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Website improvement ideas 22/01/2019 at 19:13 #114988
Steamer
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GeoffM in post 114983 said:
One of the actions from the meeting the other day was that sim manuals will be standardised and follow a specific format in terms of sections. It'll take time to update existing ones though.
Has a template been decided on, or is it still under discussion?

"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
Last edited: 22/01/2019 at 19:14 by Steamer
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Website improvement ideas 22/01/2019 at 19:16 #114989
headshot119
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Steamer in post 114988 said:
GeoffM in post 114983 said:
One of the actions from the meeting the other day was that sim manuals will be standardised and follow a specific format in terms of sections. It'll take time to update existing ones though.
Has a template been decided on, or is it still under discussion?
We have not yet got as far as beginning the discussion on this particular action point of the meeting. Though you're top of the list on someone to include in that discussion when it's started.

"Passengers for New Lane, should be seated in the rear coach of the train " - Opinions are my own and not those of my employer
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Website improvement ideas 22/01/2019 at 21:54 #114994
RainbowNines
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Steamer in post 114981 said:
RainbowNines in post 114974 said:
It has got a lot better in recent years but still some pages are awash with information and others are sparse and rather terse (both sim manuals and other pages) - yes I know anyone is able to change it, but wholesale rewrites of people’s hard work is not something that should be done at the drop of a hat, and in some cases that’s what’s required.
Could you provide some examples of pages that need changing? I'm happy to take a look at them.

Norman B said:
The Wiki needs a Wiki editor who will standardise the layout,information and the writing style used.within all of the simulation description manuals.Some of the information used within the sims and the site has inconsistencies much like the old Railway rule book which had a rule,followed the an exception followed by one or more other exceptions .We need a consistent standard applied throughout the site
As above, some examples would be welcome. In terms of standardising layouts, I've done quite a bit of tidying on the Wiki over the years, to try and keep things in order. Again, I'm happy to take a look at anything that needs tidying up.
Apologies Steamer - it wasn't my intention to suggest the vast amount of work that had gone in to the wiki was in anyway poor. Largely I think the consistency is the key, rather than any specific one being wrong. I guess I could point to Carlisle's manual which is awash with information; it's a goldmine really, but in terms of layout and content could be re-organised to flow better and make the operational info more prominent. Newer inventions like platform length diagrams are the sort of thing that would be useful in a standard template.

I did wonder about having a go at some of the wiki pages that I'd seen, but that doesn't solve the problem as my style is different to yours is different to his is different to... Ad nauseum. So an agreed style (it doesn't have to be hugely formal), and the appointment of someone to keep the community to that style, would be an excellent step.

I must say, if the stuff I work on was anywhere near as open and collaborative as this thread is proving to be I'd have a much easier life...

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Website improvement ideas 23/01/2019 at 15:56 #114999
bugsy
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Peter Bennet in post 114924 said:

Perhaps the home page needs to be a bit more informative and perhaps include a short embedded video/animation Simsig in use?
This old web page is informative https://web.archive.org/web/20010720015312/http://www.SimSig.co.uk:80/docs/about.html it tells you what SimSig is about.

Peter
These ideas would be a great help to newcomers.

I have just been watching a few SimSig tutorials on YouTube and think that if it was too difficult to do what Peter suggests above, then directing newcomers to YouTube tutorial videos would give them an excellent insight into what SimSig is all about.
Perhaps you could even suggest which ones are the most suitable.

Everything that you make will be useful - providing it's made of chocolate.
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Website improvement ideas 23/01/2019 at 17:10 #115001
clive
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I have more detailed comments to make when I have a moment, but right now I want to make some general points.

The web site has four main classes of users.
(1) People who have come across the term "SimSig" and want to know what it is.
(2) People who want to start playing simulations and need instructions.
(3) People who want to buy a sim.
(4) People who are regular users of the site for all the other things it offers.

The site has got to be attractive and clear to class 1, or we'll never see them progress to classes 2, 3, and 4. So the front page *MUST* be designed with them in mind. There need to be big, clear links to the instructions for groups 2 and 3, and there needs to be a login facility for group 4.

Things like the shout box belong behind the login "wall"; as someone said, we can use cookies to route registered people straight there. The "news" belongs there as well, though there could be *ONE* news item on the front page as well, but no more than two lines of text and a "click here for more" link.

The front page could mention that there's a forum, wiki, and other stuff. Make clear what you do and don't need to register for (if this turns into too much detail, move it to another page). Make it clear what information is and isn't collected when you register.

A thought: a good thing on the front page would be a picture of an IECC screen and a screenshot of SimSig for the same place, next to each other.

The "click here to start playing" link must go to a page that starts with clear instructions to get a brand new user up and running sims. Omit all details that aren't necessary for that (e.g. multiplayer, timetable writing, firewall issues when hosting). By all means have pages for that further down, but not before the instructions.

