I have been recently forwarded a few threads from other sites critical of exmormon.org. The critics, ex-mormons, write caustic remarks about me and of the site. I know it needs a serious face lift. I found a web site developer that I trust locally who will work on it for only $30.00 per hour.

Would others here like an improvement in the site and help pay for it? I was thinking about $1200-$1500 would pay for 4-5 days or so of this individual's time. I would contribute $200 personally to get it started, if there is an interest.

I would like the site to continue to be uncluttered of graphics and load quickly. It should be easy to update. People have volunteered to do the updates in the past and then they disappear as quickly as they make the offer. Hiring a professional is the best solution in my opinion. Since the board will be down for the remainder of the weekend, please write to me at erickett@wingnet.net if you have a comment or could help.

I will set up a paypal account and a mailing account if there is sufficient interest. All monies, of course, would be accounted for and viewable with individual's names removed to maintain anonymity.

Thanks

Eric

Ex-Mormon Caustic critics of Recovery From Mormonism and of Eric, have you considered performing acts of carnal congress upon yourselves? I leave it to you to decide if you might require a suitable prophylactic device.

Cherio, chaps! Because if you do not like it here, do not visit us.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2011 08:45PM by matt.

...probably as it will become.

I love the speed, text-only format and of course the sheer volume of people on it.

It is a pillar in my post-Mormon life. I suspect popularity breeds contempt. I for one don't have any. I wouldn't attempt to fix what I don't think is broken.

$000.0200

+1

I don't care what the critics say. I like this site. You've kept it straightforward and simple.

I don't personally prefer the boards with lame avatar pictures and miles of quotes from previous posts. I view all the signature quotes and pictures as noise.

One thread on other boards might have 10 comments and it takes 4 pages wading through it all. With the volume we have, I like the simpleness of it here.

I could contribute maybe $100 towards the work if you decide it is needed.

But I'm happy that you'd want it to be without a lot of graphics, and still load quickly.

I love the look of the new board. And so if the front page looked a little "updated" that would be fine, but I like how easy it is to navigate because what you see is what you get, and you aren't overloaded with a bunch of images and graphics for no reason.

The bulletin board would stay as it is. Nick volunteered his time and did a great job for us last year.

The remainder of the site would change if there is a desire to change it to make it more up to date in design.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/04/2011 08:59PM by Eric K.

I agree that the front page could use a face-lift. I also agree that the bulletin board is fine as is.

I actually once toyed with the idea of showing you how to frame the main page within an updated interface, or put a neat little javascript or PHP navigation menu at the top. But then I thought of all the fake offers for help you must get from zealots whose intent is not actually to help, and I decided it was fine how it was.

That would be a nifty little upgrade, a navbar on the main page and perhaps a bit of CSS to make it look nice. It would load very nearly as fast if done only in script because script is text. Scripting languages usually tax the processor of the machine interpreting it but have little effect on bandwidth used. A single picture usually takes more bandwidth than a text and script makeover.

But rather the other parts of the old site?

No opinion although I think extra care must be taken to ensure the material survives; there's a wealth of information that needs to be preserved...

Frankly, I think it does what you wanted it to do. There are always going to be critics no matter what you do. So what? Just as there are people who post on here about things that bug them, there will always be naysayers and detractors that think you ought to do something to "spice things" up or "tone things down". Do you really want to play their game?

Again, it's your bb. Do what 'you' have the time, inclination and money to do but I don't think different designs will be a big factor in upping the numbers of visitors to site.

You provide a valuable service. Don't worry about the 'Jone's', JMHO

If they pay for changes and it turns out worse, let it be on their heads. If they pay and folks like it better, fine. I'll stay until it is no longer worth my time.

There used to be a series of commercials about how wonderful Californians are for fixing what isn't broken. California is in big trouble and this flim-flam attitude is a major part of the problem.

The forum format is just fine as is.


There is a spectrum of forum styles available in exmo-land - those who want more "medium" with their message can already find it somewhere.

if the decision were taken to tart it up a bit! Around 50 dollars (in fact, whatever 50 euros is worth on the day!) would be my limit.

