Forum and site update... News...

HI Darren,

Any chance we could bring back the rrbena faces / wings & Crown ? i really want it lol

Jen

Blogs ?

i must take issue with the forums not generating cash. hitched ltd uses the stats from hitwise etc a nd its own for its marketing materials to advertisers ie "hitched got 45 million hits last year" or whatever. forum users provide a lot of these hits, so whilst its indirect, its valid i think.

anyway, the site is much quicker now, so thanks for that. i dont agree with any of the so called "functionality" though, its not needed. many people have their own blogs, they have twitter, facebook, myspace etc, and people like to use the forum here exatly as that - a forum. The "functionality" like signatures and avatars a nd the like dont really add anything, in fact they just create controversy. so call me a luddite, but its a no from me to blogs and any other forum functionality. i m sure the "hib" will like the blogs though, for obvious reasons.

Cheers Darren!

I agree with Nick. I also think you've lost a large number of members due to these "improvements" . I certainly notice OT is far quieter than it was a year ago and that you're mistaken in what actually generates your hit count.

Blogs will no doubt be popular with certain sections but consider how popular the PM fuction hasn't been, there are far better alternatievs out there already and people will use those in preference to hitched. What hitched was good at was being a lively discussion forum, change for change 's sake is not necesarily good. Sometimes just doing one thing well is the best approach.

I'm sure your actions are based on some form of research but consulting the current users of the site seems to have been one area you overlooked.

Whilst I appreciate the changes already made are all to improve the forum, there seems to be a fundamental problem.

Many people use Hitched like to remain anonymous. The things that people use the forum for are far too personal to allow anyone and everyone to know. I certainly wouldn't want the internet weirdies to know who I am IRL. The horrific nightmare of one B2B getting their wedding cancelled is just one of several unnerving events that originated on Hitched by people sharing far too much information.

Facebook etc is fine as you can set you privacy to friends only, but on a forum I can't see the point.

I agree that the only people using the blogs and sharing all that info will be naive people who haven't been here long enough to see the trolls etc that ruin other Hitchers wedding plans or the HIB.

I'm trying really hard no to come across as really negative (and not succeeding I know).

I do like the new look and feel but i agree with the privacy issue over the blogs. I am certainly a little concerned that if you search under my user name on Google it brings up some threads I have commented on. Can anything be done about this as it concerns me - and at the time there was a thread about it - I know it concerns other hitchers....

At the end of the day though, people have to restrict the amount of info they reveal on a public forum - never reveal surnames, DOB, addresses, phone numbers etc - anyone can access them - and the users of the forum need to take responsibility for this themselves though

The site is certainly faster, which is a big help. There was one point when I stopped coming on as it was taking at least 2 minutes just to open one thread.

I like the way the site is much faster as I have the slowest broadband in the world.

I have a problem though - My little tree symbol is faded out and I can't use it - therefore I can't post pictures.

I like the new layout (aside from certain a couple of teeny-tiny issues) but can't say that I would use the blogs.

However it had beed a while since I'd had a nosey around the other areas of the site - I always direct straight to WP - and had not realised how much is on there so thanks for the reminder that there is more to life hitched than forums....

I too had stopped coming on hitched - just got so impatient waiting for each page to open. This is so much better!

Server too busy!!!????? many of us have been 'locked out' all morning! Nice to be back though.....Could it not cope with the saturday morning deluge of hitchers?

I've only just been able to get back on too!

Me again!

Just wanted to say praise where praise is due: It does seem much much faster!

Thanks!

The faster hitched is brilliant, but like stupidgirl it worries me as well that you can google your name and several posts come up, is there anything that can be done to stop this? I wouldn't use a blog either tbh.

Just thought i would say that if you search any user name you will find things that have been put on websites etc. I use the same user name for all sites and forums i belong to and if i search my user name googles top ten are almost all about me.

I actually have my own website, where my user name is not included anywhere, yet google links to it when searching my user name.

Surely if a site is advertised and inclded on google listings then the 'bots' will search out and find stuff?

Using the web is a risk we all take, but i dont believe its something we can moan about. For example if you are going to search for a subject, you will often get a link to a forum where ppl have been chatting about what you are looking for. In the same way ppl must join hitched due to this type of search and get info this way - maybe not joining at all.

Sites like hitched have multi purpose, and if it wasnt listed on gogle or wherever would have no standing and no visitors, no advertisig, no revenue etc.

What i would suggest is that part of it is made private. I belong to forums where your general discussion etc is public - anyone can join in, but photos etc are private - you have to be a member. Maybe this is something that could be looked at, ensuring privacy for certain things. Maybe extending the WP board into a few sectons, some private some public.

As fo rthe rest of the improvement i agree it is a lot faster, and the new layout is fine. i have found difficulty using it at work where the IE is not the newest !

As for blogs, i dont really have an oppinion. I think ppl will use them if they feel the need to record the wedding plan experience in minute detail, oters wont. all is fine, and i dont think there are any more privcacy issues with having a blog to chatting on a forum - you choose how much info to disclose.

Ive noticed on a few of the posts I've looked at tonight, the 'breadcrumbs' are being hidden by the hitched banner. I recall it mentioned it earlier and I've experienced it tonight. I just hit the back button anyhoo but thought you'd like to know.

And can someone tell me why we can no longer insert pictures with the tree thingy please

Breadcrumbs?

Why are we still getting Server too busy messages?

Doesn't seem that much faster from where I'm sitting but then our works IT system is about the same age as the ark, so maybe that's why.

The text size on posts (to read) is incredible tiny and contravenes all website accessibility guidelines. Again this may be down to our weird system, so apologies if that's the case.

Why do we not seem to be able to email each other now?