Hey improv community,
I've been empowered to re-work the website for austinimprov.com. I'm just doing the visuals and the organization of the site, not messing with the back end or anything. I'm aiming to get some whiz-kid intern of craigs list to help with the layout. But to that extent, I'm taking user input: what things would you like to see (or not see) on the website? Have any of your friends complained that they couldn't find some piece of information on the site? If so, what is it? Give me some feedback on the current version of the site, and I'll see what I can do to make the website Sa-weeeet.
Orf
upgrading the AustinImprov.com homepage
Anything about the AIC itself.
Moderators: arclight, happywaffle
Things I'd like to see:
1. Information for new/interested people, specifically on how to get involved, where they can take classes, and information about the Jam. Our current site makes no mention that I found of classes at the Hideout, which seems a little odd.
2. Calendar of all shows, with ability to sort by venue, date, and troupe
3. Updated listing of all troupes, with a publicity photo of each, along with listing of members. Minor beef - IFE's members aren't listed on the current page, nor is our website linked.
4. More prominent improv news. These should be sorted chronologically, newest first.
5. I like the top-level nav of the current site, but second-level could use some work - consistent style and sizing with the top-level.
6. Contact information for each show slot. This should point to the owner of the slot.
There's more, but my brain is not here.
1. Information for new/interested people, specifically on how to get involved, where they can take classes, and information about the Jam. Our current site makes no mention that I found of classes at the Hideout, which seems a little odd.
2. Calendar of all shows, with ability to sort by venue, date, and troupe
3. Updated listing of all troupes, with a publicity photo of each, along with listing of members. Minor beef - IFE's members aren't listed on the current page, nor is our website linked.
4. More prominent improv news. These should be sorted chronologically, newest first.
5. I like the top-level nav of the current site, but second-level could use some work - consistent style and sizing with the top-level.
6. Contact information for each show slot. This should point to the owner of the slot.
There's more, but my brain is not here.
The Quiet One
Improv For Evil
Improv For Evil
There is this weird redundancy thing in the navigation- like if i click on shows, there is a side menu with a list of all the shows, annd there is also a big list of all the shows wth pictures. you can click on a show in either list and it takes you to the description page. I don't like this. The side bar should go. It could exist as a hover-over drop-down available from the top menu on any screen. And the big central graphic is great, but i ithink all the shows should be visible on one page, without scrolling, and there should be consistent graphics. The tuesday jam looks lost and unimportant, dwarfed by Chris Trew's mighty visage.
Under classes, you should be able to look for classes by level, as it is now, by teacher, and by location, and there should also be a way to look at all the classes starting in the foreseeable future, chronologically. I shouldn't have to go to the calendar to find thtis; everything about classes should be easily findable unnder classes.
there is currently nothing on the calendar. are there things that can automatically repeat, like the tuesdady jam? could we get a google calendar button thingy so people can automatically add shows, classes, events, etc to their google calendars?
I think the show listings on the front page should be a little smaller or more condensed spacially.
How do I log in to change content? I have no clue what userrname or password I chose.
Under classes, you should be able to look for classes by level, as it is now, by teacher, and by location, and there should also be a way to look at all the classes starting in the foreseeable future, chronologically. I shouldn't have to go to the calendar to find thtis; everything about classes should be easily findable unnder classes.
there is currently nothing on the calendar. are there things that can automatically repeat, like the tuesdady jam? could we get a google calendar button thingy so people can automatically add shows, classes, events, etc to their google calendars?
I think the show listings on the front page should be a little smaller or more condensed spacially.
How do I log in to change content? I have no clue what userrname or password I chose.
Parallelogramophonographpargonohpomargolellarap: It's a palindrome!
How about some pictures of our venues and shows in an easy to find location? Perhaps a way for troupes to upload their own photos? A link to flikr or other photo-dumping site could be used for this so we don't bog down our server.
