Just launched: MotoGP Boards

[Dom.S]

Hi all,

After a lot of tinkering with VB and adding some of the fantastic mods available here I've finally launched MotoGP Boards (http://www.motogpboards.com/).

It's a forum for MotoReview (http://www.motoreview.net) which I've also just launched and is basically for chatting about MotoGP and other forms of bike racing.

Let me know what you think. :)

Cheers,
Dom

[bada_bing]

Nice layout and skin

[brvheart]

very nice style...did you make it?

[Dom.S]

Thanks guys. :) The design's my own and a modified version of the standard template.

[brvheart]

any change of giving up the colors? I really like it, I knew that it was moddified from the orignal, but the color scheme is great...goodjob :)

[Dom.S]

Nggh... I'm sorry but I really want the design to be unique to this forum so I don't really want to release it for others to use. I might release a style in the future but almost certainly not this one. Sorry. :ermm:

[Princeton]

- remove the dropdown menu found within the header ... Why would you want to direct your visitors away from your site?

great job on the custom icons :up:

[ConqSoft]

- remove the dropdown menu found within the header ... Why would you want to direct your visitors away from your site?


Because it's directing them to his other site, with news.

[Princeton]

Because it's directing them to his other site, with news.

that would be a good reason but the other sites have copyright to different owners ... hence, the question

[Dom.S]

that would be a good reason but the other sites have copyright to different owners ... hence, the question

As ConqSoft mentions, they are the headlines from from the site that the forum is linked to. The idea behind the site is to have all the latest from several MotoGP sites in one place. The backend is based off the other site's RSS feeds which they make publically available for personal use and inclusion in sites, so I am not stepping on anyones toes, simply offering a service which I and hopefully others will find useful.

Thanks for the kind comments. :)

[Princeton]

As ConqSoft mentions, they are the headlines from from the site that the forum is linked to. The idea behind the site is to have all the latest from several MotoGP sites in one place. The backend is based off the other site's RSS feeds which they make publically available for personal use and inclusion in sites, so I am not stepping on anyones toes, simply offering a service which I and hopefully others will find useful.

Thanks for the kind comments. :)

sorry, I wasn't implying that you were infringing on someone's copyright
I was just merely pointing out not it's not wise to place such a feature at the top.

For example, having the dropdown menu at the top will be the first thing that your visitors see and use ... hence, they will leave your site and perhaps stay on the other site.

I'm assuming you want what we all want ... more visitors, more visits, increase time spent on site, etc. For this alone, I recommend placing the dropdown in another location.

[Dom.S]

Fair point and I 100% see where you're coming from, but for now I'm happy to leave it there. The article links are always on framed pages which link back to the MotoReview site so I'm never completely 'giving away' visitors if you see what I mean.

Equally there is nothing that will stop visitors from clicking the back button in their browser should they want to return to the forum. Obviously that won't be everyone but mainly the headlines are there as a kind of 'added value' for the forum. It's just a feature I added because I thought 'what would I find useful?' and as a GP fan I like the idea of being able to see the latest headlines with one click.

I think most people who visit the forum will decide more or less instantly whether they are interested in browsing through the topics and maybe signing up. That'd partly be a decision based on the look and feel of the site but mainly down to whether he/she is interested in bike racing and would like to post on a forum specific to it. There is absolutely the chance that some people will think about signing up then forget after reading an article, but for now I'm willing to risk it because I think it helps the site more than it hurts it.

I will give making it visible to registered users only some thought though, thanks for the feedback.

[Gaskell]

Signed up, canny style I must say.

I like the news dropdown too, saves having to look all over the net to find out whats happening, then I can hit back (or use the mouse gesture) and get on with some foruming :)

Good work Dom :)