But I admit, I like the "clunky clarity" of the current set-up.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/06/2011 08:05AM by Soft Machine.

I find I don't like the set up on other message boards.

Why fix what isn't broken?

I don't need to see everyone's avitar or emoticons.

It is pretty dated.

Have you given any thought to how everything will work as we all rocket along towards tablets, html5 and javascript?

I want a feature that takes whatever 20 characters you type in on a smart phone and changes it to a fully fleshed out paragraph with proper spelling and grammar!

I too like the uncluttered state of this site and forum.
If you do set up a paypal , I will chinp in some minor dollars :)

It would be great to have the ability to access this site from the cell-phone. You can ofcourse already do it, but I mean to modify the site for cell-phones like facebook have done (so you don't have to scroll side-ways to read anything and can send posts without the spam prevention code being completely unrecognicable).

I've heard that you can already access the site in a mobile format from the iPhone. I haven't tried it. Phorum supposedly has a template that does this for Android phones, but I don't know how hard it is to add or whether the custom changes to this board would have to be ported to this other template or not. I'm not very good at PHP either.

Other than that, I love RfM the way it is and I wouldn't want it to change. I certainly wouldn't want Eric to have to spend a lot of money to do it just to satisfy a few people who probably aren't going to use this board no matter what Eric does - at least that's my impression.

For what it's worth, and I haven't read any of the complaints on other boards Eric is talking about, this board appears to have a lot more traffic than any of the other boards. It's generally where it's at for ex-Mormon issues. It makes sense that users of other websites who want RfM's traffic are going to fight for it. You don't see a lot of talk on RfM ripping on other ex-Mormon boards, because RfM is king. However, some have different emphases and goals that RfM can't provide and stay what it is. Perhaps instead of trying to be all things to all people, RfM could part of a landscape of websites helping people deal with Mormonism.

just change the main page. I agree with everyone else, I prefer plain text in forums. heavy graphics are slow and also eat up more bandwidth.

This is the first board I really read & followed with regularity. I concur with the other posters - the simplicity works. I don't like avatars and fancy foofy stuff on a board. there are other boards I visit and I find them to be a pain in the *** to view.

I have visted those sites and don't find them user friendy.

Like others, I don't like all the clutter and stupid avatars on sites like postmormon.org (nothing against them - its just not my cup of postum).

The only think i'd like to see changed is if we could do a thumbs up or thumbs down on a post. You know, you like what they say but don't really want to make a post just saying it. Does that make sense?

Keep up the good work!

. . . and use one of them much more frequently. But that in no way detracts from what you guys have managed to do here. I have great respect for your work and and can only say "thank you" to Eric, Susan, and the rest of your team.

Doctor Faustus

I thought the facelift RfM got last year was great. I'm happy with the site as it is.

Mine loads quickly...it is fast for me.

The only problem I had recently was that they asked me to type in letters and numbers and put in my screen name, password, etc. I panicked as I thought I didn't know my password. They said they would send me a new one, but never did. Then, the lightbulb went on and I remembered my password. If I hadn't I would not be writing here now. That needs to be fixed. Seems like it would not cost much to fix that. Other than that I have had no problems for years and don't understand the need for expensive repairs.

I too am happy with RFM the way it is. I especially like the anon method of posting. With extended family still in the morg, it let's me participate without suffering persecution.

I have gotten more love, support and understanding from the RFM community than from any mormon group I've ever been part of.

THANK YOU.

For updating speed, always use PNG images, never JPGs or GIFs. It makes an absolute world of difference.

Unfortunately I'm not in the position to contribute financially, but I would be willing to help with the development on my own time, if such a thing is possible.

Less is More... I like it the way it is

fast- easy- simple

""SIMPLE IS BEAUTIFUL""

JB

I occasionally go to other exmormon boards, but THIS is the one that I check every day.

It is quick, easy, concise, no clutter, no graphics, ....

I vote to ignore those few critics and not try to fix what isn't broken.

Remember that no matter what you do, you will not be able to please everybody. The world has no lack of whiners and critics.

