Website layouts

[STEVE BURNS]

If you come across a webite that you like the design/layout of could you post it on here
to start the ball rolling 2 from the improving the club thread
http://www.viczcar.com
http://www.datsun-france.com

 

[STEVE BURNS]

Came across this one that has a very clear uncluttered forum opening page
https://zroadster.org

 

[uk66fastback]

You mean ANY site or just other Z ones around the globe?

Some of the ones you've linked to look familiar, are they done in a software you can amend for the particular car? The last one looks like the Classic Z forum ... Maybe it's the colours ...

 

[STEVE BURNS]

You mean ANY site or just other Z ones around the globe?

Some of the ones you've linked to look familiar, are they done in a software you can amend for the particular car? The last one looks like the Classic Z forum ... Maybe it's the colours ...

Any site with a layout that could be adapted

They do look simular believe it is the colours

http://www.classiczcars.com/

Believe the are all templates that have been adapted for individual tastes designs

so far we have 4 sites that are run on 4 different systems
( strangly my spell checker has stopped working !!)

 

[jonbills]

Many of the other forums i look at are IPBoard - so using that would be cool.
HybridZ.org
Bmw5.co.uk

 

[Dale]

Honestly, if all of the broken links are fixed and out of date pages are updated and there's a major spring clean and some procedures changed, then I believe this site is perfectly fine.

It's the problems that we don't have the knowledge to fix that is causing the issues and that there's too few people involved behind the scenes to manage it all.

Moving to another site is fine, but the problem is that we'd be taking us with it!

 

[SeanDezart]

Honestly, if all of the broken links are fixed and out of date pages are updated and there's a major spring clean and some procedures changed, then I believe this site is perfectly fine.

It's the problems that we don't have the knowledge to fix that is causing the issues and that there's too few people involved behind the scenes to manage it all.

Moving to another site is fine, but the problem is that we'd be taking us with it!

Agreed although I don't smartphone, tablet etc so can't comment whether the site in its present format is visible/slow to upload etc !

 

[uk66fastback]

I find the site is equally fast on whatever I view it on, desktop Mac, iPad or phone ...

 

[Rob Gaskin]

Honestly, if all of the broken links are fixed and out of date pages are updated and there's a major spring clean and some procedures changed, then I believe this site is perfectly fine.

It's the problems that we don't have the knowledge to fix that is causing the issues and that there's too few people involved behind the scenes to manage it all.

Moving to another site is fine, but the problem is that we'd be taking us with it!

I agree with Dale however if we moved onto a 'standard' and 'off the shelf' form of site it would be easier in future wouldn't it?

 

[Dale]

I agree with Dale however if we moved onto a 'standard' and 'off the shelf' form of site it would be easier in future wouldn't it?

We could just get rid of the plug ins. Gallery isn't needed, classifieds isn't needed (in its current format), sell the remains club shop merchandise and just offer preordered items if and when people want them as bulk orders etc. Simplifying what we have is the key.

And would another 'off the shelf' forum have anything for you for processing memberships?

 

[Rob Gaskin]

....And would another 'off the shelf' forum have anything for you for processing memberships?

Yes if it was automated and online so that it captured all details (address, car, phone numbers etc).

 

[STEVE BURNS]

This was meant to be a thread about if the members had seen a web layout they liked but hey as it has changed into something different I might as well put my views
When we say the site is looking fine and dandy please tell me what opticians you are going to
The site is looking very old and unloved and to say it just needs a little bit of patching up here and there is not what we should be suggesting we do to the membership
The website/ forum is now looking so stale and ancient it is almost an embarrassment
Even if we could tart the thing up and bring it up to date it still uses Vbulletin 3.8 and a lot of the addons either are not sufficient or too antiquated to allow it to be brought up into the modern day
Vbulletin 3.8 was allegedly improved and modernised with the introduction of Vb4 and that in turn has now been allegedly improved further with the introduction of the all singing and dancing Vbulletin 5 (just read what a lot of the web geeks have to say about it)
Don’t get me wrong the site was brilliant when it was first done and has stood the test of time for a fair few years and we were so lucky to have Russ Taylor creating it as part of his uni studies and also to have someone as skilled as Jak the Ruby to design a lot of the skins and bits and pieces but that was some 12 years ago when it was launched but come on now it is time to redo the whole thing and try and keep all the good stuff from it and make it a place that the members are proud of being a part of
It was the same when I first broached that we would have to cease publishing the Magazine as it was old hat and was too much of a financial drain on the club’s finances that if we did not drop it the club would be in serious difficulties and most people said no it will be all right we dont want to change what we are used to but hey it was proved to be the right desicion in the end
This is not the case now as we have the finances in place to employ an outside person to carry out all the work purchase all the required licences and move on with something new, bold and bright and pleasing to the eye
We should even be able to use a third party as back up security in case we screwed the thing up as ever since Russ moved on we have been flying by the seat of our pants and in case something drastic happened
To move forward IMHO would need to move away from Vbulletin to something like Xenforo that was started by the same guys who designed Vbulletin3and left them as they were unhappy with the way that Vbulletin going development wise
The advantage of Xenforo is that it is relatively easy to migrate most of the stuff from VB3.8

 

[Dale]

You asked for opinions Steve, and that's what you got. The websites you linked to, in my opinion, don't look as good as our own site. I don't understand what you mean when you say ours looks stale. Surely it's the content that decides that?

As 'design' goes, I have yet to stumble across a forum that is any better. If I do, I'll post it up.

 

[uk66fastback]

There are plenty of other forums and sites to look at (as we know) - some car ones are a bit antiquated and some are very modern with lots of flash, java etc.

What is the most used part of the site - I guess it is the forum. This to be doesn't have to look 'flash' - it has to be very functional and that is all, imo.

If you go look at the Pistonheads forums, they're all very plain but it is a very popular site ...

Sure, make the home and other pages better designed, but you'd be amazed at what just changing to a more modern font does to a site - even if the content is the same ...

Graphic designer speaking here (for qualification)

 

[Gaz 300]

The biggest and very popular car forum in Northern Ireland features none car related companies advertising on there website.

http://reallymeansounds.com/forum/

 

[johnymd]

I cant see anything wrong with the current site that warrents changeing the whole site for.

 

[SeanDezart]

I cant see anything wrong with the current site that warrents changeing the whole site for.

Except that you've reached your attachments limit...........

 

[johnymd]

That will be a configurable limit though Sean and not a reason to change the website design. Limits are usually set to prevent things getting out of control and causing speed issues and control hosting costs.

 

[MikeB]

Folks

Just a Heads Up re issues that Porsche Club Ireland Forum http://forum.porsche-club-ireland.com/index.php are having issues with photos posted via Google's pic hosting software are disappearing the next day. I haven't seen that here or on DDK where there are a lot of pics posted daily and I would assume that some are using the Google system.

So maybe those choosing our new website can maybe ensure the software does have this flaw

Sorry I'm no expert so don't ask me for the solution

 

[Mr Tenno]

Just to chip in, I'm a user experience designer by trade and I wouldn't start thinking about layout / design etc. until the club has actually decided what they want to be and what they want the site to achieve.

The design for example could be dependant on the whole 'one club, all the cars' or the 'heritage/modification' discussions and the layout could depend on things like how we're separating members/non-members content (if at all) or how we're trying to sell the club to new members.