New WCSC Website (Sneak Peek)

[bobkrider]

Martin you old troll

Dogs are so stupid... they haven't got a clue what going on.... look at that mutt in the picture! (about the only thing going through that mutts head is "ooooh wind!..... when am I going to get to eat?... oh my I sure would like to take a crap"......)

Now a Cat on the other hand would be fully aware of the situation... God help the pilot... the reaction would be YouTube worthy.

As far as the sport needing promotion and pretending that progress is going to be the measure of success ? Hah!, Progress is nothing more than the politicians graphical representation of the destruction of the planet! The ultimate end of "Progress" is a scorched smoldering planet.

Hang Gliding is dead, Paragliding is dying, Speed wings are a passing fad... Strap on virtual google goggles, visit a spiffy web site and go flying with your dog (or Cat if you want to see a slasher horror flick ). Really, no reason to get out there and expose yourself to the risk and dangers of the outside world? Way easier to click through your experiences then it is to huck off a hill?

There are very few real pilots left... most of them are giving up, all they have left is to try and pay the bills well stuck in traffic on the way home to their over priced condo. Progress?.... yah... as Opus the penguin from Bloom County would say...... "Phhhhtttttt"

(I think I made a few of the old pilots in the "home" smile...... Bill the Cat for President....Gonzo journalism is alive, Hunter S Thompson is the king )

Comrade Martin

(I feel like I'm channeling my old buddy Fred.... we need more emoticons)

[silentflight]

Egads ! Lot of silly banter here ! Thought for a moment that I was reading the Oz report .

[GrumpySmurf]

"If something's important enough, you should try. Even if the probable outcome is failure."
- some guy named Elon who will likely never amount to much of anything.

The refresh is a good idea - the demographic of the pilot community is changing and we should adapt to what they have come to expect in terms of information provisioning and UX. Frankly, the website is clunky and the presentation dated - too much friction.

While we may scoff/joke at the dog picture, showing participants front and centre is how we are going to sell this sport. We want visitors to see people flying and having a good time. This pool of future free fliers could care less about wings or scenery - they want to be able to envision themselves in that harness up in the sky. Wings and scenery come later.

The next generation of pilots are out there, they just need our help in realizing it. At the very least, we should try ...

- Oz Report, is that the one where they go on and on about why they should never have let the PGers join USHGA?

[Amir]

Perhaps if you explain the deficiencies of the current website it will give people a better idea of why it needs a revamp.

[Tyler G]

Perhaps if you explain the deficiencies of the current website it will give people a better idea of why it needs a revamp.

Amir, once you start paying membership dues I will start giving a damn about your opinion on club activities. You got to pay to play brother . Should we resist modern technology and the desire to improve especially at no cost to us?

Because actual members may share your question I would be happy to answer it below.

1. It is not mobile friendly.
In 2018 more than 51% of web traffic is done on mobile. That statistic goes way up for outdoors/sports clubs.
Right there we are denying more than 51% of people access to important information.

2. Usability
Users don't love usable websites. They just hate poorly designed ones.
Our navigation and overall usability is abysmal. How do I know this? Aside from the obvious of just looking at the poor thing. One example is even after people have been members for many years I still get emails asking how to renew their membership, even though the process is IMHO is pretty darn straightforward. We could easily make the process much more simple using modern technologies and processes.

3. Updatability
Currently, you need to be a web developer with specialized knowledge to make even the simplest changes and updates to our website. This creates the obvious conflict of interest when run by a board of volunteers who in most cases have more free time because they are older and either close to retirement or currently retired. This would be like asking your dad to update a website. See how that goes? My goal is to try and setup stupid simple processes and procedures for as many board activities as possible so that anyone can do it. This includes updating the website. Why should we allow the lack of technical knowledge hold back someone who is very smart and very creative?

3. Coding and Technique.
Our website is not up to date with browser compatibility. Our website technique and programming language is outdated.
Every year web standards change radically and techniques to build websites become more advanced in order to comply with the latest standards. Our site was developed more than 10 years ago.

