General site feedback (new person's perspective)

ffxcores

[fully disclosed]
Supporting Member
Location
Virginia
It was mentioned that there may be some aesthetic changes made before upgrading software. This comes from a good place and hopefully it's well received, so here's some feedback of things I've noticed as a relatively new member.

1. Some of the forum names are confusing. Example: the first time I went to post something for sale, I wasn't sure where. "Parts Counter" was ultimately the place, but I was initially confused because I was selling recovery points and that's not a "part" as in something that has a number and is something that comes from the factory.

Similarly, I've since figured out "XN Army" is build threads, DIY is how-to guides (I think), etc. Partly I understand the appeal of having some "insider" knowledge, but both for SEO (especially the breadcrumb names at top) and for new people to find stuff, more common names might help.

2. There are an overwhelming number of forums/subforums. I remember the first visit after @outback97 told me about it, and I was scrolling thinking "holy crap how am I supposed to find my way around here?" And then I click in some and there's less than a dozen threads spanning eight years. Still today, if I want to start a new topic, I'm not sure where to put it, because there are 2-5 different forums that by name would be appropriate. Many I think could be consolidated with nobody noticing.

I would guess a lot of current members navigate by just hitting "new posts" anyhow, and the forum structure mostly exists for new people and search engines, in addition to keeping things organized. It may be necessary if there were hundreds of posts per day, but I don't think any forums get the traffic necessary for this many subforums.

3. SEO. I don't know if it's design, software version, or what, but if I search Google for something X-related, two other corporate, ad-infested forums come up in results but XN is either not there or much farther down. I know they have a network of other forums cross-linking though so that may have something to do with it.

Anyhow, just some things I've noticed. I'm still new, but after a few months I still haven't quite figured out where everything is yet. Obviously I'd like the site to be as successful as possible.
 

ffxcores

[fully disclosed]
Supporting Member
Location
Virginia
@Prime - overall are you still actively trying to grow the forum, or is this more of a thing where it's just riding it out for people that don't want to switch to social media?

If you're still trying to grow it, when I have questions that come up (if I can't find a thread on that topic already), I'm going to make a thread for that question instead of dumping it one of the megathreads. The info/question being in the title is going to be 10x better for SEO, and even if the search engine picks up the result, I still have to sometimes wade through pages of banter to find the answer. And then tragically, often the "answer" is a dead link to a previous version of a forum or one that no longer has referenced images.

I was just talking with someone else who visited this site recently for the first time and they mentioned the same thing as above about there being a crap-ton of subforums and the names being confusing.
 

kirk

Butterfly King
Moderator
Supporting Member
Location
Allen, Texas
I would add (if anyones asking) that the Junkyard/classifieds section should be moved up a couple spots. Right now its below National Wheeling, Regional Forums and clubs. I would think for ease it should appear above those.

Just talking aloud.
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
Yeah. There needs to be some maintenance. I know that. I just need some time to deal with it. I definitely agree that there's a lot. And some stuff can just be consolidated /deleted. Give me some suggestions and I'll make a list.
 

Prime

Shut up Baby, I know it!
Admin
Location
Denver Adjacent
I would add (if anyones asking) that the Junkyard/classifieds section should be moved up a couple spots. Right now its below National Wheeling, Regional Forums and clubs. I would think for ease it should appear above those.

Just talking aloud.
Agree. That's an easy change.
 

Brunnie

Bumpers Installed
Supporting Member
Location
Colorado Springs
There is a lot of hidden info in the "Dumb Question" forum, but digging through all of it for something, that may or may not be in there, is a royal pain even if you use search. Maybe it should be locked?
 

Zack.

Has been dubbed Arnold
Supporting Member
Location
Livermore, CA
There is a lot of hidden info in the "Dumb Question" forum, but digging through all of it for something, that may or may not be in there, is a royal pain even if you use search. Maybe it should be locked?
If locking the DQT, I would suggest making it an actual forum/sub-forum so people won’t feel discouraged from asking.
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
There is a lot of hidden info in the "Dumb Question" forum, but digging through all of it for something, that may or may not be in there, is a royal pain even if you use search. Maybe it should be locked?
WOAH woah.... Are y'all talking about the Dumb Question Thread?
 

ffxcores

[fully disclosed]
Supporting Member
Location
Virginia
I do like the idea of the dumb question thread though. It’s just that a lot of the questions aren’t really “dumb” and could be its own thread. I think people should have the option at least.
 

TerryD

Total Tease
Supporting Member
Location
Covington, Va
Well I completely understand the point of different threads for different topics. The DQT solves an issue that other forums have where some of the older members don't like answering simple questions that get asked repeatedly. You can ask in that thread and if those that don't want to deal with those repeated kinds of questions they can simply ignore that thread. And you don't wind up with 30 threads on "how tight do you torque your lug nuts" or "why can't I get the headlight out" you have to weed through with little to no info in any of them because they get ignored or never updated.

The general population here isn't like that. We don't mind answering questions again because we all seem to be interested in folks learning and sharing our knowledge. A lot of us will also create threads on common questions if we feel like it's asked often enough to require a nice, concise place for the info related to it. IE "How-To: Remove your headlights".

Then it's easily found in the How-To section list or a "title only" search.
 
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