Improvements to the Site and Forums!

[Bioshox]

Hey,

Iv been learning Web Design and Development and I'm very good with Forum Systems ect! So I have a few Suggestions for the Website and Forums!

There are Modifications & Plug ins you can download and install to the forum software which allow members to have there own 'Gallery's' so they can upload there Photographs for other users to view and comment on, as I remember you saying the other day Bandwidth and Storage is limited it might not be the best option, just a suggestion

Also, id link DeviantART and Imageshack on your Link Page for Portfolios and Image Hosting, iv used lots of Image hosts including Photobucket which I used first, and iv noticed Imageshack is much more easy to use and you don't get stupid bandwidth messages when so many people have viewed the image! http://www.imageshack.us

Also there is a way to compress bandwidth used on a forum with a feature called G'ZIP I'm not sure if you have it activated or not because on the more complex BB systems such as IPB and SMF they state on the footer whether its activated, and all it does is it compress's the data transferred just like when you put files into a .ZIP folder, saving you bandwidth!

When I first Googled ADAPS's a 2 or 3 weeks ago because my dad told me he knew about it and asked me to research it, I found your website quite difficult to understand without studying it, your important information is situated to near to the bottom of the webpage, id move the opening times and fees more the the header of the page, or have it on a separate page in your navigation maybe have a New Members page and a Joining Information page!

That's all I can think of for now, if I come up with anymore I shall edit this post!

Thank's
Jacob Clark!

[John]

Thanks for the input Jacob, it'll all be looked at.

[Bioshox]

No problem

[Paul Jones]

Iv been learning Web Design and Development and I'm very good with Forum Systems ect! So I have a few Suggestions for the Website and Forums!
id link DeviantART and Imageshack on your Link Page for Portfolios and Image Hosting

Hi Jacob
Thanks for joining ADAPS and for your interest in the website.
I've now added links to Imageshack and DeviantArt.
I've also added a link to your web gallery.

When I first Googled ADAPS a 2 or 3 weeks ago I found your website quite difficult to understand without studying it

I find this comment both interesting, slightly puzzling and somewhat worrying.
I've tried to keep our proposition as simple to understand, and the site navigation as foolproof as possible.
What, specifically, did you find difficult to understand?

id move the opening times and fees more the the header of the page, or have it on a separate page in your navigation maybe have a New Members page and a Joining Information page!

I welcome all suggestions and have made several changes over the years to the site based on feedback.
I do , however, disagree slightly with you here.

The ADAPS website has two main purposes:
1) To attract new members
2) To provide information to members

To that end, I think the page headings are reasonably self-explanatory and address these criteria:

Home
Events Syllabus
Photo Gallery
News
Competitions
Committee
Facilities
Location
Join Us
History
Links

Following basic Marketing principles, (eg AIDA) the pages are laid out to lead a potential new member through the decision making process by first grabbing their Attention (Home page), create some kind of Interest in what we do as a club (Syllabus, Photo Gallery, News, Competitions, Facilities), hopefuly by now people will have some kind of Desire to want to find out more and come to meet us (Location) and the call to Action is the Join Us page.

I'm not disregarding your point of view, just saying that I gave serious thought to the layout when I was planning the site as to the kind of information that someone new to the club might be looking for.

The fact that you had trouble finding the 'Join Us' information is a bit worrying for me and I'll have a think about how I can make this more obvious to visitors.

Thanks for your comments, and I hope that you'll continue to come forward with more suggestions.

Best regards

Paul

[Bioshox]

Sorry if I worded that wrong

What I mean is, you could display the most important information like Prices & Fees and Dates the club is open in a more Standing Out way instead of it being casually tucked away in the text, don't get me wrong the layout of the site is good, its basic so novice computer users can navigate around it without any trouble and easy to understand, I just mean I wanted to get the times and prices but I had to read through it all before I got there.

Imagine I was buying web hosting, the things I need to know are Uptime, The Control Panel Type & Version, Bandwidth, Storage and the Price, on all hosting websites this is the first thing you see appealing to members, pulling them in to read more!

I hope that clears it up!

Thanks
Jacob.

[Paul Jones]

you could display the most important information like Prices & Fees and Dates the club is open in a more Standing Out way instead of it being casually tucked away in the text, don't get me wrong the layout of the site is good, its basic so novice computer users can navigate around it without any trouble and easy to understand

I understand what you're saying.
I've taken your comments onboard and have just uploaded a revised version of our Home page, which will hopefully make things more obvious.
http://www.adaps.org.uk/

I'm glad you realise that the basic nature of the site is deliberate. When I first launched the site we had some comments from our 'more senior' and not as 'Internet aware' members that they found the site a bit complicated. The layout has (hopefully) now been set to appeal really to the most novice of Internet user.

