Jump to content

New HabsWorld Website


Recommended Posts

Hey all,

Our current website has now lived for more than a decade (!), which is a feat if you look at most websites around the web. Most look outdated very fast and lose their functionality. We have been fortunate to have a great and beautiful website all those years. We are now looking at changing the content management system and also the visual design. It will be a good timing to add new features or remove less useful components.

If you have any suggestion to improve the website to make it more useful and fun to you, please share those ideas in this thread or by email! The goal is to have a webpage offering a 1-stop source for all the needs of a Habs fans.

Matt

m.gauthier@habsworld.net

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Hey guys, it is still time to give your suggestions. We will remove some sections we believe are not useful and put emphasis on our core content. If you'd like to see new features, feel free to suggest some !

Link to comment
Share on other sites

on 2nd thought I wonder.

would it be better to simply combine Habs Prospect treads, simply under Hab Talk

just by looking @ #s, 20,000 or so replies since created, does that need to be a whole separate section? Might it get more play if simply another tread on main area?

No offense to anyone, just a thought.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I have to say is that I really like how simple and easy to use the site is. For the most part I think that maybe the aesthetics could do with a little update and modernization.

Just as an example, I'm not a fan of the new TSN website. New one feels messy and trickier to navigate, also, the added complexity has seemed to make the site a little slower and less reliable.

I think it would be cool to have some sort of fantasy game on the site. A format that would allow for an unlimited amount of participants. Nothing is popping to mind at the moment but if we could somehow include a Habs related twist into the fantasy league I think that would be cool.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A few things I love that I hope stay

-The twitter feed at the bottom

-The must reads from around the web

They're both very accessible and informational

Also, one thing that I used to like that seems to be gone, was a small panel including the 3 latest forum topics. I found that convenient as well!

Great site and great job guys! Only place I come for info!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Also, one thing that I used to like that seems to be gone, was a small panel including the 3 latest forum topics. I found that convenient as well!

When we did the server change, that code stopped working for some reason. I think the plan is to get that working again, or something very similar to it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

on 2nd thought I wonder.

would it be better to simply combine Habs Prospect treads, simply under Hab Talk

just by looking @ #s, 20,000 or so replies since created, does that need to be a whole separate section? Might it get more play if simply another tread on main area?

No offense to anyone, just a thought.

This is something that we can consider independent of the changes on the main page. I've been back and forth on this one personally. I like the sections but at the same time, a lot of people only seem to have the Habs Talk subforum bookmarked and aren't aware that there are several other subforums.

The two ideas I've had on this are:

- 3 subforums (Habs Talk/Prospects become one, NHL Talk, The Lounge/Fantasy Talk become one)

- 2 subforums (Habs Talk/Prospects/NHL Talk / Lounge/Fantasy)

There are pros and cons to each as well as pros/cons to keeping the current arrangement. What are everyone's thoughts?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think it would be cool to have some sort of fantasy game on the site. A format that would allow for an unlimited amount of participants. Nothing is popping to mind at the moment but if we could somehow include a Habs related twist into the fantasy league I think that would be cool.

Years ago (and I mean way back in the early years of HW), we used to run our own playoff pool for a couple of years because we couldn't find one anywhere else. The manual scoring became an issue as more people joined. We've done HW divisions for pools on other sites before and I think we'll keep doing that for the playoffs; we also have Yahoo leagues for NHL/NFL (and if there's enough interest, we'll do ones for other sports). I think a custom HW-specific hockey pool would be really challenging to pull off though.

Other sites/forums have their own game-by-game pools (such as predict the first goal). That could be done here on the boards if there was someone willing to run it but unless there was a way to automate it, I don't think we'd have that on the main site.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I have to say is that I really like how simple and easy to use the site is. For the most part I think that maybe the aesthetics could do with a little update and modernization.

Just as an example, I'm not a fan of the new TSN website. New one feels messy and trickier to navigate, also, the added complexity has seemed to make the site a little slower and less reliable.

I think it would be cool to have some sort of fantasy game on the site. A format that would allow for an unlimited amount of participants. Nothing is popping to mind at the moment but if we could somehow include a Habs related twist into the fantasy league I think that would be cool.

I'll second the "simplicity" motif. One of the great temptations for program designers is to go for "cool new stuff" at the expense of usability and simplicity. It's the same with both internet and software...every time they redo iTunes or MS Word or whatever, the results seem at best lateral - added work for the user because he has to adjust to the changes, without any real gains in functionality - and at worst a step back (e.g., Windows 8). So I would simply recommend being judicious in tinkering with something that has worked fantastically well.

One thing I personally would like - having been on this earth and following the Habs for a good while - is a "where are they now" feature that follows up on the doings of former Habs, especially more obscure names like Paul DiPietro or Mike McPhee. But that could be accomplished via the simple expedient of a pinned thread (and it might require too much investigative/research work for all concerned; it's just a pie-in-the-sky notion, really).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

One thing I personally would like - having been on this earth and following the Habs for a good while - is a "where are they now" feature that follows up on the doings of former Habs, especially more obscure names like Paul DiPietro or Mike McPhee. But that could be accomplished via the simple expedient of a pinned thread (and it might require too much investigative/research work for all concerned; it's just a pie-in-the-sky notion, really).

