Calling for feedback/suggestions

[iceman]

Hi all.

While you are always welcome to offer suggestions and feedback about the IceInSpace site at any time, it's come time again for me to put a call out.. to ask for your ideas, suggestions and feedback about the IceInSpace site and forums.

What do you like?

What don't you like?

What would you like to see different?

What content would you like to see?

My aim is to provide a site for everyone, but we're obviously targetted at amateur astronomers and stargazers in the southern hemisphere, specifically Australia and New Zealand.

I want the site to continue to grow and be the best that it can be, so I need your feedback and ideas to ensure it's got all the right things that you expect from a site like this.

Please be honest, critical if you need to be, and please share your ideas. If you're not comfortable posting it here and you'd rather PM or email me, then please do so.

Have your say! I look forward to reading your input.

[iceman]

Oh and please remember, this includes both the site and the forums. I'd like to hear your feedback about both.

[asimov]

I think the site is great Mike. Not really lacking at all. If I was to have a whinge about some dislikes, it would have to be when the site go's down (server) which is rare but annoying. I know you are apparently looking into this.

I'm MOST appreciative of the fact that this site even exists at all so I can actually get to talk to other people that are passionate about this hobby/obsession!

[ving]

i have to agree with the above statement, as someone who regualrly visits forums of all types I have to say this one is pretty darn faultless. I dont see the point of having a confirmation of reciept for PMs, but thats probably just me.

the site is simple and works well. I think an asro pic of the week or month on the front page would be good. possible one created by a formum member as we get quite a few pic thru here. :)

[chunkylad]

HI mike

I agree with Asi. The site is not lacking at all. You only need search the site for information suitable for newbies to astronomy wizards.

The forums are just a great learning resource for novices like me. I think articles like the one Brian just wrote (articles one and two:General Principles for Choosing your first Telescope and What's Wrong with each of my Scopes) are classic beginners references; and are always going to be popular with novice members. I don't think there can be too much such information available for beginners

It seems to me that most of us are intersted in hardware upgrades from time to time - eyepieces, barlows, finders etc. Perhaps we could look at compiling the results of reviews into tabular form: similar to the tables presented in the Budget 15mm EP shootout http://www.iceinspace.com.au/index.php?id=42,236,0,0,1,0&hashID=82f6bb010fb42110deb0135b0a55 071c
What I mean is to compile all our current eyepiece or telescope specifications and info into a comprehensive, updateable set of reference tables. So, as revues are written, their specifics can be added to the database.
This idea may be a bit pie in the sky and totally impractical to implement, but you did ask for suggestions:nerd: .

Dave

[RB]

I agree with David and John. The site is excellent.

Suggestions:
I too don't see the point of confirmation of reciept for PMs.

And a page of images for the month/week that forum members have taken is good too. Make it easier to keep up with everyone's efforts.

Again well done Mike and everyone for a great forum.

[Thiink]

I have to agree as well, this is a great site, and for that matter a great community. So thank you Mike for the site, and thank you everyone else for the help over the last 10 or so months, hopefully one day I can help others too!

Some suggestions from me:
- I dont know how hard it would be, or how other people feel about it, but what about piping news from websites such as space.com (or similar) to a column on the front page (using RSS feeds (http://www.space.com/php/siteinfo/RSSinfo.php)?). Something similar to what whirlpool (http://www.whirlpool.net.au/) do with the "More news" section on the front page. Im sure I miss a lot of news on other sites because I dont visit them often, but I usually come here fairly regulary, which would make it a great central source for news.

- make a link/form on the main news site that people can use to submit news directly to you relating to Australian austronomy/observing or what ever, for use on the front page as news. This may be more make for more overhead than you have time for. That and there is already a link for people to email you at the top. I guess I would like to see the front page utilized more for things other than site updates etc. Maybe give the mods access to also add news?

Either way what ever the site is doing is working, so any other features are going to be a bonus.

[rochler]

I have to say. I've seen heaps of websites & forums & this one is very nicely laid out, intuitive and looks very professional.

No complaints at all - only praise.

The only suggestion I can think of is to encourage the more knowledgeable members to contribute more Projects, Articles & DIY. This is the stuff that newbs like me *really* appreciate. Those of you who have been enjoying astronomy for years have an absolute wealth of info. currently in your heads - I'd like to copy some of it to mine hehe...

Those of you who are gifted in astrophotography for example - it would be a huge boon to someone starting out to have a simple example (step by step) of how to setup a ToUcam for grabbing a shot of Mars? What are all the bits required to do this on a dob. or a reflector? How does it all go together? What are the traps etc. I realise that it's not always practical to do this since everybody uses different gear, but an example helps newbs to get a grip on what needs to be done from start to finish.

Same goes for the reviews - I know that there are heaps of other sites that do them, but it's nice to have some reviews from local users etc.

Anyhow, just a suggestion!

Cheers, Fred....

