CT Web Site and Forum Next Generation

[Darren Sharp]

Dear All

At the invitation of our web master Keith Bennett the Committee has been asked to consider the next generation of CT Web presence. In order to ensure that the membership has its say, ( and that we go in the right direction ) all members and forum users are requested to give three points that they would like to see incorporated in our next generation of IT  . The Committee would certainly like the future to be phone friendly as so many of us use smart phones these days . We would also like to retain the searchable nature of the forum as this is so important and so much better than social media is able to provide. We will be considering all suggestions and also have appointed Clive Senior to review other websites for forward thinking idea's and ease of use. If you have suggestions for us please answer on this thread . I will also post this notice on FB.

This is not an invitation to start old debates so please be positive and let us all look to the future.  

Darren Sharp - Club Secretary

[Keith]

Just to clarify my position I have informed the Committee that I am standing down from running the Club's website and IT from the end of year for reasons that I won't go into here.

I will not be involved in the design and specification of any replacement for these services so please advise your requirements to Clive directly. I will of course hand over the Club's data and assets to the responsible party at the appropriate time.

Keith

 

 

[Howard]

Clive might to look at the Triumph Experience forum (https://www.triumphexp.com/) which is part of a group of US / International forums that currently has 500,000+ posts in the Triumph section alone (they also cover MG's Jags, Minis etc in separate sections) Posts date back to June 2006.

It has a good search facility with advanced filters

Howard

PS Many thanks to Keith for all his hard work as running something like this is a pretty thankless task.

[Calorian]

I have a couple of ideas from folks I've discussed this with a few times who would likely return if some things changed.

The most common feedback is that switching back to a more traditional forum system would be welcomed. The old forum worked, it was tidy and simple to use. An example of this is the T2000 register which even with its new design still uses a classic forum style and it works perfectly well on both desktop and mobile devices. This also works in or out of a frame as the club desires. Another example is the SOC forum. 

Others have said a forum system that works with third party apps such as Tapatalk, forums for Android etc would be appreciated.

Just a couple of points that I've gathered from a bunch of folks over the past few months. Hopefully it's useful. 

[Calorian]

I have a couple of ideas from folks I've discussed this with a few times who would likely return if some things changed.

The most common feedback is that switching back to a more traditional forum system would be welcomed. The old forum worked, it was tidy and simple to use. An example of this is the T2000 register which even with its new design still uses a classic forum style and it works perfectly well on both desktop and mobile devices. This also works in or out of a frame as the club desires. Another example is the SOC forum. 

Others have said a forum system that works with third party apps such as Tapatalk, forums for Android etc would be appreciated.

Just a couple of points that I've gathered from a bunch of folks over the past few months. Hopefully it's useful. 

[Guppy916]

It will be a shame that Keith is leaving he has done a superb job in difficult times.

As I said in a post last week can we please have a rotate tool in the drop down "Tools" menu box, We could look at the "TSSC " site on how they let us add photo's to threads with just a "drag photo's" into the box, Sorry i am not a web master like Keith so I've no idea how this works, I just know it's so easy a mupet like me can do it.

[McJim]

Keep it simple, stupid.

We don't need an all singing, all dancing set up.

Think about it.

How many of us use all the obscure functions on Excel or Word?

Don't reinvent the wheel.

Look what works and is well used by those who it is aimed at and go down that road.

Keep the forum and the website separate for quicker responses.

What I can see now is not a website and forum designed by committee - that worked out well, didn't it but now we may end up with a website and forum design to incorporate every little whim put forward by folk with no idea of the impact their preferences will have on the speed of the forum, it's ease of use or functionability on smart phones.

So, can we have the final decision made by those who know a good deal about IT and not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Jim.

[Clive]

Quoted from McJim Too-

 

How many of us use all the obscure functions on Excel or Word?

Don't reinvent the wheel.

Look what works and is well used by those who it is aimed at and go down that road.

Keep the forum and the website separate for quicker responses.

What I can see now is not a website and forum designed by committee - that worked out well, didn't it but now we may end up with a website and forum design to incorporate every little whim put forward by folk with no idea of the impact their preferences will have on the speed of the forum, it's ease of use or functionability on smart phones.

So, can we have the final decision made by those who know a good deal about IT and not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Jim.

