Your Club's Website

[Peter Burgess]

Kay

You have hit the nail on the head (one of very few that seem to 'get it').

It's perceptions that I am interested in.

Like wearing a suit to work. We all know that it shouldn't make a difference to how others see our work, but in reality it does (though not nearly as much as it used to!). That's one reason why public facing airline employees wear a uniform.

So if I see something that I think would make a difference, why not mention it? A helpful website equates in the subconscious to a helpful club. And if folk like what they see, then that can only be a good thing, surely?

Peter

 

[damian]

Hades Caving Club
http://members.aol.com/sosprey94/
Colour photos on my colour screen would make it look less dated.

We actually have a new site at www.hadescc.org.uk. It has only been fully live for a few weeks and, as I think is probably the case with many of the club sites, the majority of it is hidden behind passwords.

Before anyone moans, the graphic is being changed!

 

[Dep]

"Maybe when we have a site to start with, rather than comment on the technical features which would be very geeky, let's just concentrate on how the club comes over - friendly, or specialised, or busy, or a bit armchair? "
...
I'd really like to get back to the original question - what impression of the club do you get from the website?

Kay is right; that was indeed the original aim - but not really the general type of response received so far.

But this really boils down to a kind of cyber "through the keyhole" - what can you tell about an unknown club from their website. But as very few of these website are from 'unknown clubs' this doesn't really work as people already know who they are and cannot therefore be objective.

 

[Dep]

You have hit the nail on the head (one of very few that seem to 'get it').
It's perceptions that I am interested in.
...

Crossing posts - you were typing at the same time as me....

But yes, exactly!

 

[Peter Burgess]

"Maybe when we have a site to start with, rather than comment on the technical features which would be very geeky, let's just concentrate on how the club comes over - friendly, or specialised, or busy, or a bit armchair? "
...
I'd really like to get back to the original question - what impression of the club do you get from the website?

Kay is right; that was indeed the original aim - but not really the general type of response received so far.

But this really boils down to a kind of cyber "through the keyhole" - what can you tell about an unknown club from their website. But as very few of these website are from 'unknown clubs' this doesn't really work as people already know who they are and cannot therefore be objective.

Dep I really do not understand what your problem is. If I consistently go to, say, the SWCC site, and have difficulties with it, or it takes ages to find what I am looking for, then although I know the club, and I know the site, I still have a perception of the website that I can comment on. That's it. Nothing else. BTW, that's not the case with SWCC's site - it's a 'good' one (in my eyes).

If you are worried about folk casting a critical eye over your site, then fine, let's respect that. I don't really see why you should be concerned, as I think it is a first class and highly informative and helpful site, bet then I would say that, wouldn't I? But, as is the case with ISSA and ACG, the respective clubs had no problem, and were happy for feedback.

 

[Peter Burgess]

Oh, and of course it's all subjective. It's only a form of 'peer review' after all.

 

[Dep]

...
Dep I really do not understand what your problem is. If I consistently go to, say, the SWCC site, and have difficulties with it, or it takes ages to find what I am looking for, then although I know the club, and I know the site, I still have a perception of the website that I can comment on. That's it. Nothing else. BTW, that's not the case with SWCC's site - it's a 'good' one (in my eyes).

If you are worried about folk casting a critical eye over your site, then fine, let's respect that. I don't really see why you should be concerned, as I think it is a first class and highly informative and helpful site, bet then I would say that, wouldn't I? But, as is the case with ISSA and ACG, the respective clubs had no problem, and were happy for feedback.

With the original idea of what impression it creates I have no problem at all - I'm all for it as I said to you yesterday.

But I do not believe that you will get a response that restricts itself to that, and I do not want lots of suggestions for how I can change layouts, colours, page structures and so on which is what I can see me getting.

I already know the site is technically of a high standard.

But for exmple you haven't really outlined what our website is for - as we discussed somewhere (email/phone/confabulation? can't remember) it isn't a pure caving club website but has a number of other key functions too, all of which have to be catered for in the first few pages.

Peer review is a great idea - but not all parts are relevant to cavers - for unbiased (in our specific case) peer review we need feedback from the mining community, Surrey locals, general underground explorers and new members.

It probably won't surprise you to hear that I often quiz our new people (and other guests/contacts) on what they thought of the website in terms of what it had to offer them. In many cases they were sufficiently impressed to poke about, get interested and subsequently join us, sometimes as visitors, often as new members; our stats speak for themselves.

So to clarify - I'm not being negative towards your idea which is a good one by and large, but I am cautious. It's my nature!  :

But you will be pleased to know that I have just this instant thought of a way to access images >=500 as long as they are public side!

 

[kay]

"Maybe when we have a site to start with, rather than comment on the technical features which would be very geeky, let's just concentrate on how the club comes over - friendly, or specialised, or busy, or a bit armchair? "
...
I'd really like to get back to the original question - what impression of the club do you get from the website?

Kay is right; that was indeed the original aim - but not really the general type of response received so far.

