royalgull wrote:Agreed, I mean it's been an hour since the new sites been up why isn't it all finished?
Having said that it's easier said than done of finding a picture of Aaron Downes playing, last time he completed 90mins, Jamie Hewitt's header was nestling in the Boro net for Chesterfield in the FA Cup semi final resulting in John Duncan's glasses getting smashed.
I promise this isn't pick on Royalgull day, but my argument to this would be that it should have been ready before it was rolled out. You don't buy a car in component parts then have a bloke from Ford come round a week later to bolt it all together, why are websites any different.
Whomsoever is responsible for this abortion should have given the templates to the clubs a fortnight ago and allowed them to do whatever is necessary before insisting upon their being made live. Of course, if this is what happened, then Media Man Tim needs shooting.
ferrarilover wrote:
I promise this isn't pick on Royalgull day, but my argument to this would be that it should have been ready before it was rolled out. You don't buy a car in component parts then have a bloke from Ford come round a week later to bolt it all together, why are websites any different.
Whomsoever is responsible for this abortion should have given the templates to the clubs a fortnight ago and allowed them to do whatever is necessary before insisting upon their being made live. Of course, if this is what happened, then Media Man Tim needs shooting.
Matt.
Agreed, the website should have been finished before going live. Whoever's fault it is, in any other commercial environment they would be expecting a P45 in the post. But this is Football and as we all know, Football is special, very special indeed.
Gary Johnson's Yellow Army! Yellow Army! Yellow Army!
I dont like having to click on the different page numbers just to read the full report, it was all on one page before. I also don't know why the background is black.
I've had an E-Mail from Tim Herbert, the man I referred to in my earlier post as Media Man Tim. The majority of the E-Mail can be found in the new thread I have started.
It seems, from what Tim has said to me, that my suggestion that he should be shot has caused some offence, so I said, by way of recompense, I would retract my previous statement on here and make it clear that it certainly is NOT Tim's fault that the new website is not very good, and it is the case that my initial suggestion (that the developers are idiots) that is the actual state of affairs.
Tim and I have worked together previously and I certainly hope that we shall work together again (especially as I'm about to smash out a thousand words or so for him!). Thus, ANY suggestion that Tim, or the club, are somehow to blame for the new website fiasco is, of course, absolutely untrue.
below is an email I received from Tim Herbert, the Media Officer at the club. He has asked me to make this public on here, since he is unable to communicate with us all via the OS.
There was a section in the original which berated me (quite rightly) for something I said (and have consequently retracted) on another thread, but for clarity and to ensure that the true meaning of the email is not missed, I have omitted.
Matt.
Hope you are well mate and not contemplating all manner of ill deeds, like me, after the launch of the new website.
I have attached an article at the bottom of this e-mail, which was actually written at 6am this morning and sent out as a press release, but has not yet made it on to our new website, due to bugs beyond human comprehension. I lodged an online complaint at 7am this morning (no response), phoned the helpline at 10am and talked through the issues. I was promised a return call at 10.30 pm (no response).
Patience eventually deserted me and I called back at 4pm, only to be told it had been a busy day at the helpdesk and they were getting round to resolving my issue. I then explained that our new website had been launched 24 hours previous and stories written about a new signing, pre-season friendly and reaction were not appearing. Apparently, they have now reappeared on some formats but not yet mine.
Hopefully, the article below explains our frustration and disappointment, and I would be grateful if you could publicise this e-mail on the forum.
THE TANGLED WEB WE WEAVE
SPECTACULARLY abandoning the basic marketing principle of making an excellent first impression, the new club websites have crash-landed on unsuspecting supporters.
After apparently years of preparation, Football League interactive (FLi), who control the overwhelming majority of club websites, have launched their long-awaited product.
The Torquay United version went live yesterday and, like many of its predecessors, the new website is beset by bugs, glitches and faults, and that’s just for us humble internet explorers. In the world of apps, androids, chrome and alike it is almost unusable.
As with many smaller clubs, we have battled limited resources over recent years to build an official website respected by fans as reliable and regular. We would never pretend it was the best but it worked.
