Major Theme Changes

NorioDS · 2013-10-02T19:14:26+00:00

Just a heads-up on some major theme changes... Dropped the GFSA theme song in the header. Made it a little bit more mobile-friendly (moreso on tablets than phones!) Dropped the crowd Made the header-height "shorter" Moved the RSS icon down, next to the top menu Removed header-ad on smaller displays Removed majority of navigation-links like Articles, Reviews, etc. (they will be back later) Got rid of the popup (it might be back in another form) Added 2 large ads on the right Added 1 large ad after every first post Made the site not show anything to anyone using AdBlocker. Just turn it off for GFSA and you're fine Made the header stay put when you scroll Replaced the old, tiny, ugly social sharing buttons with new, pretty ones These changes were made to: Improve forum display for most people on very wider AND narrower displays Simplify the header a bit Improve forum usability Help us pay bills Notes: Most of the ads don't show on tablets or devices smaller than 1280 pixels in width The ads aren't going anywhere. Don't ask me to take them off Edit: Floating header has been reverted due to problems on tablets. Paid subscriptions are now available to those who don't want to see any ads (see link @ top of every page) Re-fixed some problems with mobile. Works nicely on my phone now, if it's turned sideways. Not bad in vertical either. Shold work well for most people running at least iPhones, iPads, Samsung Galaxies, Samsung tablets, etc.

NorioDS

RoyC wrote Norio you genius!

Without anyone detecting what you are REALLY up to, you have ensured that the off-topic lounge has slowed down dramatically with little or no posts. and all this done by merely inserting a few adverts. You've solved both the revenue AND off-topic lounge issue simultaneously!!

A true mastermind I say ?

*bow* 8)

NorioDS

Norman86 wrote one more thing, should the RSS button not open the rss feed?
it does nothing for me whether i hover over or try click it!

Thanks! I didn't notice that. There's an issue with my CSS that is basically blocking the RSS icon. Will fix.

epictring

Another thing.. the prices for removing ads in my opinion is too high - I honestly doubt people will pay that much. Why not implement a "donate more than $x" to become a premium member to remove ads. More people will donate and you'll make more money in the long run. Just my opinion of course, I've seen other forums doing that and it seemed to work for them. Also, people are more willing to "donate" and get perks than to "buy" something they don't need (removing ads is more of a desire), just playing with words.

Donate gives the thought of the money is going for a good cause.

Screenshots:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/sj6i2e5wdco8rsb/Screen%20Shot%202013-10-05%20at%209.55.38%20PM.png

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lq1xyt5jpvwz6d8/Screen%20Shot%202013-10-05%20at%209.56.16%20PM.png

NorioDS

epictring wrote Screenshots:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/sj6i2e5wdco8rsb/Screen%20Shot%202013-10-05%20at%209.55.38%20PM.png
https://www.dropbox.com/s/lq1xyt5jpvwz6d8/Screen%20Shot%202013-10-05%20at%209.56.16%20PM.png

Thanks for the screenies. It almost looks like you're running at a much lower resolution. Could it be you've configured your browser to display the forum differently than the default?

epictring

I haven't made any changes. Running Chrome on Mac, other websites display them correctly, so I'm not sure.

Psean

Saw a few guitar related ads today btw? That's better ?

Wizard

I'm now adapted & happy.
Even found some ads that were useful.
?

Squonk

It's all good stuff - on my windows laptop and android mobile

NorioDS

Glad to hear it guys! So far, no drop in site engagement, visitors, or any of that. And a definite increase in revenue. Not a fortune but enough to justify spending more time improving things around here, so I'm a happy camper!

makepeace

Norio wrote Glad to hear it guys! So far, no drop in site engagement, visitors, or any of that. And a definite increase in revenue. Not a fortune but enough to justify spending more time improving things around here, so I'm a happy camper!

rant

Well I think you may have just lost me for good (probably an idle threat, but why not be melodramatic I guess). When I tried to pop on here earlier the site asked me to disable my ad-blocker. And if I want to view the site with no ads I now have to pay for another one.

Admittedly I haven't been on for a while, but last time I was on things definitely were a lot more "i'm a nice, understated, quiet but busy guitar forum", and a lot less "i'm an advert page screaming at you about stuff that you will never ever be interested in ever, with a guitar forum on the side".

As regards engagement: compared to October and September last year there are less new topics, less new posts and less new member registrations. Sure, site views have gone up - but that's a statistic concerning external activity - not internal (ie forum members logging on and engaging with the site).

As for the revenue.. What ever need could you have to spend money on 'improving' as an already established and long-standing forum that worked perfectly well as was?! There was nothing wrong with how things were.. I would prefer it stayed like that. Don't try fix what's not broken, KISS and all of those things apply here from my perspective. I would say that what you should do with the revenue is to spend it on removing the ads ?.

Also, in the newsletter there was a potentially disturbing little recent topic that was probably not meant to be read by everyone:

"Recent Payment
Hi guy ?A Google cheque just cleared for R1,008. Would you like us to split it or spend it on the... (6 replies; 8 views)"

A little unprofessional mayhaps?

