Feedback time on v70xc.com =)

[coastal]

Well, its that time again. I'm asking for opinions and comments on what you think about v70xc.com.

Thus far, I'm enthused about how many people are visiting. I think a fair percentage of people looking for information on the Volvo Cross Country are finding this site. This is both due to good search engine rankings, and moreso word of mouth support from you, the user. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif Thanks!

With that in mind, please post your comments on what you think about the site in terms of

- content (photos, text, forums, etc.)
- design
- photos
- areas you find most and least valuable
- areas you would like to see added or removed
- or anything else you think might help us in creating a better website!

Thanks again to everyone whose contributed thus far, and keep on spreading the word!

You can email me at [email protected] with comments if you prefer. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[Art]

Great site Coastal! The design/layout is attractive and very user friendly. I especially think that the preview feature comes in handy when posting pics. Might be a little premature to mention this, but as membership continues to grow, perhaps a classified section or even a technical section for those mod. buffs out there. Other than that, keep up the good work!! :biggrin:

[egge]

a "styling" area wold be nice...

[coastal]

thanks for the words guys, as always very helpful.

art, a tech and classifieds section are definitely in the plans for when membership grows some more. Thanks! http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

egge, that's a good idea. As soon as I get some more submissions of mods I'll be all over it. For now, take a look at the Volvo Cross Country Club of Japan's photo page. They've done a few different things to their cars.
http://www.v70xc.com/pics/volvo-cross-country-club-of-japan/index.html

Thanks guys, and keep the comments coming, they're really helpful!

[V70Sam]

Over all great design, and an attractive look.  I can only wish for a V70 section, maybe later when you get more trafic from non XC owners.

[adanista]

Coastal,

I think it's an great site. Nice look, works well. Keep it up.

[Hala]

Hi Coastal
This is great site whit lot off god info.
I find more info her about xc than volvos intranet

[Len]

Most of all it helpful to do research on our cars and share information. Design is great – user friendly  and good object placement
Thanks a lot,
Len

[mox575]

Hi! Coastal
I found the sight through Googleimage. Very glad that I did.
A lot of good information and pics. I only wish it were easier to post pics.
Thanks for site.
I love my vehicle and it's nice to be able to share with others who have the same enthusiasm.

Lance

[coastal]

Thanks again for all the kind words guys. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

I have a lot of fun doing the site, and hearing all these comments make it all the better!

Lance,
I agree it's a little tough to post photos on the boards. By all means email them to me at [email protected] and I will post them on the site as soon as I get the chance.

You bring up a good point too.. perhaps some sort of a picture post area would be useful.

[AWD*V70XC]

I think the link above is broken, tried a couple of times and no joy, but i'm sure someone will correct me if I am wrong http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/blush.gif

[Art]

Here's the English translated link (http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/urltrurl?lp=ja_en&url=http%3A%2F%2Fmembers.tripod.co.jp%2FV70XC24T%2 Findex.html%3F) via the Volvoxclife.com website http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Pretty close knit group if I do say so myself. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[Chipshot]

It's a great site, very useful with great camaraderie.  Thanks for all you hard work on it, Coastal.

The only improvement I can think of offhand would be faster screen loading.  I participate in several other forums and the screens here seem to take much longer to load.  Not a complaint, because everything works find and the content is fantastic, but something that came to mind.

Have a happy, healthy, peaceful 2004, everyone!

[Sharon]

Not only is this site a great Volvo Love-in, it's a great resource!

[SeoulMan]

Coastal, XC70.com has become THE site that I visit at least 3-5 times a day; However, I seem to have trouble connecting to the site from Korea.  It'll either time out or I'll be able to get to the main page but not to the forums.  Possibly just my internet connection...On another note, please check my post on the website help and testing forum regarding xc70.com accessories.

-SM

Oh and more clickable smilies would be awesome!  http://www.bimmerfest.com is a good example.

[mrb]

People ususally use forums for complaints--the "positiveness" of this "site" speaks "volumes" of what we think of it.  I look at it 2 to 3 times daily http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif merv  

Your improvements and new look helps to keep everything on the right track.

[John@CdnRockies]

Great site Taylor - hope you can keep it up.

My suggestion would be to have a Conversions section which handles differences between metrics and other standards. The site has visitors from throughout the world. Being able to easily translate L/100 km into US (or Canadian) MPG would be helpful. Volvospy (hope we are allowed to name other sites) has done a great job of this in their "Resources" section.

Btw, ever since finding VolvoXC, I have not returned to Volvospy. That's the nicest compliment I can bestow. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

[NeuDaddi]

Okay, okay.  Since this old thread has been revived, I feel compelled to chime in.  Window decal on car, donation made, and plenty of posts later, I totally appreciate all the hard work that Taylor has put into this site.  Not only do I find this to be the best Volvo "user" site around, this is the most useful and friendly set of forums I have participated in.

I don't have any recommendations to make at this time, but I'll certainly share any ideas I have if and when they arrive.

