UUDDLRLRBA Multiplatform Gaming
http://www.uuddlrlrba.co.uk/forum/

Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
http://www.uuddlrlrba.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=1947		 Page 1 of 4
Author:  rabbitc [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:56 am ]
Post subject:  Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
1. Limit 'sticky' posts at tops of forums to 2 MAX! Too many sticky's hides the active topics - and people start to ignore them.
2. Put the most active forum at the TOP of the forum list in the index - you want to guide users to congregate where the most action is and then spread out from there.
3. Limit the diversity of forums. Many admins will try and 'over-categorize' to pigeon hole various topics - unfortunately, this usually creates a few well-used forums and a large portion of dormant forums. This makes things confusing and also gives the illusion that the forum is a vast wasteland of dead topics rather than a bustling discussion centre. my advice - create the following structure:
- general chat
- sony-related
- nintendo-related
- microsoft-related
- introduce yourself
- site feedback

4. - the site's main url currently goes to a header graphic which allows a mailto and nothing else - this should at least have a introducing page or redirect to the forum index.

fin
Author:  SmilerAl [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:00 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Ok.
Author:  Blokeymon [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 10:39 am ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
No offence man, but your last point is most facepalmworthy. Why? Well, its abvious you're talking about the wrong website.

www.uuddlrlrba.com

That's what you're seeing, yes? Well, there's a reason for that. We don't own it. Its not ours. Its nothing to do with us. Try this one instead.

www.uuddlrlrba.co.uk

See anything different? Well good, cos you should. Cos that's ours. We own that. Hell, I wrote 99% of what you see there.

However, the rest of your post has merit.

I've been thinking of streamlining the forums to prevent certain ones remaining unused. I'm going to be reducing each section to contain 1x news section, 1x chat section, and 1x review section. The only exceptions will be the PSP and DS sections, as they are handhelds and should be treat differently.

The stickies will also be looked at and reduced, most of which will be unstickied completely, and some that will be revivied and reused.

Putting the most active forums at the top will just mean they remain the most active, and will do nothing to promote the others. Besides, the first thing that new people will want to see are somewhere where they can introduce themselves, and somewhere they can read about the site itself.

There are some streamlining measures on the way, so don't think you're being ignored. Feedback is ALWAYS wanted. :D
Author:  rabbitc [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:10 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Hey - no skin off my back, mate.
I'm just passing on my experience, knowledge and industry expertise.

As for my 'facepalmworthy' point - do you think this is obvious to anyone other than yourself?
Nope.

Sorry - my mistake - but I guess we can write off 30 percent of your invites because people WILL use the .com over the .co.uk no matter how many URL's you post (unless you make a point of mentioning that there's another site)

As for the rest - I'd say aim for 7 forums max. Rule of thumb is - if you have to scroll the page - you're doing something wrong.

Sorry if any of this sounds nasty - I was dropped on my head as a baby and it damaged my capacity for being nicey nice.
Author:  Sypher_04 [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:16 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
rabbitc wrote:
As for the rest - I'd say aim for 7 forums max. Rule of thumb is - if you have to scroll the page - you're doing something wrong.


Who's rule of thumb is that? I've been doing this a long time myself, and I've frankly never heard that, or believed that. Clutter is a problem, but having a diverse selection of sections is fine, provided of course they are most, if not all active.
Author:  rabbitc [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:18 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Sypher_04 wrote:
rabbitc wrote:
As for the rest - I'd say aim for 7 forums max. Rule of thumb is - if you have to scroll the page - you're doing something wrong.


Who's rule of thumb is that? I've been doing this a long time myself, and I've frankly never heard that, or believed that. Clutter is a problem, but having a diverse selection of sections is fine, provided of course they are most, if not all active.


Best practice for basically anything on the web - full stop.

As I said, I'm an industry expert. I'd advise business on web representation on a regular basis.

In a point-and-click culture - scrolling is your enemy unless it's a feature article. But never for navigation. Ever.
Author:  Sypher_04 [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
rabbitc wrote:
Sypher_04 wrote:
rabbitc wrote:
As for the rest - I'd say aim for 7 forums max. Rule of thumb is - if you have to scroll the page - you're doing something wrong.


Who's rule of thumb is that? I've been doing this a long time myself, and I've frankly never heard that, or believed that. Clutter is a problem, but having a diverse selection of sections is fine, provided of course they are most, if not all active.


Best practice for basically anything on the web - full stop.

As I said, I'm an industry expert. I'd advise business on web representation on a regular basis.

In a point-and-click culture - scrolling is your enemy unless it's a feature article. But never for navigation. Ever.