Irregardless - as someone who once spent quite a bit of time on here, I'm just putting out my point of view. Maybe I'm in the 1% or maybe loads of people agree with me. Whatever the case, I think you guys should know that not everyone is happy with the changes you've imposed.

/rant

Shibbibilybob

I'm not bothered by the ads.
While the forum was perfect before them, and they don't necessarily add to the experience I have (directly), I really do appreciate the upkeep and maintenance performed by the site administrators and think it's more than fair for them to receive some compensation...further, I expect there is probably some monetary cost to running the site, and certainly it would be unfair to expect anyone to foot that bill personally.

I say do what you need to do to keep the forum running.
And it's nice to not have to pay for the above myself...though if one day I were required to contribute, I'd probably be happy to pay for membership.

makepeace

Shibbibilybob wrote ...I really do appreciate the upkeep and maintenance performed by the site administrators and think it's more than fair for them to receive some compensation...further, I expect there is probably some monetary cost to running the site, and certainly it would be unfair to expect anyone to foot that bill personally.

I agree completely with what you're saying. But AFAIK, there has always been advertising on the site, which payed for the maintenance. It was understated, while still noticeable and there was nothing wrong with it. My point is that the amount of advertising on the site now is unnecessary.

If there was a situation where there wasn't enough money to keep things going - I would also be prepared to pay for membership. But I would imagine a large proportion of the members wouldn't - hence using advertising as the method for keeping the site going.

AlanRatcliffe

makepeace wrote But AFAIK, there has always been advertising on the site, which payed for the maintenance.

Unfortunately we weren't covering costs, let alone being able to justify expansion (in the form of new features) - which is ultimately what we want to do. Trust me, I hate the ads as much as anyone and this is certainly not the direction I wanted to go. But at this point it's unavoidable.

Squonk

To be fair, the ads were annoying at first but hardly noticeable now. Makepeace give it a couple of days....

Stoffeltoo

What ads? ?
Ignorance is bliss. ?I quickly adapted, slip past these stuff and carry on reading.

racman

Please keep the Ads non-guitar related ... I can't afford to spend any more money on gear ! ?

ftcl

I must admit that at first I was very annoyed at the ads. Now? I don't notice them at all... Tbh, if it means the forum is still there every time I want to log in, I'm all for it.

ftcl

RoyC wrote Please keep the Ads non-guitar related ... I can't afford to spend any more money on gear ! ?

Absolutely agree! ?

DaFiz

epictring wrote I haven't made any changes. Running Chrome on Mac, other websites display them correctly, so I'm not sure.

interesting... I found Firefox better than Chrome on my Mac... If I'm not mistaken it was this very forum GFSA and the posting of pictures that caused me to change from Safari in the first place...
Chrome still failed to display the Photobucket images while Firefox had no problem at all... ???

NorioDS

makepeace wrote As regards engagement: compared to October and September last year there are less new topics, less new posts and less new member registrations.

This is called propaganda (using half truths to convey a story that fits your agenda) and I'm immune to it. The decline in posts and topics between last YEAR and this YEAR is a GENERAL forum issue and 100% unrelated to the ads. (This is obvious as the ads have only just RECENTLY (2 October) come into play.)

If we were to look at stats for some sort of evidence, we'd need to look at the period just before introducing ads and the period just after. That basically means comparing September 2013 to October 2013. And the stats show absolutely zero drop-off in engagement.

makepeace wrote Sure, site views have gone up - but that's a statistic concerning external activity - not internal (ie forum members logging on and engaging with the site).

Actually, if you compare the CORRECT data (September vs October), then "internal activity" has basically stayed the same. That is to say that the ads have had no effect apart from a bit of backlash (which was 100% expected by me - same thing happened when we switched from blue to red.)

makepeace wrote As for the revenue.. What ever need could you have to spend money on 'improving' as an already established and long-standing forum that worked perfectly well as was?!

Seeing as this is our business, we're entitled to have a different view of its future than you have and to pursue that vision. I do not hold the same belief that it worked perfectly well. The fact that we had to pump money into it to keep it alive tells me that it was horribly broken (in terms of sustainability). It is now just barely covering its own costs.

makepeace wrote Also, in the newsletter there was a potentially disturbing little recent topic that was probably not meant to be read by everyone:

Yes that was an incredibly embarrassing stuff-up. Thanks for pointing it out, I didn't notice it and will need to fix that. Thank you!

The cheque was for earnings from the past SIX MONTHS. More proof that this site was more broken than you had previously thought. R1,000 for 6 months of running a site like this is NOWHERE near enough. This forum shares resources with my other clients and, due to its sheer size, sometimes brings down my database. It NEEDS its own server. For its own survival. And that is just one of many things we plan to do with it.

makepeace wrote Whatever the case, I think you guys should know that not everyone is happy with the changes you've imposed.

That was already clear but I'm confident that the changes are sustainable and will lead to improvements. Everyone is welcome to disagree but the stats don't lie.

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