myTobago – your questions, review and comment about Tobago

Thank you SUE much - we did it!

Hi Guys & Gals

Hasn’t anyone told you – size doesn’t matter!

I abandoned my family to come over to the office (I won’t allow a computer anywhere near the house to preserve my sanity) on a Sunday afternoon and continue with my hotel reviews from my last trip.

What did I find in my email? A message from a long-time contributor to the board saying that I’m making the site elitist and that they value their privacy too much. Given that they always posted under their own name before registration, I’m just totally perplexed. I really sometimes wonder why I bother!

Anyway, I’m not starting another rant. The point is that they have asked that their account be deleted from the forum and so sadly we’ve dropped below the 100.

The truth is that I would be happier having 10 people post 100 good, truthful, useful posts rather than break any membership records.

Remember, you don’t have to register to read the posts and benefit from the information provided by our wonderful readers (the vast majority who have no agenda and simply wish to enjoy Tobago). You only have to register to post a message. So, as time goes by – and if I ensure that all information can be found – then theoretically the number of questions will fall, simply because all the information is already there.

To explain why I sometimes may appear to get on my high horse, may I mention the following:

For the three months ended 31st March 2003, the myTobago.info site (main site + forum) handled 49,305 Visitor Sessions – an average of 547 sessions per day. These visitor sessions originated from 10,718 unique IP (computer) addresses, who read between them a massive total of 329,912 pages. I won't bother to impress you with the totally meaningless hits figure (Oh, go on then - 1.8 million - but it means nothing).

To put these figures into perspective, may I mention that Tobago currently receives around 40,000 visitors a year – say 18,000 in the past 3 months.

If I appear to get hot under the collar about some issues, please understand that this project has become very, very personal to me. Figures like the above show how significant the site is. That is one hell of a responsibility and I do not take it lightly. It would be pressure even if I was being paid to do the job or got direct financial benefit from it – but I’m not and I don't – so if I wear my sleeve on my shoulder and sound off on occasion, please bear with me.

Why the changes Steve ??

Any specific change you have in mind, John?

I've made a number of minor changes today, all intended to either simplify the interface or protect privacy. Given the nature of our readership, I think its fair to say that the vast majority will not be computer-minded or be familiar with forum/bulletin board software. There have been complaints that it is too complicated, so I striving hard to simply the basic interface and one way round this is to get rid of every option that isn't strictly necessary. At the same time, given the emails I've had and mentioned above, I thought I'd also remove things like the memberslist and "users online" to preserve levels of privacy.

Obviously if any of the tidying up has removed a feature you like, just say and if there's good reason/demand it can be re-introduced.

Steve Hi
Have just looked more closely at what you have amended It looks good to me the only item I did like was the "Posting without a reply" it gave people the opportunity to reply with out searching.
No hard feelings still a super forum things can only get better. By removing who's on line it has removed the chat line element which I think is also good.

Hi John

I hear what you say. What are other people's views? It will only take a minute or two to re-introduce these features.

The View Unanswered Posts currently returns some 92 results - the vast, vast majority of which are reviews/reports/announcements/polls that won't receive a reply. I think you'll find that the list remains largely unchanged each time you use it. This link would be a very useful search in 'normal' forums, but because of the nature of this board, we can realistically expect there to be a large number of "non-reply" posts. The list will therefore get longer and longer, making the search less and less use.

On the other hand, the View Posts since last visit will obviously show every post made since your last visit and does include a "Replies" column - so you can see any unanswered posts. Is the advantage of the View Unanswered link - which adds visual confusion to new readers - therefore worth the additional usability it provides? Like I say, I'm neutral. Comment everybody.

The chat line is a deeper issue. As I've mentioned above, there have been one or two complaints that the board has crossed a divide on privacy. My only concern was validating users to prevent abuse of the board. As far as I'm concerned the email address can be destroyed after registration - except that by having it I am able to offer features like the watch this topic for replies link at the bottom of all detailed message pages. This feature notifies the user by email when a reply is posted. In fact, I'm hoping to extend this to topic or even forum level. This is so useful a feature that I think every reader would agree that it makes sense to save the user’s registered email address (which we encrypt) for this purpose alone.

However, over and above these facilities, we need to strike a happy balance that leaves users feeling that they can use and browse the forum unhindered. I'm with you totally, John, but I can see that some people might not agree. I just want to find the right balance.

So, good readers, let me have your comments. That's what the forum is for.

Keep the ideas and suggestions rolling - it's the only way I can fine tune the forum/site and provide people with what they want. I have no strong views on levels of privacy, etc - my only 'personal' issue is to maintain standards and prevent the board descending to the geek levels already mentioned in previous posts in this thread.

