Message for volunteers for opinions on the new blog
Thanks very much for coming to check out the new blog, and volunteering to give it a look over. The last blog before this message is today’s, and appears exactly in the format and categories that I will use once it is up and running. Prior to that there are some old blogs used for testing and practice, photos etc. By all means explore everything, including the old blogs, tests, and the main page format.
Could you please then post a message against this new blog (all part of the exercise), telling me what you think. Please don’t hold back … if you think it is dreadful in appearance please say so. Also any bits you had problems with or didn’t understand, bits you liked etc. etc. if you have any questions add these as well, and check back later as I will reply. Email me at blog@madeira4u.com if you are not comfortable posting on the blog, or have problems. You can use a nickname if you want, and as far as I know it is not compulsory to input and email address, but if you do it wont be used for anything else or passed on.
The main features I am looking for feedback on are :
The main page appearance, including the links to other websites (travel, newspapers etc.).
(it is intended that the font will be changed to something cleare, and the META section will be removed).
The categories (Political, Economy etc.)
The faciltity to search for information and old blogs by keyword or by category, or archieved by month.
The comments facilty – was it easy to follow and do what you expected?
The RSS feed (top right) if you know how to use it (will automatically tell you about updates).
Thanks very much for your help on this.
Der
Hi Der , ive never used rss feeds, do you use them?, i know i have to have a reader , then where do the updates go, and will it let me know if there are new comments.
The font needs changing, and a bit bigger i think.
i still think the search box needs to go up the top, and maybe have one button for buses , airport , flights , and then when you click that it opents the options of all the different sites.
And what is the META tabs for are we ment to see them???
1Der – is your text left justified and your photo right justified?
2RSS will only tell you if there are new articles, not comments Tobi. You will probably find the facility for RSS on your browser toolbar.
I agree about the search box. As I said on the blog, “the font will be changed to something better, and the META section will be removed”. I could see all the photos fine when I just checked, but the old blog ones will disappear anyway once the switchover is complete.
“I dont think its a good idea to have comments under each story , i think just the one comment box below is good , so they are all in one place”. Just putting your email comment on Tobi, for the record.
Peter – font is left justified, and I think the photo is unjustified because it is full size. You can check the settings yourself with your access level, if there are any doubts.
3Just a thought Der – have we checked the appearance in IE8?
4Hi Der,
I agree with Tobi about comments under each story – it gets a little confusing. No problems navigating around the site, although there is a lot to look at, but as each day and more info, will it become too busy?
As you are using wordpress it may not be simple to change the menu as Tobi suggests with incorporating the Travel/Transport section into one with a drop down menu (but I do agree with him, that that may look better.)
Very nice, clean, clear and proffessional – Well done! I LIKE IT!!!!
5Hi Der!
Looks good and to me and clear to read despite what appears to be small case.
I’ll keep trying different aspects and report back.
Wallamboola base to radio Doctor and out!
THIS IS ACTUALLY FROM MARTIN – IT APPEARED IN A DIFFERENT PLACE
6I have it on IE8 as I type Peter, but it is automatically viewing in compatability mode, and I can’t tell why when I turn it off. There must be some reason but it is not obviously visible. Also seemed to be OK in Firefox when I looked before.
7Hi Der!
I’m here now!
It’s a great site!
I put in my rubbish at the bottom of the page as before.
So as I undestand it you comment against each article individually?
THE LINKS WORK BRILLIANTLY
I don’t understand some off the terminology you’ve used in the explainatory notes.
I’VE GONE INTO HIGH CASE ‘COS I’M NOT SEEING WELL TODAY.
GORDON BRUIN FOR RUIN
8ANTHONY BLIAR FOR MESSIAH
I’m using Firefox and Thunderbird.
Everything crystal clear inc foto
9Question ?
Is the Jornal da Madeira printed on shiny or soft paper?
10depends if you read the online or paper version Martin.
11The travel and transport links witth bus times etc——–brillant!
12The tourism office link works well, unlike the tourist office itself which seems not to have many events on this year in Madeira.
This was noted in an earlier blog.
They haven’t improved.
13What about having a ‘wot’s on’ section ttying to include local village events.
14There is a section Brett, top left hand corner ‘Entertainment & Events’
Trouble is I don’t know what is going on except for the main festivals and what I pick up from the newspapers, and I have asked before for people to let me know with practically zero results.
Village events depend on funding, so they do not happen every year, so even an events calendar isn’t worth much.
15Excellent links to Weather forecast, island bus routes and of course, B&B!
16Subsequent ” Auto fill” on comment fields a bonus. Although I had to “double look” to find where to click on to add comments/reply (probadly just me) – is this new format safe from spam etc without the text code?
Coming on nicely sir…..
I think the font needs to be slightly larger but your onto that already. All links working quickly. Really like the site, very impressive, well done to you!(once a teacher always a teacher) My favourite bit is the link to readers chat and questions. As I don’t live in Madeira but visit regularly I don’t often comment on the news but quite often I have questions I would like answered or opinions on things related to Madeira and I usually try to find these things elsewhere. travel and transport link I like as it is. Also, I think it is better with just the 1 comment box under the news stories. Comment box easy to use as well.
17Der im just looking at the blog using Google Chrome, and it looks much better than with ie8.
18Love the way the comments are separated by the two colours
I agree Tobi, it does work well having the 2 colours.
What is intended via the SEARCH box?
