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Results of our User Survey
1) Design
While the overall rating was generally adequate to good, there were a few who rated the design as "poor" (and two "very poor"). Sadly, with one exception, they were not among those who offered any suggestions for improvements. Comments included:
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"The navigation is very difficult and has not improved since the site was launched."
In our defence, we would like to point out that another respondent rated ease of navigation as the site's best feature! It was never going to be easy designing and maintaining the structure of a site which has been growing apace, and often in unexpected directions. Now the content is becoming a little more stable, we perhaps have an opportunity to make it easier for people to find their way about the site.
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"Perhaps other shorter domains could also point to the site."
Registering additional domain names involves additional cost, and may be of limited value. It seems that most visitors either access the site via a search engine, such as Google, or have it bookmarked in their internet browser. So there are no current plans to add more domains, although we will review this periodically.
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"Could choose a better typeface - your one's a bit too chubby and slightly hard to read." -
This is being addressed in the current redesign.
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"Change the home page to contain links to news events and other important info. and have the current home page info. to a link off the main page." -
Links to the news pages, and other key sections, are already present on the home page menu. However, we had been considering the idea of moving the existing home page text to an ‘inside’ page. It is clear from survey responses that many people do not realise just how much is on the site, and we need to make the information more accessible.
2) Content
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"Needs updating more frequently"
A perennial problem for a small team of volunteers with busy lives. Our regular requests for assistance with the day-to-day maintenance of the site have so far proved fruitless, but any volunteers to assist with this task will be welcomed with open arms.
In the longer term, we hope to move to a database-based structure which will allow direct updating on-line by the web site group and authorised bodies or individuals. This will be a substantial task, and again we appeal for help from anyone with PHP, SQL or CSS experience (or a desire to learn).
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"It would be nice to have a link to the school and other groups."
Many local organisations (including the school) have links to their own web pages in the "Community & Leisure" directories. If an organisation does not already have its own web page(s), the web site group is happy to provide one within the village site.
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"Please include letters page from villager - sometimes people are asking for information etc and on-line readers might be able to help."
The decision as to which sections of The Villager are included in "The Villager Online" rests with the editorial team of the magazine. While some letters have been included in the past, this is not a regular feature. At the moment, our agreement with The Villager is that we have to get permission from the writers for everything that goes online. This would make including all letters impractical. However, we will raise this point with The Villager committee.
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"Where is the section on the villagers? It’s the people that we remember most - without them the village would just be a picture postcard.... Who's Who and brief anecdotes - what are you all up to?"
We already have a section called ‘Where are they Now?’, which features news from past villagers. Sometimes – when a well-known resident dies, for instance – we mention it in the News pages. Other news can be found in the pages of "The Villager Online". As we don't want to find ourselves competing for content with The Villager, this is probably the best place. However, we do have the advantage of being able to publish pictures, so perhaps expanding our picture galleries is the best way forward. As always, it’s up to villagers to send us their contributions.
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"What is missing is History. The meaning of the name etc..."
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"History from old villagers. Did you know there are very few left from pre war days? They carry a wealth of old history, interesting and factual."
These are surprising comments, as there is a substantial amount of history and reminiscence on the site: in the Village Life/Village History section; in the History Group's own web pages; and in several articles taken from The Villager. However, there will undoubtedly be gaps in the historical record - if you spot one, why not write us an article to fill it?
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"Incorporate a section whereby people can submit photographs of the village and surrounding areas."
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"Have more frequent updates of village events preferably with pictures."
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"The village life section could be a lot more exciting - more photographs would be nice. Maybe ask people to submit a few photographs they've taken of the village and post the best ones?"
The site contains a number of areas where contributed pictures are displayed - e.g. in the web pages of local sports and other organisations, the News pages, and the Virtual Tour, and of course the Picture Galleries, where you will find assorted pictures of general interest. So far, we have been dependent on a very small number of regular contributors (to whom, many thanks), and would be delighted to have more. Pictures can be emailed to the editor via the Contact page on the web site. For reporting of village events, too, we depend on contributions from you, the villagers, so please keep them coming.
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"Incorporate a message board section wherein villagers can chat about everyday issues."
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"Why not have a village noticeboard? If you create a simple log-in procedure with a valid email address to register the message board will not have any unwanted spam. " -
This has always been a popular idea. However since on-line forums and bulletin boards are open to everyone with internet access (anyone can supply a valid e-mail address), they need full-time monitoring for inappropriate submissions. We don't have the resources to manage this. As and when the database is implemented, we may be able to meet this proposal half-way with "members-only" message boards for individual organisations.
On a related subject - the existing Notice Board (for small ads - reached via the Village Life page) is currently woefully under-used. We would be interested to hear whether people think this feature is worth keeping.
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"Poor photograph of Jim Sanger and the Village Fete. Tendency for descriptive areas to be too verbose."
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"The virtual tour. (Great concept but needs updating.)"
At the risk of being repetitive, this is a community website, which depends on contributions from the community. If you have a better picture, can write some improved copy, or would like to add or update a section of the Tour, please, please get in touch with the web site group. Email sally.dugan@virgin.net or myron.edwards@virgin.net.
| Statistics: |
| How often do you visit this web site? |
| Daily | 11.43% |
| Weekly | 17.41% |
| Monthly | 11.43% |
| Occasionally | 60.00% |
How useful do you find the site? |
| Not at all | 5.71% |
| Slightly | 17.14% |
| Fairly | 37.14% |
| Very | 40.00% |
| Extremely | 0% |
How interesting do you find the site? |
| Not at all | 11.43% |
| Slightly | 14.29% |
| Fairly | 31.43% |
| Very | 37.14% |
| Extremely | 5.71% |
How do you rate the site design? |
| Very poor | 8.57% |
| Poor | 17.14% |
| Adequate | 31.43% |
| Good | 37.14% |
| Excellent | 5.71% |
Are you... |
| A resident of the parish | 62.86% |
| A former resident | 14.29% |
| A frequent visitor | 5.71% |
| An occasional visitor | 5.71% |
| An outsider | 11.43% |
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