OK Steve,

I liked the forum as it was initially as I thought it wasn't complicated at all and I enjoyed being able to see where the members came from - I was surprised just how many came from Tobago. I was a little disappointed that this feature has gone (including who is on-line) - but I guess that is just me being nosy

But I shall continue to use the forum however it is so don't change anything on my say-so !

Niki

Hi Niki

Thanks for your feedback. OK, folks - how many of feel that the Memberlist and Who's online features should be re-introduced. How many of you feel that this is intrusive? Nobody has made direct criticism of these features. Am I just be over-cautious and going overboard to stop people saying the site is intrusive?

Your feedback is really needed, so please let me have you comments.

Steve
How about reintroducing the members list with just name and where they come from I agree I liked the list if people want to contact other people they can do so in the forum.
Whos on line do not think this is necessary,
Come on folks let have some more input.

I agree with John & Co, bring back the member list but no need to publish the names of those on line. It is interesting to read a post then see what the profile of the poster was, and from a business (and social) point of view must be a good way to network. Plus, if anyone wants to send a poster a private email, the introductory questions are spared , eg " I was curious as to where you are based" etc... I didn't find the previous setup intrusive at all, and in law one's right to privacy cannot be abused by another person if one has already waived it by consenting to posting profile details/agreeing to participate in the site. Those overly-worried about posting profiles on this site, afraid of revealing their location etc (Mr S Hussain for example!!) will remain guests and happy as guests. Regards, Glyn

Good day everyone.

Feedback:-
I do not mind both features being re-introduced.

Hey Glyn,
Hope all is well.
Will look for you in May.
Terence (Terry)

Hi everyone interested,
I have no problem at all with all information about everyone visible, including about myself. Besides that I find the feature 'who is online' less important, but again, no problem to be shown.
Best regards, Roel

Having been away on holiday for a week, I came back to find the forum had changed. My initial reaction was that it was more difficult for me to see what was new, but I wouldn't have stopped using it because there's so much useful info there.

What, of course, has happened is that I've now got used to the new layout and find it easier to use; I've noticed features which weren't obvious to me on my first visit and found that it's actually easier to find new posts, expecially with the "posts since last visit" option. I think there's just a tendency in all of us to initially react against change sometimes.

As to the "privacy" issue - again, I was initially a bit shocked to find I had to register with my real name, but that was only because I've never been asked to do it before on any forums. And, after reflecting on it, I fully appreciate Steve's reasoning of wanting to build a community of friends. Why not? The only thing I would add here is that there are many of us (self included) who will probably only use the forum as preparation for a trip to Tobago and to put something back by posting info after the trip, but we won't ever use it again because our trip to Tobago will be a one-off. But I think it's a great idea for those of you who are regular visitors. In any case, I think it's a diabolical cheek for people to write to anyone abusively who's putting in so much private time to provide a useful resource for others. Steve should be able to call the shots and, if others don't like it, they should either quietly go away or just tell him why in a matter-of-fact way - no excuses for abuse.

Linda

Hi Linda (and everyone else who has replied above)

I think your reaction probably neatly summed up everyone’s initial reaction, Linda. The old forum was simple. That was the problem and why it had to change if it was to cope with the success of the forum. Many readers will have found the new forum layout confusing. However, after two or three visits, particularly after marking all forums read (see the Mark all forums read link at lower left of main pages) that the real benefits can be seen.

When registering, I actually ask users to enter “proper” names. I didn’t want to be more explicit than this and hoped that my notes and wording might make my intention obvious. I genuinely believe that the forum will appeal to a wider public if users feel that they are communicating with real people.

To illustrate the point, I just visited a serious technical forum and looked at a long thread. Who the heck are darth wong, musical midget, sprynmr, redwing_talon, Patr547, oginer, hmueller, Fozzy_Wozzy_Woo and Wagz. And that was just one page!

If you started chatting to one of these people on the beach, or in the bar, would they introduce themselves as Fozzy_Wozzy_Woo? I’m sorry if I’m being an out-of-touch old fart, but I simply can’t see the point. Neither can I take these people seriously. If I’m going to spend my time researching and replying to enquiries, then I simply ask for the courtesy of communicating with real people – not aliens from outer space. I simply think that it would be nicer and more personal if users sound like real people. I really don’t care what their real name is. I hope you take my point.

In response to the other posts – thanks everyone. Personally, I totally agree with you of course. However, as we might realistically expect, those who do care feel embarrassed to say so publicly, possibly feeling that they might sound like a joy killer, as one correspondent put it.

Forgive me, but for the moment I’m going to leave things as they are. Nothing is forever, so let’s just see how it goes. Please remember that all posts by registered users show all relevant information, such as the poster’s location, beneath their name. Registered users (not guests) will also see links to the poster’s profile, private message link, email (if they have chosen to share it), chat addresses and website at the bottom of every message, so in truth the memberlist is not really necessary.