Jim, I know little about how IT works, however my job is to collate examples of what works well and why. And what doesn't. How it works behind the scenes is down to somebody who has the required skills.  

I am no stranger to stealing other peoples ideas and hard work (!) so if you have some examples that you think work well, please pop them over to me.  

I suspect sorting all the different ideas into some sort of order will be akin to taking my elderly parents out for lunch. ie military level planning and an ability to herd cats. I will do my best!

[RobPearce]

The TSSC forum works well.

- It uses the full width of your browser for useful content - no pointless background or space for links you don't need down the sides

- It has an easily accessible "new posts since my last visit" listing (although the "go to first unread post in thread" link is one you have to know about!)

- It allows easy posting of photos and copes with rotating as required for how you were holding your phone when you took it.

- It's easy to quote other posts (although, in fairness, the existing CT forum does that much the same - it's a different forum that really bugs me on that point)

[poppyman]

As above TSSC forum works really well, as does everyone else's apart from CT.

Why not seperate the two? I for one am not interested in the website on daily basis unlike a forum.

Make it easy to use and navigate and fit the screen.

Let non members use an avatar and post photos. That is a fault on the SOC forum.

There is a wealth of knowledge out there that needs to be shared (as this site once did)

Make it faster.........

 

Tony.

[mpbarrett]

Here are my 3 points.

1) realise that the forum is the most important visible part of CT, its the part that draws people into the Club. The web page is useful but not as important as the forum.

2) Its need to be full page and run separately not as part of the web page. This approach works very well for most other car clubs forums. For example see TSSC, TR, Sideways..

3) If running/support costs are an issue consider getting support from the users (this is the model used by Sideways), I am sure a lot of users would be happy to contribute, I would.

Very glad this is getting addressed the forum used to be so good and was one of the reasons I joined CT. If you need to convinced that the forum is in trouble then look at the number of CT members on other forums...

Mike

 

[Hogie]

Hi Folks,

I would like to thank Keith B for attempting to sort the forum out.

What were the alpha and beta testers doing when looking at the embtyonic forum.Doh.

As he stated in a post back in December the previous forum structure was not well thought out regarding stability.

 

As for going forwards simply go for a standard system that is already up and running.

Off the peg as it were.

We all have our favourites  and the offerings given by 'Invision'. look and work well.

TRR, TSSC and Sideways can't all be wrong.

Their systems have many options. 

Please do have - edit post,  easy Photo/document insertion, post numbering, Forum members contact listing.

I feel the 'TRiumphexperience' site looks a little old fashioned but it does have a good nuber of followers.

 

If you need to up the membership subs by a £1 or so then do it - you have the cheapest rates at the moment.  If you need a cash advance then ask for it.

Quality costs money - but quality is great value.  Do not be cheap.

 

Roger

 

 

 

[mpbarrett]

Actually a lot of people  warned that the forum within the web page wasn't a good idea when the new format was in Beta testing (or available to people to try before it live)….

mike

[Hogie]

Hi Mike,

not being a good idea is hugely different from not actually working.

What were the testers doing???

Anyway, water under the bridge now. The club now actually recognises peoples issues

and are moving forward to sort it out.

Roger

[Rubce]

Hi

My suggestions are as follows:-

Fast load speed

Full screen width

Comprehensive search facility

List of posts since you last logged on

A streamlined set of groups. I.e. given the commonality between a Spitfire and GT6 it makes sense to have them in the same product section

The aspect of the current set up I do like related to the features for the Area Organisers. Hopefully that can be retained/incorporated I to the new site?

Finally, given that a lot of the club forums successfully use the safe software, doesn't it make sense to adopt the same software?

Regards

Bruce 

[Steve P]

And get rid of the Bots which seem to far outnumber the online users.

S

[McJim]

That might be difficult.

They were on the old forum as well.

Jim.

[Nick Jones]

I hope this is going further and faster than the last initiative........

[Sorry, link no longer available]

May 2018.  And that was after several months confusion.  The stable door has been banging in the wind for two years. 

Worth reading again. There are comments in there that are relevant and made by people who have long ago given up and gone away, so won't contribute this time around.  Also, email comments were invited.  I invested time in this, as did others,  I and than others I've spoken to about it didn't even get acknowledgement.  What happened to that information?  Or did the email address lead nowhere.....