The Quiet One
Improv For Evil
Improv For Evil
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- deroosisonfire Offline
- Posts: 553
- Joined: September 10th, 2005, 4:49 pm
- Location: Austin, TX
i think that this site: http://www.washingtonimprovtheater.com is a great example of an a navigable improv site that includes info on multiple troupes.
"There's no such thing as extra pepperoni. There's just pepperoni you can transfer to another person."
-Wes
-Wes
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- arclight Offline
- Site Admin
- Posts: 528
- Joined: August 5th, 2005, 1:07 pm
- Location: Austin, TX
- Contact:
Backstory: The original AustinImprov page was http://news.austinimprov.com/ ; I still can't explain the rationale for migrating from it to http://portal.austinimprov.com/ because both pieces of software have roughly the same functionality. Some people wanted something different so they got it because I got fed up asking people what they wanted (and more importantly, what they wanted the site to do) and getting nowhere.
Sorry if I sound bitter but this kind of interaction is pretty standard between clients and web developers. It's extremely frustrating because as a developer it seems like a really easy question - there's no technology involved, no buzzwords - what's needed is a short list of basic desires and goals of the customer. What usually happens is that customer can't articulate what he wants to accomplish with the website so the web designer ends up playing "bring me a rock" with the customer ("No. Not brown enough. Nope. Not that one. Something smoother. Too small...") and eventually the client runs out of money or the developer runs out of patience and nobody is satisfied with the result. All because the customer doesn't know his own business and uses the developer as an expensive, inaccurate telephone psychic.
"But I want a Web Site right now!"
I've done this since November of 1995. Eleven goddamn years. Despite the massive changes in technology, the customers still don't want to do their jobs, which is to figure out what they're trying to accomplish.
So.
Figure out what you want the site to do, and for whom.
Such as:
Once you have that list of goals, then you can start looking for ways to achieve them by using the website. These goals determine the site design and content and technology which then gives the web designer something to work with.
I tried explaining this about nine months ago and it resulted in an infuriating shouting match. I gave in and punted control of the site because fiddling with web software was more compelling than actually thinking this shit through and building something that advanced the goals of the organization. I had no desire to burn my time on something that couldn't possibly succeed since there was no defiinition of success. "Bring me a rock..."
So here we are, nine months later in essentially the same place, except we're using different software. Is it time to sit down and set some goals and redesign the site to achieve them or are we going to put lipstick on the pig and have this same conversation nine months hence?
I apologize for my negativity; I've been dealing with this exact same horseshit at work but with much, much higher stakes and I'm really tired of being expected to tiptoe around the issue. Set a goal and work to achieve it. That's rocket science, apparently...
Sorry if I sound bitter but this kind of interaction is pretty standard between clients and web developers. It's extremely frustrating because as a developer it seems like a really easy question - there's no technology involved, no buzzwords - what's needed is a short list of basic desires and goals of the customer. What usually happens is that customer can't articulate what he wants to accomplish with the website so the web designer ends up playing "bring me a rock" with the customer ("No. Not brown enough. Nope. Not that one. Something smoother. Too small...") and eventually the client runs out of money or the developer runs out of patience and nobody is satisfied with the result. All because the customer doesn't know his own business and uses the developer as an expensive, inaccurate telephone psychic.
"But I want a Web Site right now!"
I've done this since November of 1995. Eleven goddamn years. Despite the massive changes in technology, the customers still don't want to do their jobs, which is to figure out what they're trying to accomplish.
So.
Figure out what you want the site to do, and for whom.
Such as:
- Attract students to classes
- Direct audience to shows
- Explain the mission of the AIC
- Solicit donations
- Attract volunteers
- Promote member troupes
- Sell tickets
- Sell merchandise
- Attract paying gigs for member troupes
- Provide news and current events to the improv community
Once you have that list of goals, then you can start looking for ways to achieve them by using the website. These goals determine the site design and content and technology which then gives the web designer something to work with.
