Admin Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Every year I ask the question on whether the name Recreational Flying still "fits" the site and as the yearly poll is always a poll taken of Recreational Aviators, naturally it will always comes back with a bias of Yes, the name still fits the site. But what about the site's future...if we broaden the site's appeal would the name still suit?...is the name actually limiting its future and thus keeping it stuck in a certain dimension?...can we still provide the same and then maybe a lot more if the site changed and then the name also changed to suit? Does the term "Recreational" have a stigma attached to it that is preventing it from expanding to a broader interest and at the same time cater to more of the needs of aviators? This was brought up in the thread about one of the upcoming extras that will be returning to the site along with some new enhancements: http://www.recreationalflying.com/threads/new-downloads-section.28472/ So I thought I would make a simple video...it is so much easier to get the message across then typing a long post...to again ask the question of the site's future. It basically contains how we got to here and which way forward to go. I had a vision and by one thing to another that vision isn't being achieved to its full potential but then is what we have enough...so it is so important to the management of the site's future, if you are interested, to watch the video, and jot down your thoughts in a post...is there still a bigger future out there for this resource...thanks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rwwXF18yf00
old man emu Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 My thought is to make finding a new name for the site a low priority activity, but to work towards improving the site's ability to have people upload resources. I'd love to be able to upload information about hardware, aircraft building and maintenance isues. OME 1
Admin Posted September 21, 2011 Author Posted September 21, 2011 OME...that is coming with the new update...the site was once "RESOURCE and community", then it became "Resource and Community", now it is "COMMUNITY and resource" so the site is going to be "RESOURCE and COMMUNITY" 1
Admin Posted September 21, 2011 Author Posted September 21, 2011 The thing is the name is the domain name as in: recreationalflying.com or recreationalflying.com "Where did you hear that?"..."Saw this on"..."Found out about it on"..."Talk to you tonight on"..."Last night I was on"..."You can get that info on"
winsor68 Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Perhaps you could add the "Sports" tag as used by our magazine in there... Recreational and Sports Flying? 1
winsor68 Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 I have not watched the vid yet... bit busy and about to have dinner but will ASAP... but for god's sake!!! Don't let the Airline Spotters in here!!!!! Lol (almost but not quite tongue in cheek)
Yenn Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Ian. Watching the video is a problem for me as it takes so long to download even though I am not on dialup. To keep changing names is rather like the Government does. My theory for that is so that people cannot find their departments, and it seems to work. Unless you are going to move well away from non commercial flying I think Recreational flying should be good.
naremman Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Good outline of your vision Ian. Your competence in web development and refinement needs to be respected and affirmed. In my opinion, generally if your fingers are in your wallet to keep whatever machine you choose to remain aloft, its recreational. One of the strengths of this site is the diversity of backgrounds of those who choose to lurk, or even contribute. Just as it is great to observe the energy and enthusiasm of the latest converts. it is equally satisfying to see contributions from those who acquired skills and qualifications over many years. That you can have Tomo, comparatively young, and with his boundless joy in acquiring and developing his flying skills, and with Facthunter, mature, and with his extensive knowlege and sage advice, on the same site means the basics are not too bad Ian. Whilst I came with a GA background, I am also enjoying the RAA involvement too. My daughter has a RAA Pilot Certificate. I chuckle when I see my VH registered Airtourer have rings flown around it by RAA aircraft, most of them having less power!! Wishing you some good feedback to your expressed thoughts. 1
Admin Posted September 21, 2011 Author Posted September 21, 2011 Then again there is the all encompassing name of Recreational Aviation as in recreationalaviation.com (I have that domain name along with .net, .com.au etc) but one thing that has to be considered is what a person would type into Google and the name needs to fit that...pointless calling the site Sultana as that is a food and you need to work darn hard to get known and eventually come up in search engines but then get missed as it doesn't have any connection to aviation. A PPL GA pilot wouldn't enter into Google "Recreational Flying" but possibly more like aircraft pilot and if they saw a search result come up "Recreational" would they click on it
Litespeed Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 I am happy with the recreational tag but would like to have "Sport" in there as well. Having trouble seeing video, but I am also on HomebuiltAirplanes.com and like a lot of its features, esp on building and design. If we could have more of the technical stuff for the home builder/designer and much more of buildings blogs etc that would be great.
