As for you wife not thinking you're always a nice person, after 31 wonderful years of marriage, my wife is rather vocal of my moods, and personality. Sometimes I wonder why she decided to marry me.
General Aircraft
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Joel_W
Associate Editor
Joined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
AeroScale: 7,410 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - 03:57 AM UTC
Ben, I see your point that just viewing should be enough for the builder to get a sense of achievement and pride in his build. I'm not expecting, a huge post number compared to the view number, nor do I expect constructive, destructive, or anything in between from everyone. Just that it would nice that more then a few people voiced their opinions one way or the other. Skill level really isn't an issue, everyone has an opinion. That would be one of the advantages of a like and or dislike button.
As for you wife not thinking you're always a nice person, after 31 wonderful years of marriage, my wife is rather vocal of my moods, and personality. Sometimes I wonder why she decided to marry me.
As for you wife not thinking you're always a nice person, after 31 wonderful years of marriage, my wife is rather vocal of my moods, and personality. Sometimes I wonder why she decided to marry me.
JPTRR
Managing Editor
#051
Joined: December 21, 2002
KitMaker: 7,772 posts
AeroScale: 3,175 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - 06:25 AM UTC
Quoted Text
My point is that the Admins and Mods need to start thinking out of the box...Sorry, but I'm just too busy with forum business/issues just doesn't cut it. That's a issue that should change ASAP.
Joel,
First off I appreciate you as one of the members who participates. However, I stand by that the lack of participation reflects on the general membership.
Quoted Text
...thinking out of the box...
My contributions are diverse yet I get little response. With all due respect, "too busy" does cut it. First, modeling is my hobby. As much as I'd like to make my living at it, that ain't gonna happen until there is a suitable substitute income that my family can accept. None of you are worth inflicting stress in my family for. No doubt over the years some past staff dropped out for personal reasons. There are staff and mods who spend most of their time trying to keep things moving.
Second, staff and moderators are a volunteer operation. I spend huge amounts of time reviewing models and processing features and news. I have a dozen samples that are waiting for processing while I am typing this - samples I feel obligated to process as quickly and professionally as I am able. They are attended to after I deal with real life. Yet during the past 24 hours while I have been interacting with other modelers (Often I interact via PM whether or not I posted to the thread.) before I discovered this thread, I have not painted or glued or anything, for samples or for myself.
That is not whining yet it does put things into perspective. I enjoy reviews as much as I enjoy interacting with other modelers. I go to great lengths, probably overdoing it with reviews and features, to make them exceptional. Often these are little things: look at my USAFM feature #5 http://aeroscale.kitmaker.net//features/4612 : note the text embedded into the photos? I matched colors of the subjects into the text and shadowing, even tried to match the type face. That quadrupled the time to create the feature yet I do so to try to drum up interest and make an exceptional presentation. 1,400+ views to date, comments 0. Look at my NOCH tree reviews. I show different scales to include every genre. Thinking outside the box?
Introspection: What do I make of that? That I should not spend much time with reviews, instead graze the forums with "Nice job?" Perhaps that is what this site needs.
However, staff can lead a member to forums but we can't make them post. I certainly ain't gonna PM everyone encouraging them to post into a new topic.Folks, what say you?
Siderius
Joined: September 20, 2005
KitMaker: 1,747 posts
AeroScale: 1,673 posts
Posted: Tuesday, August 13, 2013 - 06:42 AM UTC
I tend to believe that all organizations, where those involved, are engaged in an endeavor which is a hobby; tend to have similar problems. For a number of years I have been involved in an astronomy club. We have a group we laughingly call the "galactic core" which consists of a few members who do a great deal of the observing and public outreach for the club. Other members, "rogue stars" interlope and occasionally help out here and there but for the most part there is a small cadre of folks who do the job. Although everyone is always encouraged to add what they can to a project.
I think that here on Aeroscale, you have had a similar situation. I think that anyone who contributes anything should be thanked. I believe that looks are great, but sometimes it is discouraging not to get a simple well done out of someone.