Imagine I was buying web hosting, the things I need to know are Uptime, The Control Panel Type & Version, Bandwidth, Storage and the Price, on all hosting websites this is the first thing you see appealing to members, pulling them in to read more!

Yes, me too.

But, there again, I think shopping for web hosting, a new car or a can of baked beans is different (for many people) than looking for a club to join. It's appealing to different 'buying motivators'. The main positive comment from many members over the past seven years or so is that the website made ADAPS look friendly and approachable and gave them an incentive to want to come and join us.

Our membership has quadrupled since the website went live so I think it's not doing too bad a job - after all you've just joined us!

I must say though that it's good to have someone new onboard who is keen to have an input into helping us promote the club in this way.

[Bioshox]

No problem!

Like I say I'm very knowledgeable with computers and web development, I studied for both CISCO 1 & 2 CCNA Qualifications while I was 15 and at school with Wigan & Leigh College Night School.

I thought id put some input in for you guys!

Thanks
Jacob Clark

[Paul Jones]

Thanks Jacob.
All your input is very welcome!

[Paul Jones]

And I've just added some more bits to our Home page.....

[John]

Well I did say on Thursday that we were happy to receive suggestions, and to act on them, and so we are and do!

[Theo Dibbits]

I agree with Paul that the site is a marketing tool and should help to attract new members.
A cost of 30 quid a year for a hobby where the gear cost runs in to the hundreds should not be a deciding factor.

However this sparked 2 thoughts (which is very exciting at my age )

1 Looking around at the open day and at some of the new members coming in (bringing their camera) I get the feeling that those with relatively "simple" equipment or newly acquired gear are somewhat overwhelmed and hence may experience a barrier. Very few of us can afford to go out and buy a Canon 1D and half a dozen white lenses and folk would be wiser to join the club, ask questions, talk to different users before deciding on a camera system and parting with their cash.
Maybe this point should be made on the website.

2 The second thought is about next year's syllabus so I will put it on a separate subject.

Theo

[Paul Jones]

I agree with Paul that the site is a marketing tool and should help to attract new members.
A cost of 30 quid a year for a hobby where the gear cost runs in to the hundreds should not be a deciding factor.

Thanks Theo.

Looking around at the open day and at some of the new members coming in (bringing their camera) I get the feeling that those with relatively "simple" equipment or newly acquired gear are somewhat overwhelmed and hence may experience a barrier. Very few of us can afford to go out and buy a Canon 1D and half a dozen white lenses and folk would be wiser to join the club, ask questions, talk to different users before deciding on a camera system and parting with their cash.
Maybe this point should be made on the website.

I've tried to make this very point on our website, but things can always be improved.
Please (everyone) have a read of: http://www.adaps.org.uk/join.htm
and let me know how you think it should be rewritten.

[Walter Brooks]

Paul, I have read the Forum page with an objective mind and it seems informative and self expanatory to me, but I have asked a fellow [novice by her own admission, but learning quickly enough to take on portrait 'comissions' and not a member of ADAPS or any other club] photographer for her opinion of the Join Us page. Regards

Walter

[Paul Jones]

OK, thanks Walter.

[Mike]

What I mean is, you could display the most important information like Prices & Fees and Dates the club is open in a more Standing Out way instead of it being casually tucked away in the text, don't get me wrong the layout of the site is good, its basic so novice computer users can navigate around it without any trouble and easy to understand, I just mean I wanted to get the times and prices but I had to read through it all before I got there.

I agree with Jacob. The important information could be higher up the page and a map would be good to. I feel that the point he makes is about hierarchy of information; my first instinct was to scroll down the page and see if anything jumped out. When it didn't I had to scan read the whole page. I think the address, meeting times and joining fee could be more prominent as these are key bits. The text is otherwise very good, it is informative and easy to understand, you just have to take the time to read it thoroughly.

As a side point I always think that the ADAPS building is rather tucked away and if you were a new member I guess it would be rather worrying walking down the dark 'Back Stanley Street' so a map / photo would be reassuring!

Jacob - We have looked into the idea of bolting on a voting photo-gallery and voting system to the forum before. I think it was decided that two separate systems (ie two different bits of software) would not work as we don't want to fragment the style of the website any further than it already is (ideally I would love to make the forum look like the main website - I just don't have the time!). If you know of a phpBB photogallery mod then I would be interested to look into it further - that way members existing username and password would be sufficient to get them access to the whole site.

Thanks for the suggestions, the fresh perspective is always good.