I would not say this is valid in the case of a web forum personally. There are a number of situations where scroll is not only warranted, but can be better than trying to cram, or dumb down into a smaller space, you mentioned one above in feature articles. Difference of opinions I suppose, and I am also what you might call an industry expert so... yeah.
Author:  rabbitc [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:27 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Sypher_04 wrote:
I would not say this is valid in the case of a web forum personally. Difference of opinions I suppose, and I am also what you might call an industry expert so... yeah.


What do you do for a living then?
Author:  Sypher_04 [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:29 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
rabbitc wrote:
Sypher_04 wrote:
I would not say this is valid in the case of a web forum personally. Difference of opinions I suppose, and I am also what you might call an industry expert so... yeah.


What do you do for a living then?


I am a very experienced web, and windows developer, who has worked on some very high profile projects. Additionally, I've also taught University courses on principles of web design, and development.
Author:  Blokeymon [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:30 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Well, sorry for having to use the .co.uk suffix on account of someone else grabbing the .com one several years ago.... :?

And what invites? I assume you mean the ones other people send to their friends? Well, surely anyone who is referring a friend does so by simply copy and pasting the URL from their browser into an email or a PM on another site.

And those members who are kind enough to use their PSN and XBL profiles to show the sites URL have all put .co.uk in them, so the only people who get confused are those people who, essentially, either cannot read or those who cannot be bothered to read.

Also, try clicking the header of these forums, you know, where the big logo image is. See what that does.

Also also, try Googling for the term "uuddlrlrba". Last time I checked, the two top results consisted of a rather bland, empty result, and the other had such words as "multiplatform gaming", "forums", "news", and other such tidbits. Again, pretty easy to work out which one we are.

The only confusion I could see is if someone here actually WROTE OUT the URL rather than copy and pasting it, and then, its not like it'd be our fault or anything....

And no need to apologise. I know you from Playfire and I know you don't exactly pussyfoot around the place. Some might see it as aggressive, but if being honest is a crime, then fuck it, eh? :D

There is definate need to clean up some of the detritus, and while it wasn't something on my immediate horizon, it was something that I was going to be looking at sooner or later. In fact, the configuration you're looking at is - I think - the third since the site started, and it certainly ain't the last.

One thing I would maintain though, is the "scrolling down" rule you quoted. Unless you're a REALLY SMALL and specifically dedicated forum, then it doesn't work.

A simple clan forum, yes. A single platform forum, yes. A multiplatform forum, not so easy. And if we did compress it all, the index would look spiffing, but the forums themselves would be a horrendous mess.

EDIT: I'm also cringing, cos I've seen what Rabbit has just asked of Sypher, and I know what Sypher does for a living.... while this will not end well, I hope you two can play nicely. :D
Author:  Joe [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:31 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
rabbitc wrote:
Sorry - my mistake - but I guess we can write off 30 percent of your invites because people WILL use the .com over the .co.uk no matter how many URL's you post (unless you make a point of mentioning that there's another site)

He has a point, I've ended up on the .com site a few times myself.
probably says something about me, more than anything else
but yeah.
Author:  Sypher_04 [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:34 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Blokeymon wrote:
EDIT: I'm also cringing, cos I've seen what Rabbit has just asked of Sypher, and I know what Sypher does for a living.... while this will not end well, I hope you two can play nicely. :D


Nah, we're cool. Just different school's of thought I suppose. I largely agree with the avoiding scrolling mentality, and I preach it in my lectures. However, there are numerous scenarios where this is not necessarily the best approach, forums being one of these. I also try to teach when it is and is not appropriate to try and make things fit into small spaces.

EDIT: ... And before someone else says it: "That's what she said".
Author:  SmilerAl [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:35 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Never been on the .com until today.
Author:  Blokeymon [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 12:39 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Just one question....

How do I make sure that anyone who goes to the wrong site knows they need to come here?

I can't exactly change a website I don't own, nor can I say "look, I know you run this website, and I know you only own it for the sake of owning it, but would you mind putting on a little note telling people to start coming to my site on your front page, which has remained exactly as is for the last few years?", can I?

All I can do is make an announcement saying "hey, even though you're here, remember this is a .co.uk site, not a .com site", to which everyone will say "well duh, how the fuck do you think I got here, cockfag?".

Answers on a postcard please.
Author:  rabbitc [ Thu Apr 02, 2009 1:11 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: Immediate suggestions for site improvement.
Sypher_04 wrote:
rabbitc wrote:
Sypher_04 wrote:
I would not say this is valid in the case of a web forum personally. Difference of opinions I suppose, and I am also what you might call an industry expert so... yeah.


What do you do for a living then?


I am a very experienced web, and windows developer, who has worked on some very high profile projects. Additionally, I've also taught University courses on principles of web design, and development.


Very nice - I'm actually surprised to hear that you disagree with me.
Any projects I would have heard of?
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