RE: We are making changes

[Caano Geel]

dude just looked at the demo:

 

critical comments:

its too dense. I see what your trying to do, but your loosing a major part of what makes SOL work, which is its simplicity. I think u're right in incorperating features to take advantage of new technologies, but that shouldnt be the purpose.

 

The new site looks more like a portal offering various services than a forum. With this your going towards the organisation rather than the community. My humble view is make the frontpage simple. cut down on the graphics and flash. Put those in the relevent sections - revenue will follows users not the other way round.

 

lazy comments:

its pretty

[Laba-X]

Caano Simplicity or a chance to generate some revenue? Which is it?

[Baluug]

I thought it looked good.....See, I feel the other way, that it was too simple before, all there is is only a forum and chatroom(that I never use anyways), but nothing else. I think it's good we'll have insha Allah a music page, photos, etc.

 

And besides, your smiling face, afro and all, is on the homepage!! How can you not like that?

[Valenteenah.]

Well, what do you know. I just noticed we have a different front page with Caano Geel's mug. Yikes!

 

CG, yeah there's a lot of info on the page but the grey colour makes it seem less so. I kinda like it.

[Caano Geel]

xiin,

revenue is needed to keep this beast up and running, at the end of the day someone has got to pay for for the storage space and bandwidth.

 

But the point is how? search the web for somali sites a myriad of pages offering tha latest whiz bangs come up. However most are just tacky and few can compete with sol in terms of a community of users.

 

This is important because the basic of the site is the community, it aims to build it and maitain it, so question is how do we best enable that.

 

Jibis, Like u i dont dont tent to tart myself out to other forums. and i would appreciate a music and photos and i think they shoulbe available. But my point is the design looks too cluttered. Too much info and too many services are placed there. This makes it look like a pointer to the community rather than the community. While the appeal of the site is the community not the resources.

 

--- and yes that smile again... i'm certain it will double the number of users in a month

[-Serenity-]

CG, there is a reason, the original topic is closed u know. Admin doesnt need ur little opinion or that of others.

 

As for SOL representing community, that was the SOL of the past... the future of SOL has an agenda and some fringe benefits. Get used to it.

[Caano Geel]

Originally posted by Amelia:

CG

As for SOL representing community, that was the SOL of the past... the future of SOL has an agenda and some fringe benefits. Get used to it.

Ammy, could ya expand on this. I'm afraid i didnt recieve the memorandum stating the future directions?

[Valenteenah.]

Yeah. You heard! Get used to it. *Cracks the whip*

[Caano Geel]

^

WOman I told you before, NO WHIPS OUTSIDE THE COMPOUND damn it.

[Zafir]

Posted by Amelia

CG, there is a reason, the original topic is closed u know. Admin doesnt need ur little opinion or that of others.

 

As for SOL representing community, that was the SOL of the past... the future of SOL has an agenda and some fringe benefits. Get used to it.

Somalis, funny ya’ll people are, so finally after struggling for four god damn years, admins investing their own (hard earned) money to keep the site running. They were helping the community, but damaging their pockets (in your words, “who caresâ€.) Now wait just a minute, the rain let up, and horizons looking prosperous, for the admins nothing changes expect this time around they won’t have to pay as much (yes, they will still pay). Our lovely sister deems that uncommunity like (she says, they are looking out for them selves and benefits and all) But my 64 million dollar question is that, who flipping else are they suppose to look out for? You, me?? Yeah, now I see what you’re saying, you are right, they have fouled us.

 

Back to the topic:

I am loving it.

[Khayr]

Salamz,

 

The site has had a make over, with ghaado to be served in March, 2006.

[Baashi]

Looks good.

 

SOL needed a face lift. Now it got that face lift, let's well come it. The home page is simple yet more comprehensive. Podcast, blogging, and informative features such as news and quality articles have become a must have hot spots in the web surfing experience. It is about the time SOL provides the same experience to its customers.

 

Still, there is a room for improvement. There is a whole lotta work to be done sxb. Populating the links alone can be very time-consuming.

 

BTW, it looks like NPR. I hope SOL matches that great site in its content. It's doable ya know. Wardheer News and Awdal News Network, two great Somali websites in my opinion, will have a competitor in the opinion quality articles arena. Watch out! My good buddy @ SNet feels the heat. That's the way it should be ya know. Competition makes them work harder and guess who benefits from that competition. YOU!

 

Job well done sxb.

 

Good stuff.

[Deeq A.]

We set the standards 4 years ago. It is time we do it again.

 

Nomads, thanks for your suggestions.

 

Caano, you actually have been redirected to the browser specific webpage for firefox browser because you are a firefox user. The "dense font" issue with firefox is something we are aware of and will be taken care of soon Insha Allah. Explorer users (88% of SOLers) don't see the "melted font" look you see. We still appreciate your suggestion my man.

 

In general, we actually have 3 or 4 images. No flash. No complicated colors. Background color is something we can still play with but gray is pretty much what we we have for now.

 

As for the simplicity of the overall site, the forum will stay the same format. Just the logo will be updated and that would be it.

 

 

It has just started ...

 

 

PS: for those of you who have "http://www.somaliaonline.com/cgi-bin/ultimatebb.cgi" as the Somalia Online homepage, please update your bookmark with the proper link --- http://www.somaliaonline.com

[Intel]

Originally posted by Admin:

Just the logo will be updated and that would be it.

i hope hasha lamaan stays... its pretty iconic

new site look good tho.

[nuune]

Good job Admin, I like the new look, great stuff.

 

ps: guys, it is only the front page, no change to the forum style