It's been a couple month since the migration to XenForo. Thanks to everyone who could have complained, but accepted change and embraced a new platform. Trust me, this migration was the LAST thing in the world I wanted to do, but we had NO choice. We'll continue to develop scripts as needed to make the interface as fluent as possible. XenForo is missing some important admin tools, but it's stable, secure and new plug-ins are coming online as more vB based forums make the jump. I had serious reservations about converting the Front Page to a news based format. Historically, news items don't see the same level of interest as YFs reviews or YOUR discussions. Years ago, I monitored IP addresses visiting our news section and found the majority were industry based; other yachting media, designers, architects, suppliers and industry folks. While these folks are welcome, we built YF for owners, captains, engineers and enthusiasts who have intimate knowledge of the topics we discuss. I don't often ask for group opinions because I can't always accommodate the diversity of requests. In a phrase... 'you can't make everyone happy', so I try to make decisions that won't ruffle the feathers of the vast majority. With that preface, are you guys OK with a news-based front page?
I enjoy Yacht Forums, I find now since the change over I very seldom sign in as you can now read new post with out signing in, where in the old Yacht Forums you had to sign in to read new post. One thing I find about not signing in there are usually new alerts for me, so I now sign to a few times every week. Keep up the good work.
It seems the older we get the more we resist change, I guess that's human nature to some degree. As for the Forum I like the Front page, and the new format. Not being an IT guy, I can't even fathom all the work you and your crew have done. Based on the hours you personally spent, you've given birth to a great product and should be very proud!
I go straight to "NEW POSTS," so what's on the front page (or home page) doesn't matter to me. I suspect that regular users don't care either; they have their own routines. My recommendation for your home page is to put something on there that will grab the attention of the type of potential new members you want; make them want to look beyond the home page. I'm not the creative type, so I have no specific example of what that might be. There are creative people here, though. Maybe they will put on their thinking caps, and come up with something for your home page or conclude everything is fine as is. I found YF by doing a Google search for the Outer Reef 73 back in 2009. I was so impressed by the review, that I started reading the FAQ's, and I have been hooked on YF ever since. I joined YF in 2011 so I could use the search function. (If your goal is new members, you don't need to be a member to use the search function since the switch to XenForo.) Maybe existing members, new and old, will give some feedback in this thread as to how they discovered YF, and what turned them on about it. If you want to change to the home page, you might want to emphasize whatever that common denominator is, assuming there is one.
I never go to the front page. I see news within the forums and otherwise would not see it at all. I guess to me it's Yacht "Forums" and my use centers on that. I do see the news posts and read from there.
Will reviews and features also show up on the front page (when you have time to create some more - soon, we hope!) ? Unlike many of the other commenters, I do go through the front page - in Chrome www.yachtforums.com is one of my 8 frequently opened pages. Most of the news stories are just announcements from builders so I rarely follow the links, but sometimes there's one that catches my interest and I'll have a look. But very quickly I click on "New Posts" and then "Recent Posts" and then go through the threads that have new comments.
Me too. The few times I've noticed the front page -- usually just after logging out from the forum -- I only see headlines about boats so far out of my league that it's not worth my time to pay attention. -Chris
I have my Safari Bookmark set to YF's Forums page. You once suggested I use the "New Posts" feature, but maybe it's a case of old dogs or perhaps some of the new posts not being of interest. I link directly to the Forums page and then check in on the topics of interest. Maybe with more reviews, I'll change my setting Judy
Great feedback. Thanks all! Regarding mandatory registration to use the Search function: I had it enabled in Vb for 11 years to build membership, but it doesn't necessarily equate to more members. In some cases, mandatory membership is a turn off. When we migrated to XenForo, I enabled the Search function for unregistered users. My thinking was if a viewer can get the information they seek quickly, they might find our discussions informative enough to prompt them to become members. The jury is still out on this... Regarding reviews: We have a new one going live in January. We will publish another 6-8 reviews this year, but first I have to get a little camera and a skinny Dremel tool inserted into my knee on the 26th of January, so I will have to skip the Miami Show. Regarding the New Posts button that requires clicking the 'Recent Post' button to see EVERY post: It IS a PITA and it's on my to-Do list. Regarding reviews on the front page: Yes, they will mix in with the news stories. I'm going to give front page news about a 6 month trial. If we see membership wain, then I'll convert it back to reviews only. We're also making an effort to balance the barage of press releases we get from the superyacht end of the biz with coverage of mortal size boats too.
I'm confused by what you, Ward, and Fishtigua are doing with the NEW POSTS and Recent Posts buttons. They serve two different, but similar, functions. When I click on the NEW POSTS button, only the threads that have new posts that I haven't seen will be listed. When I click on the Recent Posts button, the most recently-updated 200 threads will be listed, regardless of whether I've seen them or not. In other words, NEW POSTS is a member-specific (or user-name-specific) list, whereas Recent Posts is a list of the most recently updated 200 threads and at any given time that list should be the same for all members. If you just want to see only threads that have been updated since the last time you viewed them, just click the NEW POSTS button and use the list that appears. To the left of the thread title is a little button that, if you click on it, will take you to the first post that you haven't seen. I've found the Recent Posts button useful when I'm looking for a fairly recent thread, but I can't remember the title or which forum it was in.
Exactly! That was the thought process by the original coders of XenForo. It lends itself to an active community, although it requires an extra click to see ALL recent threads. It should be a simple hack if you guys prefer the original vB style that shows every thread when you click the New Posts button on the navbar, but in it's current state, it is less processor intensive. Again, great feedback from everyone. Thank you for taking the time to post!
I do the 2-click sequence New Posts > Recent Posts because I prefer to see all the recently-updated threads even if they haven't been updated again since I last looked at them. And I noticed over the past week or so that some of the items on the front page are more than just a single picture and simple press release - e.g. the latest post on the home page has a few nice pictures. So I'll continue to access the site by looking first at the home page, then getting to Recent Posts.
I don't come in through the home page, but do make a point to go there frequently just to see the things you're talking about. Some times I go and see something and it hits me, "I didn't know this was here." So I read and look at the photos.
I still like to see the home page....even though most of the boats there are out of my league...if it hadn't been for the front page I would have missed out on Judy's review of the Moonen. So yes...it does have benefits...I'm just glad most of these guys don't go hit Jet Forums...it takes about two hours to peruse the front page! If you do decide to lose the front page, please make a tab for it, so I can check out what the latest and greatest is going on in this Industry.