I can use myself and my own work as an example. I don't consider myself to be the best modeler on here nor do I consider myself to be a beginner. It is always nice to hear from someone when I post work. Work that I have, for the most part, done the best I could while trying not to compromise the "fun" of the hobby.
Just a thought. Russell
I think that here on Aeroscale, you have had a similar situation. I think that anyone who contributes anything should be thanked. I believe that looks are great, but sometimes it is discouraging not to get a simple well done out of someone.
I can use myself and my own work as an example. I don't consider myself to be the best modeler on here nor do I consider myself to be a beginner. It is always nice to hear from someone when I post work. Work that I have, for the most part, done the best I could while trying not to compromise the "fun" of the hobby.
Just a thought. Russell
Joel_W
Associate EditorJoined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
AeroScale: 7,410 posts
Posted: Sunday, August 18, 2013 - 08:29 AM UTC
Frederick, sorry that I missed your post, as this is a topic that I'm very interested in.
Your points are certainly well taken. You're one of the Admins who I see regularly posting, including in my few build blogs. Your comments were well thought out, and showed a genuine interest and expertise in the subject matter, rather then the easier and quick "nice job".
My original point or points were just ways to get more members actively involved on Aeroscale. I do realize that being a mod and admin is a volunteer position that does require a great deal of ones personal time.
When I was a member of our local IPMS chapter ( which I helped to establish), I sat on the board, held positions in every convention we hosted, gave clinics, took pictures at model contests and did presentations at our meetings, so I realize the amount of extra time that it requires and consumes. We also had similar issues of lack of participation which we tried to deal with, but never had the anticipated results up until I left the club. But we never stopped trying.
If I've offended you or the other Admins & Mods, I didn't do so intentionally. My comments were made for the betterment of the Aeroscale.
Joel
Your points are certainly well taken. You're one of the Admins who I see regularly posting, including in my few build blogs. Your comments were well thought out, and showed a genuine interest and expertise in the subject matter, rather then the easier and quick "nice job".
My original point or points were just ways to get more members actively involved on Aeroscale. I do realize that being a mod and admin is a volunteer position that does require a great deal of ones personal time.
When I was a member of our local IPMS chapter ( which I helped to establish), I sat on the board, held positions in every convention we hosted, gave clinics, took pictures at model contests and did presentations at our meetings, so I realize the amount of extra time that it requires and consumes. We also had similar issues of lack of participation which we tried to deal with, but never had the anticipated results up until I left the club. But we never stopped trying.
If I've offended you or the other Admins & Mods, I didn't do so intentionally. My comments were made for the betterment of the Aeroscale.
Joel
JPTRR
Managing Editor#051
Joined: December 21, 2002
KitMaker: 7,772 posts
AeroScale: 3,175 posts
Posted: Friday, August 30, 2013 - 11:41 PM UTC
Quoted Text
If I've offended you... My comments were made for the betterment of the Aeroscale.
Hi Joel,
Pardon my tardy reply.
No, I was not offended in the least, and I accepted all you wrote for betterment of the Aeroscale. Thank you for your participation and effort!
Keep up the good work and do not fear comments/feedback -- even if it might sting!
raypalmer
Joined: March 29, 2010
KitMaker: 1,151 posts
AeroScale: 985 posts
Posted: Saturday, August 31, 2013 - 02:19 PM UTC
No offense here either Joel. (Although I am a very junior ed and my contributions pale in comparison to others'.) Also I should compliment you, you're always there in a thread and you post lots of interesting content. I five-star member imho.
On the general topic I would have this to say:
Lurks are compliments, keeperofsouls' SR71 thread has something 232 comments (many of which his), but coming on 35 000 views with no sign of letting up. I think he knows he's striking a chord.
I've learned to focus on the views, not the comments. Many modelers are introverts. If you strip away IPMS, and competitive modelling etc. all of which I think only a minority are involved with. It is a solitary pursuit. Alone, quietly working away. It's damn near Franciscan. If we have lurking members and non-member regular visitors then good! Revel in the exposure! Bask in their interest!
On the general topic I would have this to say:
Lurks are compliments, keeperofsouls' SR71 thread has something 232 comments (many of which his), but coming on 35 000 views with no sign of letting up. I think he knows he's striking a chord.
