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Main Page Suggestion

shredables

Chimp
Mar 10, 2010
10
0
im new to the monkey, and i really enjoy everything the site has to offer. i find myself sitting here scoping threads every day.
however i think the main page could use a little more.. something.
maybe news coverage of events/stories with pics?
 

binary visions

The voice of reason
Jun 13, 2002
22,092
1,132
NC
I always worry that the news ticker might be covering up our content more than it displays it.

We do have coverage; when you hit the front page, the ticket in the middle top section actually displays all of our recent news articles. And, of course, there is the ticker at the top of the forums and the News forum if you want to see everything aggregated.

I'm still mulling over a better way to deliver content into the forums. The new version of vBulletin was supposed to deliver that, but it didn't quite meet expectations in a couple big ways (for the way I think our news delivery will work best).
 

Mr.Bishop

King of Beers
Jun 2, 2009
286
0
Montreal
im new to the monkey, and i really enjoy everything the site has to offer. i find myself sitting here scoping threads every day.
however i think the main page could use a little more.. something.
maybe news coverage of events/stories with pics?
Do you have any other sites you really like that do things in the manner that you prefer?

As BV stated, we're working on a big upgrade for RM right now, and we're messing around with how the homepage displays things.

Any suggestions are extremely welcome!
 

Mr.Bishop

King of Beers
Jun 2, 2009
286
0
Montreal
My opinion...

Articles go in the related forum and get "promoted" to news as well?
Thats something that VB4 actually does do somewhat better than current. The biggest problem here is that its really nice to have a central repository of news, so that when the program has been around for a while you can go back and look at all the old stuff. If the threads get buried in each forum that makes it tricky.

What we were hoping for with VB4 is that it was able to display a thread both in a news section, and in the individual forum from whence it came. Sadly it doesn't quite do this... but it does allow taking a thread from the forums and "promoting" it to a news article. However, it makes a copy instead of keeping them linked. :mad:

I do hear what you're saying though. It seems to me that many people here bypass the homepage and dive straight into the forums.

What does everyone else think?
 

Transcend

My Nuts Are Flat
Apr 18, 2002
18,040
3
Towing the party line.
Thats something that VB4 actually does do somewhat better than current. The biggest problem here is that its really nice to have a central repository of news, so that when the program has been around for a while you can go back and look at all the old stuff. If the threads get buried in each forum that makes it tricky.

What we were hoping for with VB4 is that it was able to display a thread both in a news section, and in the individual forum from whence it came. Sadly it doesn't quite do this... but it does allow taking a thread from the forums and "promoting" it to a news article. However, it makes a copy instead of keeping them linked. :mad:

I do hear what you're saying though. It seems to me that many people here bypass the homepage and dive straight into the forums.

What does everyone else think?
Ugh, VB strikes again! That seems like a well founded idea, and terrible execution? I'll hit you up on skype with a few ideas later.
 

Mr.Bishop

King of Beers
Jun 2, 2009
286
0
Montreal
I never ever ever ever ever ever go to the home page. I'm only interested in the forums. As said above, I often forget it exists......
ridemonkey.com/forums is my home page
Now... is that because you guys don't WANT any other content? Or is it because you just like fast access to your favorite forums?

I guess also could it be that you want content, but you feel the content on RM sucks and you aren't interested?
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
For me, i have gone to the homepage only a few times, i really am not interested in news, becuase for the most part, the new product news is usually fluffed with "omfg best ___ evar" Personally i am not huge into the news, and i find that all the "important" news hits the forums, all the new parts or world cup results are in the DH forum. I do not care about news all that much, sometimes i will read the news on pinkbike, but thats far and few between. I think a content boost and mayb get rid of how packed the front page is would help.

I like to see
1. movie trailers (follow me)
2. world cup results (as available)
3. any "important" other news (new mtns, park petitions ect)

I think if the content was better, it would draw more people in, in addition, i feel the homepage is cramped, when you open pinkbike, its full screen and lots of stuff, ridemonkey leaves 3 inch bars on each side, and less information. might not like the website, but i would say their homepage is dialed, i havent once entered pinkbike.com/forums, but i also havent opened ridemonkey.com/home.

Find it they will come!
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
elaborating on my point a little further, instead of news articles with pics and videos i see

random parts (bar ends-useless imo)
deal of the day (not a bad idea, but is there good stuff there, today is girls pants)
classifieds stuff
trail and team forums(that dont get that much traffic?)
stats, currently online
press releases (did not read, but are these any good?)
random pic (a house?)
latest forums topics (good!)
and an add.

the only news stuff is a slideshow that is the size of my wallet, i think RM would benefit GREATLY from a better pics/vid section. the ONLY reason to go to pinkbike is to buy/sell and pic/vid of the day. even if you use theirs, it will get me to your homepage.
 

TheTruth

Turbo Monkey
Jun 15, 2009
3,893
1
I'm waving. Can you see me now?
I have a suggestion..

Here is my idea...

I know its a long paragraph which would take time to read, but read it.

Ridemonkey needs something that it updates everyday that people will constantly check because they are interested in. For example, pinkbike has a POD and a VOD. I basically go on pinkbike to look at those two and maybe if some of the pictures from one of the articles draws my attention, I will look at it. (Yes, I am a consumer whore that likes cool pictures that don't actually show the product, but a sweet pic of someone using the product.) Maybe there should be a "Go to thread" link on the News page. Also, there should be less articles with bigger pictures so that people want to look at the picture rather than read the caption first. That is just how it goes.
 