Admin Posted September 21, 2011 Author Posted September 21, 2011 Lightspeed...I think you will be really happy with what content will be on the site soon. For others here are some screen shots of the Recreational Forums section: (the first one are the generic forums across all sections...what ever sections they may end up being)
Guest SAJabiruflyer Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Could you make it so that whatever the chosen site domain is, all the other domains you own achieve search hits and when clicked on, redirect to the real site?
Admin Posted September 21, 2011 Author Posted September 21, 2011 Could you make it so that whatever the chosen site domain is, all the other domains you own achieve search hits and when clicked on, redirect to the real site? Yes, will do
Admin Posted September 21, 2011 Author Posted September 21, 2011 What trouble are we having with the video...all the "Site Help and How To" files will be done by videos so any help on what problems you are having would be good...might try YouTube instead of Vimeo
Guest SAJabiruflyer Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Im not sure how hard this would be to do... but perhaps the option of a High Bandwidth and a Low Bandwidth site, so that people with poor internet speeds can enjoy the site, albeit perhaps with reduced features. Here in the sticks we have many clients that cant access any greater than 256k Broadband, some not even that. I wonder if it might be worth a Poll on whether users of the site would find such a feature useful, the extra work involved may not be worth it, especially considering it's free :big_grin:
frank marriott Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 I came to this site by word of mouth, and have recomended the site to a couple of others who are now readers/members. Apart from the general comments the main attraction is the type specific area where individuals who have a question/problem can gain invaluable information from others who have experienced the same problem before on a particular type. Personal bias is of no help or interest - facts are helpful. I am a current CPL but fly a J230 for fun [recreation] - I enjoy reading the comments from students to senior pilots [whether I agree or not] it is all about enjoying a mutual passtime. I believe "RECREATIONAL" is the common thread whether one flys GA, RAA, ATPL or any other class/description. My belief is keep this area to the FUN side of aviation. The difference betweem .com and .net etc I am sorry but goes straight over my head. I use a computer but that is where my knowledge stops. FrankM
Guest SAJabiruflyer Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Yes, will do This might be something to consider also... for my business, we have another company in Queensland with a similar name, so on both our Websites we link to each others. Taking into account many factors, it might be possible to have mutual links on other Flying-type Websites. Or that might open up a can of worms too.
Litespeed Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Lightspeed...I think you will be really happy with what content will be on the site soon.For others here are some screen shots of the Recreational Forums section: (the first one are the generic forums across all sections...what ever sections they may end up being) [ATTACH]15085[/ATTACH] [ATTACH]15086[/ATTACH] Look forward to the changes.
winsor68 Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Vimeo... I don't know if its just me but I have never been a fan compared to Youtube... Just doesn't seem to load as clean.
Guest iPilot Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Vimeo's a funny one, I used it for a while, loaded a heap of videos but the most common complaint I had from friends was how slow the video loads, even with a good connection. I ended up going back to YouTube with a new, more appropriate account.
jerrajerra Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 I prefer to keep the "recreational" in the domain name; but what about something similar to youtube's "sportys pilot" and "aero-tv"? Integrate to your site video uploads of interviews, demo flights of procedures, product reviews etc. What I enjoy about video content is that it provides extra depth and a greater level of enjoyment. Of course not every topic can be produced in this way but a lot of it can :)
ave8rr Posted September 21, 2011 Posted September 21, 2011 Im not sure how hard this would be to do... but perhaps the option of a High Bandwidth and a Low Bandwidth site, so that people with poor internet speeds can enjoy the site, albeit perhaps with reduced features. Here in the sticks we have many clients that cant access any greater than 256k Broadband, some not even that. I wonder if it might be worth a Poll on whether users of the site would find such a feature useful, the extra work involved may not be worth it, especially considering it's free :big_grin: Kununurra is an example of very very slow down loads in the case of You tube etc. It's broadband by name and price only! Cheers
Admin Posted September 21, 2011 Author Posted September 21, 2011 I have changed the video in the opening post from Vimeo to YouTube so hopefully this will be better for some users 1
winsor68 Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 Whatever happens and the boss decides what will be will be... its like over at the Facebook at the moment... again the developers have made some changes to the usual cries of "We want the old style back etc etc"... give it a few weeks and everyone just gets used to it.
turboplanner Posted September 22, 2011 Posted September 22, 2011 What trouble are we having with the video...all the "Site Help and How To" files will be done by videos so any help on what problems you are having would be good...might try YouTube instead of Vimeo Couldn't get it to work, just static vision of a general page.
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