COMMUNITY

I don't know that it bothers me on this site, but in general I hate it when websites change their look. There seems to be some unwritten law that all websites must change every 6-12 months, and it drives me insane. I've yet to see a good site make major changes that are an improvement.

Short answer: no, you're not by yourself.

I think it's been quiet on here actually. I like it when it's busy because it means that there's hardly any way I can be active. Everyone's activity depends on everyone else's activity. And what are we going to do, tell everyone you can't log in for a certain period of time? Or tell Stracka admins not to let anyone join the site for a month because it's too active? That doesn't make any sense.

Robert did bring this up and amazingly I'm going to agree with him. A majority of the time I think Stracka's changes with their site fall on the + side and not on the - side. But the update a few days ago with the blog and forum display didn't thrill me at all. I don't like how there are so few topics displayed on the home page when I thought the previous display was as perfect as Van Gogh's art.

Busy as in the design little man. = ) I hear you though. Not quite a fan of the new change either, but hey, I'm just a visitor. I'm a fan of change, but not Obama's change and not this one. LOL. Not rtying to be negative, just my thoughts. Coca Cola changed its marketing and ended up changing it back. Btw...Not a fan of the promotions at the top. Makes me scroll down even further than I already have to. Hopefully it gets any better.

Ok. Im fine with the promotions. Two clicks and they were gone. No biggie.

what change?

Now I understand what you mean a little more.

Interesting topic. I've always been curious if other people use all the stuff on this site's front page. I only use two things: 1) forums, 2) post score. So the "busy" nature of the front page is imaterial to me...I just never pay attention to it.

The quantity of recently commented blogs and forums appearing on the home page was reduced from ten to five with the redesign. I liked the old quantity better. The more things you take off the home page, the more useless the home page becomes (excepts for ads).

You are correct, and it's been going on for awhile now.

The other sites will let the newbies voice their shares to participate. Most of the members will back off to give room for the others.

Unfortunately, some here are more concerned about getting ahead on the the "points", than contributing to the site. The key word is "contribution", if you have nothing better to say, don't go to every new photo and post "nice". It's like someone saying "hello" but walk right by you.

We all know whom those are, and I think in the long run they'll all burn out.

We always look for your feedback and try to improve the site based on your suggestions. Highly visible changes like the one you mentioned on the home page are always subject to criticism...It's the first page you see on the site. Just know that our intent is not to remove content, but to facilitate opportunities for active discussion.

There are also changes that are less visible. For instance, did you know that you can now upload a photo, and check a box to prevent it from showing in the main photo feed? We did this because many members wanted to upload photos for just their profile, or for the forums - and not have them show on the main feed.....so, now you can.

There have been other tweaks to other screens as well, and we have plans for more in the upcoming off-season....doing our best to keep our members happy. So...keep the feedback coming.

I did not know this, but I think this is an excellent upgrade! I wanted to do that exact thing a few months ago, but did not have that option at the time. I do like the vast majority of the site improvements, including the ability to post multiple photos in the forums and the listing of forum participants.

I agree. All in all, the site is looking better. I am glad to see more recent forum posts today. Does anyone use the Course Search at the top? I find that out of place because I have never had a reason to use it. I used it once and the list wouldn't go away. I guess you just have to refresh the page.

TimothyJack -

In case you aren't aware, you can move the boxes around on the home page. If you are most interested in the discussion box, you can move it to the top of your page, and hide the rest.

By default, the boxes are ordered: My Game (Course Search), Discussion, Photos and Activity. The reason: nearly 100% of our membership is here to post a score or get/update information on a particular golf course. A smaller percentage of you are here for discussion...but that's why we have the flexibility for you to customize the home.

Thanks, GR, for increasing the quantity of blogs/forums appearing on the home page.

I kinda like the changes to the home page. I was concerned at first cause i wasn't getting updated notifications and activity feeds for a couple days but i get them now.