RPackham Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I occasionally go to other exmormon boards, but
> THIS is the one that I check every day.
>
> It is quick, easy, concise, no clutter, no
> graphics, ....
>
> I vote to ignore those few critics and not try to
> fix what isn't broken.
>
> Remember that no matter what you do, you will not
> be able to please everybody. The world has no lack
> of whiners and critics.

Can I hear an Amen! :-)

I'd sudgest very little change actualy. Keep the text only type format with no real immages the less immages athe more text you can have and sites like this are very text heavy as they should be. One thing though try to get it adjusted for phones and tablets and alow for longer threads maybe multiple page ones and ofcorse review the spam filter.

Your site can be accesed by anyone and even at a low inernet connection which is very rare nowadays. Someone may need the low net speed to actlaly access the site from a spare laptop hooked up to the phones at midnight or some such odd way of working it.

I agree that the board remain text simple.

The main page could use some work which I will gladly help pay for.

When the Exmormon Foundation updated their web page it was a big and welcome change IMO and added an air of legitimacy and a welcoming feeling to the graphics and presentation. The same can be done here and I’m all for it.

Wow, where to start! This site is already ideal for intelligent communication between adults (and the mature young people we have heard from). Here at RFM we make use of _language_. Clear language, in this case the written word, is glorious and it is enough. Eric, I would take the criticisms you are hearing as a bit of ribbing on the part of colleagues. There is nothing to be gained for the exchange of ideas by making RFM visually exciting.

Really, I like the board the way it is but it is your call and I'd contribute $100.00

In mormon speak I believe that would be:-

"This Board is simply beautiful and beautifully simple. "

That's why I remain here instead of going to some "prettied-up" site. Richard Packham described exactly what I think of this board.

Thanks for all your time and effort to provide a place of recovery for us :)

TG

If people don't care for the site, they are not under any obligation to use it.

I don't use a lot of web sites because I don't like the mess of graphics, the format, and worse of all, that obnoxious, advertising on 99.9% of them.

What needs to be improved on the front page? Updated? And in whose opinion?
The board is staying in the same format.


This is Erik's site, he can do it anyway he wants and he can ignore the few critics that don't like the layout.

It's highly successful. People are not going to agree. But, so what? We're adults, we can take care of ourselves.



It's not some kind of contest. There are plenty of exmormon type websites that people can choose from. It's nice to have a lot of choices.

There is no such thing as a one, true, exmormon website.

Personally, I'm grateful for the variety!

In the old website you were able to tell if the person was logged in or not on all posts, not just the original post of a thread.

I like the present format.

My only concern is that there must be thousands of
young wavering Mormons who may not be familiar or
even impressed by RFM web design.

I am happy to see the willingness to make changes to the site, not because some of us have griped about certain features, but because every website has to continually become more user-friendly and improve or else it will ultimately lose out to competition...even when nothing is "wrong" with it, as is. That 's life.

The fact that this site is currently the most popular exmormon site and has the longest history of SEO-ranked pages is not a permanent luxury.

I'm sure there is a middle ground between "fixing what's not broken" and the other polar extreme of "If you don't like it [ALL], you can leave [NOTHING]."

Perhaps further discussion or polls on this subject to get user feedback might be the best way to target the fewest changes to have the most impact.

I can contribute a small amount, but I think the changes proposed could be done for a lot less and I'm willing to refer some of the folks overseas who have done a fantastic job of site design and programming for $10-15/hour.

I have a PayPal account.

To be honest I see no real need to fix very much, but I would like to see the search feature easier to use. As it is, it seems like I need to try to remember a unique word that was in the message in order to avoid sifting through dozens of pages.

Of course, it is probably user error on my part...

Military maintenance folks operate under a standing order that says go no further than the known descrepancy.

Wish the folks who run Facebook would employ such wisdom.

I'm a K.I.S.S (Keep It Simple Stupid) fan. The more you add to the plumbing, the easier it is to clog the drain.

Oh, and thanks for everything!

Timothy

You know from past donations that I have been tithing free for half a century and could kick in but I am not sure this is a worth cause.

Thank you so much for saving lives and sanity with this board, Eric.

Pay Lay Alol