Major OFF overhaul coming... Fresh ideas wanted!

[openfire]

Hey guys, I think that it is time for OFF to "reboot" so to speak...

I had planned to revamp OFF last year, but was holding off for the new Vbulletin forum software. After almost a year of delays, the new software has finally been released, and to my dismay, it has fallen well short of expectation.

Nonetheless, I would like to now take OFF to the next level.

I've had a few ideas kicking around over the past year as to what I would like to see implemented, but I'm interested in what you guys think would make OFF awesome...

So, what are your thoughts/ideas on changes to OFF regarding:

- look/feel
- functionality
- other features
- miscellaneous?

Everything is on the table guys, so any and all ideas are welcome and much appreciated in this thread.

 

[openfire]

OK, I'll get the ball rolling -

New Feature #1: clickable google mashup map of all report locations - This will provide a visual overview of all reports at a glance. You can hover your mouse over specific points to see a description of any specific report, then have the option to click on it and be taken straight to the actual report.

 

[efka]

good idea with the maps openfire.

ok gonna put my ideas on the table, you guys decide what fits.

1.i would think more sections would be easier to locate for specific info.
my suggestion would be instead of area section, to make sections for different style fishing. ie float fishing, bottom bouncing, spining/baitcasting (lure washing ), fly fishing, ice fishing deep water fishing (trolling with downrigers), misc so instead of flooding general or off topic sections with questions it would go to appropriate section
still having first report of course, and sections like hook ups, buy sell, home made lures.

2.since most guys fish 16, 17 zones
other nice thing to have in sticky post maybe, have a post of whats open. lets say pike, walley 1617, mysky 16,17 (meaning green open, red closed) etc. also would be nice to have have the regs somewhere as well.

3.new section "interesting stuff" lets say for: video clips, articles, lessons, kitchen recipes, anything interesting found online.

 

[reefrunner]

I like the recipies section. I would add a reference section say for up-to-date weather reports/links, hydrographic or general lake maps, product reviews.

 

[MikeyMikey]

yes to all of the above for now...

 

[HyperFox]

Some areas like mine are open all year round.

But I think some kind of map would be great.. Perhaps each area could be alink to an mnr site with that areas restriciton list?

 

[diggyj]

I like the idea of opening up the locked sections to members that actually contribute on a regular basis and have themselves posted reports in more then one section or have over a certain number of posts. 100 posts, 1 section, 250 posts, 2 sections, 500 posts, 3 sections, etc, etc.....

While I have never river fished a TRIB before, I would like to learn and I would love it if that section was open for me to see and read about.

Upload photos directly from PC.

Contests to make the board more interesting.

Meet & Greets or tournaments. If everyone was interested in a tournament, I would be willing to host one from my place on Rice Lake. We could hook up non boaters with the guys that have boats.

Ask a pro section. See if you can get someone on board with this site that is a fishing pro and have them answer questions and give tips and advice.

 

[toronto_angler]

Diggy has some great ideas. We should get some meet and greets going

 

[pogon02]

How about guide section for those new to angling or just for those that want to learn from other Angler's experiences etc. This guide could be broken up by type of water conditions or species etc this is just an idea i guess that this would be right along what diggy is proposing in his last point

 

[feenstra32]

Social networking is a very powerful tool. Twitter, Facebook, etc. Where I work social networking generates most of our income. Its a good way to get the site name out there and more traffic. More traffic means more activity and more ad revenue which would help with hosting and other expenses. There is a lot you can do with a community these days.

This would also help with some of the other posts about contests and meet and greets. There are tools available to let you manage all your social networking sites at once and it would be easy to let people know the happenings of the site and their area.

Also for forum enhancements the rep/thanks system would be a good addition.

 

[nocatchyname]

I like the idea of opening up the locked sections to members that actually contribute on a regular basis and have themselves posted reports in more then one section or have over a certain number of posts. 100 posts, 1 section, 250 posts, 2 sections, 500 posts, 3 sections, etc, etc.....

I'm not sure how the community around here works (as I just got here) but where you have post limits for access, usually comes post whoring and pointless posts just to boost post count. I'm also not sure how easy to make legitmate posts, depending on how much traffic the site produces it could be fairly easy to rack up 100 posts. Also, if it were 100 posts, which section would open up first? Say I got to 100 posts, opening any section other than the Georgian Bay area would be pretty much useless to me, therefore not completely fair to me just because of the area I happen to live. Whereas, for someone else, opening the Georgian Bay area would be useless to them.