I tried explaining this about nine months ago and it resulted in an infuriating shouting match. I gave in and punted control of the site because fiddling with web software was more compelling than actually thinking this shit through and building something that advanced the goals of the organization. I had no desire to burn my time on something that couldn't possibly succeed since there was no defiinition of success. "Bring me a rock..."
So here we are, nine months later in essentially the same place, except we're using different software. Is it time to sit down and set some goals and redesign the site to achieve them or are we going to put lipstick on the pig and have this same conversation nine months hence?
I apologize for my negativity; I've been dealing with this exact same horseshit at work but with much, much higher stakes and I'm really tired of being expected to tiptoe around the issue. Set a goal and work to achieve it. That's rocket science, apparently...
I hear ya, Bob. I feel your pain.
I'm trying to do the stuff you just described. In other words, I'm asking people to TELL ME IN ADVANCE what they want the site to DO. Matt, Val, and DeRoos have all given good input. I've got my own ideas. I'm making a list. Then I'll work up a design. And hopefully I won't have to involve you in any shouting matches.
But first things first, I want to know: What do people think the AustinImprov.com website should DO? I'm not talking about layout or color scheme or anything like that. I'm talking, when you go to the website, what information do want to find? What functionalities do you want to see there?
Refer to Bob's list in the immediately preceeding post for a sample list. But don't repeat it, unless it's to say something like "I agree with Bob, we need to be able to sell tickets on our site."
The list is being compiled. This is your chance to add to it.
I'm trying to do the stuff you just described. In other words, I'm asking people to TELL ME IN ADVANCE what they want the site to DO. Matt, Val, and DeRoos have all given good input. I've got my own ideas. I'm making a list. Then I'll work up a design. And hopefully I won't have to involve you in any shouting matches.
But first things first, I want to know: What do people think the AustinImprov.com website should DO? I'm not talking about layout or color scheme or anything like that. I'm talking, when you go to the website, what information do want to find? What functionalities do you want to see there?
Refer to Bob's list in the immediately preceeding post for a sample list. But don't repeat it, unless it's to say something like "I agree with Bob, we need to be able to sell tickets on our site."
The list is being compiled. This is your chance to add to it.
I've been slowly enhancing www.austinimprov.com behind Orf's back.
Until there's a replacement website designed with our interests in mind, we've got to make do with what we have.
That being said, I just made an alphabetical troupe listing/description page here:
http://portal.austinimprov.com/index.php?section=2
I mainly stole pictures and text from the Out of Bound Improv site or the troupes' individual website.
I know I still need an image and description for You're Fat. What else is it missing?
If you don't like your picture or description, feel free to log in and change it. If you don't know how, ask Andy C. for your login information. If you'd rather I just do it, PM me with the current information.
Until there's a replacement website designed with our interests in mind, we've got to make do with what we have.
That being said, I just made an alphabetical troupe listing/description page here:
http://portal.austinimprov.com/index.php?section=2
I mainly stole pictures and text from the Out of Bound Improv site or the troupes' individual website.
I know I still need an image and description for You're Fat. What else is it missing?
If you don't like your picture or description, feel free to log in and change it. If you don't know how, ask Andy C. for your login information. If you'd rather I just do it, PM me with the current information.
PGraph plays every Thursday at 8pm! https://www.hideouttheatre.com/shows/pgraph/
Didn't touch it. I only update the main page and other pages as I have the fancy. As far as I know, Phil was going to update the calendar a few weeks ago with the November/December schedule.acrouch wrote:What happened to the events calendar? All of the content has been completely obliterated.
It would truly suck if he put all that info in and it got wiped.
PGraph plays every Thursday at 8pm! https://www.hideouttheatre.com/shows/pgraph/
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- kbadr Offline
- Posts: 3614
- Joined: August 23rd, 2005, 9:00 am
- Location: Austin, TX (Kareem Badr)
- Contact:
the www.austinimprov.com is hosted on a commercial server that I bought back when we were putting the site up, so it should be safe and stable.