Anyway:

Technically:

Speed. response times <3s are acceptable.  8 - 15s + (as now) is not.  

Platform.  As already mentioned by several, Invision forum software is already in effective use by TRR, TSSC and Sideways.  It works well and has lots of nice features.  People already know how it works.  The wheel does not need to be re-invented.  It does search and mobile access very well and has some really nice picture-handling features (though those may not all be in the basic package).  I can probably get more technical information from the Sideways webmaster if wanted.

Layout.  Full width and fewer (far fewer!) divisions and subdivisions.  This part is something that can be tweaked and tuned after the main event as decent forum software is very flexible, though clearly it pays to get it as close as possible at the outset.

 

Politically:

The forum should be accessible to non-members, both to read and post.  In my view it should be possible for anyone to browse without registering, though registering must be required to post.  This is vital to draw people in.  Personally, if a forum requires me to register to even read it, I'll skip it unless I have a really compelling reason to go further.

Don't be mean with "rights" for non-members. On the old forum, non-members were able to post pictures.  When the new forum came in, that ability was arbitrarily removed.  I think that there were a few other more minor restrictions too (editing?), but memory fades.  My view is that non-members should be able to post pictures and the picture allowance should not be derisory (as it is on the TRR).  Data is pretty cheap these days.  I'm not saying you should allow people (members or not) to post 5GB pictures, 480 x 640 is plenty, but don't be mean with the number of pictures per post or impose a (low) personal limit (as the TRR does).  The ability to post pictures allows people to both explain their questions better, but also contribute to answering others questions better.  Much friendlier, more inclusive, and more likely to result in a new member.  Worked for me.

 

Nick

 

[RobPearce]

I was about to hit the "like" button on Nick's post until I remembered this forum doesn't have one. Not that I'm a fan of "like" buttons - one forum I follow used to have a "kudos" button instead, which much better suited the very technical nature of the forum, until they decided even their readers were too stupid to understand the difference. Anyway, not an important feature but a nice-to-have.

[Paudman]

Not a CT member, but appreciate the things that are being done on the behalf of visitors like me to allow greater access to the forum. 

If so, as a 'foreigner'(!) can I make a small point that hopefully won't cause offence?

Limit the signatures at the bottom of the posts. On some topics the signatures actually take up more of the page space than the posts. It's ridiculous having a signature of almost thirty lines on the bottom of every one of your posts, when your reply is often one word, or one line...

If you must post your life story, please do it in your profile?

[Baxter]

The archived knowledge and ongoing advice on this forum is really valuable.  Helped me figure many things out.

Clive, two things would really make a difference to me:

1. Search.  When I search for a multi-word phrase, the words are all submitted as an OR function, rather than an AND function.  E.g. in GT6 section 'dash' gets 75 hits, 'support' gets 23, and 'dash support' gets 94, rather than a more select list featuring both words (let alone both words together!).  I can often find the most relevant threads on our own forum faster using Bing or Google searches.  (In fact that's how I came to learn of the forum and join the Club!)  Really need a simple way to do AND or "whole phrase" searches. 

2. Pasting photos.  I can't find a way to do this, so I have to save my clipboard as a file and then upload it.  Too slow, yet we all love to see pics!

Cheers!

[Hogie]

Attaching/pasting photo's on here is easy and quick

Click on attach file below left and bingo.

 

Roger

[Keith]

Quoted from Baxter-

 

1. Search.  When I search for a multi-word phrase, the words are all submitted as an OR function, rather than an AND function.  E.g. in GT6 section 'dash' gets 75 hits, 'support' gets 23, and 'dash support' gets 94, rather than a more select list featuring both words (let alone both words together!).  I can often find the most relevant threads on our own forum faster using Bing or Google searches.  (In fact that's how I came to learn of the forum and join the Club!)  Really need a simple way to do AND or "whole phrase" searches. 

 

I've tweaked the search engine so that should now work, see here.

Fields that you can use are title, content, author, modified & created.

Regards,

Keith

 

[Baxter]

Keith

That's brilliant, thanks!

I just tested and can now use expressions such as 

"dash support"

+dash +support

to get more refined and useful results.  When I tested them earlier this week, they gave just the same long list as

dash support

Many thanks

Baxter

[Keith]

You're welcome, thanks for pointing it out Baxter.

K