Transcend

My Nuts Are Flat
Apr 18, 2002
18,040
3
Towing the party line.
For me, i have gone to the homepage only a few times, i really am not interested in news, becuase for the most part, the new product news is usually fluffed with "omfg best ___ evar" Personally i am not huge into the news, and i find that all the "important" news hits the forums, all the new parts or world cup results are in the DH forum. I do not care about news all that much, sometimes i will read the news on pinkbike, but thats far and few between. I think a content boost and mayb get rid of how packed the front page is would help.

I like to see
1. movie trailers (follow me)
2. world cup results (as available)
3. any "important" other news (new mtns, park petitions ect)

I think if the content was better, it would draw more people in, in addition, i feel the homepage is cramped, when you open pinkbike, its full screen and lots of stuff, ridemonkey leaves 3 inch bars on each side, and less information. might not like the website, but i would say their homepage is dialed, i havent once entered pinkbike.com/forums, but i also havent opened ridemonkey.com/home.

Find it they will come!
Well, for my small part, I can assure we will have plenty of race results, photos and coverage as soon as the season kicks off in 2 weeks at Sea Otter. Stay tuned as it's going to be a busy season.
 

Mr.Bishop

King of Beers
Jun 2, 2009
286
0
Montreal
I have a suggestion..

Here is my idea...

I know its a long paragraph which would take time to read, but read it.

Ridemonkey needs something that it updates everyday that people will constantly check because they are interested in. For example, pinkbike has a POD and a VOD. I basically go on pinkbike to look at those two and maybe if some of the pictures from one of the articles draws my attention, I will look at it. (Yes, I am a consumer whore that likes cool pictures that don't actually show the product, but a sweet pic of someone using the product.) Maybe there should be a "Go to thread" link on the News page. Also, there should be less articles with bigger pictures so that people want to look at the picture rather than read the caption first. That is just how it goes.
NOw... this also brings up another issue. I'm in 120% agreement that something like VOD/POD is a great feature. However, we don't get a lot of user photo submissions. I know that the gallery on here is pretty brutal, and its something we're really looking to fix up.

Do you think that the reason we don't get a lot of photos is that the gallery is crap, or that people on RM aren't here to upload photos?

Once we have more photos being submitted, its easier to create photo selections.

Also - what about video? Would you (or anyone else reading this) submit video clips if the ability was there?
 

TheTruth

Turbo Monkey
Jun 15, 2009
3,893
1
I'm waving. Can you see me now?
NOw... this also brings up another issue. I'm in 120% agreement that something like VOD/POD is a great feature. However, we don't get a lot of user photo submissions. I know that the gallery on here is pretty brutal, and its something we're really looking to fix up.

Do you think that the reason we don't get a lot of photos is that the gallery is crap, or that people on RM aren't here to upload photos?

Once we have more photos being submitted, its easier to create photo selections.

Also - what about video? Would you (or anyone else reading this) submit video clips if the ability was there?
I have over 30 videos of bike riding, that I can submit. I think if media was readily accessible, it could draw a lot of attention to the site.

However, I do look at the slide show on the home page. If there were featured users pics, and a column of featured users videos, and New professionally made videos, I think I would stop going to PB. Also There should be a News/ Products section. All of which include pictures. PIctures make the site better.


Think NSMB/Pinkbike combined, but with a useful forum. Also, the colors of the homepage could use a fixing.
 
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demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
RM photo section sucks (imo) it is so "easy" on pinkbike, the 2 times i tried to upload pics here it was impossible, and for all i know they might be somewhere on here, i dont know where though
 

TheTruth

Turbo Monkey
Jun 15, 2009
3,893
1
I'm waving. Can you see me now?
RM photo section sucks (imo) it is so "easy" on pinkbike, the 2 times i tried to upload pics here it was impossible, and for all i know they might be somewhere on here, i dont know where though
Word up. I agree. Uploading pics should be as easy as possible. Not everybody can be as talented as EricStr6t when it comes to uploading pics on the interwebs.
 

Mr.Bishop

King of Beers
Jun 2, 2009
286
0
Montreal
RM photo section sucks (imo) it is so "easy" on pinkbike, the 2 times i tried to upload pics here it was impossible, and for all i know they might be somewhere on here, i dont know where though
Yeah - we're looking into a ton of different options for how to handle this. The big problem is that VB has pretty crappy photo handling, so we've got to go the plugin or custom route. Was hoping that version 4 was going to address this, but no luck. So note that we completely agree that the photo handling sucks, and are working to get something compelling that we'll all enjoy using.
 

demo 9

Turbo Monkey
Jan 31, 2007
5,910
46
north jersey
Yeah - we're looking into a ton of different options for how to handle this. The big problem is that VB has pretty crappy photo handling, so we've got to go the plugin or custom route. Was hoping that version 4 was going to address this, but no luck. So note that we completely agree that the photo handling sucks, and are working to get something compelling that we'll all enjoy using.
:thumb:
 

Peacock

Chimp
Oct 23, 2009
51
0
Rossland, BC
super good thread! the only way we can make things better is by everyone voicing what they want, big ups to the thread creator!
this season will be full of good content, I promise. look for lots of ride reports, editorials, and event coverage. if you feel you have any ideas for content, or think you can contribute, please send em over to me or the Ridemonkey.com account. but rest assured, we are working out the kinks and we've got a super solid team working to boost the content portion of the site. hopefully gearing things towards the editorial side of news. good writing and great photos of sweet riding in sweet locations is the idea.....