Author Topic: 2012 feedback request/ direness survey (Read 4289 times)

ukb · « **on:** April 23, 2012, 10:32:00 am »

Another request for feedback, for no particular reason posted a couple of months earlier than last year. Is there anything about UKB you'd like us to add/ remove/ enhance/ censor/ sanitise ...?

Bonjoy · « **Reply #1 on:** April 23, 2012, 10:38:40 am »

Image hosting would be nice. It's a ballache having to uplaod pics elsewhere and then link to.

slackline · « **Reply #2 on:** April 23, 2012, 10:42:10 am »

Could dramatically increase server/bandwidth costs though.

Perhaps that could be a paid for service though, e.g. donate £X/year for premium account and get Y/Gb of storage space (although that would only cover hosting, rather than the increased bandwidth of sending that to each computer that views a page).

$:-\$

Greater use of the Wiki would be good, but thats down to users have the inclination to write things up.

sidewinder · « **Reply #3 on:** April 23, 2012, 10:44:40 am »

Option to somehow ignore threads (unless this is there already?) I normally browse ukb by using the unread posts link, but am never going to be interested in certain threads for example the football one, at the moment I just don't open them then mark all as read but would be nice if I could mark some so they didn't come up?

SA Chris · « **Reply #4 on:** April 23, 2012, 10:56:16 am »

I'd like to be able to vote for more than one thing when a vote comes up.

I think it's great, apart from the pervading smell of piss and sour milk, but I think that's because someone needs a bath

Rocksteady · « **Reply #5 on:** April 23, 2012, 10:59:19 am »

UKB is a never-ending source of delight.

I too think the wiki could be better maintained - I've seen a few times on threads that people just don't know where it is.

I know it's one of the tabs on the homepage but that only clicks through to the highlights. Perhaps that could be better used as a wiki contents page? Just my 2p?

r-man · « **Reply #6 on:** April 23, 2012, 11:34:24 am »

I posted the same query in the wiki upgrades thread a while back. Should be an obvious link to the wiki homepage.

There's also no way to edit the highlights, so the wiki looks as though it hasn't been updated for years.

slackline · « **Reply #7 on:** April 23, 2012, 11:37:51 am »

Quote from: SA Chris on April 23, 2012, 10:56:16 am

I'd like to be able to vote for more than one thing when a vote comes up.

Just checked and thats down to the person setting up the polls. When setting one up there is the "Poll Options" section after you enter the possible responses and the first field is "Maximum votes per user:" which defaults to one. So the functionality exists in the forum software, its just not used very often (if at all).

tomtom · « **Reply #8 on:** April 23, 2012, 11:39:38 am »

First re image hosting.. the Tapatalk app does image hosting for you.. (if you use in on your iOS/Andriod device..) works really well.

My tuppence - which I've been thinking about for a while.... and possibly looking at a bigger picture for the UKB future..

3-4 years ago, when I first started posting my dribble on this wonderful site - it was the best/most easy/dominant/there form of social media for climbing/bouldering chat/hookups/beta etc... Now, I know a load of folk from here on twitter and on faceache.. so I find that when arranging trips to the crag or piss ups etc.. then twitter is used - and to catch up with gossip - news, first ascent, new videos etc.. then faceache is often the first place I see/find out about things. So UKB's role within my climbing life has shifted a little. Twitter and faceache (which I hate, but abide btw..) are no replacement - but some of what I did/could do on UKB is now carried out on there... so I use UKB less...

Now the twitter side of things (meet ups - banter etc.. whats the weather like in sheff questiosn) does not detract from UKB usage much - but the snippets of news etc.. on FB does...

So I think that UKB may need to catch up a little and work on some sort of FB/Twitter integration. Quite how you do that I dont know - and I would loathe/hate it to move lock stock to FB (I dont think it could/would) but some sort of canny linkage thing to drive traffic back to this site from FB so UKB becomes more of a hub (again).

In summary, because of this I tend to check/dip into UKB a few times a day rather than just leave it on.... (though it depends of course on how much of a lazy skiving bastard I'm being at work!)....

All just my views etc...
TT

SA Chris · « **Reply #9 on:** April 23, 2012, 11:43:32 am »

Quote from: slack---line on April 23, 2012, 11:37:51 am

Quote from: SA Chris on April 23, 2012, 10:56:16 am
I'd like to be able to vote for more than one thing when a vote comes up.

