get rid o the message board
get rid o the message board
For those wanting registration check out the TAFN messageboard. It's not very active in comparison to letsrun. I think registration would kill the nature of this board and it would not be as active.
I like the simplicity of this board. No avatars, no emoticons, no poster ranking crap.
zubrek wrote:
For those wanting registration check out the TAFN messageboard. It's not very active in comparison to letsrun. I think registration would kill the nature of this board and it would not be as active.
I like the simplicity of this board. No avatars, no emoticons, no poster ranking crap.
It wouldn't be as active? Have you ever seen Dyestat? That's an incredibly active track board with registration required. Most of the consistent posters here will register if required (as many already have).
blogs of elites. get them to detail their training, talk about life etc.
newyork1 wrote:
blogs of elites. get them to detail their training, talk about life etc.
blogs of elites are 'over rated'. I did alot of the same training Malmo did in the 70s and 80s, but didn't run as fast. Yes, the 100 mile weeks; the hard 10 milers, the 10 x 400m in 59-60 are all good workouts in their proper time and place; but they still didn't get ME the times they got malmo. 70% is God given talent; 30% is hard work.
This website will never be a hit until you sell t-shirts.
Post of the day and Thread of the day are a start, but add Workout of the day and Troll of the day. (WOD and TrOD)
whatever you do, PLEASE keep the site as simple as it is. this is my favorite forum on the internet because it is so gosh darn simple. keep it all just text like it is. don't try any fancy flash stuff cuz all that crap just drives me nuts.
dude gnarly man wrote:
This website will never be a hit until you sell t-shirts.
YES
No RSS crap, that is a dumb idea. Interviews, podcasts, maps, groups, etc.
Letsrun.com t-shirts would sell like wildfire.
Other suggestions:
-Putting new letsrun articles on an RSS feed would be really convenient and nice
-These original articles are by far the best stuff on the front page. Your quotes, insight, etc. are much better than any of the junk from the rest of the internet.
emoticons are simply, not flashy and would make the board more than just text. I don't understand why people are against them. Small ones don't clutter. People use them in AIM and MSN messenger all the time.
Other than that...maybe the ability to delete a post or thread you've started. Sometimes people start a thread and then see there are already 2 others. Why not let them delete their own thread? Of course you'd have to be registered to do this to ensure it's your own thread.
Emoticons are annoying, that's why. If you really have to emote try :)
Yes to RSS Feeds
Videos? I don't know, don't try to out-do Flocast. Perhaps partner with them for event coverage, interviews.
Get someone to do basic editing of front page headlines. The 3rd grade spelling/grammar errors don't help with site credibility.
More discussions about Prefontaine's chances of beating Rod Dixon and Klaus-Peter Hildenbrand to upgrade his Olympic performance in the 5,000 meters to a bronze medal. Hildenbrand had a personal best of 13:13 going into Montreal. Dixon had beaten Prefontaine in a two mile in July 1974 in Stockholm.
8:14.32 Rod Dixon NZL
8:16.55 Emiel Puttemans BEL
8:18.29 Steve Prefontaine USA
1. Interviews - not jsut "how did the race go", but a real discussion w/ the athlete about current races, plans, setbacks etc. The at the end, in tabular form, a history of SBs and PRs. This is the old T&FN style (which I miss and love), and it gets you fired up. "Wow! ABC ran slower than me when s/he was 20?!".
2. Running/Non-running boards - there is so much crap now that it dilutes the usefulness and purpose of the boards. This is a subjective call, so people would have to be involved. Yopu already police content, so why not add one very helpful step to the monintors' "to do" list.
3. Results Archive - trying to find any results links is hit and miss. Other sites do this, but.....you already have readers here, so you want to keep them.
4. Selling out to the man - this is obviously something you want to avoid. I do not blame u. In order to preserve your market position, you need to cast a wider net, even if it alienates the stickier readers. Training plans for people who have never run?
The underlying ethos of this site is that running is 1) fun 2) easy to take up (unlike yachting) and 3) for everybody. It should encourage more "penguins" to make queries and consider it a PRIMARY health and fitness resource.
:( wrote:
Emoticons are annoying, that's why. If you really have to emote try :)
let me get this straight, sideways looking face text isn't annoying, but a small actual smile face is? I just think sometimes people get mad and heated up about reading things without understanding if the poster was joking or being humorous.
:-D isn't annoying? do the google chat thing at least and if someone enters :-D turn it 90 degrees so it's better understood
Please get rid of the advertisement in the first post of each thread. It is the worst.
Just to add my two cents:
For god's sake, clean up the design of the front page. The format appears to be totally random. How do you decide what goes in which column? Make it far, far less cluttered. And get it rid of the links to features that you haven't updated since 2002.
Don't try to compete with or outdo other sites that are doing things very well -- like videos on Flocasts. And don't start athlete blogs unless you're really sure that the athletes are committed to blog at least weekly. Instead, pick some things you think you can do well, and focus on doing them well. "The Week That Was" is a good idea, and something that you can "own" -- you have enough connections and a high enough profile that you can turn the column into a must-read for everyone in the sport. But you have to spend time on it, take it seriously, and get it out at the same time every week.
As an aside, your comments beside the links you provide on the front page are valuable. Other sites like eliterunning do a great job of unearthing all sorts of running links, but they don't give any indication of whether it's worth the read. Over the years, I've come to trust your judgement -- when you label a link "must read," I've pretty much always agreed. So don't fall into the trap of just linking as much as you can -- instead, choose your links carefully, and continue to give us a sentence or two of context to help us decide whether to click on it.
For the message board, I wouldn't make many changes. As others have pointed out, there are plenty of registration-only boards out there. This board provides a useful unfettered forum where lots of info (mostly bad but occasionally good) comes out. I would, however, agree that the search function should be greatly improved as a top priority.
And don't worry about the people complaining about ads on the message board. They'll get used to them quickly and stop noticing them.
And please, please, please do not introduce emoticons. That alone would probably convince me to stop visiting the site, quit running entirely, and give my computer away to the nearest homeless guy.
I want free health care and want my family to get full citizenship and I want free food stamps. That is why I am going to vote for Hilery Cleanton.