Thanks again!

[xcrubygal]

Coastal,
thanks for asking, but can not think of a thing. I really like this forum so much better than any other one I have participated it. Easy to use, to search, to contact folks 1:1, OSD area, photo albums. Keep up the great work, wish I had more time to spend here !
  Ruby

[coastal]

Good point on the conversions John, I'll add that to my list. On a few occasions I've used third party services to make conversions from information found on here so it'd make sense to keep it all on-site. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Once we get the forums running on phpbb (which should help the speed issue as well) I'll implement some more or different smilies, I'm not entirely happy with the selection either at this point. I'll post a reply to the gear thread over in help right now... been meaning to do so http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

Thanks again for all the feedback guys, really helps me derive which areas of the site need help but by the sound of it, very generally seems to be all good  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[Big]

Good job, coastal! On my (very short) wish list:

A PDA-friendly version of the site. Does anyone else access it on a PDA while away from home? As smart phones become more popular more websites are adding text versions including forums. This also helps those with dial-up connections or who are disabled (probably not many Volvo owners in the later category but you never know).

Easier download and browsing of photos. That's been mentioned before.

More XC90 participation. Pretty quiet there most of the time. Many general topics, including this one, get posted in the XC70 section so I visit there more than on the XC90 side. I felt the same way when we had a V70XC. Not sure what to do about it other than pitch in to buy coastal an XC90 for his great effort!  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

[SeoulMan]

Coastal, Keep up the fantastic work!

-SM


http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif  http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[kayaking]

Truly fantastic site......one suggestion might be to categorize photo's (beyond "by member")...such as
"XC-70's Off-road"
"XC-70's "in the snow"
"Engine shots"
"interior shots"
"wheels / tires"
Also, what about the ability to use color text? and different size fonts?
Keep up the good work...we love this site!

[AWD*V70XC]

I think this is a great site http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif and it shows by the number of members that have joined since I did. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/cool.gif

I think the site will develop with more people looking into different areas and Coastal can change things as we go along. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/hehe.gif http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

I would love to see some sort of shop set up, other members have offered to source goods so maybe someone could start a poll or something and lets get a nice jacket to match our car stickers etc (another plug Art for the newbies, what great value, 3 US $'s to show you belong to an elite club of like minded people)

One more thing, http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/sad.gif a big issue with me as TrueBlue said in another post. Could members please fill in where there are located, http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif even the likes of Auckland or Moscow or Brasil would help know where you are and whether your car problems are a regional or global issue. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/alien.gif http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/whatsthat.gif


Great job Coastal, http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif time to organise a (virtual) global meet, is that possible?? http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

[kayaking]

Suggestion: Is it possible to "move" or shift topics to where they belong....Many "off-topics" appearing in the the "vehicle" areas...just a thought...

[Chipshot]

Excuse me if I missed it, but is there a map showing where participants live (another board I frequent has one here (http://pub19.bravenet.com/guestmap/show.php?usernum=1561970686&password=&zoom=0)).  That would be a fun and interesting way to see where we all are.

This morning I was driving from my son's school to my office and found myself one of a convoy of three Cross Countries.  Are there any maps showing registrations by state or county?  My guess there are concentrations of Cross Countries where education and income is high and weather potentially challenging.

[slender]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote (Chipshot @ Jan. 20 2004,11:39)</td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">My guess there are concentrations of Cross Countries where education and income is high and weather potentially challenging.[/QUOTE]<span id='postcolor'>

Yep, the puddles outside Harrods in Knightsbridge can sometimes be nearly an inch deep. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/laugh.gif

Good idea on the map, I&#39;d like to see that.

[John@CdnRockies]

I think Chipshot is onto something. That would be a neat idea. It would be great to serve as a reminder of just how international our board community is.

Good one chip http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/thumbs-up.gif

[coastal]

I&#39;ve had my eye on GuestMap for a while now and quite like the service but rather than purchase an off-site, third party service, I&#39;m waiting for someone to derive a service I can run on the local server. I personally don&#39;t like third party off-site services as they ususally don&#39;t allow direct access to the data and we&#39;d have to rely on the performance of their servers.

Looks like there is at least one downloadable version in development right now and I&#39;m sure there will be more as the idea is a great one. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/smile.gif

In terms of the off-topic content, I agree and partially that&#39;s my fault for not moving them quickly enough... I instead have allowed quite a few to remain in the main forum, but there are a few that have proven immensly popular and I&#39;m concerned they&#39;ll get forgotten once placed in the less popular (but still lots of fun&#33http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif Off-Topic forum. I&#39;ll rethink my strategy there. http://xc70.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif

And in terms of polls, I think we&#39;ll leave them status quo for now. Perhaps I&#39;ll move them to a separate &quot;Polls&quot; forum down the road? As much as I dislike breaking up the information, if the polls become a problem, that will probably be the best solution. I can set the polls so they don&#39;t head back up to the top of the thread list when voted on each time, but that will most likely result in even fewer participants.