We’ve made a lot of improvements to this site as a result of Member comments and ideas, and problems with the previous sites.
We’re not done making it better for you. Here are some of the ideas for enhancing the capabilities and ease-of-use you experience here. Use the “Contact” link above to share your suggestions. We read every one, often respond, and take your ideas seriously. Thank you.
Most of these ideas aim at enhancing Member interaction and connection.
Notification Control: Ability to get emails announcing new posts, new comments, new comments on your blog posts and comments, and other actions as you determine. You control which ones and the frequency.
Member Post Ratings: Recognize another Member’s blog post with a star rating.
Member-Author Rankings: View a list of highly-ranked Member-authors, and become one yourself.
Member Friendships: Connect with other Members and follow each other’s activity on the site.
Private Messaging: Communicate privately with other Members.
Shared Interest Groups: Members create groups around shared interests, discuss ideas.
Sharing Content with Non-Members: Because we know our Members love to spread the message, we’re looking at various ways to allow you to share videos with non-Members on a limited basis, and in a way that encourages them to join your ranks.
10 replies on “Roadmap: Planned Improvements for BillWhittle.com”
Is this a member blog or a BW blog? The menu did say member blog but now it says BW and I don’t see a way to create a post.
Related to that, the caching doesn’t seem right. It kept saying member blog until I manually refreshed each page. I changed my display name and so far I’m still seeing my old name on this page. If I log out and in it seems random whether I show as logged in or logged out. Sometimes a refresh fixes it and sometimes it doesn’t.
The Shows menu item links to the home page. That may not be a problem on a laptop/desktop. I’m not sure how many people click on the root of a drop down menu. On mobile though (ipad anyway, the menu bar might be different on a smaller screen), there’s no way to click on the submenu items because you can’t hover to display them. You can get to individual show pages through the hamburger but that’s less obvious and this is probably going to be a frustration for people. You might link the root of the menu to a hub page with just the logos for the different shows and have those link to the show pages. Similar for the Account menu entry, there you may be able to add the logout and member content entries to the vertical menu there.
Is TSL Live intentionally a members only page? I only see the menu entry if I’m logged in. The perspective on that video looks off, it’s very wide and short relative to the others.
RG,
This is the beta version of the site, and we’re still actively altering a lot of aspects of it. The Blog is for Members to share content, and I’m sure that Bill, Steve and I will also post something from time to time.
As for the caching, I’m working with our site host to make sure that happens where and when it should and not otherwise.
I agree with you on the shows menu, and currently have moved all of the show category links to a box on the right side of each page.
TSL live, and much of the rest of the site, are intentionally Members-only…although we may have to part the curtain in the early days after launch, since we’re still in the process of moving Members over from the old system. I haven’t had a chance to see how the livestream will look once Bill’s broadcasting. I’m eager to find out.
In general, I’m doing all I can do to both simplify the site, and make it a powerful tool in the hands of our Members.
You might notice the new Help link in the menu above. Please feel free to use it to submit trouble tickets about things you notice on the site. That will be a good test for that system.
Thanks,
Scott
In Brave on iOS and in Linux the menu bar is too far down, covering the news ticker and leaving gap at the top of the page.
On my iPad, the font for comments is nearly microscopic. Can that be increased?
You might want to create a post with a punch list you can update with a list of known issues fixed/pending to avoid getting the same thing repeatedly.
Same result with the menu bar in Safari (both Mac and iPhone).
That menu bar issue also happens on Chrome desktop, and a couple of mobile browsers, though not on Firefox desktop. I like your punch list idea, Robert, and will implement it. Thanks.
Many great ideas above! The ability to connect more effectively with other fans of Bill’s work and the great people he brings together has been a long-standing item on my wishlist, so I’m glad to see even basic support for that in the works.
Can we have more than 180 characters for our profiles, and the ability to include links to our social media accounts and websites? There’s so much potential to develop great momentum together and start building the kinds of things we yearn to see. I look forward to seeing and being a part of where this goes from here! https://about.me/troystephens
Thanks for the suggestions, Troy. I’ve just changed the profile description character limit to 500. Do you think that’s enough? I love your enthusiasm for this. It’s people like you who make our work a joy.
Scott, your turnaround is fantastic! Yes, 500 is much better and ought to be enough. (Any more becomes an essay!) I’ll go make use of it. Thank you!
I’m profoundly grateful to know all of you through your great work, and greatly enjoy the measured thoughtfulness, tough questions, and dash of fun that you bring to the table every time. So glad to be a part of this. Many thanks!
Thrilled to be part of your team, Troy. Keep those suggestions coming. I do work another full-time job, so my turn-around time can vary based on my availability.
I’m familiar with your singing exploits, Scott! Keep touching lives and bringing joy to the world as you so adeptly do!