Well I only got here yesterday, but I agree with Mel.....Thanks already Rob, its like coming home....just has a different feel to the other fora, none of which i could get into......
I just think Ducatisti was a very well designed site - much better look 'n' feel than any other I've come across. I'm a bit of a pedant when it comes to site design!
Yep - I'd tend to agree there, but given where we are here, I think this is taking shape nicely. This is certainly a lot better than some other sites I belong to. I like it and it's great to see everyone getting back together again. Bottom line is that I think we need to say so long and farewell to Ducatisti and move on. This is different and shouldn't turn into a replica of anything that was there before...progress and all that.
Oh...words got out that I have been hospitalised over the New Year? Just in case anyone is caring enough to ask after me, my Zimmer frame had been suffering from headstock cracks and it broke completely so I ended up flat on my face. (Only part of that is a lie.) AL.
Hey all, I signed up here as I know Freshage and was a Ducatisti previously before A sign post tried to rip my head off which resulted in me breaking my back On a brighter note - I have to say I'm pleased to see the site is looking good. Web design is a passion of mine and forum design is one of my strong points and real passions. I think your foundations here are solid, but there's a few little things that may help - and seem to be what people are looking for. Obviously this is all just advice, tips etc. I'm not sure how much design or site management Rob has done, so it might be a case of me repeating a load of stuff you already know. It's also important to remember that you don't want a Ducatisti "Clone" - You want this site to be a success in it's own right. Ducatisti did a lot of things right, but it also did some wrong as well. Colour wise - this site wins hands down and you chose a good "base" theme to start with! 1. Look at going fixed width rather than fluid. This gives you a lot more design possibilities and more scope to give it a real content-rich look. It will also do as Dave described - Put a lot of content closer together rather than spread out. 2. Change some of the forum icons to smaller ones. At the moment, they are massive therefore over-spacing the forums and making the content look sparse. 3. Turn off Registration Moderation - Make sure that you have reCaptCHA, Spam questions etc on. Manual moderation is both time consuming for the member and the site team. It's key members can post straight away right now, especially when the site is new and fresh. Don't give people a reason not to get posting. They're the real must-haves for me. Also, Ducatisti had vbadvanced installed which acted as a content management system which allowed the front page to have a raft of content. It might be worth looking at getting that installed too. Yeh - so that's just a few little bits and bobs! I see Rob is only down the road from me (I'm in Basingstoke) - so if you want a hand with the forums, design assistance or a design chat over a pint etc ......I am here. All the best, Thom
Jesus christ! Not gonna lie - I am totally freaked out now! Haha That is certainly a turn up for the books! :biggrin: For those wondering - Me and Rob worked together until very recently! I had no idea it was him!
Love that as an answer! By the way I love the site, especially the fact that you get posts credited for ALL topics, not like on the SV650 site where you only get credited for 'proper bike' stuff, no credits for idle banter or comedy threads.
I forget what it was called but the One thing I do miss is the section that recomended good service and quality products also bad service etc I felt it was a very valuable section for many people and think it would be a valuable addition, I know this is a new site and should find its own identity very soon but I think it would be very welcome. Gav