I'm not saying this is a bad idea, just it could potentially cause a lot of unnecessary headaches.

1.i would think more sections would be easier to locate for specific info.
my suggestion would be instead of area section, to make sections for different style fishing. ie float fishing, bottom bouncing, spining/baitcasting (lure washing ), fly fishing, ice fishing deep water fishing (trolling with downrigers), misc so instead of flooding general or off topic sections with questions it would go to appropriate section
still having first report of course, and sections like hook ups, buy sell, home made lures.

I like this idea. What I think would be better though is having different sections for types of fish as opposed to fishing styles. I mean there are a lot of different types of fish out there, but seperate forums to cover some of the general big names found in our waters. Bass, pike, musky, walleye, trout, salmon, cats, carp, etc. Now you could group some of these together, for instance, I would group bass and pike together, musky and walleye together. Trout and salmon could each have a seperate forum. Or something like that. I mean, I mostly fish for bass & pike, and never salmon, but you can't search the words bass or pike, to bring up threads on them because the terms are too common.

For newer members (such as myself) who are just looking for some fresh ideas or to share ideas on catching fish that they already fish for, it would be nice to have specific forums like that to make the information easier to locate.

 

[openfire]

I'm not sure how the community around here works (as I just got here) but where you have post limits for access, usually comes post whoring and pointless posts just to boost post count.

This is a very valid point. We ran a few competitions here in the past, one of which was based on highest monthly post count. The results were mixed at best... Without ruling out the idea completely, I would be very hesitant to again offer any incentives based on post count alone. I'm thinking that instead of post count, we could somehow reward members based on a reputation system, or a "thanks" system... Thus helpful members would be rewarded based not on post count, but on useful contribution to the forum.

 

[nocatchyname]

I'm thinking that instead of post count, we could somehow reward members based on a reputation system, or a "thanks" system... Thus helpful members would be rewarded based not on post count, but on useful contribution to the forum.

We have a rep system on another forum I have been part of for quite some time. You can give positive rep for good posts, or negative rep for bad posts. The problem with a rep system is a misuse. A lot of new comers were getting bad rep for posting redundant threads and the like, this bad rep was mostly coming from those who haven't been part of the forum for a great length of time, and before giving the n00b a chance to redeem themselves, just straight given them bad rep.

While I think a pos/neg rep system is great on some forums, where bad advice can be very costly, I think giving negative reputation should only be allotted to those with, at least, some positive points. But on a forum like this, it seems like a "thanks" system, with only the positive side represented would work just fine.

I also agree with rewards based on useful contribution over post count.

Another idea - A photo/media forum. A collective place where we can tell fish stories, with the pictures to back it up. Or share subject related videos that we found interesting or useful.

 

[frozenfire]

Some great points and advice that you brought up nocatchyname (I like your username by the way )

 

[efka]

some good ideas for sure, esp thanks system.

 

[openfire]

Thanks for the suggestions!

There is now a tentative plan in place for the new board. Some of the changes you can expect to see will include the transition away from the current forum software to a new more robust forum platform, new colours/layout and various changes to the reports section rules/structure. There is no immediate time frame but I can tell you that it will be "sooner than later" and the work will be done in stages as opposed to all at once. In the mean time, feel free to add to this topic at any time.

*moving this to off-topic*

 

[disspatcher]

Ready when you are Capt'n~

 

[MikeyMikey]

it'll be done when it's done?

 

[openfire]

it'll be done when it's done? 8)

I'm going to Montreal for the weekend (leaving tonight), but I will begin revamping the board when I'm back early in the week.

In case anyone is wondering, once the changes are implemented, we will have a brand new forum... with a re-organized reports section for starters.

The board may be off-line for a few hours at some point during the forum re-install... I will make an announcement before hand.

*edit to add: The time-frame for the above depends on how things go on the test board... I may need a few beta testers!

 

[MikeyMikey]

Suggestion:

I personally do not use any of those social media sites like facebook, twitter and such but I thought it would be cool to add maybe a twitter to our site when it does a facelift again?

Along side with the short chitchat from the many forum screen, how about a another section for twits or something?
So that whomever can twit in realtime to say whatever or give a short report of whereEver they are fishing at the momment? as far as I know you do not need those fancy smartphones but twit can be sent via text messge to a specific phone number (Free) and twit get posted too. Just a little geeky idea that popped up in my head.

Later!