Similarly, the "click here to buy" needs to go quickly to a clear price list and ordering mechanism. More information about the available sims is good, but doesn't need to be at the top. Links to detail pages are good.

But the most important bit is that the front page has to be designed for people who have never been here before.

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Website improvement ideas 23/01/2019 at 21:21 #115005
SamTDS
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Something while I remember which is more for the backend system is the ability to subscribe to multiple users games.
SamTDS - STDS | My comments are my opinions and interpretations and do not reflect on the wonderfull SimSig team. I am in no way part of the team.
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Website improvement ideas 24/01/2019 at 17:14 #115030
clive
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RainbowNines in post 114927 said:

My content design experience all lies within government, where content best practice essentially spoon feeds people the information they’re looking for. I don’t know if that’s what you want SimSig to do, or whether you’d prefer to guide people to investigate manuals, etc for themselves to save a deluge of flapping on the forum when someone who didn’t read anything gets stuck after five minutes.
I think we need a mix. The "what is SimSig" and "how to get started" parts - my class 1 and 2 users - needs to be spoon-feeding. Telling them what's interesting in the first case and what they need to know in the second. Once they're up and running, point them at an introduction of how to play, which should in turn point at a sim with a good manual. We really need a tutorial walk-through that, perhaps, is available in both text and video forms (different people learn better in different ways).

After that we do, as you say, want them to learn for themselves rather than use up a lot of forum time and space with stuff that's easy to discover.

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Website improvement ideas 24/01/2019 at 17:20 #115031
clive
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bugsy in post 114938 said:

The link in that line of text is coloured green and unless you hover the mouse pointer over it, if you are new to the site you probably wouldn’t even realise that it was a link.
I think that links should be made more obvious, either by changing the colour to perhaps red or actually saying click this ‘link’ which as I said above, needs to be made more easily identified.
Links ought to be left in the browser's default link colour, so that they appear the way that users expect them to appear!

bugsy in post 114938 said:

If you click on one of the sims, for example ‘Aston’, shortly after the ‘Introduction’, there is a link to the ‘User manual’. If it was possible, it would be useful if there was a also a link so that you could download the sim as well.
You don't need to download sims any more (apart from the few .exes that are being phased out as and when we have time). All such links should have gone away!

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Website improvement ideas 24/01/2019 at 17:22 #115032
clive
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GeoffM in post 114983 said:

One of the actions from the meeting the other day was that sim manuals will be standardised and follow a specific format in terms of sections. It'll take time to update existing ones though.
Another was to lock the manual pages down so that only authorized users can edit sim manuals; a couple of us have got burned by people making edits that removed important information or inserted "alternative facts".

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Website improvement ideas 24/01/2019 at 17:45 #115033
pedroathome
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Something which I have just noticed this afternoon is that on the product page, you dont see the prices for the sims until you click through to the detail page. Would it be better if the price was displayed on this sort of overview page (https://www.SimSig.co.uk/Product/Index/25), rather than having to click on the simulation first to see the price. I'd suggest that this also applies on the multibuy page.
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Website improvement ideas 24/01/2019 at 18:02 #115034
Steamer
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There have been various posts about a detailed walkthrough for a simulation. The late Max Anderson wrote one for Royston, which is available here: https://www.SimSig.co.uk/Wiki/Show?page=simulations:royston:roystontutor

He wrote it before the Loader version of Royston, so it will need some updates. The style and content may also need changing, as he certainly had a unique take on SimSig. It should provide a good starting point for discussions about a walkthrough.

"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
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Website improvement ideas 24/01/2019 at 20:08 #115041
GeoffM
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I've done a couple of things mentioned here so far. "Mark all read" I am aware is not marking absoltely everything read (within the 90 day cut-off), but am unable to understand why at the moment.
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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 16:45 #115063
GeoffM
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GeoffM in post 115041 said:
"Mark all read" I am aware is not marking absoltely everything read (within the 90 day cut-off), but am unable to understand why at the moment.
Fixed.

I've started a better "landing page" which you can see by logging out. I've incorporated some of the comments here, including some phrasing from the old websites - though wary of a wall of text by copying too much. Feedback appreciated.

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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 17:18 #115064
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Little bit of a 'wall of text' but not too bad. Getting rid of all the junk on the left hand side (shout box etc) until logged in will improve it.

Maybe put the animated gif closer to the top of the page, a gif of the Queen St area to complement the 2 shots of the IECC would be better than Liverpool St if possible.

Last edited: 26/01/2019 at 17:27 by Dick
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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 18:18 #115065
bugsy
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This is a much better Home Page.

Two errors that I can see though.

1. Only a very minor point, but in the Section “How much is it?” I think that the word “then” should be “they”

2. The text under the right-hand picture is incorrect. It’s a picture of Glasgow Queen Street, not Edinburgh.

Will continue reading to see if there are any more errors

Personally I think that the example simulation of Liverpool Street Station should be running a little more slowly.

