Spring Clean Up in February

[Andrew]

Hey guys,
How's it going? Long time no see.
*With exception to the Aussies who catch me online late at night.

Our numbers are rising at a dramatic rate. The server purchased last April is handling them very well. We have plenty of room for expansion.

There is a line-up of revisions, updates, modifications, and etc. That may-or-may-not be rolled out in February. The site may be offline (Place Holder Page) for a few times next month as we try to clean things up.
*To the Aussies: Sorry about breaking tradition and simply downing the entire site while you're up.

Another point: I am unhappy with the front page of the website. More people are now visiting the forums, gallery, blueprints and other sections first. Which isn't bad, but the front page should be more helpful.

If you all would, please use this thread to post front-page suggestions.

[Mills]

Hello Andrew, thanks for the heads up. I seldom go to any home page of any web site after I determine What parts I like. I simply bookmark the general area I most often use and will work around from there.

With that said the looks of the home page and the forum are so different that I sometimes forget about the other side of the site. It seems as if it is two separate places. So smoothing the looks may help.

[tzonoqua]

I too generally go straight to forum and gallery sections...

Perhaps on the front page you could feature an image of someone's work chosen from gallery, or run a competition, best image of work submitted every month etc. (We all like to look at images, don't we?)

Great site anyway, thanks.

[SLOB]

I too have been guilty of never checking out the home page. I always keep a tab open in a web browser for the forum and gallery.....then use the todays posts quick link along with my past 7 days bookmark and past 30 days bookmark it works well for me but keeps me away from the home page.....I'll try to be better about looking at the home page.

one thing I recently discovered (ok, RE-discovered) is the STORE. there are some great looking hammers for sale in it that I have been missing. perhaps a link on the forum page directly to the store is in order? (put it in with the links for home, forum, user map, gallery......)

Great site, keep up the great work and thanks for having us

[jayco]

Hi Andrew. I come into IFI on the forums page. It just "feels" like the front page of the site to me.
I often log-in at lunch time and do a quick 'check' of this site to see what's happening.
My usual habit is to first go to "new posts", "last photo upload " in the gallery, and , if there's time, go to the home page; look for anything new that might be there,....and maybe check the "blog".
When I have more time, I like to stroll through the B P's.......Archives......etc.

[markb]

Originally Posted by tzonoqua

I too generally go straight to forum and gallery sections...

Perhaps on the front page you could feature an image of someone's work chosen from gallery, or run a competition, best image of work submitted every month etc. (We all like to look at images, don't we?)

Great site anyway, thanks.

2nd the above, and maybe tip of the day, and or link to BP of the day.

[m_brothers]

I to go straight to the forum or gallery or blueprints. The main site doesn't have that much on it, just links to stuff. Good luck with this Andrew and the rest of the administration.

[gerald]

Andrew, Thanks for all that you and Glenn do on this site. I thought that I'd better weigh in on this thing given all the previous posts indicating that many folks don't go to the Home Page. I go there each time I visit the site and click on the New Posts button to get to the Forum. I also use the Blog button quite frequently so please leave these two features on the new homepage if you can find the room.

[JerryCarroll]

I always go to the home page first, check to see if new BP's have been posted, check the blog after signing in. It just seems to me that's where to start. IForgeIron is part of my day--sorta like breakfast. I really appreciate the work that it takes to make it go. Thank you!!!

[saintjohnbarleycorn]

I also don't really go to any home page, I usually go to the forums. When I go to bp page that shows the home page also. this is a Great site. This is a small idea maybe not worth mentioning in the big picture. Most of the other web sites have an icon that shows up on the toolbar, such as an image of a violin, peg head or sine wave. It automatically comes up. Not important to have but a nice addition if not to much work to do. thanks. Also a donation section, like "if you want to donate here is a paypal or visa way to do it"