Want Your Input! New digitalFAQ.com homepage + more

[kpmedia]

I spent the last few days re-working the homepage of the site, to make it more useful.

(It's still on the dev server -- it's not live yet.)

It's now a 50-50 split, with 5 new guides/editorials teased on the left, and the 25 most recent forum posts on the right. Previous, it only showed editorials, and the latest posts area was smaller and easy to overlook.

The poll was done away with -- most sites have minimal poll participation.

The deals/coupons section of the forum is being retired, and a new (better!) site app will take it's place. And the newest deals will appear under it.

I'm also considering pulling our content feed from another site, which shows all the new DVDs and Blu-ray box sets being released this week. Does that sound good/interesting to anybody here? This is primarily a video site, after all!

Let me know if you think the homepage needs anything else?

We want to make it your useful first stop for this site.

____________________________________


Overall site plans
- incorporate the archives forum into the main forum
- rework the homepage
- add the new coupons/deals area
- add a new wiki / glossary for video and web hosting
- new guides, and more new guides ... and some new editorials

The first 3 are more than half done, and the wiki is selected and has been tested.

When it comes time to add to the wiki, I can handle most of the web hosting topics, but other Site Staff will handle the video. And I'm hoping some Premium Members that "know their stuff" will want to help us create that. NOT copying/pasting from others sites, however! (Rewrites at most.) But lots of video topics are defined quite poorly online -- including Wikipedia. (Why? Well, most sites copied each other!)

There is a ton of stuff in the backend that's not published. When the site is reworked, we'll be pushing all of that out.

This site should really grow in 2015, with all that is planned.

I like the design, so no, that's not changing. But we may add a mobile theme a bit later. (It's honestly not a priority because most site visitors come from desktops, laptops, and tablets -- not phones. Video and web hosting/dev/design aren't really phone topics, and photo isn't the big push yet.)

Part of the site guide index will be reworked to add in the important/useful forum posts being collected by some members. So, for example, /guides/video/capture.htm will now list all of the site guides, plus forum posts (and even forum guides). We want a truly useful site for all.

Any else you think we need?

[TylerDurden389]

Sounds great KP. Can't wait to see what it looks like. As of now I can't really think of anything else the site needs. I've learned a lot in the past 8 or 10 months since discovering the site. Now I just gotta start putting this knew knowledge into practice

[premiumcapture]

Things that would be awesome:

1. Video tutorials
2. Site-wide restoration projects/contests
3. List of verified equipment sources/links
4. Resurrecting the client help desk

[Winsordawson]

On the search results page one's search query is not listed in the search box. So if I type something and wish to add/modify it to filter my search, I have to type it over again. Not a major problem but a bit annoying.

The coupon section was useful, but I often missed found them too late. Perhaps if the new app will allow one to subscribe for immediate updates.

[kpmedia]

Quote:

Originally Posted by premiumcapture

Site-wide restoration projects/contests

Hmmm...

Quote:

Originally Posted by premiumcapture

Resurrecting the client help desk

It was never dead. We use it daily. There was a issue with your ticket, however, which has now been addressed.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winsordawson

On the search results page one's search query is not listed in the search box. So if I type something and wish to add/modify it to filter my search, I have to type it over again. Not a major problem but a bit annoying.

Which one -- the Google-based search, or the advanced forum-only search?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winsordawson

The coupon section was useful, but I often missed found them too late. Perhaps if the new app will allow one to subscribe for immediate updates.

Hmmm...

I think both of those 'hmms' are do-able. Excellent ideas!

[Winsordawson]

The Google-based search is the one with which I have issue. I often use it first because I only have to press the search tab. The advanced forum-search is much better, though when I first joined I did not even know it existed.

[kpmedia]

We use Google, but have almost no control over what it does. I'll look and see if the code can be altered to retain the query.

Sometimes the Google search is more useful, sometimes the advanced forum search. They do not use the same algorithms, which is why we use both here. The Google one is usually the better of the two.

[Winsordawson]

Thank you, I forgot to add, is it possible to change the attachment page to allow multiple files to be selected at once for upload? Currently one has to click a separate button to upload each file.

[kpmedia]

No. that's a limitation of the technology. I think all forums are this way.

[Winsordawson]

Also, regarding the Google-based search engine, is there a way to organize results by date? This is one reason I stay away from it.

[lordsmurf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Winsordawson

Also, regarding the Google-based search engine, is there a way to organize results by date? This is one reason I stay away from it.

Google is by relevance. The advanced search is by date in reverse order.