SE Layout Update & Newbie Helpful Links

[C7Steve]

After a little discussion at the weekend, we thought that the below items could possibly be addressed to make things a little bit easier to navigate and remove some other things that don’t get used so much/anymore on the Forum.

Comments from all would be greatly appreciated and we can restructure things in-line with peoples requirements if necessary.

Some of the items discussed were:

Is there any chance that we could put a link to the calendar in the ‘Announcement’ section of the Newbie section? (So any Newbie can see immediately see what is going on instead of trawling through the forum) Thanks for setting up the calendar Graeme Fraser and this fits in very well, so it is clear for everyone, but especially the Newbies.

Also, what about having the ‘Active Topics’ more easily noticeable and accessible from the main page? (One of the group did not know about this feature)

Removing the ‘Calendar’ section as it has not been used for five years, unless someone wants to take up the mantle and make one up each year. (I suggest that we could simplify it by one person picking twelve photographs and not having a poll. It would also be a surprise once receiving your calendar in seeing the monthly pictures. There are plenty of online options for this facility. If this idea seemed appealing, then setting up a way of getting in the relevant monies BEFORE a certain cut-off date and ordering the set amount of calendars required. It could be a wall mounted or a desktop option)


Feel free to post up your thoughts please, however small.


Thanks,

Steve.

[duggiesmith]

Thanks Steve. Great post

With regards to the calendar thread, I've been ordering my own calendar for a number of years now, using the various online shops (Vistaprint, Photobox, etc). If you hunt around, you can usually get discount codes, so the price is often under a tenner. I've contacted Vistaprint to ask if it would be possible to share a calendar with others, so they could login and order directly through the website (this would avoid any one person needing to outlay cash in advance). Unfortunately, the only way this could be done would be to share login details. I could create a new account to share, if there was enough interest. Each member would the be able to login and order a copy - they would just need to change the delivery address to their own). If going down this route, I'd suggest sharing the login name/password by IM to maintain some level of security.

[Shug]

Cheers Steve, good nudge.

Very guilty of not maintaining and refreshing bits and bobs - so lets see this thread run a wee bit to get some feedback that can be acted on.

Not saying we will or can do every single suggestion that crops up, but certainly as you point out, there's some housekeeping desperately needing done and some new stuff needing better supported.

Just as an FYI though - wholesale re-positioning of aspects of the site etc, are unlikely, simply as we use a standard layout and the time isn't available for our generous free host (Ironside) to test any out there modding of the forum base software. Happy to do what we can inside that framework though.

[C7Steve]

Shug,

We just had a small discussion on how things are at the moment on SE and what, if any possiblity of adjusting things to help and encourage any Newbies to see that the SE community is very much alive and kicking. We thought that adding a link to the new Calendar would encourage them to come along to any events since they could see the various things getting planned on one area. Various other things were discussed, but it was not like we were trying to take over in any way. It was more of the regular SE users having a chat around the fire. Campbell will tell you the same.

It was not meant as a prompt for you or any of the other moderators to do some work, so apologies if it comes across like this.

I think Campbell was going to speak to Simon about a couple of things that was discussed and see if he would be willing to help in any way. Work and family commitments for everyone eat into our time, so it was more like little adjustments than any drastic changes if required.

The discussion was more or less about forthcoming events next year and how Newbies could be welcomed along and for them to see that SE is still going, even though the posts have dried up a bit. Different platforms were mentioned and how people communicate these days and what could possibly be in place in years to come. We were not saying that SE is wrong in any way, it was more of a case that the footfall activity has dropped off, but friendships that were made through SE are very much ongoing. The 2019 Events Thread has shown that ideas are getting submitted to gauge the interest and what some of the members would like.


Cheers,

Steve.

[C7Steve]

Also to add that I miss reading the various posts on the Technical section that used to be very active when I joined years ago. It was good to read how very helpful and knowledgable the members were when I first signed-up. Maybe it’s because there are less S1s now that this area has dried up.


Steve.

[woody]

Also to add that I miss reading the various posts on the Technical section that used to be very active when I joined years ago. It was good to read how very helpful and knowledgable the members were when I first signed-up. Maybe it’s because there are less S1s now that this area has dried up.


Steve.

It's this. Or we've stopped fixing. Or we know all the fixes now. Or Robin leaving.

Thanks for taking the time to post this Steve.

[IanD]

Useful to have a basic guide/intro sticky
for Newbies with pointers and links to key relevant bits.

On iPhone I saved my SE link after viewing New Posts and ticked stay logged on so 1 click gets you directly to new stuff (or requests logon then takes you to it). Active topics is just a bigger version of new posts.

Also I use Tapatalk occasionally (normally to post pics on SE) I'm not that keen on how it displays but I know others like it and it is useful to bring together lots of forums content into a single view. SE is enabled and can be configured to show in Tapatalk.

And wonder how to get newbies into the group, both to let people know SE exists and once registered how to become part of the group. Interested to hear the camp fire talk at Dom's BBQ next weekend

[ed]

Good idea, Ive un-stickyd the older redundant threads, should be able to hide the Calendar subforum too.

[Ferg]

I think it would look healthier if we reduced the number of rooms/categories. The structure hasn't changed in years and the usage is reduced in some of the areas. The threads can still exist and be available in the search. Maybe slightly more radical than some of the other suggestions but this change could work well.

Suggest the following:

General - To absorb announcements, calendar and gallery. A
Spotted - Works for members and unusual spots etc.
Newbies - Intro.

Maintenance - Collapse technical, Care Care and Insurance together.
Events - meetings and events.
Trackdays - Trackday antics of course but also absorb motorsport.
Suppliers - Collapse Testimonials, Feedback and Offers.

I don't believe it needs to be more than that.

[C7Steve]

Would you not put the Calendar in the Meets section so that you can only see it once you have signed up. I think that the road runs should be kept private from those not signed up to SE.

Just a thought,


Steve.

[Ferg]

Yes, calendar in the Events/ Meets section. I see I missed out the calendar in my list.

[C7Steve]

Yes, calendar in the Events/ Meets section. I see I missed out the calendar in my list.

You had it in General, Ferg.


Steve.

[Ferg]

Hmm. I meant the 'calendar photos' section.

Do we have an actual event calendar function? If so then that would be a good thing.

[C7Steve]

Hmm. I meant the 'calendar photos' section.

Do we have an actual event calendar function? If so then that would be a good thing.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=44040


Steve.

[campbell]

I will try to research a bit about phpbb layout options. Think it would need an upgrade tho. Nothing obvious in board config settings that I can find in our existing version.