I've learned to focus on the views, not the comments. Many modelers are introverts. If you strip away IPMS, and competitive modelling etc. all of which I think only a minority are involved with. It is a solitary pursuit. Alone, quietly working away. It's damn near Franciscan. If we have lurking members and non-member regular visitors then good! Revel in the exposure! Bask in their interest!
Joel_W
Associate EditorJoined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
AeroScale: 7,410 posts
Posted: Saturday, August 31, 2013 - 02:59 PM UTC
Richard, thanks for those kind words. They do mean a lot to me.
Joel
Joel
Keeperofsouls2099
Joined: January 14, 2009
KitMaker: 2,798 posts
AeroScale: 2,443 posts
Posted: Saturday, August 31, 2013 - 04:07 PM UTC
He does know he struck a chord 
wait till they see the next one.hits let me know people find it interesting enough to take time and look.good enough for me.I encourage everyone when I build to add there personal builds or discuss techniques. Only way you will learn something new.everything I have learned came from this site.I hope to only get better and as most of you know my builds range over many era's (except those wooden thingies) altough I did build the wright flyer out of toothpicks lol.so I would say things like this as members don't ever be afraid to ask a question there is never a DUMB question.being a moderator on the modern forum I feel there are less builds because of the rising kit cost (DONT GET ME STARTED) I used to build alot but time has become fleeting commodity in my life at the moment so when I'm on lately its just enough time to post some pics and get off and check out some other builds which I do comment on most of the time.ok I'm done I look forward to building alone side you
wait till they see the next one.hits let me know people find it interesting enough to take time and look.good enough for me.I encourage everyone when I build to add there personal builds or discuss techniques. Only way you will learn something new.everything I have learned came from this site.I hope to only get better and as most of you know my builds range over many era's (except those wooden thingies) altough I did build the wright flyer out of toothpicks lol.so I would say things like this as members don't ever be afraid to ask a question there is never a DUMB question.being a moderator on the modern forum I feel there are less builds because of the rising kit cost (DONT GET ME STARTED) I used to build alot but time has become fleeting commodity in my life at the moment so when I'm on lately its just enough time to post some pics and get off and check out some other builds which I do comment on most of the time.ok I'm done I look forward to building alone side you 
staff_Jim
PublisherJoined: December 15, 2001
KitMaker: 12,571 posts
AeroScale: 510 posts
Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 11:14 AM UTC
Wow this thread has legs though. I am glad to see some of you are very interested in this community interaction dilemma. I'm afraid (for me at least) it really boils down to a basic fact (and irony). We don't require members to login to view the forums. There are two reasons for this. 1.) If we did we wouldn't be able to get search engines to visit all our pages and generate page results for topics people might be trying to find. Otherwise the net result: fewer people visiting the site. 2.) If we required login to see forum topics or other content, some people would not login and interact (if just to read news, topics, etc). Net result: less traffic on site.
However... there is a site that doesn't care about search engines, nor does it care that you can't really find useful information (like question/answer topics). Yup... Facebook. Which is taking over the net.
I find it very sad though that it's also hurting forum usage for hobbies, interests, and general knowledge bases. If we lose them to Facebook being the only site (along with people email) where you are logged in... well that will be a pretty awful outcome. Facebook is momentary in many ways. Like Twitter it is only concerned with the topic of the day.
So do I make some areas of KitMaker require login? Or do we try to entice people to login to gain features and benefits?
Cheers,
Jim
However... there is a site that doesn't care about search engines, nor does it care that you can't really find useful information (like question/answer topics). Yup... Facebook. Which is taking over the net.
I find it very sad though that it's also hurting forum usage for hobbies, interests, and general knowledge bases. If we lose them to Facebook being the only site (along with people email) where you are logged in... well that will be a pretty awful outcome. Facebook is momentary in many ways. Like Twitter it is only concerned with the topic of the day.
So do I make some areas of KitMaker require login? Or do we try to entice people to login to gain features and benefits?