But this really boils down to a kind of cyber "through the keyhole" - what can you tell about an unknown club from their website. But as very few of these website are from 'unknown clubs' this doesn't really work as people already know who they are and cannot therefore be objective.

So maybe we should comment only on websites of clubs that we don't know? 

Of course, that would mean the small unknown clubs would get a lot more feedback than the big well known ones.

 

[whitelackington]

Do The Toby
have a website?

 

[graham]

Do The Toby

Do, do do, the funky gibbon

The funky gibbon.

 

[ogofmole]

As webmaster of the Hereford Caving Club Website, please feel free to comment good or bad on our website as it is due a total upgrade as it was last revamped in 2006. Although it is updated regular with trip reports and photos. But as with most club websites the main part is behind password.

http://www.herefordcavingclub.org.uk

 

[cap n chris]

Do The Toby
have a website?

Do what I did. Put "Toby Caving Club" into Google and get a result that way.

 

[whitelackington]

Do The Toby
have a website?

Do what I did. Put "Toby Caving Club" into Google and get a result that way.

I just did that,
my, that is a deeply unimpresive webpage!!!

 

[Peter Burgess]

As webmaster of the Hereford Caving Club Website, please feel free to comment good or bad on our website as it is due a total upgrade as it was last revamped in 2006. Although it is updated regular with trip reports and photos. But as with most club websites the main part is behind password.

http://www.herefordcavingclub.org.uk

I'd be more than happy to do this. However, I won't be online a great deal in the next week and a bit. As nobody else seems to be the slightest bit interested in making helpful comments, you may have to wait till then. Unless those too busy p1ssing around in this topic do something a bit more constructive, of course. I'll have a quick look see, but I should be getting on with something else at the moment.

 

[Peter Burgess]

First impression - clear, and functional. I like the downloadable information pack for potential new members. Unfortunately, it said the file was damaged and I couldn't read it, but the idea is good and something we haven't got. We put together an information pack for new members after they have joined. I liked the 1960 Agen Allwedd survey! It would be a shame if the new site didn't follow a similar pattern to the one I browsed. Maybe I like blues. It just occurred to me that anyone visiting this topic in a year's time will probably be linking to renewed or updated websites, and these comments on websites won't make any sense!

The 'about us' being on the home page i.e. up front rather than tucked away is something I have been discussing in our club forum today. Not saying if it's good or bad, but it definitely should be easy to find for first time visitors.

I have the Cheltenham Stone book. Excellent! I'm even mentioned once or twice in it which was a pleasant surprise. 

 

[kay]

OK -  a quick look, and based on Peter's original question of what does this web site tell me about the club.

A small club (you say that, and the fact that there aren't a huge no. of trip reports and pics suggests the same). Strong emphasis on safety, and looking after novices. I'd be definitely attracted as a beginner in caving. I'd feel that I'd be well looked after, and not thrown in at a level I couldn't handle.

There seems to be a lot of people in the club who are interested in caving to look at and enjoy the caves as opposed to the physical challenge/pitting themselves against the environment type of caver - this is the tone of Julia's introduction and also the general tenor of the trip reports. I feel you are not setting out to be a club for 'hard men' only, or for advanced cavers or for cavers for whom no trip is good unless they've well and truly scared themselves at least once.

I get the impression of a  quietly competent and caring club.

And I like the fact that you are sharing survey info with the wider caving community, not keeping them for members only.

 

[Peter Burgess]

You're better at this than I am, Kay.  :-[ You'd better take over while I am away. I might pop in from time to time if I get the opportunity.

 

[graham]

But as with most club websites the main part is behind password.

The only things behind passwords on ours are admin functions.

 

[Broken Chris]

www.wsg.org.uk

"Far more up to date than their Mendip hut, thankfully."

Errrr, what Mendip hut? Would that be the recently improved one in Hirwaun, Wales with brand new hot water boiler and stove and all for a bargain price of just ?3.50 a night??

 

[JB]

As webmaster of the Hereford Caving Club Website, please feel free to comment good or bad on our website as it is due a total upgrade as it was last revamped in 2006. Although it is updated regular with trip reports and photos. But as with most club websites the main part is behind password.
http://www.herefordcavingclub.org.uk

A nice site that's easy to navigate around and has some good information for beginners. Site is clean and easy on the eye. I spent a good 5 minutes looking around and it kept my interest. Club come across as a friendly bunch who are happy to spend time bringing on novices; it's great that you manage to get that across on your site. Good use of .pdfs for information and pics. Like the fact that you can buy a CD of surveys, books etc. from you although I guess there's not many get sold.

If I'm being picky...

The blue and yellow scheme is an 'interesting' choice for a caving website. I think the colour scheme does affect how you feel about the organisation although not sure why. Some of the flowery language on the about caving page isn't my cup of tea but I'm not particularly normal and not a novice either so don't necesarily take any notice of me. The pictures on the trip reports page are a bit small; you've probably got space on the page for them to be bigger than that and as more people get broadband download size shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Yours constructively,

Jules.