New Look GTO Home Page

[greghutton]

Guy's,

We now have a new look home page, hopefully this will be more appealing to the eye and allow you to more easily get an overview of the different sections/features within GTO.

We have a NEW Blog/Journal System, which is fantastic with some great new features...

Unfortunatley it does not allow for the import of journals written in the forums... however I was able to import the previous blog/journal systems records I have moved over all of the previous blog/journals from the system before last...

I will close the current blog/journal forum but will leave it up so that no records are lost and we can still browse. You can if you feel up to it, copy and paste your blog/journal records over to the new system... Going forward GTO will be sticking with this system so no more changing

You will see new features being added over the coming days so keep your eyes open...

Also, you are now able to include videos from myspace into your posts by simply copying and pasting the URL into the post. The video will then be displayed in the post when you submit.

I hope that you enjoy the new look... please let me know what you think

[bdbl]

Re: New Look GTO Home Page

Guy's,

We have a NEW Blog/Journal System, which is fantastic with some great new features...

You can if you feel up to it, copy and paste your blog/journal records over to the new system...

Oh Ok then - having realised that I've been doing a journal without knowing it I might as well put the entries in one place.

Even if no-one else reads it I found it interesting to go back and look.

[greghutton]

Re: New Look GTO Home Page

A Blog/Journal is such a great tool for the golfer... so often we forget how we have progressed...

Good Luck

[LowPost42]

Re: New Look GTO Home Page

I'll second that - and thanks for the upgrades Greg.

Even in my own blog, it's neat to see how I 'thought' of this years' Domtar versus last years Domtar. A great tool for sure; now I need to learn how to get more out of it.

[greghutton]

Re: New Look GTO Home Page

I'll second that - and thanks for the upgrades Greg.

Even in my own blog, it's neat to see how I 'thought' of this years' Domtar versus last years Domtar. A great tool for sure; now I need to learn how to get more out of it.

Tip: The "Manage Blocks" feature allows you to add all sorts to your blog. You can find it under the "Blog Quick Links" drop down.

[Mox]

Re: New Look GTO Home Page

Greg,

The priorities on the front page seems slightly off.

The golf equipment reviews dominate the front page, despite only 3 reviews all year.

The forum posts - without a doubt the most active part of the site - is positioned outside most "normal" computer screens.

In the left column, there are some "tips", while the "Lessons" are completely missing from the front page ... kinda odd considering the "Golf Tuition Online" branding.

At the moment the user experience is like this ...


- Enter URL
- Get splash screen that is uninteresting for anybody except perhaps first time users.
- click logo
- Get front page containing login
- login
- Get front page that is fairly (if not completely) static, containing (visible) banner ads, google adwords, a 3 skills ad, a static GTO event link and a static "Tiger tackle" link.

At this point, I have made 3 active action and I have had 3 fairly slow pageloads. And I'm still not reaching any of the exciting, dynamic information available at this site.

To get there, I have to select from the menu or scroll down, the latter which will still only get me a list of the 10 latest posts (and a lot of other static links).

Don't get me wrong - I think most of that stuff SHOULD be on the front page, but there are just too many static items in "better" positions than the interesting dynamic items.


I would suggest that the equipment reviews are moved to the left column, and that forum posts move up.

Below the forum posts, tips and lessons could be positioned. Of course, more activity in these areas could move them above the forum posts.

Also, I would suggest moving the splash screen to the "about us" section. I honestly don't think anybody reads it, and you might even lose potential users just because it is there. To me, it is a daily annoyance - very likely to others too.

Just my dime's worth.

[golfinguy28]

Re: New Look GTO Home Page

post removed

[greghutton]

Re: New Look GTO Home Page

Greg,

The priorities on the front page seems slightly off.

The golf equipment reviews dominate the front page, despite only 3 reviews all year.

The forum posts - without a doubt the most active part of the site - is positioned outside most "normal" computer screens.

In the left column, there are some "tips", while the "Lessons" are completely missing from the front page ... kinda odd considering the "Golf Tuition Online" branding.

At the moment the user experience is like this ...


- Enter URL
- Get splash screen that is uninteresting for anybody except perhaps first time users.
- click logo
- Get front page containing login
- login
- Get front page that is fairly (if not completely) static, containing (visible) banner ads, google adwords, a 3 skills ad, a static GTO event link and a static "Tiger tackle" link.

At this point, I have made 3 active action and I have had 3 fairly slow pageloads. And I'm still not reaching any of the exciting, dynamic information available at this site.

To get there, I have to select from the menu or scroll down, the latter which will still only get me a list of the 10 latest posts (and a lot of other static links).

Don't get me wrong - I think most of that stuff SHOULD be on the front page, but there are just too many static items in "better" positions than the interesting dynamic items.


I would suggest that the equipment reviews are moved to the left column, and that forum posts move up.

Below the forum posts, tips and lessons could be positioned. Of course, more activity in these areas could move them above the forum posts.

Also, I would suggest moving the splash screen to the "about us" section. I honestly don't think anybody reads it, and you might even lose potential users just because it is there. To me, it is a daily annoyance - very likely to others too.

Just my dime's worth.

Mox,

Thanks so much for taking the time to point these things out, I will try and do a little re-jigging over the next few days... the splash page is important for the site in terms of ranking, so I can't touch it as golfingguy28 suggested just stick the forum or home page under quick links and bypass the splash page. I agree that the home page could do with a few changes.

Thanks again

[golfndawg]

Re: New Look GTO Home Page

Have I lost my blog/journal again? Or does it just delete over time...I see everybody elses but when I try to find mine it says I have no blog.........