View Full Version : Issues and Suggestions for Change
OnTheFlats
10-12-2009, 05:15 PM
What's not working for you? What would you like to see changed?:rant:
This is your forum, so please let us know what we can do to make your community experience better!
(I think it goes without saying, but please keep it constructive...)
Capt Rick
10-13-2009, 08:40 AM
I would like to be able to make a post on the site without having to log in every time I come here.....................please!
OnTheFlats
10-13-2009, 10:47 AM
This is being investigated by our IT team this week. I will keep you posted.
1) Yes, the login problem Rick has been having. This may arise from having four different entry points for the forum and not sharing cookies across the four.
2) Email options: I and others are not able to change my email address. Other members are asking me what the problem is with this.
3) Ad display: When you load a banner, check to make sure it is not covering up site tools, such a search. This is an ongoing issue.
4) Enable some vBulletin features:
being able to attach files through the Additional Options box that is below the message box. This way you won't have to copy link info and paste it into Insert Image feature
increase the number of PM's from the allowed 50 to something a little more reasonable like 250
5) Create a sub forum for Sponsors that lists all the Sponsors for all the sites. That way users can see who all is sponsoring, as well as post questions to them
Allowing user interface problems to persist deminishes the appeal of the forum. If you are not able to figure out how to fix them, maybe you should consider hiring some more talented IT people with Vbulletin expertise. Do not get me wrong here. I am not throwing bombs, just making candid suggestions.
Why don't you consider having one main URL for the forum instead of four. Depending on which site (Marlin, Sport Fishing, Fly Fishing or Salt Water Sportsman) you enter the forum from, your cookie is set, the ads you see are determined. You then could just reroute to one forum URL. I could be wrong in the following assessment, but I have spent some time investigating this. Please tell me if I am off base. I am sure there any many users that only come to the forum and do not spend much time on any of the main sites. The user eyeballs on ad views should be a big concern for any advertiser. Do you know how many users enter the forum from each site? What are the percentages for each? I am sure you have these metrics. Depending on which site you enter from determines which ads you see, as I noted, but this limits advertisement exposure on the forum. Because I always enter the forum from the Marlin link, I never see ads that have been placed on the other three sites unless they have purchased placement on the Marlin site, as well. This is odd to me. I understand the approach from an ad sales perspective. You have to maximize placement across four sites. My point is, by setting exposure this way you split up an already thin community four ways. Ads will get more exposure. Well, you have a limited number of slots which limits the number of ads and thus the dollars. You could improve or increase the number of ad holders by changing the settings for layout. You can then place two leader board banners side by side at the top or stack them. These guys do a good job (http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/) Please check their site out. They do more advertising than this site, plus they have over 110,000 users and 4+ million posts. These guys have spent years fine tuning the experience users receive. I will leave things here for now. There is more I would like to discuss, but time is money and I have to go make some. Thanks for reading.
Oh yeah, two more quick things. It would be a huge boon to the forum to get/hire several really talented moderators that can drive and stimulate conversation. You know, keep things lively in here. Alone, you can only do so much. Plus, get some professionally produced video in the Videos section. Something other than the same old worn out slop we continue to see.
OnTheFlats
10-13-2009, 01:53 PM
Hi Seth - Thanks for your suggestions, I responded best I could to each. Please PM me if you have any more specific suggestions regarding these issues.
Yes, the login problem Rick has been having. This may arise from having four different entry points for the forum and not sharing cookies across the four.
We are looking into this right now. It does not have anything to do with multiple entry points unless Capt. Rick is purposely logging-in using a different URL every time, which I doubt. Even if he is, it should still be passing the cookie. The multiple entry points have never caused problems for any user, and they are a necessary part of having this forum be a shared resource between four different independent web sites.
Email options: I and others are not able to change my email address. Other members are asking me what the problem is with this.
We will look into this - it is a dB issue on this end, not a vBulletin issue. Currently, changing your email is by-request - please PM me if you need it changed.
Ad display: When you load a banner, check to make sure it is not covering up site tools, such a search. This is an ongoing issue.
This will obviously need to be fixed - we are currently addressing this
* being able to attach files through the Additional Options box that is below the message box. This way you won't have to copy link info and paste it into Insert Image feature
* increase the number of PM's from the allowed 50 to something a little more reasonable like 250
1) There was a decision to not allow attachments when we launched way back when for security/space reasons. I don't think it puts users out much to embed photos - that is pretty standard across the web. If there is more demand for this from other users, we can revisit it later.
