Nanaplaza redesign / restructuring

[BelgianBoy]

Nervous_Dog said:

I think we need to wip around and buy Josh a decent PC and internet connection so the he c

[lembeh]

 

>I think we need to wip around and buy Josh a decent PC a

[elef]

Hi KS,

 

I'm a tourist!

 

elef

[Guest]

sayjann said:...<snip>..

i know nothing about how Boards like these are run or started but i think you are a little unfair to KS.

KS certainly does not dominate the Board, and you complain that he considers it 'his' Board?.

 

I fully concur. Consider, too, there is no other BKK board that I'm aware of which has so much activity and participating members. No doubt to KS this board has been a passion and sometimes a headache. I see no reason to criticise, especially given the rarely restricted interchange it provides and when we have no idea how much of KS's time it consumes.

[Old Hippie]

Is there anyway to keep the basic layout/functions of the board as it is? Basically, this os good/works as is...don't see a need for much change. I realize that may not be possible given that whoever won't beavailable due to the design being out of date. But the layout here is good, easy and easy to learn, so keeping as much of this style as we can is good. Where do we donate?

[bibblies]

As a user I think the site looks and works fine. I don't think it's worth the trouble of a major redesign that would take ages and, to be honest, probably wouldn't bring much benefit to users.

 

As a web programmer I know I've sometimes been guilty of over-redesigning things that the users couldn't see the end-benefits to. Maybe they'll go "Wow" for a second the first time they see a new feature but, after that, they usually don't use it! The attraction of a site is all in its content and the interaction with other people.

 

The only thing annoyance on the current site is found in trying to see the last day's posts. I go to the Search screen, put 1 day into the box with no keyword and it brings back the first page of results fine. But clicking the "next" link fucks it up.

 

Now, I can fix this by taking the "%2B" out of the url (http://board.nanaplaza.com//dosearch.php?Cat=&Forum=All_Forums&Words=%2B&Searchpage=1&Limit=25&... goes to http://board.nanaplaza.com//dosearch.php?Cat=&Forum=All_Forums&Words=%2B&Searchpage=1&Limit=25&...) and then just changing the PageNumber from then on. But laymen wouldn't know how to do that! They'd be fucked!

 

I'm surprised no one else has brought it up. Doesn't anyone else access the forum the same way (by looking at all the latest posts for a day or week?)

 

[shortened the URL descriptions - KS]

[shygye]

is very annoying, long url's that cause the formatting to go to crap. Will the new forum correct this effect?

[David_66_UK]

Doesn't anyone else access the forum the same way (by looking at all the latest posts for a day or week?)

 

No idea how - as being a dedicated "user" I tend to leave things as they are / never bother reading instructions

 

If I can't figure something out in 2 seconds I give up - unless it is something I really need, like trying to figure out how to get to the message board from the front page :: (I click on "site map") STOP laughing :D

 

The attraction of a site is all in its content and the interaction with other people.

 

I would call that 2 things - IMHO the first is the most important, but IMHO here on NP.com it's the 2nd which provides the info.

 

KS, I can understand why you want to redesign the website, but before you do that (and put in all the hours) I think you do need to sit down and have a long hard think about what you want to do and how you will need to it and if it is actaully possible / worth the time and effort.

 

With the greatest of respect I would suggest that to date you have been a bit of a lazy beggar with regard to extracting the content from the Message Board and distilling it onto the website - I can understand why as it is a chicken and egg thing - if the content is not their the visitors will not come, but without the visitors AND a way of making money from them........why bother - BUT you have been GIVEN so much quality information I am surprised that you have not used it more effeciently.

 

Indeed at the risk of upsetting folk here I am surprised (given what you have always said about the site making no money) that you actually still bother. If this is actually the case and it was me I would seriously consider sticking the whole website on E-Bay............. £25 ::

 

Having said all that I do of course have loadsssssssssssss of ideas mostly impratcial of course .

 

Also if you need to "idiot test" anything, then I may be the bloke you need. (My qualification for this job is that i did not understand a lot of this thread :

[khunsanuk]

Hi,

 

Bibblie:

"Maybe they'll go "Wow" for a second the first time they see a new feature but, after that, they usually don't use it! The attraction of a site is all in its content and the interaction with other people. "

 

While I agree with this, this only / mostly applies to frequent visitors. Imagine you are new to this site and arrive on the first page (i.e. www.nanaplaza.com/index.php)? I think most would be a bit overwhelmed with the info there and may leave.

 

In order for us to retain those people, or at least drive them further into the site so they can find what they are looking for, that the site needs to be cleaner.

And I think that even seasoned visitors of NP.com may not know their way around comfortably. My goal is to make most of the info / features only 1 click away from the front page (menu).

 

"Doesn't anyone else access the forum the same way (by looking at all the latest posts for a day or week?) "

 

Have you tried the 'Past 24 hours' link at the bottom of the main forum index page? It does the same, but does not fuck up. Quicker as well

 

Shygye

"is very annoying, long url's that cause the formatting to go to crap"

 

Fully agree, but I do not how other boards handle this. I'll make it a point to check out.

 

DavidUk66:

"but before you do that (and put in all the hours) I think you do need to sit down and have a long hard think about what you want to do and how you will need to it and if it is actaully possible / worth the time and effort."

 

We are doing exactly that now

 

"you have been a bit of a lazy beggar with regard to extracting the content from the Message Board and distilling it onto the website"

 

Correct. The main reason being that this is *very* time consuming unless it could be done automatically (and I have no idea how). I think that taking this info out of the board and adding it to info pages or creating info pages out of them would be a full time job. The site does not provide me with enough income (nor do I think it ever would) to give up my day job and spend full time on it.

 

"that you actually still bother"

 

Despite my bitching from time to time, I do enjoy this site. After 9 years it would be very hard to give up.

 

"Having said all that I do of course have loadsssssssssssss of ideas mostly impratcial of course"

 

Excellent, let's hear them

 

"Also if you need to "idiot test" anything, then I may be the bloke you need. (My qualification for this job is that i did not understand a lot of this thread ) "

 

You sound perfect for the job. I'll give you access to the DevForum.

 

Sanuk!

[rickfarang]

This comment only applies to the message board section of the site.

I like the current organization. There are about the right number of topics, and they are pretty well sturctured. Some boards have an overwhelming and bewildering number of topics that one must click through to keep up to date. Others seem to not be organized at all. I think if you were to maintain a structure similar to the current one, it would be beneficial.

 

If the new board supports the ability to suppress the display of avitars, or even better selectively suppress avitars (some may be offensive to some people or problematic in some viewing environments, or operate in a text-only mode, I would welcome it.

 

Recently, a friend and I were in the lobby of the Bangkok hotel he was staying at, and we thought about checking the reviews section before heading out for the night, but when we saw that all the computer displays in the business center were visible by the staff, we decided not to.