QUOTE(John S. @ Feb 12 2014, 05:17 PM) [snapback]35716[/snapback] I will say if there is too much advertising you might see a drop off in numbers. Remember that this site was the first to start up but there are now other sites that have been catching up and getting a few reviews on many of the campgrounds. I can't understand why anyone complains about advertising on forums. If you don't like seeing it, block it. I run AdBlock with Chrome and see absolutely no ads. I'm sure the advertisers aren't pleased, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to use it.
QUOTE(John S. @ Feb 12 2014, 03:17 PM) [snapback]35716[/snapback] I would say make the best site you can and do not worry about where the buttons are as the functionality of this site is not very robust. I've been working with RV related communities for more then a decade and it's obvious that software changes can be challenging for the users. Knowing this, we have made every effort to try and keep familiar links and navigational elements in the same places. One of the first things we did before designing a single thing was to use some heat map tools to monitor how people actually click through the site. Here you can see a couple of them. https://www.dropbox.com/s/xex9uhafj7e8bez/r...e%20heatmap.gif https://www.dropbox.com/s/cd7aa1feg36426l/r...e%20heatmap.gif Even though we are trying hard to keep things similar, it will be a new system and some things will be in new places. We will be here to help everyone get settled and this change is the foundation for being able to create some really amazing features in the future.
Yikes! This site has been so good and so helpful. We've used it extensively for over 10 years and, reading the proposed changes, has me worried. Dutch's comments above are right on the money. I think of all the parks we've stayed in across the country with fragile and weak WiFi signals, where you wait and wait to get the current review format downloaded. How will access be with what appears to be 2-3 times the information now provided for each park? I suspect not good. Guess i am getting old and cranky.
QUOTE(MaineDon @ Feb 16 2014, 12:19 PM) [snapback]35742[/snapback] Yikes! This site has been so good and so helpful. We've used it extensively for over 10 years and, reading the proposed changes, has me worried. Dutch's comments above are right on the money. I think of all the parks we've stayed in across the country with fragile and weak WiFi signals, where you wait and wait to get the current review format downloaded. How will access be with what appears to be 2-3 times the information now provided for each park? I suspect not good. Guess i am getting old and cranky. Just because the new format may have a few additional buttons doesn't mean that the amount of data required to load it will be all that much greater. Even if there are pictures and/or video available online doesn't mean you need to view them. Social Knowledge manages lots of websites and I trust they know how to design them to be user-friendly.
Might consider expanding the forum, maybe something similar to the RV.net or irv2 forum... like the idea of a introduction/new member discussion threads. mike
QUOTE(mdcamping @ Apr 13 2014, 08:37 AM) [snapback]36140[/snapback] Might consider expanding the forum, maybe something similar to the RV.net or irv2 forum... like the idea of a introduction/new member discussion threads. mike Our forum could use some expansion. Thanks for the suggestion.
In light of some comments that have been posted in other threads here and on RV.net, I would just like to say that I have been an admin on this website for about 7 years, and this site is definitely due for a major overhaul. I liked and respected the previous owner. He turned RVPR into a leading website making it so popular that it outgrew his capabilities to take care of it. He simply did not have the time or the staff to maintain, much less update, it anymore. From what I know of Andy he is a great guy. He is excited about purchasing the site and is ready, willing, and able to take it to a much higher level of information and service. We are essentially creatures of habit, and anything that disrupts our way of doing things is traumatic, but Andy has some great ideas for improvement that will make the site easier to use and more helpful to RV enthusiasts. Of course, as with anything that is new, there will be a period of adjustment, and there could even be some glitches, but I know Andy and his staff will respond quickly to resolve any issue. Therefore, when the new site finally rolls out, I hope all of you will give it a chance because I know a lot of thought and hard work went into making it better. We hope that you will find it to be more user friendly while continuing to keep and expand all the good information that RVers need so that they can make informed decisions about RV parks and campgrounds.
Thanks for the kind word. Having worked with many communities over the years, I learned we have to earn the trust of the members. We earn trust by being part of the community, trying to be open/transparent about why we manage things a certain way and putting forth our best effort. When it comes to change, we will make mistakes and that's ok. Sometimes we just have to try new things to see how they work out and if the results are better, great. If not, then revert and try something else. The important thing is that we not be afraid to try and evolve. If we are, others will gladly try to take our place. With such a smart member base and team, I think we can do great things here with RVPR!
That's an excellent suggestion; we were thinking of providing space to rate cell phone service (by carrier), but providing an option for noting your specific site is a good addition.
One problem I've seen with posting satellite access information, is the lack of specific provider and satellite info. I was recently in one campground for instance, where I was able to get signals from the Dish eastern arc satellites with my portable dish, but my neighbors were unable to get anything from the Direct TV or Dish western arc birds due to the tree cover. If I simply reported "good satellite" in my review, a lot of folks could be disappointed when they got there and couldn't get a signal.
I agree with you, but I believe the DirecTV cluster and the Dish Western Arc are fairly close in position. I suggest that to reduce the confusion we could reduce the choices to: DirecTV/Dish Western and Dish Eastern. It wouldn't be a perfect solution, but it would give a good approximation of a more precise answer.
As a long time member of this forum and ardent user of the CG reviews, I can say I am excited to hear of the up coming changes to RVPR! Just this past weekend I was ready to put a deposit down on a campsite at a Lake George, NY area campground. Before doing so, I checked RVPR to see what others had to say about this particular park. Needless to say, the reviews were not good. This site saved me the deposit they requested which was $75 but perhaps more so an un-pleasant get away do to the problems reported about this CG. It will be really nice to see the modernization of this site.
The new site has been in Beta testing for several weeks,and such tests are designed to identify problems and they are usually numerous. Revisions are underway but the process always takes longer than anticipated. I'm not on the "inside" of the development process, but, based on what I have seen, I expect it will be a few more months before the new system replaces the old one.
Frankly, we're running a little behind our target date and are still working on some details and the site team is in the process of reviewing the new site. While we are as anxious as anyone to roll it out we're taking time to add new features and make sure that everything is working properly. Thanks for your patience.