[davidpretorius]

yup i never ask for confirmation of pm's

gallery of photos that is searchable by a query ie all pictures of saturn taken by a toucam on an eq mount etc

a way to easily direct noobies to the articles / threads on first scope, collimation, eyepiece. I know we have to get off our butts and help put these together, but if we have brians quality articles about a few more starter issues then that would be great. I come directly to forums and forget that there is a reference section or a diy section.

spamming seems to be better lately (?????), but a button to press to split a thread easily so us spammers can banter on elsewhere.

up time has been good lately

have a section where better quality dso's can be uploaded ie 500k.

apart from that we really need to start co-ordinating camps and get togethers ie an online diary of major dates ie snake valley and any thing else that may interfere with organising a camp anywhere in the country. I would love to go to a camp in the Northern Territory given 12 months notice or even a rockhampton one where Bird says the seeing is great. 12 months notice would be needed to organise a trip for a family.

great work ice, admins and mods.

much appreciated.

most importantly, make sure you don't let people waffle on or be silly. Astronomy is a serious business!!!

[sheeny]

Mike, the site is excellent mate! Congratulations to you and all the moderators and members who make it the great site it is. I can't fault the forum section.

Now here's an idea that I don't imagine is easy to do, but since you asked here it is... Most members know their lat/long - I'd love to see that on a map. Even if it's just dots so you can see how many other members are nearby or within an hour or two's drive. It doesn't have to identify who the members are...

I'd like to reiterate the comments that some of the others have made about developing the articles, resources and reviews parts of the site. As well as "our own" articles, resources and reviews, what about links to others on the web? Helps provide a "second opinion" before you lash out on an expensive purchase! For example, following a telescope review could be a list of other reviews of the same scope from other sites on the web, so if you are seriously considering this bit of gear, you can access a variety of good info. Or perhaps a summary of pros and cons from other users of the same bit of equipment - perhaps collected by poll? BTW I would not be opposed to having more than one review of the same bit of gear especially if it gives a different opinion or point of view.

Some good articles on not just the challenging parts of astronomy but also on the basics. Some aspects of this hobby I have a good handle on because I was into this many years ago, but I'm a newbie when it comes to the newer technology like CCD imaging, Registax (been playing with it, but I can't say that I'm achieving what I believe it should!), and GOTO mounts. (I still feel more comfortable aligning a manual eq mount with an old fashioned drive and drive corrector - i understand that. I struggle a bit with the GOTO mount because it does some maths but I don't know what that maths is, so getting an accurate alignment can be frustrating at times and very simple at others... I have some "unlearning" to do I suspect) Some tutorials and "getting started with" articles on all sorts of things would be really valuable references for a lot of newbies.

The forums are great, and healthy. Improving the articles, resources and tutorials I think falls to all the members. Contribute something, even if you think it's a bit trivial because you know it backwards doesn't mean we all do!:)

Al.

[iceman]

Keep the comments and suggestions coming, guys and gals.

I'll respond to all of them at once, after the suggestions have dried up :)

[slice of heaven]

Have a look here Sheeny
http://www.iceinspace.com.au/plot/


I'd still like the moon phases displayed the right way :)

[gaa_ian]

All in all, the site is awesome Mike :prey2:
A few small suggestions for improvement
- Change the "Cancel" button, in responce to "Do you want a read receipt" which comes up when sending PM, to read "No"
This will avoid confusion as to weather the user is cancelling the PM or cancelling the request for a read receipt (as is the case)
- Can smiles in the advanced window (when composing a message) be automaticlly set to be the most popular ones ?
Same deal in the [more] list.

[RB]

Good suggestions there gaa_ian.

[matt]

I know I'd like to see a lot more astro imaging "How To" guides.

particularly Registax and AstraImage.

I'm often at a bit of a loss coz some of the language/techniques etc are a bit advanced.

I'm also often not sure of the exact order the whole process has been done, and exactly why certain processes were performed at which stage???

[norm]

Hi,

I think this forum is a credit to you Mike and all those who manage it. Its also a credit to all those who contribute their thoughts and ideas. Passing their wisdom and solutions makes the whole astronomy hobby not as daunting as it would otherwise be.
This may have been covered before and there are probably references all over the place, but would it be possible to have a section/link for newbies on some of the jargon used in astronomy talk. I know I could probably google search for most of the answers, but things that get me and I'm just a simpleton enjoy analogies to explain things.

Eg of some things I hear but at times not 100% sure are things like, kidney bean affect, eye relief, field stop, exit pupil, AFOV vs FOV, etc etc.

An example was a post that Rumples put recently explaining the viewing lof Mars would be like a 50cent peice or grape - that I could relate to!, but if you talk 2 degrees of view for a newbie, it can confuse.

Anyway thats just an idea, but again, overall its a brilliant site and its great to know that downunder we can hold our own!.

Keep it up.

