Site suggestions

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Tizer
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Site suggestions

Post by Tizer »

Following a prompt from Ian, and my finding out the proper way of posting pics, I'd like to suggest a few more topics be created in the Gallery list where we can submit images, photos etc. How about Aviation, Marine, Gardens and Nature, Architecture, Old Advertisements, Cartoons?
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PanBiker
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by PanBiker »

Thanks for those Tizer, good categories.

At the moment I can't seem to see how to create a new gallery category with the moderator or admin privileges that I have. Not a lot of info in the board instruction manuals either. I can create new categories, forums and sub forums in the main forum but this does not seem to extend to the gallery. I will have a better look a the manual and then ask Doc in the admin forum if I can't figure it out.

Watch this space.
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by PanBiker »

In another thread, Tizer asked the following:

"I do wonder how many other people know about these threads, let alone view them? I get the impression that many members only view the Miscellaneous Chat area. They are missing interesting stuff! Would it be better to make the main page (the one with the default URL) the Active Topics list and put the Board Index as a secondary page with a main link from it?"

The index page is the default landing page for virtually all websites. It is possible to revector the start page but the problem here would be that everything else on the homepage would be hidden.

I think the problem is that the majority of what are the most popular threads have been piled into the General Misc Chat and Gossip forum which is a mistake in my view. To try to address this I have been moving some of the threads into more relevant forums on the site. This is transparent to most users depending on which method they choose to browse the site. Personally I use "View Unread Posts" as this shows me all threads that are currently active and have been replied to since my last visit.

In the early days of the site, Doc put up a thread which draws attention to the different methods of searching the site and the differences between them. Its as valid now as it was in the early days and was originally posted in General Discussions About The Site:

How Do You Like Yours In the Morning?

It might be an idea to take the first post from here and turn the info into a sticky so that it becomes a little more prominent.

Mind you having said all this, users may look but may not wish to reply. I read them all but only reply If I have something to say.

On another issue

Your earlier post in this thread was made before I had my admin hat so I could not action them then, Shortly after the site broke so I was reluctant to try then. Now it's fixed, I am looking at the best categories to insert your suggestions into Peter, they don't automatically fit into existing categories so I might have to make one or two more. It's a differnt can of worms though over in the Gallery and needs careful thought on the best way to do it.
Ian
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by Whyperion »

Don't worry too hard, by the time I get the 200 (relevant and Interesting I hope) cards/postcards on they will probably break every current filing convention category.

Oh, dont forget view unread posts can only be seen by registered users, not casual 'guests'
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by Tizer »

PanBiker wrote:How Do You Like Yours In the Morning?
It might be an idea to take the first post from here and turn the info into a sticky so that it becomes a little more prominent.
That's a good idea, Ian. Would it be sensible also to flag it up in the Attention thread for those members who don't look at the Board Index?
I'm sure Whippy's postcard thread will get plenty of hits via Google but my concerns have been more about OGFB members knowing what's available on the site. I know some of them may only ever want to read certain threads and wouldn't bother with anything else but there are probably other members who would enjoy ones like these postcard threads but don't know they exist. Those people won't find them through Google searches if they only look at Miscellaneous Chat. Perhaps the Miscellaneous Chat thread could have the sticky as well as perhaps putting it at the top of the Board Index and add some text to tempt members to look at other threads? Belt & braces!
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by PanBiker »

I have copied the information and turned it into a global announcement. This will appear above every forum on the site. I have also modified the New Members Read Me announcement with a link to the new information. Ill see how many hits it gets and then re-appraise.
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by Tizer »

Mrs Tiz asked me a question about OGFB and I couldn't answer it, so I've put it here.
Since OGFB started to have a `members only' area a lot of posts/topics are only accessible by registering and logging in. Does this mean that posts/topics in this area are not accessible to search engines such as Google?
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by PanBiker »

There is only one category area of the site which is not accessible to unregistered visitors and that is the Donor members area, which as you know only contains the financial reports on the site and how we are fairing regarding donations to the overheads of the site.

All other categories forums and sub forums are accessible to visitor members although any individual needs to be registered in order to instigate a topic or reply to posts.

There is an additional hidden area on the site which is only accessible to Administrators and Moderators where the housekeeping and technical issues of the site are discussed. As the topics are of no relevance to the general members of the site there is no point displaying them. Access to this area is controlled by group permissions. The Administrator and Moderator control panel links are also hidden but again have no relevance to the general members.

With respect to the various bots and spiders that index the site. They have global permissions so can and do index all the topics and the gallery regardless of any members permission sets. If you go to the bottom of the site and click on "Who is Online" it will give all information on current visitors to the site and which areas they are browsing, this extends to the bots as well so you can see exactly what they are currently indexing. Not down to individual threads but certainly to category and forum and sub forum level.

I hope this answers Mrs Tiz's question.
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Tizer
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by Tizer »

Thanks for a comprehensive and helpful answer, Ian. I've relayed your answer to her and find that her concern was caused by two things. First, when not logged in we can't access the Active Topics page which we normally use as our `index' or `contents list' for OG. We keep this page bookmarked but when not logged in the bookmark brings up an OG page saying we are not allowed access. This has given the impression that some of the topics might not be accessible to unregistered people and therefore not scanned by search engines.

Second, she read in an archaeology magazine that there were concerns among archaeologists that recorded archaeological data was being stored on web pages only accessible by password and therefore could not be scanned by search engines. Putting the two things together led to her question about OG. It's good to know that all the `regular' posts on OG can be scanned so that the site gets maximum ratings with the search engines.

Is there any reason why that Active Topics page should be inaccessible to unregistered viewers?
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by PanBiker »

Tizer wrote:Is there any reason why that Active Topics page should be inaccessible to unregistered viewers?
I assume it's in the coding of the phpBB software, i.e. by design. I have looked in the admin control panel and there is no control over whether these sub menus are available on a permission basis. They are a bonus of being a registered member.

Any feature of the site available to members such as posting a reply and access to these menus will throw some kind of error or notification if you try to access them as a guest. It would seem that the trying to post a reply to a topic response is helpful whereas the bookmark to link only available to members is not.
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by Stanley »

Do we know how many people access OG daily? From the way some topics ramp up page views they must be generally available to non-members.
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Re: Site suggestions

Post by PanBiker »

We no longer have a statistics module plugged into the site so analysis of traffic is somewhat limited. The "Who is Online" link at the bottom of the homepage lists how many guest are online at any one time, guest viewers generally far outweighs the registered members. As I mentioned before all guests have full access to all the topics apart from the donor and admin areas. Their search via fast indexing links is limited though by virtue of them not being available to guests.

As I post this there are 60 guest users online, 4 registered users and 4 bots trolling the posts and images.
Ian
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