I have finally began to put into practice what I started last year - the new design for the KWSC website, the old site being over 6 years old now and in need of a refresh.
This will be a work in progress and can be viewed on the test site here or linked to from the main page of the current site here.
There are faclities to provide feedback (comments or suggestions) and I would welcome photos for the site gallery or the top right of the site.
Your involvement is key and I would appreciate your comments constructive please).
Steve, I know this is a work in progress, and so far the layout is easy on the eye and easy to navigate (once you have the links in)
I would like to see a 'WINDGURU' (or similar) section and also if not too complex a WEBCAM.
As a regular user of the current site, I also like the FORUMS and PIX sections.
I would also like more information relating to RACING..an introduction...club racing rules, hints and tips...typical courses and general explanations about racing for begginers...apart from that..keep up the good work :)
World peace and a cure for all known diseases aswell no doubt. Just joking, but the webcam would be a great idea as weather forecasters don't always get it right. Is there any way that the anometer and/or any other weather details available could be hooked up to the site to give current wind/weather conditions. I suspect Tony's IT expertise could be useful here!!!
A webcam realistically requires us to have a PC running 24*7 on broadband in the club house. We will have several sorces of weather info though - not just windguru but some other visual and informative sites.
Thanks for the quick responses though.
You will see from the main page of the test site that I do indeed intend to keep the forum, lookc photos and other favourites as well as have regular race results and reports.
The tips idea is already on the list and will probably go in the members area.
We already use Windguru (link)
http://www.windguru.cz/int/index.php?vs=1&sc=88104#
which is for Kielder...but sometimes ithe weather is not as good as we would like it...any chance of a forcaster that only gives good sailing weather?
Being new to sailing but as an experienced hang glider pilot, there is a system we use which is run by a company which installs weather stations on various hills throughout the country. There isn't a webcam but for an annual fee, you can ring any of the stations and get wind strength and direction, temperature, % cloud cover and lapse rate. The recoding also gives the information for the last 30 mins and 30 mins before that. Wouls something like this be worth pursuing?
Hi Steve
Looks v good thus far !
One minor point : Would it be slightly more welcoming to site visitors to have the "members only " button a bit further down the line so that the first few buttons are areas accessible to visitors before they get to the excluding bit ?
One major point : The idea of access to the weather station and/or a web cam is , of course, enormously attractive and possibly enormously difficult to achieve. The 24 hr computer/broadband connection would be a tricky decision to go for.
Would any boffin at the club know if it is possible to get a link from the website to "dial in" to the club when called upon to do so in the same way as you only make a connection to a fax machine when you dial it up ? That way you would only pay for connection when information was requested and the computer could spend most of the day asleep. My ancient computer ahs the facility to operate as a fax machine as, I imagine, do many others.
Ken
Thanks for the info Ken - Paul's link to the Bellingham weather station would give far more information than a webcam (dial in or otherwise) would and I will be highlighting this on the new site along with other weather links. All a webcam will provide in addition is a fuzzy grainy picture which does not tell us very much.
As I mentioned on the new test site the navigation menus ae not established yet that s the next step after some tidying up of the design. There will be opportunity for everyone to comment on the navigation so your suggestions can potentially included - thanks.
One solution may be to suggest that Kielder Water add an online weather facility to their website. I assume they have have DSL at Leaplish & possibly Tower Knowe.
In fact - I have changed my mind - as there is so much interest in the weather I am going to build a weather page first! Hopefully I will put something up today for you all to see and comment on! This should get some content going and add a bit more interest than boring navigation links.
Steve
Ok a starter weather page added. Please comment and add sugestions. There is a link on the page to pass comments to me without the need to use the forum - this also tests the site form so please do try to use it. Thanks. You can also access the link on the left menu (weather) - the only one working so far.
