Your thoughts please! How can we improve...

Maybe it's just me, but the splash page is actually what I constantly go back to rather than navigate the very busy forums/classifieds links page. The primary reason is that I can click on the "New Posts" button next to my user ID and easily find all the updated threads since my last visit.

Oh, one more minor thing. If you're on the splash page and go to "Quick Links" and then select "Your Classifieds," the link is broken and refreshes the splash page instead of taking you to your classifieds page. The link fixes itself once you enter a forum, but it is an extra step.

My suggestion would be to figure out how to get the FC pages to send out an undetectable wavelength that would turn lurkers into social butterflies.

Onto being more serious ...

I believe we touched, a wee bit, on making FC more mobile friendly (without Tapatalk) for, yet undisclosed, certain mobile phones.
I have no problems, with my smartphone, except for not being able to leave a comment when giving Karma (but can still give Karma. So, it is not a huge deal).
I suppose that if anyone is having problems, with different mobile phones, they could speak up and, perhaps, leave suggestions.

I don’t have any suggestions, at this very moment, for improving the FC site. However, if one comes to me, I will post it.

I have occasionally accessed the site through that page; but I don't find the content particularly useful TO ME...and, for a while, a portion of it was downright annoying (again, TO ME). I'm not the one that has to deal with the page layout; but if that page is popular, a link could be added to the navigation bar...OR, if that throws things off, the Fauna Homepage could probably be added to QuickLinks.

Personally, my first stop is my User CP - easy access to PMs, my Classifieds Panel, and review of activity in threads to which I'm subscribed. After that New Posts (or Today's Posts via QuickLink - sometimes the content is different, especially if I've had to log off for some reason).

Going back to auctions - that section looks pretty dead. Relatively few auctions posted, even fewer get any activity. It might help if that section was more visible - either including it in the homepage link to the classifieds, even though it's a separate section; or adding a link to the homepage navigation bar. I don't know how much of the disuse is people just not knowing about it; but, as it exists, I consider it a waste of space.
I know auctions have been increasing in popularity again (elsewhere); but - as Rich has pointed out in the past - investing in a more specialized auction platform when what is here doesn't get utilized, is a risky investment. Sure, it MIGHT pay off - spurring an increase in traffic and useage, and thriving on its merits...or it could sit there, still unused, despite the financial outlay.

Originally Posted by snowgyre

Maybe it's just me, but the splash page is actually what I constantly go back to rather than navigate the very busy forums/classifieds links page. The primary reason is that I can click on the "New Posts" button next to my user ID and easily find all the updated threads since my last visit.

I don't understand - the New Posts link is accessible from most (if not all) pages. If you like the "splash" page, I'm not going to try to steer you away from it...but if you like it because you can click on the New Posts button, you might be wasting steps by going back to it. It's in the same place on this very page

Maybe I'm missing something, or misunderstood?

Originally Posted by snowgyre

Maybe it's just me, but the splash page is actually what I constantly go back to rather than navigate the very busy forums/classifieds links page. The primary reason is that I can click on the "New Posts" button next to my user ID and easily find all the updated threads since my last visit.

Like Harald, I have always logged on into my User CP. When the "Splash Page" was redone a few years ago, I think that was the last time I looked at it until now.

I like logging into the CP because it brings up immediately my subscribed threads and forums. Then I can easily click on the "new posts" link that is on top of every page. Then I will usually look and the forums homepage. I have always considered it the main page for the site.

The "Splash Page" has never really appealed to me.

My thoughts about the splash page - I like it for a single reason. There are large pictures of the animals available next to the most recent classifieds listings. If there was a way to browse all the classifieds in this mode, it would be awesome. Maybe there is and I just don't know? Anyway, just my two cents. Viewing the pictures of everything is fun and not having to click is non-commitment based - like having fun walking around at a show looking at things without bothering the person at the table. If something catches your eye, you can look closer, but you got a good look from the thumbnail as it is.

The thing that I think could be most improved with fauna isn't the architecture of the site or anything like that, it's the lack of forum interaction. I'm not sure why people don't post discussion topics very often here. Every time I've posted I've gotten nearly immediate, good answers or useful discussion. Definitely not a site problem as much as a user problem. Perhaps something could be done to encourage discussion forum posts?

Okay just trying to put some shared suggestions to bullet points. I think we all realize everyone appreciates suggestions even if actually doing something about it might simply not be feasible. So in order of posting, not importance.

1. Auctions: Combining them into the classifieds
2. Splash Page: linking the FC Logo to it & perhaps adding it to the Nav bar or Quick links.
3. Mobile Friendlier: ability to leave Karma comments
4. More Participation in Forums: __________suggestions?

Here is an observation I have noticed. People like seeing "new and active" things happening. New classifieds, new threads, new discussions being posted.

Lets take a site with 100 new classifieds, 20 new topics, 50 discussion responses per day. (totally making up figures).

SITE A: condenses all 170 items into one common viewing area, similar to a FB page.
SITE B: divides those same 170 items between 17 locations.

There is no more traffic on SITE A, however it feels like there is more "activity" and things are hopping over on SITE A. SITE B has the same amount of traffic but because it is divided, a user may only see her/his own niche and only 'thinks' 10 things have gone on during the day, and site feels less used and not as active.

Same traffic for both, one feels different than the other. SITE A gives a false perception of being more active than it really is. SITE B does the opposite.

So one suggestion would be to condense/combine some forums, both boosting perceived and actual activity to the merged forum. This is my logic behind combining AUCTIONS & CLASSIFIEDS. The same could be true for other forums like combining all the Colubrids together, etc.

Having users exposed to other merged threads & classifieds might expand their horizons into other areas then they realized they liked before.

Originally Posted by Robert Walker

Having users exposed to other merged threads & classifieds might expand their horizons into other areas then they realized the liked before.

On a (non reptile) site I visit frequently, off to the right and below some of the ads on each of the main pages of each of the forums is a list of the 'most recent posts' (I think they list 10), I like that feature and have joined some interesting conversations just by seeing the most recent post feature.
I'm sure the advertisers must like it also.
And it is not intrusive, if you didn't want to look at the most recent posts it would be OK.