Cheers,
Jim
Joel_W
Associate EditorJoined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
AeroScale: 7,410 posts
Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 11:38 AM UTC
Jim, interesting thoughts. Requiring logging in is therefore counter productive not only to the site, but to all modelers who do "Google" searches for topics of interest.
Never gave the Facebook issue much of a thought, and yes, I have a Wall, that I do use to stay connected with personal and business friends. I don't use it to chat about modeling, nor do I visit modeling companies, magazines, retailers, etc,. preferring instead to visit their home pages, and forum sites. Yet the "come join us" on Facebook & Twitter is every where.
I like it here. It's not to big so that you get lost in the crowd, and feel that it's a full time job just trying to stay current, yet large enough so that there is always new and interesting content. Everyone from day one has been more then friendly,& helpful. Believe me, not all sites are like that.
Being who I am, I'll continue to voice my opinions in a constructive manner, interact in threads that interest me, and try to suggest new ways to increase member participation.
Joel
Never gave the Facebook issue much of a thought, and yes, I have a Wall, that I do use to stay connected with personal and business friends. I don't use it to chat about modeling, nor do I visit modeling companies, magazines, retailers, etc,. preferring instead to visit their home pages, and forum sites. Yet the "come join us" on Facebook & Twitter is every where.
I like it here. It's not to big so that you get lost in the crowd, and feel that it's a full time job just trying to stay current, yet large enough so that there is always new and interesting content. Everyone from day one has been more then friendly,& helpful. Believe me, not all sites are like that.
Being who I am, I'll continue to voice my opinions in a constructive manner, interact in threads that interest me, and try to suggest new ways to increase member participation.
Joel
Mcleod
Joined: April 07, 2010
KitMaker: 1,028 posts
AeroScale: 939 posts
Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 11:46 AM UTC
Personally, I couldn't give Facebook the time of day. It is entirely invasive, and therefore way to dangerous for my liking.
I know its popular, but I just don't click on it.
I do click on Kitmaker/Aeroscale every time I turn on my PC. Its part of my day.
I truely do believe the seasons affect peoples desire to contribute to Aeroscale; whether it be the holiday or hunting season, or whether its just a nice day outside. Its fairly obvious that winter is the peak modeling season, and Aeroscale is likely far busier then.
None-the-less, Aeroscale is the modeling forum to attend. I'm sure there are many who feel this way. Its friendly and sometimes downwright humorous. And there is a wealth of good modeling and advice here-in.
I'll be here as long as it lasts.
I know its popular, but I just don't click on it.
I do click on Kitmaker/Aeroscale every time I turn on my PC. Its part of my day.
I truely do believe the seasons affect peoples desire to contribute to Aeroscale; whether it be the holiday or hunting season, or whether its just a nice day outside. Its fairly obvious that winter is the peak modeling season, and Aeroscale is likely far busier then.
None-the-less, Aeroscale is the modeling forum to attend. I'm sure there are many who feel this way. Its friendly and sometimes downwright humorous. And there is a wealth of good modeling and advice here-in.
I'll be here as long as it lasts.
Joel_W
Associate EditorJoined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
AeroScale: 7,410 posts
Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 11:55 AM UTC
Well said Ben. And at my age, I'll be gone way before Aeroscale is.
warreni
Joined: August 14, 2007
KitMaker: 5,926 posts
AeroScale: 2,201 posts
Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 12:56 PM UTC
I have absolutely no idea where the thought came from that Aeroscale is for WW1 stuff only. From my experience the WW2 stuff far outweighs the WW1 stuff.
Joel_W
Associate EditorJoined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
AeroScale: 7,410 posts
Posted: Tuesday, September 10, 2013 - 01:18 PM UTC
Just maybe because the name Aeroscale is similar to Aerodrome. 
drabslab
Joined: September 28, 2004
KitMaker: 2,186 posts
AeroScale: 1,587 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 12:36 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I have absolutely no idea where the thought came from that Aeroscale is for WW1 stuff only. From my experience the WW2 stuff far outweighs the WW1 stuff.
whatever, modern jet fighter and choppers are superior to anything anyway
I guess that at the end it is not that important because the features, forum threads ... finally reflect what the user community is working on (hence is interested in).
