Open forum …. got any suggestions for tweaking the site?

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• Sideysid says:

  1 Jan1 January 10:48

  One thing to think about Raffles is mobile browsing. Quotes of comments etc appear fragmented and very difficult to read (with iPhone anyway). Apart from that great site.

  • Rob says:

    1 Jan1 January 11:05

    I have just bought an iPhone – once I get the box open and see how the site looks, I will see what can be done.

• gnarlyoldgoatdude says:

  1 Jan1 January 10:53

  Perhaps leave topics open for slightly longer for comments/updates.

  Example. I noticed today that the Iberia Partner Gym miles have posted, but I’m unable to add a comment to that thread.

  • Rob says:

    1 Jan1 January 11:04

    I could push it out. The issue is spam – even with 14 days, that makes 42 open posts at any time, all of which are constantly attacked by automatic bots trying to leave their Viagra ads!

    • Mr Bridge says:

      1 Jan1 January 11:34

      that must be a hard one to deal with

      • Mr Bridge says:

        1 Jan1 January 11:37

        …although i suppose you could have a ‘BREAKING NEWS” post, that could be added to the main menu, and is always open for comments, ( i belive this is possible in the individual post settings)> it may mean a bit more editing/moderating, but at least it would be all in one post.

        • Rob says:

          1 Jan1 January 15:13

          What sometimes happens is, for eg, when some long-awaited points turn up and there is nowhere obvious to post it without creating a whole new post, which is overkill. I have on a few occasions used Twitter for this. However, I don’t want to integrate the Twitter feed into the blog, because 90% of tweets are simply repeats of blog posts.

      • Dominic says:

        1 Jan1 January 12:34

        !!!

• gnarlyoldgoatdude says:

  1 Jan1 January 10:57

  Also, I’ve never noticed that there was a(n) hierarchy to the stories. A lead article with two minors doesn’t sound right to me. I often have an equal level of interest in all three stories, but that level of interest could be low or high.

  • Rob says:

    1 Jan1 January 11:03

    The issue is that (on a tablet or PC) only 2 stories are visible without scrolling down. The two of most interest therefore need to be at the top, and I usually run with an Avios story first, all things being equal. I also try to balance the day to day mix between Avios and ‘other stuff’ – you will never see 3 Avios stories one day followed by 3 non-Avios the next.

    • gnarlyoldgoatdude says:

      1 Jan1 January 14:21

      Do you get a hit count for each story. I guess the number of comments has some correlation to this, but do you sometimes feel that a story is important and nobody looks, whereas other items get unexpected traction. This could lead you to focus the blog in a new direction (although I don’t think you need to. You should avoid the tyranny of polls)

      A nice (back-patting feature) might be a running total of points that you’ve highli(gh)t(ed) over the year. I know that this could be tricky with things like the IHG big win whereby everyone gets a different target, but you could show $100 in Shangri La vouchers, 15 x 31 Iberia Avios Partner Gym etc. to give a quantitative view of the HfP value add!

      • Rob says:

        1 Jan1 January 15:19

        I know we got £1,100 of redspottedhanky vouchers via their Wimbledon competition, and that was only the people who bothered to join our (no prizes) mini-league!

        If I am at a desk, I do have a look at the click-throughs on each story at lunchtime. If the 3rd placed story (which you don’t see from the home page) is actually performing better than the 2nd story, I switch them over.

        I do have a feel for what works – the hotel posts definitely don’t work as well as the Avios posts, for example, and Hyatt stuff always works worse than Hilton or IHG (not surprising given their UK footprints). That is partially why I actually want to have MORE hotel stuff as reference posts, to encourage non-flying business travellers.

    • Will says:

      1 Jan1 January 14:32

      I never realised your approached the stories in this way. It’s a good formula

• Charlie Whiskey says:

  1 Jan1 January 11:40

  No major changes please! All is timely, clear, uncluttered, accurate, written in plain English, pertinent and easy to search. Why you didn’t get something in the NY Honours list beats me….!

• Alan says:

  1 Jan1 January 12:18

  Happy New Year, Rob – I’d agree with others, things work well as is. I also like receiving email updates with every comment.

• Craig says:

  1 Jan1 January 12:20

  HNY Rob,the site is just great as it is and I particularly like the fact I can quickly check in before work and read a clear and brief summary of the latest finds!

• Dominic says:

  1 Jan1 January 12:35

  With all the others, I could not imagine being more satisfied by the blog. Keep it up, and HNY to you and all readers.

• Susan says:

  1 Jan1 January 12:39

  Hi Rob,
  I love the site as it is. Excellent set up, easy to navigate.
  The 3 a Day email format at set time is better than any alarm clock for me:-)
  HNY

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