Do we need to worry about a weather station? It seems a lot of effort and a lot of kit left on all the time. Come up on a Sunday and sail whatever the weather, just bring suitable clothing. When I first joined I used to come up on my own during the week but I just gave the visitor centre a ring first and asked them what the weather was like before setting off.
Whenever I am at the club midweek there are regular phone calls from members checking the weather before travelling - perhaps the weather page needs the clubhouse phone number on it as well?
I think the weather page is a great idea. If I was on my own I'd probably sail in almost any weather, but as getting to Kielder means a two hour drive for us with the kids, I prefer to have reasonable weather when we get there, so as not to put them off too much. The more information the better!
I have now added some information about navigation of the new site to help you provide me with some feedback and suggestions. I am gong to let this area of development run for another couple of weeks or so and develop it on the site as I get your ideas.
If folks don't like the desgin of the new web site in any way (or the Junior version) they only have to let me know via the contact page - I won't be upset (but there are plenty of spaces at the top of the boat park - only kidding).
Remember - I need your feedback to continue to develop the site.
Navigation menus now added plus some other changes. Main site can be accessed here. A list of changes can be found here. Can you find what you want in the menus and links?
I continue to welcome your feedback and I have had quite a bit - many thanks. While you do this I am going to develop some content now in parallel. There are already some links to weather, training and the programme holding page. More will follow soon.
P.S. I am testing the site using IE7 and Firefox 2 in Vista or Firefox 2 in Ubuntu (linux). If anyone has a different rowser (apple safari, IE 4/5/6/) or Operating System (XP service pack 2) could they let me know of any problems with the test site please.
Whilst I am cullig the content from the existng site an of you are welcome to provide new or replacement content or articles. I will edit them as required and put them on the web so if you jus provide them to me as a notepad, word (preferred) or pdf file that will be fine.
Examples - History of the cups, socal, classes, photos welcome for anywhere on the site or for the top right changin images (landscape preferred for these latter ones). Do you have any sailing related links you would like on the site - doh, that is interesting I don't apear to have a place for these, wll remedy asap.
The site has been further updated now - (click here to get there - and many of the links and menus are navigable to real content. Continue to provide me with feedback on the design, layout and menu navigation please and of course if you want to provide any content send me an email or two.
The new (still in Test) web site has further expanded. There is now access to the Boat Park Map, membership details and application form and in addition I have loaded up our 40 article archive from previous newsletters and web pages. This latter information has some very interesting articles and might (just might) encourage some of you to contribute to the new web site. Some of the articles are quite educational.
I intend to make the web site 'live' in a week and a bit's time (say 3rd March) so if any of you have pictures, articles or comments before then please let me know as soon as you can. Many thaks.
Some image presentation effects have been utilsed on the new web site to 'enhance the user experience'. This will become standard on the web site for all images. Have a look at the photo gallery on the website to see this.
Hi Steve
If you're still looking for Kielder pics for the website all the ones in this album:
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/voyager14/photos/browse/b09f
are on Kielder and also those in:
http://ph.groups.yahoo.com/group/voyager14/photos/browse/38f2
You get the best resolution ,of course, by clicking on the "large" button.
Feel free to grab any that might be of use.
Regards
Ken
Ken - those links require a yahoo login. To save me a lot of work (I am doing rather a lot!) why don't you put together a selection of images for an album and send them to me. I can them format them etc and load them on to the site. I will need captions for each image - ideally dates/tis, whoc took them etc as well.
For those who liked the image effects and are into the techy stuff - yes it was a js effect. Gary Nicol kindly pointed me in that direction. They are from highslide. It takes a bit of sorting out and downloading but once you get your head around that they are asy to produce and use.
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KWSC - the new Web Site
Re: KWSC - the new Web Site
Re: KWSC - the new Web Site
Re: KWSC - the new Web Site
Re: KWSC - the new Web Site
- as there is so much interest in the weather I am going to build a weather page first! Hopefully I will put something up today for you all to see and comment on! This should get some content going and add a bit more interest than boring navigation links.