Just checked and thats down to the person setting up the polls. When setting one up there is the "Poll Options" section after you enter the possible responses and the first field is "Maximum votes per user:" which defaults to one. So the functionality exists in the forum software, its just not used very often (if at all).

Fuck me, it was an attempt at being humorous.

slackline · « **Reply #10 on:** April 23, 2012, 11:54:06 am »

Despite your footer...

slackline · « **Reply #11 on:** April 23, 2012, 12:07:28 pm »

Quote from: Bonjoy on April 23, 2012, 10:38:40 am

Image hosting would be nice. It's a ballache having to uplaod pics elsewhere and then link to.

Just had a quick look at the SMF forums, and this thread is a few years old, but shows how the forum can be configured to allow users to upload pictures from the forum, but they are actually hosted at ImageShack (last post in the thread was 2010 and suggests it worked then).

tregiffian · « **Reply #12 on:** April 23, 2012, 12:15:34 pm »

I like the current mix. Some threads have been a real help in times of need.

rodma · « **Reply #13 on:** April 23, 2012, 12:19:34 pm »

Quote from: tregiffian on April 23, 2012, 12:15:34 pm

I like the current mix. Some threads have been a real help in times of need.

Like DFBWGC

Jaspersharpe · « **Reply #14 on:** April 23, 2012, 03:25:24 pm »

The power of UKB, it's enormous. It dictates my entire existence.

slackline · « **Reply #15 on:** April 23, 2012, 03:35:33 pm »

Quote from: Jaspersharpe on April 23, 2012, 03:25:24 pm

The power of UKB, it's enormous. It dictates my entire existence.

habrich · « **Reply #16 on:** April 24, 2012, 05:20:13 am »

Quote from: tomtom on April 23, 2012, 11:39:38 am

My tuppence - which I've been thinking about for a while.... and possibly looking at a bigger picture for the UKB future..

3-4 years ago, when I first started posting my dribble on this wonderful site - it was the best/most easy/dominant/there form of social media for climbing/bouldering chat/hookups/beta etc... Now, I know a load of folk from here on twitter and on faceache.. so I find that when arranging trips to the crag or piss ups etc.. then twitter is used - and to catch up with gossip - news, first ascent, new videos etc.. then faceache is often the first place I see/find out about things. So UKB's role within my climbing life has shifted a little. Twitter and faceache (which I hate, but abide btw..) are no replacement - but some of what I did/could do on UKB is now carried out on there... so I use UKB less...

Now the twitter side of things (meet ups - banter etc.. whats the weather like in sheff questiosn) does not detract from UKB usage much - but the snippets of news etc.. on FB does...

So I think that UKB may need to catch up a little and work on some sort of FB/Twitter integration. Quite how you do that I dont know - and I would loathe/hate it to move lock stock to FB (I dont think it could/would) but some sort of canny linkage thing to drive traffic back to this site from FB so UKB becomes more of a hub (again).

Good topic! According to Google Analytics, UKB's "unique visitor" numbers are flattish 2012 vs 2011, having risen sharply 2011 vs 2010. And average time spent on the site has declined slightly. That may reflect the Twitter/ FB impact you describe. Obviously there are "solutions" like a more active UKB presence on FB and Twitter , with some underlying aim like trying to point people back to threads on the forum. But is that really useful to anyone or would it just be adding yet more link-spam to the internet? It seems like UKB has (hopefully not: had) some genuine identity as a community. Shouldn't it live or die on that basis alone?

$:-\$

Oldmanmatt · « **Reply #17 on:** April 24, 2012, 05:28:10 am »

Quote from: Jaspersharpe on April 23, 2012, 03:25:24 pm

The power of UKB, it's enormous. It dictates my entire existence.

Amen...

psychomansam · « **Reply #18 on:** April 24, 2012, 06:26:57 am »

I voted VCS but i'm pretty fucked off you've abandoned the pinks

tomtom · « **Reply #19 on:** April 24, 2012, 06:32:54 am »

Quote from: thesiger on April 24, 2012, 05:20:13 am

Good topic! According to Google Analytics, UKB's "unique visitor" numbers are flattish 2012 vs 2011, having risen sharply 2011 vs 2010. And average time spent on the site has declined slightly. That may reflect the Twitter/ FB impact you describe. Obviously there are "solutions" like a more active UKB presence on FB and Twitter , with some underlying aim like trying to point people back to threads on the forum. But is that really useful to anyone or would it just be adding yet more link-spam to the internet? It seems like UKB has (hopefully not: had) some genuine identity as a community. Shouldn't it live or die on that basis alone?

