threads from all the boaters forums in one view for those of you who hate the fact we added Betty Buzz (but we also got rid of Paddle Parks). That way you can see all Boating discussions from one place and bookmark that page.
Look at options to add photos to the forums listing page (eye candy)
fix the multiple login issue on certain pages (where 3 show up).
What's going on here, it's like the new designers are trying to see how much one can fit onto a page. Do we need all this? How many forums are we going to have to go through to find what we want? Anyone else have any feelings about this?
P the K
Yeah, yuck!
Enough said!
Hate it.
Remember when Google first started and it was really clean?
I liked the old Buzz.
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you know sometimes i wish i would have chosen something like baseball but, i didn't and i'm a kayaker so this is what i do." -Nick Turner (Wehyakin)
well i actually have some knowledge of the software they used to use and use now, and the old software (phpbb) was pretty hard to work with from an administrators point of view and not very secure. the new software (vbulletin) is the best of the best and costs some jing. anyway it is supper hard work trying to manage and code all this stuff so give em a break. i am guessing the banner ads dont even begin to pay for his time yet.
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