Huge Changes Coming to Outdoors Directory Today!

[gr8fl]

Sorry, guys. Don't like the new banner at all. Looks confusing with the geese going different directions. Also the subject matter is too specific to be relevant to most of the forums.

~tr

[Michael Strahan]

Sorry, guys. Don't like the new banner at all. Looks confusing with the geese going different directions. Also the subject matter is too specific to be relevant to most of the forums.

~tr

We are going through a massive site update today, and the new banner in the forums is only the tip of the iceberg. Stay tuned... we hope to have it all updated by the end of today. And no, we didn't mess with the forums, other than the new banner. But we have new top-level navigation, tons of new content, and a brand-new fishing magazine, all starting today.

On the banners, we hope to change them out at least twice a year, but ideally it will happen every quarter. As to the new forums banner, we thought it was an appropriate representation of our community; different kinds of birds all going different directions, some coming in and going quickly, some feeding on the content, some alert for danger, some sleeping, and others just standing there squawking. Looking at the photo, you can almost hear the noise... And a huge thanks to Cory Kittle for helping us out with some of these images. Nice work, Cory!

We've been working on all of this for over a year. Wait until you see the rest...

-Mike

[anchskier]

I have to agree. I did like the old picture at the top better. More of an outdoors picture rather than specific to one activity.

Also, I don't know if this is just my computer or not, but the various menu options "Home" "Store" "Forums" etc... are lined up vertically, leaving a lot of empty space at the top of every page. When I go to see "New Posts", the actual posts don't start until halfway down the screen. If those menus were listed horizontally, it would only take up one line of the screen and we could see what most people are looking for most of the time (the forum posts) closer to the top of the screen instead of needing to scroll just to get to them.

I really do appreciate all the work you guys do and the forum you provide to us. Please don't take this as any kind of negative. I'm just trying to provide some constructive feedback.

[LuJon]

just give the update time. The menu's will get organized as they finish the work

[Michael Strahan]

Huge Changes Coming to Outdoors Directory Today!

Hi folks,

I'm sure you've noticed the new banner at the top of the forums, and may be wondering what's going on. Well, for the last year we have been working on a number of changes to the site. This is probably the biggest change to Outdoors Directory since we first launched our forums several years ago. Our two motives are:

1. Make the site more user-friendly. Our site has over 50,000 pages of content. About 5,000 pages of that is static content that exists in the form of articles, writeups on various things, and news items that are all located outside our forums. Some of this content was in drastic need of updating. So we are updating it. We've re-linked relevant articles, created new articles, and reorganized our site to make the contents more visible to our members.

2. Give the site more value for our advertisers. As many of you know, Outdoors Directory is supported primarily through advertising. Without our ad customers, there would be no website here. But the success of advertising depends on the ads being seen. Because the static pages were also stagnant (the content had not been updated in a long time), they were not seeing very many visits. With all the updates we did, together with the new content, our hope is that our customer's ads will be seen more often. As this happens, we attract new business and renew old relationships with other businesses who have been with us a long time. The end result of that to the end users (all of you folks reading this) is a stronger, more stable website.

Here is a summary of the changes we hope to launch today:

• New Site Navigation. We've completely reorganized the site so you can easily see the content we have that is outside our forums. Each of our new main divisions of the site has its own banner, to distinguish that area from the rest of the site.
  
• Breadcrumb Trail. We already have this in the forums, but now we have it in the rest of the site. This feature lets you easily determine where you are in the labyrinth of pages we have here on Outdoors Directory.
  
• New Content. We have used ADF&G's regional designations to divide the state into five regions. Each of these regions has its own home page, and links to sub-pages that relate to that region. These regional pages are filled with new content, and we plan to regularly add new content from here forward. We also added "Alaska at a Glance" to our top-level navigation. This is the place you can go first thing in the morning. Sit down with your coffee and surf Alaska outdoor news, local news and weather, ADFG info, and tons more. It has its own landing page (which is really ugly right now- that will change too), but most of you will probably access it via the pull-down menu out in the main site (the pull-downs don't work yet in the forums or the store).
  
• Alaska Fishing Magazine. This is a brand-new magazine for us. The current issue goes live today. It is electronic, but it will not come to you as email; it is designed to be read online. Marty and Joyce Sherman have come in and are running the magazine for us. They come with considerable experience, having been involved with Amato's "Fly Fishing" magazine for years. The fishing mag will go out four times a year, with content tuned to the seasons. Each issue also contains an article in a series we are calling "Cabin Fever". These articles are about fishing destinations outside Alaska. The inaugural issue that launches today contains a Cabin Fever article about fishing the East Cape region of Baja, a place easily accessible to our members in Alaska. The spring issue launches in about a month and other magazines are in the works as you read these words.

We appreciate your patience as we do the cutover today. We hope the disruptions will be mild, but there will be disruptions for sure. We do want your input on these things, but it would be wise to wait a little because the issue you are experiencing will likely clear up as the updates are completed.

Thanks again, and we are so excited to bring you these enhancements!

-Mike

[greythorn3]

looks like the midwest in the banner not alaska tho!

[Michael Strahan]

looks like the midwest in the banner not alaska tho!

I think it's the Interior.... maybe Creamer's field...

[greythorn3]

I think it's the Interior.... maybe Creamer's field...

ahha! can we please have a snowy mountian one?

[kingfisherktn]

I don't want anything, but just want to complain.

[FamilyMan]

I don't want anything, but just want to complain.

Again? Or Still ?

[kingfisherktn]

Still, of course.

[fullbush]

looks like the midwest in the banner not alaska tho!

I think it's the Interior.... maybe Creamer's field...

I think I like the old one better because its more like spring. The new one looks like fall

[homerdave]

we thought it was an appropriate representation of our community;

yep, at least half of them totally out of focus

sorry, i commend the idea, but i don't like the pic. too cluttered.

[Michael Strahan]

I think I like the old one better because its more like spring. The new one looks like fall

The birds return there in the spring. And we will change the banners out site-wide to match the seasons, something we have not done before.

[AGL4now]

I think I like the old one better because its more like spring. The new one looks like fall

I like the old one because it was my front yard, OK just around the corner.