Even the site sections themselves are built and updated in accordance to the interest that users show in e.g. features compared to forum.
the same goes for the catalogs of the manufactures, and most things in a market driven environment, and that is a good thing even when it makes things a bit more difficult for those interested in niche subjects.
sweaver
Joined: April 19, 2007
KitMaker: 759 posts
AeroScale: 184 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 02:27 AM UTC
Quoted Text
I tend to believe that all organizations, where those involved, are engaged in an endeavor which is a hobby; tend to have similar problems. For a number of years I have been involved in an astronomy club. We have a group we laughingly call the "galactic core" which consists of a few members who do a great deal of the observing and public outreach for the club. Other members, "rogue stars" interlope and occasionally help out here and there but for the most part there is a small cadre of folks who do the job. Although everyone is always encouraged to add what they can to a project.
Right on, Russell. We have the same issue over on another forum that I interact with. It's a relatively new start, and people just aren't posting. In some sense, it seems to be a catch-22 situation: you need activity to get people interested enough to post/reply, but to get that activity, you need people to create it. Not sure what the solution is..just wanted to say that it's not unique to this site.
And just for the record, this site has FAR more activity than that site does...
Quoted Text
So do I make some areas of KitMaker require login? Or do we try to entice people to login to gain features and benefits?
Interesting points there, Jim. I work in social media and I actually find the Facebook / Aeroscale / web forum comparison to be something of an apples-to-oranges one. The interaction is different, and articles and features are big differentiators. The biggest difference though, is that Facebook (and particularly Twitter) are too transient to take the place of a web forum. There's no way to permanently catalog information and resources with FB and TW without having an external website to link to, which brings you full circle.
Perhaps, though, you could harness some of FB's strengths by linking it to the forums and allowing people to post directly through their FB accounts? Then their posts show up to friends, etc.
To address your question, I think requiring a login to view the articles and features would be an acceptable solution (or test, at the least). Maybe for the sake of preserving search engine records/rankings, you could make all but a few pictures and some summary text visible to members only?
sweaver
Joined: April 19, 2007
KitMaker: 759 posts
AeroScale: 184 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 02:42 AM UTC
Quoted Text
You are touching a painfull point, most questions that i raised in the forum hardly got any reply.
The same can be said about writign features or reveivs, hardly any reaction, positive or negative.
I don't know what could be done about it, apparently most people think that a website is something to consume only, and not something to contribute to.
I feel that lately I only reply to people of whom I know often reply to comments/questions of others. It's not a good evolution as it further reduces traffic on the site and it creates a negative spiral
(Sorry...it's me again.)
I can't help but agree with your first point here. Since I'm a relative newbie in the hobby in terms of experience, I often post here for answers. Not getting any sure does cut down on my willingness to post, even subconsciously.
I probably fall into the "unhelpful" category myself since I haven't built anything for a while and as a result haven't visited these forums for 6months or so until recently. But when I do post, I try to find ways to comment on things I can really add to. If I can't help out by critiquing or suggesting a technique, I try to notice something interesting that the builder put work into that I like, or bring attention to subtle elements that other viewers might miss.
On many topics, that's about all I can do. Perhaps if more people put some thought into posting a good comment when they ran across something they liked, we'd have less of a problem.
That said, I'm a little surprised to see this thread. I haven't read it all the way through, but I never really considered Aeroscale "dead" or "dying", just slower than Armorama. Frankly, it's AutoModeler that I consider "dead", which is why I posted my ongoing Ferrari build in the general Kitmaker forum...which makes me part of the problem.
Joel_W
Associate EditorJoined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
AeroScale: 7,410 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 03:51 AM UTC
Sam, from what I've seen, the vast majority of military model questions get replied to. If it's a question about auto modeling I'd post on a forum/site that's dedicated to that type of modeling. Just the fact that you took the time to post your thoughts in this thread, makes you an answer, not part of the problem.
Joel
Joel
drabslab
Joined: September 28, 2004
KitMaker: 2,186 posts
AeroScale: 1,587 posts
Posted: Wednesday, September 11, 2013 - 09:04 AM UTC
Quoted Text
If we required login to see forum topics or other content
Yup... Facebook. Which is taking over the net
So do I make some areas of KitMaker require login? Or do we try to entice people to login to gain features and benefits?
