Sorry, James, what does this refer to as it's in the middle of 11th August and it doesn't seem to be linked to anything.
James - my only comment is probably related to my age :-) - I occasionally find the sequence of comments confusing - i.e. is the most recent at the start or end?
I would like here to be a clearer distinction on your "Worth a Read" emails between which topics are actual editorial /blogs and which are basically SFN doing some "editorial" for one of your advertisers - the latter is advertorial and quite common in magazines etc, but in the printed press it is, I believe, obligatory that it carries a small title like "Advertorial" or "Daily Telegraph Promotion" to make it quite clear this is not totally independent editorial comment but linked to an advertiser.
I have to say that the word Survive in the name of the website has put off quite a few people we have mentioned the website to. It kind of implies that the whole experience of living in France is a nightmare and we have to survive it somehow. Which prompts the thought, maybe go back to the UK…?! A more positive name would be better, to encourage people to join who enjoy living here and don't necessarily have problems to share, but a name change is probably too late now.
We also find, like others, following posts is quite confusing, and very much support John Brian's suggestion (posted 18 August) of following Facebook's design of comments-on-comments being separated better. We are quite keen to contribute more to some of the building and renovation discussions as we run an architectural practice and may be able to offer helpful advice, but it takes so long to find our way around that we've slightly given up.
I would like to see more members from other departments Ardeche.Gard Drome. These are not heavily populated with English speaking people. I would love to help on someway to spread the word. My background is Nhs management but for the past 10 yrs we have successfully run a bed and breakfast in St Martin d’Ardeche
Thanks for listening
Carole Brown
This is in the pipeline Kit!
I do find the discussion format a little annoying.... I agree with Chris, she has a good idea. Also a dating section would be cool.... I'd be interested in that lol
If the page size is flexible this should go someway to reducing the ad size. Also with this ad there are solid blocks of colour which adds impact for the advertiser but it's a bit too much! If James is a agreeable, I could mock up some header ideas.
I agree Neil, I find the TOR FX advert is too imposing on the content of the site. I think the SFN banner should be more prominent at the top - we're proud to be on SFN. Make it bigger James!
This is my view at the moment so you can see what I see. x
On the design of SFN, a few ideas:
1. More welcoming and visual main page with an image or graphic - perhaps of members locations or activities.
2. Use of colours - the red, blue and black are 'hard' colours so a softer, more sophisticated palette.
3. Use of a serif typeface along with the existing sans.
4. Ad column on right less dominant - quarter of the space rather than a third or..
5. Wider, flexible page width
James, the ads are still there - it's just that they are not causing the screen to keep flashing. I've still got Torfx and Ryan Air down the side as I write so they're not being blocked in the sense that I don't see them.
:)
I must admit that at first I really disliked the SFN format, it seemed all over the place, but it has grown on me. I like the main page because it gives you three different ways of viewing a topic that interests you and I would not like that to disappear. My biggest dislike is when the replies go off topic and, if you start reading a well established topic that is new to you, it can be extremely hard to follow. This is particularly true when one contributor’s posts have been removed. You get pages of answers to a question that has disappeared. Facebook currently has a good way of overcoming this. Commenting on a post and replying to another person’s comment are two completely different things. I know they are on SFN but on FB you can read the comments that are relevant to the original post chronologically and are also able to choose to follow the replies that are relevant to a comment, rather than the original post, by opting to do so. You physically have to open up the off topic string. It works well.
I like the photographs and have found uploading from my iPad very straightforward indeed.
Yes, development team working on that right now!
sneaking into free concerts? Now who would do that???
Thanks James - what will happen to our old content on migration to the new format? Will our blog posts be transferred over?
Using adblockers on free websites is like sneaking in to concerts, keep quiet about it!
Those are contextual ads based upon various personal criteria determined by Google John. I currently see Chromebooks and Carburetor Cleaner Spray ;)
I will investigate that, thanks
Yes, could do this now in fact
I'll have a look, thanks Peter