Site questions

[MGC]

First, the new landing page is very nice. White space gives a crisp appearance to the site.
Well done.

A couple observations/questions that are unrelated:

First, I cannot figure zoom photographs with the latest photo manager. Even a Control+ restores the photo to the thumbnail view. So the question, how do you magnify photo's now?

Next, for the Online store (not something new, just getting around to asking) is there a way to allow the object thumbnails to be expanded?

 

[Dan Miller]

Thanks for the feedback...

For zooming photos, if you double click an image when it is displayed in the "lightbox" format, it will open in a new browser window, and you can zoom as usual.

Thanks also for pointing out the issue with the store. I've changed a setting that will display larger images on the individual products page that should meet most needs.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

New site looks wicked good. awesome!

 

[Steve Ambrose]

More Feedback

Looks very sharp! I'm guessing WordPress running Thesis - great platform.

The link to the Builders List isn't intuitive. I expected the page to open when I clicked on the link in the sidebar and it took me a minute to see the link on the subpage that does appear. You may want to highlight the mouse-over with more contrast or link straight to the directory. If you keep the subpage there's a typo in third line "assist your" should read "assist you".

You may also consider locking the comment feature on the main page (can be deleted in "settings") otherwise you'll find yourself moderating comments and dealing with information best left on the forum.

Great look and good work! Looks simple from the outside but I know better - the person who came up with the WordPress mantra "Code is poetry" should be shot

 

[MGC]

Still poking around

Old habits are hard to break.....
I notice that selecting the WCHA logo no longer returns to site home...yes I see the tab on the top right side.

After poking around a bit, it seems that the wood canoe ID page has vaporized. It's on your site.
Will you link back this it or am I just not locating it on the WCHA site? For me that was a highlight of the WCHA site.

Perhaps the landing page needs to be fleshed out a bit more to match the convenience of the earlier drop downs..or is that in the works.

 

[Dan Miller]

After poking around a bit, it seems that the wood canoe ID page has vaporized. It's on your site.
Will you link back this it or am I just not locating it on the WCHA site? For me that was a highlight of the WCHA site.

The ID Guide has never, ever been a part of the WCHA site. It is something I started on my own site before I was involved with the WCHA site, and has always been maintained separately.

I guess I am not sure what you mean by your last point, but content will be growing over time, greatly facilitated by the new format.

 

[Greg Nolan]

I like the new home page very much – very attractive, and easy to get around. And I like the big banner picture at the top of the page – a bright splash of color focusing on what we are all about – canoes.

** Two thoughts – In the classified ad section, I think it could be helpful to identify the array of photos at the bottom as links to other ads in the same section, or somehow visually separate them from the ad proper. Those photos at the bottom at first seem part of the ad itself, and it took me several confused minutes to figure out what was going on – perhaps because my first venture into the new classified was a look at the Canoe Plans, Building Molds . . . section, where there are only 3 ads, only one of which has a picture. I was puzzled by why the Wee Lassie form pic was showing up in the other ads.

Maybe the strip with the link photos could have a different or darker background color from that of the ad proper, or be separated by a line, or be explicitly labeled as links? Or maybe I’m just dense, and it isn’t really a problem. I did figure it out pretty fast once I looked at other classified sections, and I do like the ability to rapidly switch to another ad to make comparisons.

** Is there some way to scroll through the banner pictures at the top of the page – different pictures pop up when returning to the home page, but there doesn’t seem to be a way to view each of them

 

[Dan Miller]

Greg,

Regarding the classifieds, I agree it is confusing. I could probably set the filmstrip apart by hacking the code, easier to just turn it off...

For the main pages header image, short answer is no, there is no to browse through them.

Dan

 

[MGC]

The ID Guide has never, ever been a part of the WCHA site. It is something I started on my own site before I was involved with the WCHA site, and has always been maintained separately.

Of course, there was never any doubt about that.
My comment notes that it is no longer linked anywhere that I could readily find on WCHA.
Previously the drop downs (my reference to "fleshed out") offered a very convenient access to commonly accessed tools such as your Dragonfly Boatworks references etc.
If it's no longer linked from here, we all have (I presume) bookmarked your site.
Quite obviously you ultimately decide how to share the information and whether or not to link the sites.

I guess it's not entirely clear to me what ultimate charter of the WCHA site is if not to offer a "central" site to wooden canoe information, albeit with links and bookmarks and WCHA sponsored content, whatever that might be.
Perhaps you could summarize that for us and set the expectations by doing so.

Peace.

 

[Dan Miller]

The goals for the WCHA web site, as accepted by the Web Site sub-committee of the Board, are outlined below.

What are the goals of the WCHA web site?

• to provide basic information about the organization
  • who we are, what we do
  • benefits of membership

• to generate revenue
  • through recruitment of new members
  • by making it easy to renew current memberships or upgrade to a higher level
  • through merchandise sales

• as a clearinghouse for information
  • promoting Annual Assembly
  • promote Local Area Chapter activities
  • resource for information about wood canoe history, construction, restoration and use.

In my opinion, the site has never done a very good job of meeting the goal in the last bullet (apart from the Forums). The previous site had grown over time to have a hodgepodge of links and info, but much of it requires updating. My goal was to start with a cleaned-up site which could server as a framework for the current good pieces while giving a clean slate for adding back content as it is updated over time. I would welcome volunteers to assist with this effort. In the meantime, all of the WCHA site pages that have not been updated are gathered together under the "legacy pages" link so they remain accessible.

The ID guide I authored separately from the WCHA was previously included as a link on a page of links, most of which are either referenced elsewhere prominently on the new site or are included as legacy links. For outside resources like the ID guide I would envision over time adding a new curated section of resources that it could be more naturally part of. (And as it turns out, the link to the ID guide was to the old, outdated guide that is slowly disappearing itself...!).

 

[JClearwater]

The new site is great! Looks good and works good. Kudos to Dan Miller and all the others who obviously worked very hard on it. Thank you very much.

Jim C.

 

[MGC]

In my opinion, the site has never done a very good job of meeting the goal in the last bullet (apart from the Forums). The previous site had grown over time to have a hodgepodge of links and info, but much of it requires updating. My goal was to start with a cleaned-up site which could server as a framework for the current good pieces while giving a clean slate for adding back content as it is updated over time.

Agreed....it's interesting how we can become accustomed to something and eventually see past shortcomings.

For outside resources like the ID guide I would envision over time adding a new curated section of resources that it could be more naturally part of. (And as it turns out, the link to the ID guide was to the old, outdated guide that is slowly disappearing itself...!).

Clearly you have some clarity of vision, an essential ingredient to evolve the content.
I'm anxious to see where you take the guide. The new content and formatting is like a galley for a book......

Send me a PM if there are volunteer tasks that you feel comfortable doling out. I'll be glad to pitch in. We need to document what we have learned so that others can share and benefit. The fragments of information need to find homes.
As always, I recall my conversations with Atwood as he pursued his labor of love.
He was obsessed with retention and sharing and relentless even to track down a 16 year old kid with a bunch of old canoes.

 

[chris pearson]

Dan, super job on the web site!!!!!!

 

[Jan Bloom]

I would like to see captions for the changing headline photos