In the space of one day, that reputation has been smashed. Before we go into any further details, Exhibit A in the irritant files is the fact this lengthy story will stretch over numerous pages, rather than one seamless article.
Not only that, but the last and first line of each page is inexplicably cut in half, prompting an unwanted word-guessing game web users so enjoy. In the world of one-click choices, many of you have already gone
somewhere else.
For the few still with us, I remain very sceptical you can actually read this sorry tale as the Torquay United home page greeting early users today has disappeared, bizarrely replaced by random stories on a Huddersfield bike ride and a chap in army fatigues.
Quickly moving to the News section, we have lost the three most recent stories published, although they were definitely available last night? We signed a player and won a friendly yesterday, by the way.
Our tale of woe is not unique, however, and a quick glance up the A38 offers the Press Officer some solidarity and solace. During my time at Plymouth Argyle, I was actually co-author of an article entitled ‘Failure to Perform’, which publically slated our old web providers at Perform Group (formerly Premium TV) for bodging the launch of new fixtures on club websites.
In comparison, this is off the scale and I know for a fact the media team at Home Park has been left gutted by the new offering and the reaction of the Green Army has been far from favourable.
It is a similar story across the Football League and to be part of the e-mail circulars sent by Press Officers up and down the country gives an indication of the anger and annoyance felt by those on the frontline.
Everybody makes mistakes but football clubs should not foot this bill of blame? The new websites are not ready and have been rushed through, forced upon media departments. This should have been the start of an exciting online era but I genuinely doubt whether we will get these fans back.
So what about us at Plainmoor? Well, my big mistake was over-egging my decent knowledge of content management systems (CMS). Over seven years of experience has given me a fair knowledge of website editing but the introduction of terms like taxonomy and metadata were warnings that should have been heeded.
The background of most Press Officers is journalism, marketing, PR etc..., so a complex CMS is hardly top of our wish list, especially when the website is balanced with responsibility for a match-day programme and the media requirements of a professional football club.
Despite all of the above, there is no going back and the websites simply have to improve. In the meantime, clubs are losing money because fed up fans are struggling to access ticket information and commercial opportunities.
It is a real shame the launch has been such a disaster but let’s apportion blame to the right door. We are all very capable of making our own blunders and taking responsibility, but none of us asked for this.
It is a desperate situation, summed up by the fact I doubt anybody online can actually read this.
Horrible layout and feel, but I am sure we will sort it out having been given a dire template. The football league have designed it around advertisement not the club!! Does this suprise us.....eh..no.
Well I’m still on the old website and so oblivious to the problems on the new super, shiny, improved, progressive and forward looking website.
But having read this I just can’t wait.....
P.S. Can’t we get Lingey to have a look at it? He seems to solve most crises at TQ1
"A day without football is a day lost" (Ernst Happel)
"Look at the (Plainmoor) stars, Look how they shine for you, And everything you do, Yeah they were all yellow" (C. Martin)
So the Clubs Webmaster has asked you to relay this onto our forum has he?
Perhaps it might have been more professional for him to have done it in person but then how often does our Club do anything correctly when it comes to the use of the internet? It's been a shambles for years and it's actually a huge loss of revenue to the club so you'll have to excuse me for a total lack of sympathy.
How long does their contract go for? Hell, I could knock up a fairly decent wordpress or drupal site in a few weeks. It doesn't need to be that complicated. I could even put ads in if you like.
Agree with Dave AND Happy. The website has been an abhorrence for years and to now lurch from one useless pile of cack site to another is commercial suicide. As for the webmaster being unprofessional i will have to reserve judgement on that one as i don't know him but it would have been more appropriate if he had posted the message himself like Dave says. Matt did a good job with it though. Happy is right too, there are a few smaller clubs, often non league who set up their own websites and many are shit hot. Why must we rely on a website contract run by clowns who couldn't find their arses with both hands? Our own unique site could be tailored to suit our needs and not be too complicated. I tend not to use the OS much anymore anyway due to it being pretty useless and most info or stories that appear on there are generally posted on here by you guys anyway.
Strangely enough it was Pope Gregory the 9th inviting me for drinks aboard his steam yacht, the saucy sue currently wintering in montego bay with the England cricket team and the Balanese Goddess of plenty.
