Ski-Doo Forum Users: HELP ME OUT HERE

[christopher]

OK Guys and Gals.
As you can see, last night I got stated on overhauling this sled forum as the test bed for all the others.

I need some feedback on what i have done so far, and what else you would like to see here?

What needs to be ADDED?
What needs to be Changed/Altered?

 

[coyote9090]

looks good so far just need to populate with all the on going threads

 

[jacmmaxwell]

Don't like it, it's too much. I like the idea of a parent forum with more specific child forums but this is just too busy and the child forums are to closely titled for newer users or those who are new to skidoos line up.

 

[Insaneboltrounder/sjohns]

I think many of the sub sections will be pretty dead , . I think a xp summit section would be popular

 

[Adrenaline Revolution]

I hate to say this but the boys over on DooTalk have got the sled section pretty well dialed in.
how about...

Pre Rev
Rev Short track
Rev Mountain
Mxz
RT
XP short track
XP mountain

 

[madmax]

I like all the sub forums. It will take a while to get info in them all. How about a turbo section.

 

[Original OT]

I say that you try to be "original" and not "copy" what other wedsites do. For years SW has been successful because it doesn't follow what the competition does.

Lead rather than follow would be the best advice i can give.

OT

 

[NorthMNSledder]

First I liked all the manufacture threads under one heading. because so many features and accessories transfer over it made it easy to search them all at once. But if it has to be divided I think there should be 4 sections under Ski-Doo.

REV

REV-XP

REV-XR

Pre REV

 

[jacmmaxwell]

I think you will find that there is much less info once you split them up, for example: xp guys won't browse the topics in the rev forums much but many who now ride the xp, rode an older or differant chassis and are often the most help.

I spend more time here vs. other more brand specific forums because there is a much large chance of getting some help due to the fact that there is just one forum for skidoo. IMO , you losing much more then your gaining. I have made the same changes on another forum and shortly changed it back, exept for the swap meet, there it works great.

 

[christopher]

I hate to say this but the boys over on DooTalk have got the sled section pretty well dialed in.
how about...

Pre Rev
Rev Short track
Rev Mountain
Mxz
RT
XP short track
XP mountain

Just so you know.
I have NO DESIRE to re-invent the wheel.

If someone else has NAILED the winning combination, then I am NOT above learning from them!!

 

[christopher]

I think many of the sub sections will be pretty dead , . I think a xp summit section would be popular

The key here will be going through ALL of the current posts and MOVING them into their respective homes.

Once that is done, and they are all fully populated, it might be easier for the members to put all that to better use.

But we got some work ahead of us on the sorting/moving to be sure!

 

[christopher]

First I liked all the manufacture threads under one heading. because so many features and accessories transfer over it made it easy to search them all at once. But if it has to be divided I think there should be 4 sections under Ski-Doo.

REV

REV-XP

REV-XR

Pre REV

OK, sell me on WHY you think this is a "better" over all solution given the MASSIVE number of Ski-Doo sleds that are out there in circulation today.

 

[christopher]

I think you will find that there is much less info once you split them up, for example: xp guys won't browse the topics in the rev forums much but many who now ride the xp, rode an older or differant chassis and are often the most help.

I spend more time here vs. other more brand specific forums because there is a much large chance of getting some help due to the fact that there is just one forum for skidoo. IMO , you losing much more then your gaining. I have made the same changes on another forum and shortly changed it back, exept for the swap meet, there it works great.

its certainly possible that your right.
But we think its worth the try.
Right now there is just TOO much info all dumped into one place.

That makes it VERY easy to miss posts, and a bear to go and find old ones.

The end goal is to make it EASY to navigate on SnoWest to FIND what your looking for, and not have to wade through tons of stuff your not interested in.

SnoWest is a RESOURCE, and we want this resource to serve you, the SnoWest Forum Subscriber as best as possible.

 

[NorthMNSledder]

OK, sell me on WHY you think this is a "better" over all solution given the MASSIVE number of Ski-Doo sleds that are out there in circulation today.

OK, my 2 cents.

I (as many on this forum) log into Snowest at least 4 times a day (on a slow day ) The way the system and sub groups are set up now I can click on the Ski-Doo section and see all the topics that have been updated since my last log in. I'm never missing anything. Plus if I want to search back to an old topic it's all under one heading which to me seams very simple. Now you can go and add a topic for every single Ski-Doo Made but you will end up with way too many topics and if a person is looking for an old topic how are you going to sort one that talks about items that would fit or work with multiple sled platforms. Like a thread about tunnel bags. Well those could fit onto REV's or REV-XP's. Now unless I can search multiple threads at once so I can group all the Ski-Doo topics together then I would have to search multiple threads which is now wasting my time. Every other forum I have used that is able to search multiple threads always seams to be a slow process.

My question for you. In the past when every we have asked for a sub group admin has almost always set that up for us (ie the Polaris 900 section). Why do you think we need multiple groups under each manufacture? Does it have to do with computer storage or speed on your end or some other computer/server related items? Because otherwise it seams some of this is just making changes to make changes. I personally as a person who logs into the Ski-Doo are multiple times per day would like to see it stay the way it is with one section.

