Homepage Reshuffle

[Admin 14,341]

As you no doubt saw when you most recently visited the site, the homepage has slightly changed. A few sections have been either moved, renamed, or merged/expanded. 

The reasoning behind this was a mix of SEO optimisation (to help people find us!), logical organisation and a simple 'freshen up'. 

Some people don't like change, but don't worry nothing is lost and nothing drastic will have altered. Hopefully for most people this will be a more appealing structure to things, and please remember you can toggle particular categories to open/close by pressing the arrow next to its name (for example, you could hide the 'useful links' at the bottom of the site if you don't use them).

Some particular changes I'd like to draw your attention to:

• The PeeFans News & Announcements section is now the top section of the site, and is solely dedicated to recent changes and important site updates. Please check this when new threads are posted. Only admins can create threads here, but please feel free to discuss any changes within each thread. 
• The previous ideas/help sections are now further down the site, but separated for clarity so we can see who needs help and which ideas are still being discussed/reviewed. The 'helpdesk' area is slightly different to normal sections as it follows a Q&A structure, where the most relevant answer is shown first.
• The marketplace is open for all business - pee-related or otherwise. This also includes personal ads and dating, so there is finally a place for any kik/snapchats  etc (mods - please move any relevant threads here when you see them) . That said, use extreme caution as the marketplace is unregulated. Additionally, personal ads are a poor substitute for actually engaging with the forum.
• The sidebar now has more room for content such as the latest threads and top contributors etc. I try to update this once in a while anyway with other content, but you are always welcome to share your preferences for what you'd like to see here. 

... Any others I'm sure you'll pick up as you go! There may be a final few tweaks based on any last minute changes of heart or feedback you all give below.

Thank you.

[Sophie 22,987]

15 minutes ago, Admin said:

feedback you all give below

1. Forum statistics should be moved to the bottom of the page. Right now it's the first thing members see and I feel that space would be better taken up with threads and posts. Things people want to read. I'm sure how many threads we have isn't the highest priority on everyone's list every time they visit the site.
    
2. Getting to know each other, or at least introductions should be moved to the top. Often the first thing people do when they join a community is introduce themselves, so it doesn't make sense to have to scroll half way down the page to get to the introductions. It should be the first thing people see. I feel general chat should be up here too, from many forums i've visited if it's on topic, general chat is at the top. and off topic discussion is further at the bottom.
    
3. General PeeFans Discussion, Suggestions & Feedback should be moved to the top. I feel this subforum has more importance than club chat and marketplace, so should be placed near the top of the category instead of right at the bottom. Perhaps move it to the peefans.com category along with the helpdesk, because as the name implies, it's about peefans. 
    
4. I'm not seeing the point in the peefans chatroom link. There is an easily accessible button at the top of the page on both desktop and mobile, why add an additional link at the bottom of the page for the same purpose? Also, from the desktop site the chatbox is always visible at the top of the homepage. 
    
5. I like the helpdesk. I think this is a great idea, especially with the votes system. People can ask a question and many people can answer it, and the best or most correct answer can be voted to the top for easy viewing in the future. Very nice, it reminds me of StackOverflow.
    
6. I like the additional subforums. I think the new subforums are a good idea, along with the ones that have been renamed. I believe 'Sex, Porn & Other NSFW Content' is better than "Other Adult Content" I also really like the new icons some of them have. 

Overall, I really like these changes. Thank you!

[Admin 14,341]

24 minutes ago, Sophie said:

1. Forum statistics should be moved to the bottom of the page. Right now it's the first thing members see and I feel that space would be better taken up with threads and posts. Things people want to read. I'm sure how many threads we have isn't the highest priority on everyone's list every time they visit the site.
    
2. Getting to know each other, or at least introductions should be moved to the top. Often the first thing people do when they join a community is introduce themselves, so it doesn't make sense to have to scroll half way down the page to get to the introductions. It should be the first thing people see. I feel general chat should be up here too, from many forums i've visited if it's on topic, general chat is at the top. and off topic discussion is further at the bottom.
    
3. General PeeFans Discussion, Suggestions & Feedback should be moved to the top. I feel this subforum has more importance than club chat and marketplace, so should be placed near the top of the category instead of right at the bottom. Perhaps move it to the peefans.com category along with the helpdesk, because as the name implies, it's about peefans. 
    
4. I'm not seeing the point in the peefans chatroom link. There is an easily accessible button at the top of the page on both desktop and mobile, why add an additional link at the bottom of the page for the same purpose? Also, from the desktop site the chatbox is always visible at the top of the homepage. 
    
5. I like the helpdesk. I think this is a great idea, especially with the votes system. People can ask a question and many people can answer it, and the best or most correct answer can be voted to the top for easy viewing in the future. Very nice, it reminds me of StackOverflow.
    
6. I like the additional subforums. I think the new subforums are a good idea, along with the ones that have been renamed. I believe 'Sex, Porn & Other NSFW Content' is better than "Other Adult Content" I also really like the new icons some of them have. 

Overall, I really like these changes. Thank you!

 

1 - Done. You're right, it's back to its usual place, as it moved with the 'Who's Online?' box. What are your thoughts on keeping the who is online list right at the top though? My thinking was that it kind of gives a feel of who's 'in' and active right now, perhaps prompting more personal chats and just demonstrating to people the site is active. That said, I'm still unsure whether it should go back to its usual spot.

