Suggestion to Revamp

[Joseph]

Touched off by the creation of a new section for guys that want to talk about their feelings and emotions, I was thinking maybe the forum could use a bit of a revamp? Foreskin Restoration heading's getting kinda big.

IF Ron were to do a revamp, here's the way I might re-arrange it... of course this is only a suggestion and I understand it if he thinks it's better to keep things the way they wer.

GUEST SERVICES
Stays as it is, but we move the Lobby/Spam Bistro there.

FORESKIN RESTORATION
General Discussion
Methods
TLC Tugger User Group
Progress Galleries
Restoration Links and Services
Trading Post

Anything having to do with restoration, methods, devices, points of advice etc., goes above.

SUPPORT (Help and Support? Tentative)
Wives/Partners
Grieving (Coming to terms? Anger management? Tentative)
Blogs
Health Club
Safe Haven

Anything having to do with emotional support, whether it be for restorers, guys that just want to vent, their partners, etc., goes above. Health Club I thought would go here, as well as Safe Haven, simply because I think it could be viewed as "support?" Again, only a suggestion.

INTACTIVISM
General Discussion
Press Room
Calls to Action
Global Outreach (Isn't proliferating restoration etc. part of Intactivism?)
FGM
Intersex
For Parents and Expecting Parents
The Arts
Intactivism Links and Resources

Anything discussion about intactivism, whether it be proliferating info, going to marches, discussing all genital mutilation, getting info to parents, arts promoting intactivism etc., go here.

I always wonder what the Foyer/Guestbook was all about, when there's a welcome center in GUEST SERVICES...

So whatch'all think?

:D:rolleyes::p;):o

Just throwin' it out there...

[greg_b]

I guess I would want to know what your propsed revamp does to make things better first. What are the issues you see with the current arragnement, other than it is getting kind of big? Do you have any specifics? What would be the objectives of changing it?

On the face of it, I am not sure the "lobby/Spam Bistro" fits under "Guest Services" I guess it depends on what you mean by guest services.

I do think your large grouping under the headings "Restoration", "Support", and "Intactivism" make sense.

Then again, I haven't had any problem that makes me feel like a change is needed...

Regards

[Joseph]

I just think that as we add more sections, it might be better (cooler?) to organize them more.

At least to me, it just seems a bit scattered...

Objectives? I dunno, maybe making it easier for people to find the section they want? As of now, the list under "Foreskin Restoration" is a bit long, and it just got longer by one.

By "guest services," I kind of imagined it to be like a general front desk, what people see first. A "lobby," if you will, which is why I thought maybe it would be better to put move "lobby/spam bistro" there. "Foyer" is basically the front part of a mansion right?

Anyway, these are just suggestions. Ron may just want to keep things the way they are, and that's cool too...

[admin]

Hi,
Let's keep talking about this.

The original two main sections indeed left some topics wishing they could be in both areas.

The Foyer was just meant to be the intactivists' counterpart to the restorers' Lobby. Silly, really.

Obviously the most significant revamp needed is a landing page with some of the most common features highlighted, like recent new threads, upcomming calendar events, a search box, and hot news. I got some $$, who's got the time?

[Tally]

I think a re-organization makes sense. I've been on here for a while and I still have trouble finding where a post would be when I am looking for something. I often like to limit my searches to a forum/sub forum so I have fewer posts to look through.

Also, I think a main page would be useful. Some explanatory text would help with SEO and also inform newbies what this is all about. It would also be nice for it to be a portal for members.

[Joseph]

Landing page... honestly this is the first time I've ever heard of the term...

Anyone know like a place online where I could learn about them, possibly even learn how to create/manage them?

I would if I could... just don't know too much about them.

:D

[greg_b]

Tally's site has a pretty good landing page, I would say:

http://www.restoringforeskin.org/

Regards

[Joseph]

Wow. That looks excellent.

I wouldn't know the first thing about coming up with a good landing page.

Maybe Tally himself might be able to help out with this.

It'd be nice to know how he went about it.

Webpage authoring software?

Online pre-made template?

[Joseph]

Please please please don't take this site down the route of a newfangled social networking site.

It seems that increasingly forums such as these, with their simple direct and accessible layout are being replaced with facebook-alikes. :rolleyes:

I think I know what you mean.

A landing site would only lead here though, nothing new.

I know what you mean about Facebook. It's really starting to piss me off.

[Tally]

The first thing to do is decide what the landing page is for. I think it should be suitable for both first time visitors and members. I suggest that the landing page should


have basic info for first time visitors, kind of a quick intro to restoration and the purpose of the site
show a list of hot threads
show a list of the latest posts
show a list of unread posts for those who are logged in

vBulletin should have the ability to build such a portal page. Adding this additional information on a landing page will not make the site into a facebook clone. But it would make it more inviting for newbies and more useful for members.

The RestoringForeskin.org (http://www.restoringforeskin.org/) site has two landing pages. One page is seen by surfers who are not logged in to the site. This page has an easy way for members to log in while also providing information and links for first time visitors.

The other page is seen only by members who are logged in. The info on that page is tailored to what members want to see. For example, it shows what posts are new, what threads are hot, etc.

[Tally]

Acutally, the first question that should be answered is, is a landing page needed? Ron should have site statistics that can answer that.

The idea behind the landing page is to sell the site to first time visitors without hindering existing members.

The site statistics log should show the percentage of people that land on the home page (http://www.foreskin-restoration.net/forum/index.php) that leave the site compared to those that continue looking at other pages on the site. If a significant percentage of people that initially land on the home page leave immediately, then a better landing page may be useful if it causes more people to stay and investigate the site.

[admin]

The idea behind the landing page is to sell the site to first time visitors without hindering existing members.

I would say it's more to improve the functionality for existing members. The good news is it wouldn't change a thing for those who get here by using foreskin-restoration.net/forum.

-Ron