Cheers,
Jim
Please no login to view fora, its deadly. I often visit for 5 minutes just to have a look in between two tasks, the faster i see things, the better.
But yes, facebook and twitter are really hot, not in the least because every other site (those with real content) seem to feel obliged to put links from their sites to these "social" media instead of offering the best possiblt experience to users on their own site.
This may sound cheap criticism but can anyone imagine here a car manufacturer putting publicity for another brand on his site?
So why do we find twitter and facebook links on kitmaker? Are we confirming to the user community that they can be better served elsewhere?
I assume that a better approach would be to add facebook/twitter like hobby related abilities to kitmaker so that people feel more at home.
Let people construct a really nice personalised home page with their own integrated blog, picture gallery, indicating area's of interest ....
JPTRR
Managing Editor#051
Joined: December 21, 2002
KitMaker: 7,772 posts
AeroScale: 3,175 posts
Posted: Thursday, September 12, 2013 - 03:28 AM UTC
Quoted Text
whatever, modern jet fighter and choppers are superior to anything anyway
Drabslab, you wound me sir! I was at an airshow a few years ago with my rocket scientist Aeronautical Engineer friend; I didn't even notice the F-18 flitting about the sky because I was admiring a Cessna 195; his wife asked about the jet and I hearkened back to my freightdog days and replied Jets are for kids - real airplanes have round engines! The rocket scientist grumbled and said, "Jet engines are round!" 
Mecenas
Joined: December 23, 2007
KitMaker: 1,596 posts
AeroScale: 1,275 posts
KitMaker: 1,596 posts
AeroScale: 1,275 posts
Posted: Friday, September 13, 2013 - 03:40 AM UTC
Each and every article, especially since Sven had joined the team, gets a notification on Aeroscale Facebook. Still very seldom I can find there any comment to the content, however sometimes there are few "likes", often up to 3-4. I don't think this is an improvement in interaction we are looking for. I have never considered FB as a source of new users, contructive or useful comments. It's rather a display screen or billboard saying "Hey, we have added a new content!" or "Come and see what have changed", nothing more.
Joel_W
Associate EditorJoined: December 04, 2010
KitMaker: 11,666 posts
AeroScale: 7,410 posts
Posted: Friday, September 13, 2013 - 04:05 AM UTC
Sure seems that every single site, from news, to sports, to hobby related has links to Facebook & Tweeter with the "come join us on...". Can't even watch a ballgame without the announcers saying to join in the discussion on facebook during the game.
Joel
Joel
SuperSandaas
Joined: October 23, 2012
KitMaker: 189 posts
AeroScale: 142 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - 02:18 PM UTC
I'll just do some forum-necromancy and chime in with my two cents.
First of all, I run a blog myself, and in the 4 years or so I've had it I've had about 400.000 unique visitors (i.e. hits from different IPs in a 24h period, naturally there are "repeat costumers) The amount of comments? about 500... The moral: Unless you actively ask for input/feedback, there will be many who watch, read, but don't leave a reply. That is just how the internet works. Many enjoy "consuming content", without feeling a need to contribute, and as someone have said, just posting "This was relevant to my interests, good read!" would be quite boring if everyone was to do it, just to show they've visited.
Now, off course there are room for improvements, and personally it's two things that I see as good candidates for change.
1. The gallery. It's counter intuitive to use, and often you have to root around to find where you're supposed to upload the pics for a campaign build, let a lone uploading pictures to post in a normal forum-post. Personally I'm used to publish my images with Wordpress and Imgur. Both of which are dead easy, and have practically unlimited space. If server space is a issue, force resizing to a managable size, and open for high-rez uploads only from contributors. Now I just link from those sites, but I would guess local image-hosting would be a bonus for the site.
