Feedback
Here are the main results of the 2003 Website site questionnaire:
- Almost half of the questionnaires were from ex-members and just less than half were from motorcyclists who were neither members nor direct friends. None of the responses came from non-motorcyclists.
- Half of the ex-members were told about the site but 7% found it through a search engine or directory. Nearly all non-connected motorcyclists found us through sites such as Google and Yahoo. Links from other sites brought 7% of visitors to our site.
- For 86% of ex-members the site has been viewed on many occasions. For almost all the non-ex-members this was the first or second visit.
- The biggest problem that visitors have is finding their way around the site. There are also problems with code errors (sorry - will try harder). Considering the number of images on the site it was a surprise that no-one complained about download times.
- The full features of the site were enjoyed by over 90% of visitors. Apologies to the 4% who are with Netscape, saw none of the gizmos and suffered scripting errors. No-one was using Opera or any of the other browsers.
- The trick question about background music did not catch anyone out. There are not any sound effects ... yet.
- Those pesky lil mobikes grab all the attention (actually 66%). Less than half of ex-members find the turning pages and less than a third ever get a personal pop-up message. Others have yet to discover these gizmos, but it is only their first or second visit.
- Although curiosity is the motive for 85% of non-ex-members, 93% of ex-members are here for the photos and 86% to read messages from their old friends. So send photos and write messages, please! Tell tales as well because 79% come back for those.
- The pictures are popular with 59% of all visitors but even more popular with the ex-members are reminders of other ex-members (64%)
- It is not surprising that 62% of visitors want more photographs and 71% of ex-members want more of the dirt dishing up on their friends.
- A respectable 28% also want to know what the Leicester Phoenix Motorcycle Club is getting up to these days. Watch this space.
- A pleasing statistic from the survey is that the website has encouraged 79% of responding ex-members to send something for the site. It has even drawn items from 41% of non-members.
- Regrettably the site has yet to draw ANY of the respondents out to one of our meetings. Aha! So the guys I see didn't fill one in eh? I'll get them for that!
- By far the most encouraging indicator is that everyone has bookmarked the site for future visits.
To prove that I respond to your opinions here are the changes. I shall improve the site layout and menu system and make the obscure features a lot more obvious.
- The main menu has buttons at the bottom to take you instantly to any pages changed or added during the past week.
- The Site Map is now regrouped and simplified. There are indicators to show pages that are new or changed. The map reflects the structure of the sections and the context changes depending on where you reach it from.
- There is a Contents List for you to find section pages by their title and description.
- A Bibliography of site contributors allows you to look up material by the persons name.
- The entry page to the most popular section of the site, the Photo Gallery, has been revamped to explain how the pictures appear and to give you a preview. The gallery has also been split into decade and reunion groups to help you find things. The contents pages show random thumbnails so you can judge the kind of pictures on each page.
- The names of people shown in the photographs or mentioned on the page are shown underneath the main menu on the left.
- The navigation of every section is consistent so once you find your way around one bit the same system can be used all over the site.
- A powerful site search facility has been added courtesy of FreeFind.com and is available on the top right of every page. A more comprehensive search is available from the Home Page, the Site Map and the Navigation Help in the FAQ.
- When you do eventually get to where you want to be (or if you are lost) the menu link for the page you are on becomes red and inactivated - so you don't waste time reloading the same page. The left margin of the content area shows a description of the section. Just above the page title is the route to the page in case you want to backtrack. (These are called 'breadcrumbs').
Thanks to everyone who completed a questionnaire. There are 600 pages, 1200 rally badges and 2000 photographs on the website. Improvements are a continuous process.