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netsmithUK

New site design just went live!

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There seems to be a problem with members PM'ing each other via the main page. One of our members has sent me a message but all I got is an email saying "you have been sent the following message via Tamiyaclub.com" but there is no content at all and I don't see a way of viewing PM's on my main page?

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I would like to say that I really don't like the new look of the website, sorry.
The new Tamiyaclub has no identity and it is very dispersive and confusing.

In Italy we say "Ministry for complication of simple business".

My 2 cents.

 

Max

 

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6 hours ago, kontemax said:

I would like to say that I really don't like the new look of the website, sorry.
The new Tamiyaclub has no identity and it is very dispersive and confusing.

In Italy we say "Ministry for complication of simple business".

My 2 cents.

 

Max

 

Have to agree with Max on this.

Huge graphics, enormous text, too much scrolling up & down...

What happened to the full list of Tamiya models ? I know it was getting a bit ungainly but maybe a filtering option could have sorted that.

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@Wandy I'll take a look at it. Just to be clear you are reporting this as someone that has received a message, with no content as opposed to someone thats having problems sending messages?

I'm sorry to those people that are not keen on the new site, but I've also been through this redesign phase before several times and have learnt I'm not able to please everyone, which is fair enough everyone has different tastes/opinions. I have to say though of all the ones I've done on the club this is the one that has gone smoothest and met with the most positive feedback so far. Thats not to say it won't get tweaked and improved over the next few weeks or months though.

The 'page with all 1600 cars on it' does seem to crop up a few times as one of those areas I need to look at, but I don't think anyone has yet managed to describe why it was better in a clear way yet. Most of the feedback I've had is people would go to the page and do Ctrl F and then type a bit of the name of the model they were after, ie they are not wading through all 1600 looking for something but search. The new page works the same way but better, in that in one search (rather than ctrl f, then find next, find next, find next) I can see all the 'buggy's or all the 'audi' or just all the models that start with '5800'. I'm still up for improving it though, which is why I made some changes this weekend, I just need some feedback on how it was used previously that made it better?

Cheers

Chris

 

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4 hours ago, netsmithUK said:

@Wandy I'll take a look at it. Just to be clear you are reporting this as someone that has received a message, with no content as opposed to someone thats having problems sending messages?

I'm sorry to those people that are not keen on the new site, but I've also been through this redesign phase before several times and have learnt I'm not able to please everyone, which is fair enough everyone has different tastes/opinions. I have to say though of all the ones I've done on the club this is the one that has gone smoothest and met with the most positive feedback so far. Thats not to say it won't get tweaked and improved over the next few weeks or months though.

The 'page with all 1600 cars on it' does seem to crop up a few times as one of those areas I need to look at, but I don't think anyone has yet managed to describe why it was better in a clear way yet. Most of the feedback I've had is people would go to the page and do Ctrl F and then type a bit of the name of the model they were after, ie they are not wading through all 1600 looking for something but search. The new page works the same way but better, in that in one search (rather than ctrl f, then find next, find next, find next) I can see all the 'buggy's or all the 'audi' or just all the models that start with '5800'. I'm still up for improving it though, which is why I made some changes this weekend, I just need some feedback on how it was used previously that made it better?

Cheers

Chris

 

Chris,

I am definitely one of the haters for the new site, but want to firstly thank you for all your efforts as I can only imagine the work you are having to put in. I also acknowledge you will never please everyone, so despite what I may think and say please don't stop.

Regarding the car lists I am amazed you have removed it.  Rather than ask what was better about the old way of listing, I would rather understand why it was felt it should be removed, i.e. what was wrong with it?  I used to do a ctr F to search for particular cars, but I also used to enjoy looking down the list and choosing a random one that took my fancy at that time to go in and look at.  The attraction was being able to view the whole list.  I do fear however that with the new font sizes on the site it will not any where near as good now anyway, as it will take 5 minutes of scrolling to get down it.

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I did the CTRL+F search as well back then and found it quite neat. EDIT: Why? Because it's much faster than waiting for the site to load for every time I enter a new search string. And I can just hop to every single highlighted result using the Enter key. Another plus is that I am able to discover cars I wasn't aware of before, just like when browsing through a printed catalogue.

It would be a nice feature if the full car list view would be at least optionally available, if it isn't active by default.

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11 hours ago, netsmithUK said:

@Wandy I'll take a look at it. Just to be clear you are reporting this as someone that has received a message, with no content as opposed to someone thats having problems sending messages?

@netsmithUK Yeah, I received a message from member purplerob but the actual content wasn't there. I just got the email saying I had a message via TamiyaClub.com. It was basically a blank email.

I know this because I had a conversation with purplerob through the comments section on his latest showroom listing and asked him if he had sent me a PM. He confirmed that he had.

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6 hours ago, Andyfish2000 said:

Regarding the car lists I am amazed you have removed it.  Rather than ask what was better about the old way of listing, I would rather understand why it was felt it should be removed, i.e. what was wrong with it?  I used to do a ctr F to search for particular cars, but I also used to enjoy looking down the list and choosing a random one that took my fancy at that time to go in and look at.  The attraction was being able to view the whole list.  I do fear however that with the new font sizes on the site it will not any where near as good now anyway, as it will take 5 minutes of scrolling to get down it.

I agree with this. The very first thing I noticed when the site was being trialled was the absence of the enitre model list. I too have always enjoyed just meandering through the lists to see if something takes my interest. It really does need to come back if at all possible. However I do also like the newly added search facility as it works really well.

The other things that are a big miss for me are the showroom comments showing at the side of the photos. I really don't like that they are underneath. I also miss being able to click on the image to blow it up in size on a new tab. Can we get those things back?