$:-\$

I've been thinking about this alot...

Interesting on the stats/figures.. I'd kind of suspected this had happened..

As I first kind of suggested I think a FB only way would be an option (as in possibility) but one I would hate to see happen...

But you need to draw some traffic back to UKB. Suggestions are...

1. Get a twitter name and twitter feed box on the front page (piss to do - twitter even set up the code for oyu etc..). This can either/both display UKB's tweets (e.g. look at this new story!! woo woo.. or Ned does something bastard hard etc..) and probablty more important, get it do display every message with the hashtag #ukb. That way UKB-ers who tweet can easily post something relevant to UKB by dropping in the hashtag...

2. Add a tweet this - or facebook this button to the left of the reply to link.. OK, this clutters up the page a bit - BUT - if someone see's a good video/story etc.. then they can easily insert the story in their FB/T timeline etc.. If someone posts something in their timeline - then 100-200 (probably mainly) non UKB people will see it through that persons time-line.. thats some marketing...

3. Get a UKB faceache page (its easy to do but does feel like selling your soul to satan..). I'm involved with a charity (with c.200 members) that set up a faceache page. We got 100 friends/followers etc... after settign up the faceache page - this means the charity popped up to 20 000 people via time-lines etc.. everytime someone liked something on the page - all their friends saw it too.. thats powerful marketing. Imagine UKB gets the first video clip of Ondra breakdancing.. easy way to make him doing the worm viral...

4. Do some work owners!... Someones got to keep it updated to drive traffic back to your site. Whether this be updating the faceboook page/twitter feed or front page - if you want to keep people here and drive some traffic back then you have to make somethign for people to see.. The best social media feeds for businesses have regular but not too obviously commercial updates - so people are drawn back to have a look. This has to be c. every day IMHO...

Why do you need to do this? Well, this AM - in my FB time line, is a video of Ned flashing requiem for a dream, taken by a regular UKB'er and been posted up on vimeo - thats also been tagged/flagged by another regular UKB lurker - and liked by another two UKB very regular users.. Its not on UKB first... It'll make it here at some point, but really it should appear here first? I wish it did instead of on facewank...

I dont want to see UKB become some mega commercial horror site - but equally part of its healthy continuation is to keep drawing new people in, and to retain existing regular users.. Otherwise will it become the internet equivalent of an old working mans club where the only regulars left are a couple of old giffers still talking about whether the other dabbed on his flash of xyz

habrich · « **Reply #20 on:** April 24, 2012, 06:55:43 am »

Quote from: tomtom on April 24, 2012, 06:32:54 am

Why do you need to do this? Well, this AM - in my FB time line, is a video of Ned flashing requiem for a dream, taken by a regular UKB'er and been posted up on vimeo - thats also been tagged/flagged by another regular UKB lurker - and liked by another two UKB very regular users.. Its not on UKB first...

Actually Willackers posted it on UKB at 10pm yesterday

lagerstarfish · « **Reply #21 on:** April 24, 2012, 06:57:43 am »

Quote from: tomtom on April 24, 2012, 06:32:54 am

Why do you need to do this? Well, this AM - in my FB time line, is a video of Ned flashing requiem for a dream, taken by a regular UKB'er and been posted up on vimeo - thats also been tagged/flagged by another regular UKB lurker - and liked by another two UKB very regular users.. Its not on UKB first... It'll make it here at some point, but really it should appear here first? I wish it did instead of on facewank...

I saw it in Quality Vids last night... posted by Willackers

edit
and Thesiger beat me to reporting this

tomtom · « **Reply #22 on:** April 24, 2012, 07:00:03 am »

Yeah, but where did I find out about it first!

(despite being on ukb then..)

lagerstarfish · « **Reply #23 on:** April 24, 2012, 07:02:49 am »

but it was nicely embedded on UKB

oh yes it was!

he's behind you!

etc.

and besides, it's the version using heels on that video, so you might as well have waited till it appeared on FUKC

Oldmanmatt · « **Reply #24 on:** April 24, 2012, 07:16:40 am »

There already is a Ukb faceache page and a twitter feed and an Rss...
They haven't been updated for a year or so (except the "is it greasy" twit).
I can pull down those feeds through Flipboard on iOS. Some sort of share function would be good.
I do share the odd thing in FB, but it's a ball ache copying and pasting urls and switching between apps.
You should be able to feed the site into flipboard in a similar way to taptalk?