2. Subscription to forum threads... I have no interest in getting a mail for each new reply to a given thread, but bookmarking threads you're interested in keeping tabs on, and having a page where you can directly access any replies to your threads and comments, would be nice. If such a functionality exists I've not found it, so maybe it should be promoted better?¨
(Oh, and I agree that in many ways the focus is more WW2 than WW1, but that's symptomatic for the hobby in general I think)
First of all, I run a blog myself, and in the 4 years or so I've had it I've had about 400.000 unique visitors (i.e. hits from different IPs in a 24h period, naturally there are "repeat costumers) The amount of comments? about 500... The moral: Unless you actively ask for input/feedback, there will be many who watch, read, but don't leave a reply. That is just how the internet works. Many enjoy "consuming content", without feeling a need to contribute, and as someone have said, just posting "This was relevant to my interests, good read!" would be quite boring if everyone was to do it, just to show they've visited.
Now, off course there are room for improvements, and personally it's two things that I see as good candidates for change.
1. The gallery. It's counter intuitive to use, and often you have to root around to find where you're supposed to upload the pics for a campaign build, let a lone uploading pictures to post in a normal forum-post. Personally I'm used to publish my images with Wordpress and Imgur. Both of which are dead easy, and have practically unlimited space. If server space is a issue, force resizing to a managable size, and open for high-rez uploads only from contributors. Now I just link from those sites, but I would guess local image-hosting would be a bonus for the site.
2. Subscription to forum threads... I have no interest in getting a mail for each new reply to a given thread, but bookmarking threads you're interested in keeping tabs on, and having a page where you can directly access any replies to your threads and comments, would be nice. If such a functionality exists I've not found it, so maybe it should be promoted better?¨
(Oh, and I agree that in many ways the focus is more WW2 than WW1, but that's symptomatic for the hobby in general I think)
raypalmer
Joined: March 29, 2010
KitMaker: 1,151 posts
AeroScale: 985 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - 03:34 PM UTC
Quoted Text
"Jet engines are round!"
Our departed friend Siderius?
Supersandaas touches on the throbbing boil I think. Unfortunately it is a painful one to lance. The gallery is very bad. Navigation is poor and uploading feels clumsy and will fail without telling the user what it didn't like about the file. Admittedly I've not come to a modeling site with a good gallery function but the deficiency is much starker here because the main sites' interfaces are so superb. Superior in fact, to the other scale modelling sites.
Taking it one step further drabslabs notion of a homepage for members that would house their completed build gallery and bench photo yada yada would really cinch the deal as far as kitmaker being the be all end all site. It would also probably spur membership to get the profile page and then the better one as paid member.
But.
It's a heck of a lot of Web design and server space. Still would work I think. Nobody is putting their builds on Facebook or linkdin, we're all probably closeted to that extent about the hobby! A touch of MySpace or fb for the ol'modeling alter ego would be bull's eye to my mind.
Hell I used to have cardomain pages for my cars back when I was still an idiot.
drabslab
Joined: September 28, 2004
KitMaker: 2,186 posts
AeroScale: 1,587 posts
Posted: Tuesday, February 11, 2014 - 11:35 PM UTC
Quoted Text
Taking it one step further drabslabs notion of a homepage for members that would house their completed build gallery and bench photo yada yada would really cinch the deal as far as kitmaker being the be all end all site. It would also probably spur membership to get the profile page and then the better one as paid member.
But.
It's a heck of a lot of Web design and server space. Still would work I think. Nobody is putting their builds on Facebook or linkdin, we're all probably closeted to that extent about the hobby! A touch of MySpace or fb for the ol'modeling alter ego would be bull's eye to my mind.
Well, I am not sure that it would be such a difficult thing to achieve. In my view, most of the code needed for making such homepage is already available but it is hidden left and right in the site.
But I should not say this because I don't know the architecture of the kitmaker site. And I fear a bit that the current code base is more the result of repeated incemental approvements than a long term planning.
That is not a criticism, its just the fact for most software in general.
Overall, Kitmaker is already the best site modelling site around and compared to many other sites, the amount of effort spent on improving/update the layout and the features is huge.
This should not give a false sense of security. A devoted Software development team could probably make a serious competitor using the latest greatest technology in a surprising short period of time.
and I would hate that to happen, for several reasons, not in the least because I feel "at home "here
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