RaysBB.com

Some of you may recall seeing some information posted on the front page of RaysBB.com.

I kept updated through last season the Starting and Relief pitching performance by rotation slot, attendance figures, stolen bases splits (vs. LHP & RHP) and basic hitting stats for each position in the batting order. They're not terribly complex stats, or even unique, but they're presented just a little differently than you see at a quick glance on other sites.

So, what I'm saying is: I don't know how many people actually looked at it, or how many found it to be useful (yes, I've got page hit numbers, but that doesn't say anything about attention, especially for those who hit up the front page just to get to the forum). Did you like seeing these numbers? What other types of 'stuff' might you find useful there? (Keep in mind that I've no intention or desire to turn the front page into a blog; there are plenty of very good Rays blogs out there already.)

Also, the general design: My personal preference is for generally spartan, non-distracting, utilitarian websites, and the look/feel of the front page obviously reflects that. However, I'm willing to be that not everyone agrees with me on this.

So, since we're nearly at the start of a new season, tell me what you'd like to see as it relates to team information and general look/feel of the front page, likes/dislikes, whatever. I can't guarantee I'll be able to do everything requested, but I promise to consider any suggestions seriously.

I think at present, a spring training roster and schedule should suffice. Those who seek advanced stats know where to find and discuss them. Don't be afraid to incorporate a player image or two on the main page either.
Keep it cosmetic, in short.

Oh, and shouldn't this be moved to the designated comments section?

Take a look, it is there. (It's set as a global announcement right now, when I'm done with it, it'll go back to being a regular thread in the comments section.)

I find it hard to believe that only vincesucks has an opinion on this.

i never go to the front page, i have the forums bookmarked. incidentally, it's awfully hard to find the link to the forums on the front page, might be part of the reason there's very few new posters. feature the forum on the front page

The blue, bold, underlined word that says "forums" isn't easy to find?

I always thought that it was really obvious. Then again, there's probably a reason I work with code and not graphical interfaces for a living.

Can we get the main page link to the board in the form of a gigantic bulls eye with the word ‘FORUM’ flashing in tune to the Rays TV broadcast theme song?

Actually, the existing Main Page > Board link is fine. I can’t seem to locate a link from the board to the main page though. Not that this is a big issue as one can just re-type the URL to get back to the main page.

As for the main page, I like it as is. You've done a lot to it over the past year and the info is relevant and useful.

for a typical person with no experience of the site, the single hyperlinked word amid otherwise static copy is not how they expect the key feature of a site to be presented.

"awfully hard to find" is probably the wrong way to put it, but a single hyperlinked word amid a full screen of plain text makes it seem like a very tangential feature as opposed to something a new visitor should be particularly interested in.

THIS IS OUR DASHBOARD OF RAYS STATSoh by the way we have a forum that is responsible for the vast majority of recurring traffic and we need all the contributors we can get to bring it back to life

most sites will have some sort of top nav that identifies the key sections of the site, i know this site doesn't have 10 different pages and thus a top navigation bar might be overkill, but it'd be nice to feature the existence of the forum on the home page a little more prominently. it's the one portion of content that can be found nowhere but on RaysBB. not abstractly - message boards abound - but the rapport you establish with posters on a particular message board cannot be taken with you to another site, while your search for Rays-related data can

you might even consider to have a window featuring current hot forum topics on the front page, or just the topics featuring the research you or other posters have done that you feel is constructive or conducive to discussion. to pull people directly into topics they might want to weigh in on from their first viewing of your site. i'm no SEO guru, but a more active front page should help your page ranking, in theory

if you don't draw people into the community aspect of the site (the forums), you appear to the world to be mostly a single-page website with semi-static data points and links to more stats which, incidentally, pull you away from this site entirely. i know clicking on the big header at the top of the page takes you to the forum, but most website users expect that action to redirect you to the homepage, which they are already on.

"We're not a news site. We're not a blog. We're a forum." - feature the forum. only a handful of people will refer their real-life friends to the forum. i think part of the appeal is that these aren't people you know personally (i would be off forums entirely if people i knew were aware of my activity and could see how much time i spent on them at work), so without people recommending the site it's important to make the forum as easy to stumble upon as possible.

just my 5 cents

Only 5¢?

In any case: that's good feedback, thank you. I've already made a few changes based on some of it, too. Take a look.

i looked over the post at the end and realized i'd putmy 2 cents in about 2 and a half times over appreciate having your ear\eyes for my thoughts....really hoping this forum bounces back this season, don't want to go thru the process of settling into another one!

Me too, for a few years this forum had a nice mix of wonkiness, silliness, homeboy cheerleading, and a friendly GDT. Most of that went up in smoke last year. Hoping it can be recovered.