Back when I had a rotating fourth section of my HW Recaps, I had a 'Where are they now' type of segment that I used. I gave up on it when I was trying to cut down on how long it took to write them (at that time, it was around four hours per article which was too much). We could probably do an article or two here and there about some former Habs that are active in other leagues though.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nothing reallys specific with the website, but I'd love to learn more about the CBA/management rules/ more than just cap hit/space.

Maybe it would just need a pinned thread in NHL section to get the discussion going, mayb e some explanatory articles, etc.

Not sure what I want...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No idea if this makes sense, but it seems to me like the forum and the website itself are completely separate entities. A website format that melds the two together better would be cool.

I'm not sure if merging the two together is possible but maybe we could try to embed the board within the frame of the site as we did with the old HWL site if there was enough interest. That said, I'm not sure that's even possible under the format we're switching to as I don't think it supports i-framing which I believe is how it was done on the HWL page.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

No idea if this makes sense, but it seems to me like the forum and the website itself are completely separate entities. A website format that melds the two together better would be cool.

Not sure about this site, or how it works or runs, but usually on a website they are separate entities. There is the main page(the webspace) and there is software to build it how you want it, ie placement of links/sections on the main page. Then scripts to run discussion forums, photo-galleries, blogs, etc. Everything is separate from the "main page" because the "main page" contains all these scripts/programs that is the content.

I also found the "recent topics" button on the main page useful, but now am used to just clicking the "discussion forums" and simply seeing what is blue since I was here last time.

A question I have is about the size of the main page.... will it be updated to make use of the higher resolutions of today's monitors, make use of the whole screen?

Also really not pleased with an ad for the West-East pipeline..... but maybe that's just me, and everyone else that gives a shit about the environment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

A question I have is about the size of the main page.... will it be updated to make use of the higher resolutions of today's monitors, make use of the whole screen?

Also really not pleased with an ad for the West-East pipeline..... but maybe that's just me, and everyone else that gives a shit about the environment.

I'm sure the page will be stretched out somewhat. The current configuration was for when monitors were square and that was a while ago.

As for the ads, we can block by general category but getting into specific ads looks like it'd be quite a chore.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ok, thanks Brian, figured it was from the old CRT monitor days, and the Ads can be ignored if no more obtrusive....

On the good side, the page loads quick, and is great in the aspect that low speed connections, and mobile connections can load the page and work it quickly, so not a negative really.

I have to say that I get 99% of my Habs reading here, and really enjoy the writers here, also the atmosphere of the discussion forums.

Kudos to all that have made this site what it is for all this time, and moving forward as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Stogey24

This is just pure laziness, but what about putting a tab on the top of topic pages that takes you directly to the bottom of the page(most recent posting). The same idea as the tab at the bottom of the page that takes directly to top....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Stogey24

Yep, I was thinking what work it was to scroll down, lol.I do use that on my forums, peeps like it....

lol, its just easier to click a button when the page has like 30 responses instead of scrolling... Yuh know :)
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is just pure laziness, but what about putting a tab on the top of topic pages that takes you directly to the bottom of the page(most recent posting). The same idea as the tab at the bottom of the page that takes directly to top....

I can look to see if there's a function for that. It took me a few minutes to figure out what you were talking about though, I didn't even know that there's a back to top function. I use the home button on the keyboard to go to the top of the page and the end button to go to the bottom, I never even thought to look to see if there was something on here to click on to accomplish that.

Edit - After looking around, I have no idea where to go in the admin panel to try to add this...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Stogey24

I can look to see if there's a function for that. It took me a few minutes to figure out what you were talking about though, I didn't even know that there's a back to top function. I use the home button on the keyboard to go to the top of the page and the end button to go to the bottom, I never even thought to look to see if there was something on here to click on to accomplish that.

Ya, I never use my desktop, always cell phone. Not a big deal either way though. Thanks
Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is something that we can consider independent of the changes on the main page. I've been back and forth on this one personally. I like the sections but at the same time, a lot of people only seem to have the Habs Talk subforum bookmarked and aren't aware that there are several other subforums.

The two ideas I've had on this are:

- 3 subforums (Habs Talk/Prospects become one, NHL Talk, The Lounge/Fantasy Talk become one)

- 2 subforums (Habs Talk/Prospects/NHL Talk / Lounge/Fantasy)

There are pros and cons to each as well as pros/cons to keeping the current arrangement. What are everyone's thoughts?

I'd like to get some feedback on this if you wouldn't mind. With no games for the next few days, it's going to be a bit quieter on here so it would be a good time to ponder this. Should we keep things as they are or reduce the number of current subforums?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd like to get some feedback on this if you wouldn't mind. With no games for the next few days, it's going to be a bit quieter on here so it would be a good time to ponder this. Should we keep things as they are or reduce the number of current subforums?

Can you basically eliminate sub-catagories? or I guess fewer may work fine?

(seems fine as is as well and I don't know what you have already tried in past.)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...