Opinion:
World is going mobile. Everyone can see that. I do the majority of my business (reptile related and real job related) on my phone.
I am sending this from my phone. I love FC, but without Tapatalk I would visit it once a week instead of 5 times a day.
Yes, a computer is nicer. But I browse FC in my free time. My "in between" time. Bringing a laptop everywhere just isn't feasible.
If I am waiting for a homeowner, I am using my phone. Waiting on a buyer to show up? I am on my phone. Etc.
Having a mobile friendly app would be fantastic. It could even be made into a premium feature for contributors. I bet your contributions would go up.
Is it costly? It can be. But it would allow users far more access to the site. And just for the record, my phone shows better pics than my pc and even has more pixels.
As for the Facebook part of things - a social presence can make or break a company in today's market. I understand you are retired. But you have built something huge, why not try to keep it alive?
You have moderators to help you. Get a Facebook mod or two that can run a page for you. It pretty easy to do. Just basically have the page point to here.
Anothing thing on the topic of Facebook - sharing a thread to Facebook. Being able to post a classified here and then click and post it to my Facebook would be great. Or to see something and want to share it with other people on Facebook.
I am not sure how your backend is coded, but that should be a fairly simple and cheap mod.
You should look into it, Rich. I know this is your site. But we all love it and want to see it thrive. And coding nowadays is not NEARLY as expensive as it was ten or even five years ago. Most coding has become streamlined and anything Facebook related even more so.
I'm sure many of you have noticed by now that we actually have a page up on Facebook for FaunaClassifieds ->
https://www.facebook.com/FaunaClassifieds
And there is even a button up next to the FC logo where you can click and "like" this site. Whatever that really means. My mom always told me to avoid strangers saying out of the blue that they "like" me. Can't seem to break that aversion, I'm afraid.
So I'll be perfectly honest, it was the recent prodding from Robert that got this all rolling, and he is actually taking lead on maintaining the page and doing the footwork he feels is necessary to help this site get a better presence on facebook. Actually saying he has the lead isn't really all that accurate, neither. I pretty much handed him the keys to the page and told him to have at it. I agreed to give this a shot just to see what, if anything, happens concerning traffic here by having some presence there. So I'm pretty much just watching what Robert is doing and letting him call the shots, since he is far, FAR more experienced with facebook than I ever intend to become. If there is something I need to be doing, he just tells me (like posting this here) and I try to work myself up into acting almost enthusiastic about this facebook stuff.
I think this is what is known as damning with faint praise.
So if you get a chance, take a look at the page. Oh yeah, and Robert says I am supposed to try to solicit everyone to "like" the facebook page. Or is "liking" that page actually saying that someone is "liking" THIS site? But I feel kind of silly asking for "likes" so please excuse me if I sound kind of luke warm about this whole thing. Sorry, but it just feels like I'm a whiny little puppy exuding green nasal mucous with bright red streaks of blood whimpering for someone, ANYONE, to "like" this site. But I guess that's the dinosaur in my showing through, as evidently that is the way things are these days. I suppose there must be some prize awaiting whoever gets the most "likes" in the world. At least that is how it seems to me with all the "like" buttons all over the internet lately. A "like" must be facebook currency instead of dollars.
Again ->
https://www.facebook.com/FaunaClassifieds <- or just click that "Like" button at the top of the screen to the right of the logo in the left hand corner. You don't need to actually look at the page, I guess, just say that you "LIKE" it!
So "like" away! Maybe there is a new Corvette in this for me from facebook if I can just get enough "likes" under my belt.....