I found it very difficult to see the "TRST" roundles, apart from which, it would be easier on the eye.

Everything that you make will be useful - providing it's made of chocolate.
Last edited: 26/01/2019 at 18:25 by bugsy
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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 18:28 #115066
Red For Danger
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Not sure if we can control the ads that appear, but I just took a look at the new landing page and got the ad in the screen grab attached. This would be really confusing to the un-initiated...…

I think there is still a lot of jargon that we as experienced users take for granted - I would suggest that somebody needs to review with a non-Simsig eye to re-write some sections in plain English if possible.....


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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 18:47 #115067
pedroathome
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Dick in post 115064 said:
Little bit of a 'wall of text' but not too bad. Getting rid of all the junk on the left hand side (shout box etc) until logged in will improve it.

Maybe put the animated gif closer to the top of the page, a gif of the Queen St area to complement the 2 shots of the IECC would be better than Liverpool St if possible.
Firstly, the GIF of a sim which can be played free of charge. Having a considerable amount of traffic, it shows fully what SimSig can do. Nothing against Glasgow Queen Street, but operationally, it dosent give much to look at, where as, there is constantly something happening with the London Liverpool Street one.

I wonder how it would look, should a still image of Glasgow Queen Street also be provided as a comparason?

James

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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 19:36 #115069
GeoffM
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bugsy in post 115065 said:
1. Only a very minor point, but in the Section “How much is it?” I think that the word “then” should be “they”

2. The text under the right-hand picture is incorrect. It’s a picture of Glasgow Queen Street, not Edinburgh.
1. No, what I'm trying to say is they start from free, then go up in price from there. Perhaps needs rewording completely.

2. The desk is in Edinburgh SC. Again, maybe I could make clear that it's the GLQ area, which is controlled from Edinburgh.

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Website improvement 26/01/2019 at 19:38 #115070
GeoffM
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Red For Danger in post 115066 said:
Not sure if we can control the ads that appear, but I just took a look at the new landing page and got the ad in the screen grab attached. This would be really confusing to the un-initiated...…
I can't control that specifically but can isolate exact ads given the link. But that only works until somebody else comes along with a new "download" ad. Can't specifically block anything with downloads unfortunately.

SimSig Boss
Last edited: 27/01/2019 at 16:05 by Peter Bennet
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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 19:39 #115071
GeoffM
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Dick in post 115064 said:
Getting rid of all the junk on the left hand side (shout box etc) until logged in will improve it.
There is no shout box when logged out. Others have said that they do want some of the things on the left. Perhaps lose the ads but that's all.

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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 19:51 #115072
Steamer
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It looks really good. There are enough images to in the text to break it up, and all the important items are there.

Minor comment:

Quote:
Some simulations can be "chained", which is where adjacent areas can be linked together to form a larger area.
I think you're selling yourself short there- most simulations will chain.

"Don't stress/ relax/ let life roll off your backs./ Except for death and paying taxes/ everything in life.../ is only for now." (Avenue Q)
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Website improvement ideas 26/01/2019 at 20:29 #115077
Dick
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GeoffM in post 115071 said:
Dick in post 115064 said:
Getting rid of all the junk on the left hand side (shout box etc) until logged in will improve it.
There is no shout box when logged out. Others have said that they do want some of the things on the left. Perhaps lose the ads but that's all.
My mistake, yes the shout box isn't there but all the other clutter that only aficionados are interested in is there. Playing devil's advocate, you have to decide what you want, encourage newcomers or pander to the regulars.

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Website improvement ideas 27/01/2019 at 11:03 #115096
woodruff
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Wow. Logged on today and what a difference the new look web site is!
Really informs are viewer what Simsig is all about.
Great improvement.
Well done to the person(s) who have done the revamp.

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Website improvement ideas 27/01/2019 at 14:45 #115105
Edgemaster
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At a screen resolution of 1280x1024, the animated image on the new home page now hangs off the right side of the screen. Can it be made to scale with the page width?
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Website improvement ideas 27/01/2019 at 20:33 #115119
clive
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The new front page is, in my opinion, a *LOT* better.

A few bits of constructive criticism.

The first is that the "Download now" button goes straight to a download of the system files. Better would be that it's a "Start now" button that takes you to a page that walks through the process: download the system files, save them somewhere, run them, things will get installed, start the loader, run the refresher.

Secondly, the product area doesn't say that, apart from the few .exe sims, you don't need to download anything. They'll already be on your machine ready for you to try. You just buy a licence and activate it. That ought to also be on that "start now" page.

Thirdly, the product list doesn't include any of the free/donationware sims. I know its major purpose is to let people buy, but since this is a complete list it would be nice to have them in there, just with "free" on the details page.

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