Thanks for listening!

 

[NorthMNSledder]

its certainly possible that your right.
But we think its worth the try.

Who is we? Are we talking about forum users or Admin?


Right now there is just TOO much info all dumped into one place.

Basically all the Ski-Doo resources under one roof, which makes seaching handy IMO

That makes it VERY easy to miss posts, and a bear to go and find old ones.

For who? Has any members complained about this to you?


The end goal is to make it EASY to navigate on SnoWest to FIND what your looking for, and not have to wade through tons of stuff your not interested in.

Wouldn't that be what the "search" is for?


SnoWest is a RESOURCE, and we want this resource to serve you, the SnoWest Forum Subscriber as best as possible.

Christopher,

The more posts I read of yours the more it seams that YOU are wanting to make changes just to make changes because you have all this fancy software and you want to play with it. OR you are trying to impress some bosses above you with a fancy looking forum. You made a comment about joining Snowest in 2008 have you really had that much of a problem navigating the site since you joined? It just seams like we had a great forum and you come in and start making changes with out really talking to the members who use the site. Now I understand that the website is run and paid for by Snowest and they have every right to do what ever they want to. But are you really looking out for all of us in this process?

 

[christopher]

For those few members that are "HIGHLY" active, who log into the forums several times a day, like yourself, you have invested sufficient time to stay on top of all the threads and all the posts.So my goal

But, as of this afternoon, we are on membership number 78,290. The overwhelming vast majority of SnoWest members never post anything on the site, nor do they devote the massive number of hours into the site that you do. Nevertheless, SnoWest needs to try and accommodate their needs as well as yours. They come to the sight, go looking for a specific bit of information, locate it or something close to it, read it and then depart.


So, am I making changes just for the sake of making changes because I have nothing better to do with my time? NO.

Am I trying to impress "The Powers That Be"? Those would be the same people that have, for the most part, ignored SnoWest Forums for the last 8 years. So no, I am not trying to impress them.

I "AM" trying to prepare SnoWest Forums for growth though. I am trying to get ready for what will likely be a massive wave of users coming in and participating for the very first time. And the reality is, for the average, casual user, the current system is a long long ways from User-Friendly when it comes to finding information.

What we have right now is a filing cabinet with four drawers.
Ski-Doo
Yamaha
Artic Cat
Polaris.

And those drawers are CHOKE FULL of files.
They are not organized, not categorized, not separated.
They are all simply tossed into that draw in a completely haphazard and random manner.

Surely you can agree that there MUST be a better way to store all these threads on SnoWest.

I see two possible extremes.

On the one end, we 1 single drawer labeled Snowmobiles, and EVERYTHING is in it.

On the opposite end, you have an endless number of drawers and cabinets with an infinite level of categorization that would be ponderously burdensome.

In the Ski-Doo forum I made an attempt at moving 2 steps from one extreme. I introduced "minor" categorization based on Major Models that Ski-Doo has released over the recent years. So we have gone from a single drawer with all things Ski-Doo tossed in it, to the same drawer with a few File Folders to hold all the same information.

Is my "test" solution perfect?
Not a chance, I know better, and it's the reason I am trying this on only ONE forum right now.

The user feedback that I have received via Private Message has all been positive. Much of the feedback I have received with Post Replied has been either Mixed or Negative. But the overall volume has been ABSOLUTELY TINY!

More than anything else, I really would like to hear back from more users.

There IS a better solution out there. And if enough people join in and participate, that best-case solution will manifest itself in due course.

 

[jacmmaxwell]

OK, how about something alittle simpler then what we have now. Maybe pre rev, rev chassis, and XP... not that is would have to be those choices.

See I have an odd ball sled my self and rely on those who have moved on for exerience and answers, as do many others.

 

[christopher]

The Sub-Forums that you see in the Ski-Doo forum are there to elicit COMMENTS and FEEDBACK.

I took a stab in the dark at what I "thought" might work as a place to begin.

What I saw as the possible ways of breaking it up fall into a few broad groupings.

By Chassis (XP, REV, ect)

By Model (Summit, MXZ, ect)

By Use (Mountain, Trail, ect)

Your suggesting we stick with the Chassis choice, but narrow it down as much as possible. Its a valid possibility...

 

[christopher]

I suppose another alternative that might carry some weight is to simply follow what the manufacturer does on their website. Maybe I should have followed their lead to begin with.?

SLEDS
MXZ
Renegade
Summit
GSX
Grand Touring
Expedition
Skandic
Previous Models to 1997.

 

[jacmmaxwell]

I think chassis specific would be better, since so much of the tech can be carried between the given models, but that would leave the odd balls ( like my RT ) with very little attention from past owner who tend to be the biggest resource. I also like the mountain, trail, utility, racing???

I'm just trying to help brain storm ao, feel free to tell me to STFU...