Do you like the change? (Page 4)

Instead of the all happy praise for the effort and repeats of the same bugs I thought I would give it a few days and then come up with a balanced critique. Unfortunately this may come accross a bit more harsh than I hope.

So starting with the good:

1. I honestly haven't had a single one of the issues everyone else speaks of.
2. The weather feed worked the first time, maybe because I'm in the Cleveland area with Ron   I love this feature BTW. Now if only the weather would improve...
3. The site's been fast for me.
4. I have no problems with the 800 res. I do run in a minimum 1024, but aside from the compact feel of the front page (see below) everything seems to be fine.
5. I actually LIKE the ads. I used to click all the way in to the BT partners page to get to nashbar.
6. I'm indifferent to the BT blogger, though, It strikes me as a good way to get people inspiring each other so it goes with the good.
7. Training events are listed in the right order, Swim Bike Run.
8. The incentive to upgrade membership is more with the training plan imports. Great marketing there.

Now for the bad:

1. I liked the optional layouts. I'd love a "My Yahoo" style DIY content page for my training page. It's alot to ask, but I value the customizability over the overall look.
2. (General unrelated to the new look) Speaking of My Yahoo, the RSS feeds would be much more useful if I could attach them to some other part of the site like the BT Blogger or a forum.
3. I want my controls and calendar on the right, not left. It sounds weird, but I feel since I'm right handed it's easier for me to click on things on the right side of the screen...That's where the scroll bars are for a reason. (Sorry Lefties)
4. 1 actual bug. The My Links on my blog page get cut off at 50 characters (default varchar?) and they append the http://to the beginning of my links even if the href already had a https://.
5. The home page just doesn't feel as inviting to me. It used to be more open with clear categories of articles and menus. I could skip to almost anywhere. Now the combination tighter compaction of info, more big buttons, and less shortcut links make me feel like it's more work to find what I want. For example. It used to be 2 obvious clicks to get to BT partners and discounts. Now it's 3, and I had to guess to go to the articles, then gear...
6. I do miss the quotes. The inspiration is part of the whole draw for the beginner.
7. I dissagree with the idea that it was a bad thing that the site look amature. It has the word "beginner" in its name. I would think that was actually more of a draw than a detractor for new people. If the site looks too professional it will also look expensive and intimidating. I'd much rather the site go toward a more community-driven approach. That was the feel I got before. This change makes it seem like a business run by Ron, which, whether it is or not, takes away from the friendly community welcome feel.

Final thoughts... Overall I'd say I appreciate the effort and the constant striving for betterment. (Would triathletes have it any other way?) The actual physical changes are overall pretty good.

On the philosophical side though I don't like what I see as a vector towards a more business-like approach to the site. I feel that could be the death of the beginner in the site's name. Also, on that same thread, if the many appreciative tech-savy users were asked to contribute some time to enhancement projects, and if the process for fund raising and implementation for those enhancements were put more on the community than on Ron and a few others, then efforts like this wouldn't be so drastic, expensive, and time consuming.

My $0.024648026186063020073352525929724 Canadian

-Harry

CASEY SHAW...you do have that option in your training settings right above where you pic your fellow bloggers...its a checkbox and will significantly save blog loading times if you 'deselect it'

HJMII - great feedback...thanks for putting the time into it.  working on the blog links issues.  YES, i do want to categorize the frontpage better, add the quotes back into the forum...give me a little bit after the bugs get resolved to resolve the 'aesthetic' features...if that is event he right word.

regarding commercialism...free or not, i love updating the site with new looks and new ideas (failed or not)...i always will...it satisfies my creativity.  this look is actually a part of me...techno-ish and futuristic.  thats the music i listen too and the movies i watch...

unfortunately the site is more successful now then i ever intended it and is growing way too fast.  i started it as a web hobby and never foresaw this...i wont stop that though...i just gotta keep up with u.  keeping up with the huge list of what people want in their training logs, what poeple want as far as better plans and better articles...A LOT OF MONEY that the performance members actually pay for so i dont have to keep going into debt more.  i intend to keep the original stuff free like always...but anymore, keeping up with growth and infrastructure (server, etc) is more money for me to put out....hence the need to have a 'paying upper level' of memberships and inclusion of banners for free members....so i hope to have 'something for all'.  pure banners may pay for the site infrastructure but it wont get members more features that they want....revenue from just this source is severely limiting.

lastly, this takes up a lot of my time...just purely the adminstration is several hours a day for sifting through emails, password and login issues and questions.  add in the training log development and testing...i have severaly overextended myself as i have a family, a 2 year old, and a 7month old, full time job, school.  paradoxically (sp) i have no time to train.  so yes, i feel the need to advertise more for paying membership features, give the site a sweet look and develop that more so maybe, someday...i can purely administer and develop the site (and train) so i dont end up divorced, in a mental institution and my kids hate me cuz i was never around.

i hope the justifications of my decisions lets you know more of whats going on with the site and in my head.  i wont be able to please everyone...i will try, but its hard to please 400 new registered members per week.  there are a lot of reasons that many dont or didnt know of the reasons for this path i have chosen for us.  i hope you (and everyone) understand where i come from a little more...

and the reality is, thats why there arent any other sites out there with all the functionality you have here...it comes down to the limiters of any webmaster no matter what genre: time, money and a vision....sprinkled with innovation.

Hey Ron, Thanks right back at ya for all the work. I hope I didn't come across too preachy.

Thread Hijack Alert: I've just lived through the .com bubble and pop, so seeing websites like this one build, their visions and expectations build, their commercial hopes outpace the reality of the community's demand, their admins burn out, and their funding dry up. It's pretty commonplace in my personal experience. A great deal of what you talk about is exactly why I advocate the community administration approach. A good example is a site like Wikipedia and how they've organized. Here's a recent article:  http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/13.03/wiki.html

Another good example is a Church. If you have a charismatic minister the congregation may thrive and do great things, but when that one leader moves on the power vacuum diminishes all the great things. But if a foundation of passionate leaders is built and they are taught to build from there, then great things can be timeless. (a little grandiose of  a metaphor for a website, but it suits )

On that note, if you ever need ASP.NET work let me know. And if you need any connections in the website collocation/web hosting business I know a few. Ya never know what resources you have at your disposal until you put the question out there...I'm sure Yahoo or Google have a few triathletes on the payroll :End Thread Hijack

Again, Thanks for all the great work.

your not preachy...just giving info based on your experience in the feild.

the community approach, yeah it would be cheaper im sure and in your articles case, is easy as people just submit /edit text as needed through and easy interface....kinda like DMOZ - i was an editor there once upon a time. 

several people here have sent content for us to publish and that helps me greatly as i dont have to find it.

BUT, on the software side of things, the most expensive, sure there is a lot of talented programmers here possibly BUT opening up code to several people (doanting there time) to try to help build new functionality, getting used to how everything is setup now, coordinating,  fixing bugs.... is a potential serious problem. 

people mean well when they volunteer but reality is things get in the way, deadlines get passed...things get confusing and nothing gets done.  paying one person who is familiar with the code is the only way to gaurentee service and reliability of this kind of sytem.  thats my opinion though...several have mentioned donating services but it doesnt feel right to me in this particular instance.

our directory and article submissions IS setup to how your article works, people submit links and an admin validates them...saves me a lot of time.