I think I can get used to the new look, and it definitely looks a lot better when viewed on a phone than the old look did. But, for now at least, some of the community feel seems to have been lost to accomodate improved functionality.

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2 hours ago, futureworks said:

I'm afraid to say that despite the good intentions of the revamp, the new site is a complete downgrade from the old one -  if it stays as is I just won't see the point of renewing when my sub comes to an end. Sorry, but it's just lost me completely and has nowhere near the coherence and ease of navigation of the old site - "if it ain't broke, don't fix it" ☹️

 

13 hours ago, Andyfish2000 said:

Chris,

I am definitely one of the haters for the new site, but want to firstly thank you for all your efforts as I can only imagine the work you are having to put in. I also acknowledge you will never please everyone, so despite what I may think and say please don't stop.

Regarding the car lists I am amazed you have removed it.  Rather than ask what was better about the old way of listing, I would rather understand why it was felt it should be removed, i.e. what was wrong with it?  I used to do a ctr F to search for particular cars, but I also used to enjoy looking down the list and choosing a random one that took my fancy at that time to go in and look at.  The attraction was being able to view the whole list.  I do fear however that with the new font sizes on the site it will not any where near as good now anyway, as it will take 5 minutes of scrolling to get down it.

 

On ‎2017‎-‎05‎-‎08 at 8:49 PM, kontemax said:

I would like to say that I really don't like the new look of the website, sorry.
The new Tamiyaclub has no identity and it is very dispersive and confusing.

In Italy we say "Ministry for complication of simple business".

My 2 cents.

 

Max

 

Yep.

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Usually, i'm not that sort of guy who is against everything new. I also know that things sometimes badly feared are sorted out after a couple of days. I remember when we got the new forum look not long ago. First i was dissapointed but after a couple of days i had to agree it was not that bad at all and i arranged quickly how to use it.
But this time it is different. The more i try the more i have to agree with the latest comments here: It may be an improvement of functionality here and there, but costs too much of the community feeling.
Or as to say it in Tamiya-Language: it's the good old SRB's like Scorcher & Co that we always give preference to a modern but soulless high tech buggy:-D

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The loss of the models listing defeats the purpose of the club.  The showroom is a real disaster on the eyes.  In the previous version, having the models listed cleanly in the thumbnails just made sense to tease the eye and was logical.  Now ? Yuck.

One step forward, two steps back.  Nice effort though.

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Hi Guys

Thanks for all the great feedback, its fantastic people are still passionate about the club and the site. I'm not really sure what the best way forward is, without the thread just becoming overly protracted while basically trying to get two opposite opinions to come into line or one side change its view 180 degrees (and we all know how often that works out well on the internet :) )

I think for now, all I can say is the changes I made have all been because of a reason that I am happy with - as some one that knows the club, knows the stats of how people use the club and has done this for a living for other clients for a long time. I am already seeing improvements where I was looking for them, so there is no turning back. That said, I'll continue to look into how it can be improved further and appeal to even more people. (it would be crazy not to) 

Cheers

Chris

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Also another one here who doesn't like the front page layout and the list of cars gone. I also enjoyed just scrolling through them at random and browse whatever model I liked and the stats and entries that followed. I now don't even bother trying to view on my phone anymore, just straight to the forum.

I do like the changing homepage showroom main pic (under the tamiyaclub.com logo) but we should be able to click on that pic and be taken to that persons showroom entry.

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@wandy spent most of yesterday on it and got it in the end. After staring at it for hours I realised it was a simple type, apparently you don't spell message, messsage.

@berman, clicking on the banner might come but also looking at other plans for that area. In the meantime you can click on the members name and copyright symbol on the picture and it will take you through. 

Mobile usage of the main site is already going up (its currently at least 50% of the daily traffic - all those people should find it much easier now) plus I'm working on a new view that makes skimming through all the new stuff much easier/faster. Its a bit chicken and egg, the previous incarnation of the forum was not mobile friendly and was a bit of a nightmare to use on mobile devices. Once it was updated the number of people using it on a mobile device soon shot up.

Chris

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How about an option to look to at our showrooms in list view instead of the current grid view?

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Loon, I am liking what I see there. Thanks Chris for all you are doing to update the site. I just renewed my sub.

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Thumbs down ..the old way worked and was user friendly ,glad I did not re-new my subscription .

The new format is hard on the eyes ,I tried to give it a good go ,but got lost found nothing I was looking for .

Understand a lot of effort has gone into the new format .....but the old saying ...if it isn't broken don't fix it .

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@swarm, Like I said, always knew it wouldn't appeal to everyone but it was certainly was broken for the majority and would be for everyone going forward. 

Anyone that knows me knows I don't do these things if I can help it in anyway (how long since the last one?) both because of the work involved but also handling the inevitable fallout from those that don't approve. I appreciate you giving it a go and I'm sorry it doesn't work for you.

Cheers

Chris

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Another little typo, bottom of the home page - "not affiliated to or endorsed by Tamiya Inc or any of it's subsidiaries" - should be 'any of its subsidiaries' without the apostrophe.

Also, are the counters to record the number of views of models in showrooms working? Either the counters have stopped or there's been zero traffic through my showroom since the update (which isn't impossible, but there's usually enough to notice the numbers ticking up).

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thanks for the typo spot - will fix shortly.

There is a general problem with the counters at the moment it was an area I had to work on because the way I was doing it was really inefficient. I'll get it shorted soon - in fact the whole stats things for your showroom is in line for an upgrade, as soon as the basics are sorted.

Cheers

Chris

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