YachtForums - Version Two

Hi All,

1. We have a new "YachtForums Yacht Club" located at the bottom of the main index page, under the Yacht Club category. This is a place for scuttlebutt, off topic and just plain fun stuff. I've moved a few threads into this category to kick things off. Here's a direct link...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/the-yachtforums-yacht-club-255/

2. The YachtForums Feature Reviews have been redesigned to make them more reader-friendly. They are no longer a forum format, which gives us greater flexibility, however they still maintain the look of YachtForums. There is a new "continued" button for multi-page reviews at the bottom of each page. Here's an example...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/trinity-yacht/4004-review-trinitys-180-mia-elise.html

3. You may have noticed the silhouette of a ship's wheel on thread headers. Hopefully it adds a nice nautical touch to the overall theme.

4. We have a member's "toolbox" that will be implemented shortly. It will accompany each page, giving you quick links to PM's, personal stats and site resources. Should launch in a few days.

5. The new classified database will launch in early 2006. We're working on this now. It’s been an ongoing process of working with, learning from, and educating the brokerage community.

6. The Member’s Rewards program will launch in early 2006 as well. We have a number of equipment manufacturers that would like to be seen on YachtForums. In exchange for this, they’ll be supplying a product to YF members that share the best news and make the most informative posts each month. Members will vote on who receives monthly awards.

2005 has been a challenging year. We've spent a lot of time behind the scenes in site development, search engine optimization and marketing. I’m glad to say the long hours and hard work have paid off. I’ve attached the YF hits chart below. For the month of December, we eclipsed 12 million hits (upper left corner of the chart) and nearly 55,000 unique visitors (the last day has not been calculated yet). BTW... January thru October have been deleted because the raw logs take too much disk space and slow the server performance.

My very best wishes to everyone for 2006 and most of all, thanks to each of you who have embraced the site and made it your online waypoint.

In case anyone noticed... sorry about the front page shuffle today. We're getting the new page ready to splash and there's lots of tweaking involved. Hoping to have it completed tonight, maybe tomorrow. Might have to go offline, but it won't be for long.

Thanks all!

Hi all,

Some big changes around here, but they are subtle...

1. The new "Member's Toolbox" has been added. This will follow you around the forum with access to your Private Messages, etc. It will also be part of our Member's Rewards program. In the next couple of weeks, you'll see a new banner take the place of the "Welcome to Yachtforums; Your Online Waypoint" banner (above). The current banner is only a "filler". The new banner will contain details.

(BTW... if you're not logged-in, you're not seeing the same thing as members are right now)

2. YF has been optimized for a variety of browsers and screen resolutions. For our viewers using 1024 x 768, you should no longer need to scroll sideways anywhere on the forum, with the exception of some feature reviews with very large images. If you are still using 600 x 800 resolution, then shame on you and you deserve to scroll sideways!

3. We have a new front page lay-out that highlights YF Feature Reviews. It's not actually finished yet, but it's pretty close. (websites are always a work in progress)

4. Still tweaking the new YachtForums Header. If we ever decide on the final design, it will be at the top of your screen.

And finally... I'm so far past tired I'm looking for a hospital bed. I've got meetings tomorrow, so I'm off to sleep... because it's not nice to snore in meetings.

Good night all!

Just noticed a glitch...

I just logged onto the system with someones else's computer, who's a member, and the toolbox is not showing up?

Are you guys seeing the Members Toolbox above? It should be a graphic reading "Welcome to Yachtforums - Your Online Waypoint", with your personal details to the right.

A little feedback would be appreciated. Thanks!

Carl

Many thanks for the feedback!

The "Welcome to YachtForums" banner is only temporary. This position is where the Membership Rewards program will be featured. I'm making banners for this now, but I'm behind on some other things. Give me a few days. No... better make that a couple of weeks, because I'm sticking to my New Year's resolution and going to the gym!

Hi all,

Couple things...

1. If you have a suggestion for the Members Toolbox, such as a universal link or certain stats that should be included, post it under this thread. I CAN'T promise we'll use it, because there are space issues involved, but we'll do our best.

2. Somebody send me a Private Message! I'm testing the PM system and need some messages. Insults, slander... whatever you want to say! Just need some test messages.

Thanks!

LOL! Many thanks to Viking 58 for the background image of the Welcome to Yachtforums banner. That's his boat in the picture!