The list of issues is enormous and I will list some of them below but I will not fully explain to them as I have done above. You are free to Google them, do your own research and present to me a solid case as to why we shouldn't update our website.

Website Integration
Hackability
Website Speed
Bounce Rate
Navigation
SEO
Content
Effectiveness
Visual Appeal

[Amir]

Hey Tyler

My question wasn't a challenge or defence of the old website. It was a simple question for which I was expecting a simple answer, but thanks for you detailed response. It makes complete sense.

If you'll indulge me as a veteran of the WCSC, I have another: What happened to all the old posts from years gone by? While for obvious reasons much of it is dated, there were links to videos, safety topics, site development and general historical facts that are part of the narrative of this club.

If they've been archived somewhere, could you point to where they might be? If not, it's just a shame that's all.

Thanks
Amir

[Tyler G]

What happened to all the old posts from years gone by? While for obvious reasons much of it is dated, there were links to videos, safety topics, site development and general historical facts that are part of the narrative of this club.

If they've been archived somewhere, could you point to where they might be? If not, it's just a shame that's all.

Thanks
Amir

Amir,

Now that I know how much work goes into making this sport possible, I no longer have the patience for poachers chiming in on club matters. They say patience is a virtue, so I probably still have a lot to learn, but sometimes you just need to tell people to go pound sand. No offence personally.

I only have 3 rules

• Have fun!

• Don't let your friends make stupid decisions.

• Pay your membership dues.

Now to address your question...

I don't know of all this historical information you speak of, but it sounds amazing. I am hoping with the new site we can tell the narrative of how the whole thing got started. I think there are a lot of pilots out there including myself who don't have the respect for how much effort has gone into building these sites.

Martin did a fantastic presentation about the history of Woodside. I loved it. Still to this day my favourite "Last Fridays" Presentation. I would love to capture that on the new website. The story and the culture that spawned from a few crazy guys at the tip of the spear is critically important to me. My only hope is we can do a good job of telling that story.

Tyler

[Amir]

I think there are a lot of pilots out there including myself who don't have the respect for how much effort has gone into building these sites.
Tyler

Hence why I said that having access to the old forum posts is valuable information for the club. There's a lot of wisdom that can be gleaned from pilots and their stories who've been in this sport for a very long time. Overall, it's good for the club.

So has the old forum been archived or completely deleted?

[Tyler G]

I think there are a lot of pilots out there including myself who don't have the respect for how much effort has gone into building these sites.
Tyler

Hence why I said that having access to the old forum posts is valuable information for the club. There's a lot of wisdom that can be gleaned from pilots and their stories who've been in this sport for a very long time. Overall, it's good for the club.

So has the old forum been archived or completely deleted?

Amir,
I agree. The wisdom and knowledge that can be transferred from experienced pilots and pilot alumni are priceless.

I am not really sure what has happened to all of the data from the old forum. I didn't know there was stuff missing. Pedro would be the person to talk to about that. I encourage you to reach out to him. Also if you have any good information you would like to see on the new site please let me know.

[pep]

I think there are a lot of pilots out there including myself who don't have the respect for how much effort has gone into building these sites.
Tyler

Hence why I said that having access to the old forum posts is valuable information for the club. There's a lot of wisdom that can be gleaned from pilots and their stories who've been in this sport for a very long time. Overall, it's good for the club.

So has the old forum been archived or completely deleted?

Amir,
I agree. The wisdom and knowledge that can be transferred from experienced pilots and pilot alumni are priceless.

This WCSC forum was created on Fri Aug 29, 2003 by Robin (Thank you Robin), since then it has been running continuously, all the post are in the system and can be searched.
It has been upgraded and protected as necessary every time a new version of the application became available, trying to keep a head of hakers trying to break the system.

This forum will also be integrated to the new site so nothing here should be lost, I am not aware of anything previous to August 2003 at this moment.