2 and 3 - Would be interested to hear other people's thoughts on these. Likewise, from my past forum experience I've always assumed Introductions make sense right at the top so it's the first thing new members see, which is why it was top previously. In the same respect, when help & suggestions were all mixed in with news etc, it was also at the top so all PeeFans stuff was together. My thinking with the latest update is similar to yours in your first point - people want the most relevant things to them at the top. For 95% of the site (after their first few visits), introductions isn't as relevant. Plus, by having it in the 'getting to know each other' area, I was hoping to imply even if you're not new, you can just go and intro yourself and get to know people a bit better. I'm certainly not disagreeing with you on either of these points, but more playing devil's advocate as I can see pros of having them reshuffled to their new positions too.

4 - There is one single point to the link: trying to increase activity in the live chat. A huge amount of users browse on tablets and phones so don't see the box in the sidebar, and the vast majority don't read the links in the site navigation. This was a bit of a trial, and whilst I doubt it will have a huge effect, I figured it was worth a try given it's quite an unintrusive link right at the bottom, and may even serve as a reminder for members who do know about the chat already! 

5- StackOverdflow is the perfect comparison! It will take a little time for the helpdesk to accumulate useful threads, but yes hopefully long-term will be constructive. Please move any future site questions to this section if they are posted elsewhere.

6 - Yeah, it just struck me that 'Other Adult Content' is such a dull name for quite an exciting section. Glad you're liking the icons and other little tweaks. Some sub-forums have been expanded too (so for example interviews used to be under 'Introductions' and I feel as its own section it may get used more). As for the ones under clean chat, we just need to start filling them with content! Any other sub-topics worthy of their own sub-section of general chat, please let me know (if that makes sense).

Thanks a lot for giving your thoughts on this, always very appreciated. Overall I am in agreement, but as I said would like to hear some other people's opinions on the re-ordering. I'll also admit that a slight factor in the current positions was the asthestics - for some reason certain things looked better in particular places than others... or maybe I'm just going crazy!

[Sophie 22,987]

3 minutes ago, Admin said:

1 - Done. You're right, it's back to its usual place, as it moved with the 'Who's Online?' box. What are your thoughts on keeping the who is online list right at the top though? My thinking was that it kind of gives a feel of who's 'in' and active right now, perhaps prompting more personal chats and just demonstrating to people the site is active. That said, I'm still unsure whether it should go back to its usual spot.

I agree with this and it's definitely worth a trial run. It seems a little strange at the top but I'm thinking that's just because I'm not used to it. Or maybe it's because of the border and the box around the names. It would blend in a little more if it was like PS but then it would also be easier to miss. 

3 minutes ago, Admin said:

My thinking with the latest update is similar to yours in your first point - people want the most relevant things to them at the top. For 95% of the site (after their first few visits), introductions isn't as relevant.

I agree with this too, and I definitely see both sides of the argument. I suppose it's always possible just to collapse the category if it doesn't interest you? but at the same time it's definitely nice to have the most relevant things at the top.

I'm struggling to navigate the site at the moment, but that's only because I'm used to things being in certain places, so I'll often scroll past them expecting them to be near the bottom of the page or something. It'll only take a day or two to get used to it.

(ps - We have no staff room! Where am I going to drink coffee and make puddles now?) 

[Admin 14,341]

11 minutes ago, Sophie said:

I agree with this and it's definitely worth a trial run. It seems a little strange at the top but I'm thinking that's just because I'm not used to it. Or maybe it's because of the border and the box around the names. It would blend in a little more if it was like PS but then it would also be easier to miss. 

I agree completely, I'd had the same thought. I've moved it to the sidebar so is still at the top but looks less out of place. As it's not that big of a box it doesn't push down the chat too much (I don't think) 

 

11 minutes ago, Sophie said:

I agree with this too, and I definitely see both sides of the argument. I suppose it's always possible just to collapse the category if it doesn't interest you? but at the same time it's definitely nice to have the most relevant things at the top.

If we had Introductions/helpdesk/any of those sections or something at the top, they'd all have to go up there for consistency, and I quite like having the main pee stuff at the top both as that's what people visit most frequently (which is good - we're a pee site first and foremost after all) and I think we'll lose less new visitors who click away very quickly if they don't find what they're looking for right away. I don't think many people will use the collapse category function, and I don't want the news & announcements section included in with all the other forum stuff anyway, as in my opinion I want to keep this section just for stuff that I really want people to read so deserves its own little box at the top. We could talk for a while about all these little pros and cons for ages though as there's logic behind lots of different options and so many variations.  

17 minutes ago, Sophie said:

I'm struggling to navigate the site at the moment, but that's only because I'm used to things being in certain places, so I'll often scroll past them expecting them to be near the bottom of the page or something. It'll only take a day or two to get used to it.

 

I like this though, as it almost forces people to check what's there - I have no doubt some people just scroll to the same place for the thing they usually go for, and perhaps miss some other things they'd be interested in (not saying this is the case with you mind, but you get my point). You're right though, will take a day to adjust but then will be fine (hopefully...)

19 minutes ago, Sophie said:

(ps - We have no staff room! Where am I going to drink coffee and make puddles now?) 

Whoops - it's back! Please make all the coffee and puddles until your heart is content.  

[sathuta 1,768]

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