[seeker372011]

:thumbsup:

I post with some regularity on four forums.been a member here for a shorter period compared to other forums, since its been only online for a relatively short period

I have four times the posts on this forum compared to any other I frequent...
guess it works for me.

[[1ponders]]

Here ya go norm http://www.iceinspace.com.au/?glossary

[[1ponders]]

This suggestion is for the members, not for Mike.

How about everyone checking their location coordinates. There seem to be quite a few swimming or with their scopes on rafts. I think the biggest problem is wrong directions for some of the Lat and Longs. Check to see if your location is south (of the equator) for Latitude and East (of Greenwich) for Longitude if you are from Australia and New Zealand.

[[1ponders]]

How's mojo's countdown clock going for the updated and zoomable members map?:evil::poke:

[gaa_ian]

Thanks Rocketboy !
One more suggestion, a "spell checker" ?
Because:
"I dno't konw aobut otehr poelpe, but soemtimes my spelenig is awfuel" :P :nerd:

[jjjnettie]

I agree with the others, IIS is a great site. Superior to the others that I belong to .
What I reckon is most appealing is
1. The sense of humour that pervades the whole place.
2. The willingness of its members to help newbies even though it means answering the same questions again and again and again.

Before changing anything, remember the old saw " If it ain't broke, don't fix it"

[iceman]

Thanks for all the feedback and ideas, people. I'll respond to some of them now.


yeh, it's annoying for everyone when the site is down or slow. Fortunately they've been rare, and the speed has been good lately with no noticeable slowness (at least, for me).
We are still planning to move to a new server, but it has been put off until the new year to avoid any downtime or problems while the xmas competition is running.



The confirmation of receipts for PM's is very annoying, I agree. Unfortunately there's no setting to turn it off. I've spoken with mojo about this and we'll hack the code to remove that "feature". Stay tuned.



Yep, a good idea and one i've had for a while too. I'm hoping to create an image gallery for forum members to post their pictures into, and from that i'll create a pic of the day/slideshow feature for the site.



It's a good idea Dave, it just needs someone to write it :) I like the idea of a comprehensive table of eyepiece/telescope specification data, so you can see eye relief, exit pupil, TFOV, AFOV etc for an eyepiece versus a specific scope.



A good idea, Simon. I've avoided pulling news from places like UniverseToday simply because at the bottom of each news article, it'll have a link "discuss this news" which takes you to the UniverseToday forum. There's no problem crediting the source, but ideally I want people discussing the news item on the IceInSpace Forums.
I'll have a look at some other RSS news sources though and see what I can find and how to implement it. I agree it would be good to have more science news content on the front page - it's just time that's stopped me from adding science news articles like I used to.



All people have to do is send me an email or PM if they want content added to the site, but an online form might encourage them to do it more. I don't have a problem giving access to responsible people to add news articles themselves - I encourage people to contact me if they are interested in helping out in this way.



Very true, we've got a great knowledgebase of information here on the forums, but I'd like to convert more of it to articles for the site. It just takes someone to write it, or compile it from what they've found on teh forums. I'm happy to edit the articles (that's my job!) but I need someone to write the content and send it to me to start with.



Not a bad idea, i'm thinking the user gallery will allow larger uploads. Just need to check on disk space requirements.



Good idea. I've got plans of adding a community calendar showing the yearly calendar of star parties along with other relevant events (new/full moons, etc). I've done a similar one on another site I wrote, so hopefully it won't be too much effort to make it work for IceInSpace.



As Slice posted, the old "plot" map still works. I'm still nagging Terry to finish the new IceMap, but it won't be done this year. Hopefully 1st quarter next year.



Good idea, i'll start doing that for future review articles.



Good idea Ian, I remember seeing a "hack" for this a while back, i'll do some searching again and see if I can find it. I'm planning on rejigging the smilies as well and adding a few new ones, and removing the less-used ones.



I'll look into it, i'm sure there's a mod for it.


Thanks again everyone for your suggestions and feedback.

If you have any other ideas, please feel free to post them here or PM me.

[davidpretorius]

well done all, a fine lot of feedback for mike to keep the site fresh and evolving.

Now Mike, you have had 1 hour, have all these great ideas been put into place yet??????

[[1ponders]]

HI Ian. I know a lot of people don't like them for a number of reasons but .....I have the google tool bar installed and it has a spell checke built in. It seems to do a pretty good job all up. Can be found here.http://toolbar.google.com/

[ving]

gotta get me one of those :P

[[1ponders]]

:lol:@ving. guess I shoulda usd it.

[sheeny]

:o

Oops! Where was that?! I'll have to have a better look... but I suppose that means that it's not too difficult to then!!! :nerd:

Al.

[asimov]

Oh I don't know?....I think PM confirmations are pretty handy if your doing small on site transactions...

[gaa_ian]

Thanks Paul ... I will look into the google toolbar.