Do you type in ‘Hotel’ for example and a list is presented?
19Just type in any number of search terms Martin, and then press enter. So if you remember an old story you want to find, type in your keywords … for example UNCLE BERTIE BACKHANDERS and you will be swamped with old blogs that contain all those words (I just tried it and it does actually bring up something in fact)
20Hi Der
Well done – your blog looks and feels so much better – no real criticisms at all – easy to read and the structure is also simple to use – excellent job.
Some of the new facilities are also good – I particularly like the connection to the bus sites (I bought a timetable last year and am never sure if it is still relevant).
What do you think of having a Trivia Question each day – with the answer on the following day? I will gladly(?) volunteer to submit the questions for the first 6 months – or longer if it works. It may help to add a bit of variety to your blog.
Example
Name 4 teams out of the 92 in England (Premiership, Championship and Divisions 1-2), who start with the same letter that they end with….
This one has a sporting theme but doesn’t have to be – the source will be mainly via the internet.
If you like the idea, I could supply 1 month’s worth at a time with a float of an additional month. This would be on a Word document so that it would be relatively simple to copy and paste. I’m afraid that I can’t commit to do any more than that (especially anything on a daily basis or anything technical!!!). If you don’t like the idea – no problem – just an attempt to help out with the daily content.
Regards
Jim
PS Liverpool, Aston Villa, Charlton Athletic, Northampton Town
21Hi Jim, thanks for the feedback, glad you liked it and found it easy.
There is a ‘Just For Fun’ category, and trivia could go there, but there are so few people respond when I have done similar things I don’t know if it would take off. I haven’t used it yet, that’s why it doesn’t show.
The blog isn’t for english people, it is for english speakers and has readers all over the world, so any trivia would really need to be Madeira related, at least most of the time. That might make it a bit trickier for you with the Qs?
I did know the four teams, shame York City dropped out!
22Looking good Der …. as I said before.
To answer a question of Tobi concerning keeping track on the comments using RSS Feed reader …. just use the following link:
http://madeiraislanddirect.com/blog/?feed=comments-rss2
Via this feed you can keep track on the comments (via the feed).
RSS Feeds is a solution that I already use for more than a year and … it is for me the best way to keep up to date on what I want to know and interested in …. in one place (one page).
For a simple explanation of what RSS is … check the following video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU
My favorite RSS reader is http://www.bloglines.com/
23The key aspect of your blog from my viewpoint is content rather than format – what makes this blog so readable is that the content is relevant and your add-on comments bring some personalisation. The amount of narrative is also important – currently it’s just about right for me – any more would make it seem a bit daunting and therefore less likely to be read
I don’t really mind what the format is – the simpler the better – so as not to get in the way of reading your articles
The photos help to break up the copy and also provide an easy guide to a change of day
Perhaps one aspect to think about is can your blog be used to help those ex-pats who want to communicate with other ex-pats – maybe a dedicated page for this type of communication whilst at the same time ensuring privacy for those who wish it eg using a nickname. Maybe it could be themed “Did You Know” – and could help to pass on day-to-day tips – such as Pingo have a special offer on toasters this week. Or even help people to meet up if they want to (not sure about the security issues of trying to do this). Being new to Madeira, I’m not sure if there is an ex-pat community of “ordinary” (don’t know how to define this) people.
Hope this is of use
Best regards – and thanks again for maintaining your blog – much appreciated
I received this comment by email, so I have no identified the author – thanks for submitting it. Der
24I completely agree with the anonymous author.
25I’m ordinary and I like the idea of ‘did u know?’ section.
Special offers appeal.
When and if we live madeira and are getting to grips with the madeiran way of life, this sort of thing would be be good.
Terrified of an ex-pat community living seperately to madeirans.
Although same nationalities or same language speakers have a lot in common and crave just sometimes for a jolly good chin wag in a familiar language.
The ‘meet up ‘idea could be policed by the ‘meet up point’ being in a section of a public place.
Say, for example ,every wednesday outside Se cathedral at 10 am for a ‘Meet and Greet’ .(american term).
Coffee and cakes nearby. Must be good.
Could be the same sort of thing in other towns around madeira.
What do you think?
Silly Idea?
26I wouldn’t argue with these points and suggestions, but without regular contributions we might just end up with empty spaces.
When this blog goes live, I will ask for suggestions for new features, and see what we come up with. It is quite easy to add a new category, but it is then another daily workload for me, so I would want to be sure that anything new will be well used.
27Der.
This new blog is very good as it is and even more sooper with the mods already described.
Go with it as as.
extras when essential?
Will there be more advertising?
28Thanks Martin. Our sponsor is not happy with it as it is, so must wait for mods.
Re advertising, yes there will be I hope. Without funding I can’t keep it going. Sorry!
29How is the new blog design progressing?
30working on the old blog imports at present Martin. As far as the design goes, lots of technical probs and dificulties, but what you see now is probably what we will go with, with a couple of additions / changes. More mods later though
31I myself find the current design good as it is. I would not change much. The layout is simple …. which is a pre for successful web publishing and SEO.
Give it time and you will see the effect it will have.
If you search with Google for the sentence “opinions on the new blog” (include the quotes) …. you will see that this blog is on the top position.
32Thanks Don, a few changes needed, like getting rid of that META menu, and adding some adverts … but it is not as simple as it seems as it involves changing style sheets! got all the blog imports done now though, so that is good news.
33