NC Angler Forums banner
Status
Not open for further replies.

Changes to the site...please read!

6K views 7 replies 1 participant last post by  NCangler 
#1 ·
Hi all. We've been working hard over the past few weeks at optimizing the website and the server to make the site run faster, as well as some other tweaks that I think will improve things too.

1) A couple months ago a software upgrade introduced the "Likes" system. Immediately folks wondered what is the difference between a Like and a Thanks (the system we've had in place for a long time). Well we didn't really see the need for both so we decided to program our own custom system to accomplish what both those systems were attempting to do, and in the process make it better. Today we implemented the new "Likes" system. We imported all the likes and thanks our members have made in the past into the new system. When you click on "Like" now it shows up within the body of the message (instead of under the message as the old "Thanks" system did). This will save screen real estate. And by doing away with the other Likes system we have eliminated the annoying Likes count in the Notifications at the top of the page. Now Notifications will show up only if you have a Private Message, like it used to. At any time you can see all the likes that have been attributed to your posts by clicking on your member profile link or your logged in username at the top of the page. Likes now have their own tab in your user profile, nicely organized and filed away. :)

I am confident that these changes will serve us better in the future. So if you like a post that someone has made let them know so. :)

2) We've also removed a software system that was used for promoting Search Engine Optimization. It added some server resource overhead and we just didn't need it anymore. We're pretty confident that we programmed it to handle old URL links within the site, but if you find a dead URL let us know with the "Report Post" button and we'll fix it or remove it.

3) One last change that we're making. As you know the website is financed personally by yours truly and it ain't cheap to build and run this thing! I depend on the Captains Club, Supporter and Sponsor memberships as well as Commercial Sponsor advertising to help pay the bills and to keep improving the website. As you know we do not allow free advertising by individuals or companies in posts and threads. We reserve this right to our Captains Club and Sponsor members.

Captains Club membership - Many members have added a URL link to their signature file to promote their own website or blog, etc. In the next few days we will be removing any signature URL that is not associated with a Captains Club or Sponsor member. That again is a right reserved for our financial supporters. Now, if you have a blog or website that you want to promote to people I think $25/year is a small price to pay to expose it to our audience of 20-30,000 people per week. And you help support our website in the process. Learn more here.

Sponsor membership - We have increased the Sponsor membership to $100/year (it has been $75 for over five years now). Sponsor members can add up to a 600x60 pixel graphic banner to their signature file that links to their website. Learn more here.

Supporter collectible buttons - Last year we added another avenue for support of the site, the Supporter collectible buttons. Each button costs $10 and are permanently added to your user account. Anytime you make a post in the forums your Supporter button shows too. Learn more here.

Commercial Sponsors - Finally, if you know of a business that would benefit from banner advertising on our website, please have them contact us sales@ncangler.com. Learn more here.

It would be great if we had more members that joined our Captains Club or Sponsor memberships or purchased a Supporter button. For those that have supported us in that capacity for the past five years we thank you very much! :cool:

And please make note of the members that support our site by visiting our Sponsors and Supporters page:
http://www.ncangler.com/index.php?page=sponsorthanks

Finally, you will remember that a few weeks back we created a custom system to recognize active duty and retired military personnel for their service. If you are serving or have served in our armed forces we want to recognize and honor that service by giving you a special title that shows up under your online username and by adding the icon that represents the branch of service that you are a member of. Please go to the Settings link above and then click on Edit My Settings (left hand column down the page) then scroll to the bottom of your settings to find Military Branch and Military Service. Please select the branch and service that you are serving or have served in. And we thank you for your service!

Thanks all!

Blessings
Randy
 
See less See more
#3 ·
Hi folks. Just a heads up that we are going to be making some more website changes in the next few days and in the coming weeks.

First, we are going to be consolidating some of the forums soon in order to keep posts from being scattered into many areas, which should make it easier to know where to post and where to find things. When we started NCangler.com we were thinking more choices is better, but in reality by segmenting information too much folks aren't sure where to post things and as a result things get scattered all over the place. The Moderators and myself try to move things to the most appropriate forum depending on the content but we don't catch everything and honestly don't have time to do that for hundreds of posts per day. Some of the consolidation will be the result of whether a particular forum has been active or not as well.

Second, we are working on a new "Tournaments" solution that will be much simpler for you and easier for us as well. That should go live next week.

Third, we are working on a custom "Photo" solution for the site that will make adding photos to threads and posts easier and will upload all photos to each members own photo gallery. This one may take a couple of weeks or more to pull off but it will make posting photos and video clips MUCH easier.

Fourth, we are working on a way to post Classified Ads in a "Classifieds" forum. This has been requested for awhile and we hope to have it in place in a few weeks.

Fifth, we are working on our own iPhone and Android mobile app for the website. This will make posting photos from your phone within a new post very easy. This will be a paid app ($1.99) but that will help us pay for developing new stuff like this for the website and will be well worth the cost if you use an iPhone, iPad or Android mobile device. Can't wait to premiere this!

Finally, when we launch the mobile app we will also be making a major announcement about the expansion and development of our online fishing network. I can't reveal it yet but I really think you're going to like it. :D

As you can see, we don't sit still here and always have improving and building on what we have in mind. It wouldn't be possible without the diligent work of our moderators. Thanks to them! :cool:

More to come....
Randy
 
#5 ·
Hi all. As promised we have implemented some of the new changes to NCangler.com. The goal was to consolidate 50+ forum choices into 20. We've moved all the Saltwater forums into one Saltwater forum, same for Freshwater, Fly-Fishing, Kayak as well as Gear and Tackle.

We also moved all the Club forums into one "Fishing Clubs" forum. When you post in the Fishing Clubs you'll see a new drop down list where you can tag an entry with a "prefix" for one of the existing clubs, (CCA (Catfish Angler Association), FAAN (Fayetteville Area Angler Network, GAFF (Greenville Area Fishing Friends), RED X (RED X ANGLERS), NCBC (NC Bowfishers Club), and NCCFC (NC College Fishing Clubs)). These "prefixes" will show up in the forum thread list so you can tell which Club the message is related to.

There are also "prefixes" for the Fishing Tournament forum, Fishing Reports and the different fishing forums. Please choose a "prefix" when you create a new thread as this will make the entry easier to search.

The other big change is in the area of "Fishing Tournaments". We've tried a couple of things with Fishing Tournaments and we think you'll like the new approach. The same rules apply for posting fishing tournament information but you only have to post it in one location now, the Fishing Tournaments forum. The link in the navigation menu under the "Tools" menu will bring up the Fishing Tournaments calendar where you can see what tournaments are coming up.

The changes will take a little getting used to but I think when you want to create a new thread, you'll appreciate the streamlined list to choose from. There are more changes coming in the next few weeks so stay tuned! :)
 
#6 ·
We have added a "Find threads related to" search link at the top of each forum that has "prefixes" so you can now do a quick sort for items that you're interested in. So if you create a thread in a forum with "prefixes" be sure to select one that best describes where your content is intended so folks can find it easier. Thanks!
 
#8 ·
Hi folks. We've been tweaking some to maximize screen real estate in posts to cut down on having to scroll any more than we have to. As a result we have moved the "Like This Post" link from the top of a post to the bottom in the gray footer area of each post and added a "Thumbs Up" icon beside it. If you have "Liked" a post and then choose to "Unlike" it you'll see a Thumbs down icon. Just click that to clear your "Like". :)
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
You have insufficient privileges to reply here.
Top