2) We can look into raising the number of PM's you can receive if the max if 50 is really causing you problems.
Allowing user interface problems to persist deminishes the appeal of the forum. If you are not able to figure out how to fix them, maybe you should consider hiring some more talented IT people with Vbulletin expertise. Do not get me wrong here. I am not throwing bombs, just making candid suggestions.
Our IT people are very talented, but also very busy with many, many websites. Regardless, none of the recurring issues in the forums here have anything to do directly with vBulletin, as we now have a java-based login process. While I know that these recurring issues are very frustrating for you, Capt. Rick and everyone else, there is no reason why we would blow people off or drag our feet. As someone who is professed to be knowledgeable in web applications, surely you can concede that there are often gremlins that look very simple to the untrained eye but are surprisingly difficult to track down/eradicate. Trust me, if any of these issues could be fixed by changing a setting in the vBulletin admin panel it would've been resolved a long time ago.
Why don't you consider having one main URL for the forum instead of four....
Ad sales/placement are not a part of my everyday business here nor yours. This thread is for discussing ways to improve the user experience in this forum. Sorry to be blunt, but I want to be able to focus limited resources on fixing things that are broke before changing things that aren't
It would be a huge boon to the forum to get/hire several really talented moderators that can drive and stimulate conversation.
If anyone is interested in devoting the time to be a moderator here, by all means please PM me and we will talk.
Plus, get some professionally produced video in the Videos section.
We keep professionally-produced video on the video pages on the four fishing sites. The community video page is for forum users to post on only.
Thanks again for the suggestions and for keeping them here in the appropriate place, Seth. I will post any updates here to any of this issues raised. Please PM me if you have any additional questions. And thanks again for being a part of the forum community.
We are looking into this right now. It does not have anything to do with multiple entry points unless Capt. Rick is purposely logging-in using a different URL every time, which I doubt. Even if he is, it should still be passing the cookie. The multiple entry points have never caused problems for any user, and they are a necessary part of having this forum be a shared resource between four different independent web sites.
On this point, when I log in to the site I usually do so through the Marlin link. If I go to the top of the page and click on any of the other site links and then return to the forum, bu clicking the forum link on their home page, I have to log back in. Let's say I go to the Fly Fishing site and return to the forum I have to log in. If I immediately click over to the Marlin site and then return to the forum I am not asked to log in. So, cookies are not being shared across the four sites. I mostly use the mozilla browser version 3.5.3, if you wanted to know.
On the advertising note, obviously it is not my business, I was making a suggestion for how to consolidate cookie handling for all the sites. And if this was done then of course there would have to be some redress on site layout in order to handle ads.
I am just taking the liberty to discuss things openly in here with you. There will of course be no hard feelings, just frank discussion. Thanks :gr_cheers:
OnTheFlats
10-13-2009, 06:20 PM
Yes, the cookie issue didn't used to be like that, it is a new problem we are looking at. They should be shared no matter how much you jump around with entry points. Thanks for the additional insight, though!
OnTheFlats
10-13-2009, 06:22 PM
Good News!:gr_cheers:
The search box issue has been fixed. Please let us know asap via this forum or PM if you see it be a problem again.
Thanks for everyone's patience!
Capt Rick
10-14-2009, 10:04 AM
It sounds like you need to put Seth on the payroll....................
What's the status on the email and log in situations? I cannot imagine a bigger waste of your time than having to take PM's from people wanting to modify their email.
Capt Rick
10-22-2009, 09:30 PM
.........no change on my end,,,,I still have to log in every time I make a post.
OnTheFlats
10-23-2009, 10:41 AM
The log-in issue is in the system now and hopefully will be resolved soon.
The ability to change your email is coming soon - so far it hasn't been too much of a burden...
Thanks guys for being patient!
Capt Rick
10-23-2009, 08:32 PM
I dont mean to be rude here,,, but as you say,,,,"The log-in issue is in the system now and hopefully will be resolved soon."
I have been told that more than once!
Just to let you know this has been a problem for a Looooooong time,,like over a year now! That's 365 days,,,,,This issue should be resolved in a matter of minutes.
Come on guys,,it a shame!
Here is one that you wont have a problem with. www.gofishsc.com
Thanks guys for being patient!
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