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Just a quick heads up - we're currently in talks with Huddler (.com).

Here's a video of what they've done for epicski.com:



Essentially, Huddler would take over the hosting of the site. They'd suck all of the data that exists in vBulletin and WordPress and give us a whole new site that they'd host.

The site would still have the "main site" content and we'd still write articles. The forum would still exist. Users would still have blogs.

We'd be able to add easily equipment stuff. Look at this page for example:
http://www.epicski.com/products/volkl-gotama-alpine-ski
See the "Own it," "Want it" stuff? We'd have that for golf equipment.

Also, people had asked for regional forums, but we could accomplish this via something similar to this on epicski: http://www.epicski.com/products/category/resorts . Full reviews of courses and obviously you could find people that play at courses near you.

They have other modules and things too - wikis, etc. If you look at a few of the Huddler sites you can see how much they have to offer.

What's in it for The Sand Trap? Well, Huddler has a good history of increasing revenue by increasing traffic. More people to talk to, more swings to look at, more equipment reviews, etc. None of their sites have a bunch of advertising from what I've seen and I've already discussed with them what I consider a "tasteful" amount of advertising. We have to support the site, and I think everyone here understands that we've done a lot without ever asking for anyone to tip us or pay us or anything of the sort, and we've never pushed a lot of ads at you. That won't change.

The biggest thing for us is that we can expand the site and stop having to worry about fine-tuning vBulletin to run quickly, mucking around with WordPress plugins, etc. More time can be spent helping people with their swings, creating equipment for people to review, etc.

It's still early - we might not do it, maybe we will - but we're in talks and I thought I'd share it with y'all.

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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Not many people like change, but if it brings more people and a better experience I cant wait.

OHIO

In my Revolver Bag
R9 460, RIP
R9 TP 3 Wood, Diamana 'ilima 70*Idea Pro Black 20*Titleist AP1 712 4-AW Spin Milled Black Nickel 56.08 & 60.10


Just one data point, but another forum I was active on switched to Huddler a few months back and the new format seems to be pretty universally loathed by both the users and the admins that I know there. Maybe that'll change with increasing familiarity, I don't know. No idea how it's working out for the site owner in terms of metrics, but have heard that once you do move to Huddler it's quite difficult to subsequently change your mind and revert to another platform. Personally, I'm happy with vBulletin, but then I'm not the one who has to fiddle around with it all the time to keep the site running.

Stretch.

"In the process of trial and error, our failed attempts are meant to destroy arrogance and provoke humility." -- Master Jin Kwon

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Expanding the site sounds interesting. If you can use the main page to attract users to the forum through equipment reviews, course reviews etc. it is of course positive. A change will always be controversial, but that's just something you have to do sometimes. I haven't tried the other system myself, but it can't be all that bad.

Ogio Grom | Callaway X Hot Pro | Callaway X-Utility 3i | Mizuno MX-700 23ΒΊ | Titleist Vokey SM 52.08, 58.12 | Mizuno MX-700 15ΒΊ | Titleist 910 D2 9,5ΒΊ | Scotty Cameron Newport 2 | Titleist Pro V1x and Taylormade Penta | Leupold GX-1

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Wow, if you guys do this, congratulations, Sandtrap.

  iacas said:
We have to support the site, and I think everyone here understands that we've done a lot without ever asking for anyone to tip us or pay us or anything of the sort, and we've never pushed a lot of ads at you. That won't change.

Yea, I can't argue with this one. You guys have been the bomb for helping me out. But don't worry, I'm thinking I'm going to get an evolvr account at the end of the month or something, assuming that I can find enough time to practice over the next couple months. Fingers crossed! Congrats again on huddler if you decide to do it.

Constantine

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  Stretch said:
Just one data point, but another forum I was active on switched to Huddler a few months back and the new format seems to be pretty universally loathed by both the users and the admins that I know there. Maybe that'll change with increasing familiarity, I don't know. No idea how it's working out for the site owner in terms of metrics, but have heard that once you do move to Huddler it's quite difficult to subsequently change your mind and revert to another platform. Personally, I'm happy with vBulletin, but then I'm not the one who has to fiddle around with it all the time to keep the site running.

What was it about Huddler that they didn't like? Was it simply the overall layout/interface, or was it more than that?

 
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  • Administrator
What was it about Huddler that they didn't like? Was it simply the overall layout/interface, or was it more than that?

The Huddler person told me that one of the problems was that the site owners made the switch without involving community members OR the other mods and admins. Also, specific to that site, he said they've since made big changes to the back end side of things with a unified module (or something). So nothing normal users would ever have seen.

He said that there's typically a lot of resistance early as people are trying to find their way around (i.e. they're not used to the change), but after a month or so everyone pretty much likes things.

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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OK, a quick update. We're moving forward. No commitments yet, but we're investigating things thoroughly.

As part of the plan to move forward, down the line (if we get that far), one of the key things I'm going to want to do is to activate members of the forum as "leaders" who can help to shape the way our Huddler site will look (again, if we get that far). These will be fairly long-time and fairly active members of the forum who will have used many of the features and who will help me and the mods to transition to the new site. We'll first begin by talking about the forum features we like so that they can either be mapped to Huddler features or have the way Huddler handles them explained, then eventually we'll get to play in a sandbox - basically The Sand Trap's forum on Huddler's platform - for a semi-extensive "beta test" period wherein we get to play around, change some settings, and perform some final tweaks.

Your feedback in that phase will be important (if we get there, but let's assume I'm going to say that for the foreseeable future until we make an actual commitment).

One of the first things everyone can do to help now... is to list in posts here the forum features you like and enjoy and want to keep. Whatever they are, however small, list them.

My quick list (literally the first few things I could think of) is:

- Large avatars
- Left side postbit
- Reputation
- User groups (Instructor, Newbie, Established, Registered, Bad Seed, Penalty Box)
- Free Marketplace ???
- User blogs
- Profile Fields (handicap index, online scorecards, righty/lefty, etc.)

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

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  iacas said:
OK, a quick update. We're moving forward. No commitments yet, but we're investigating things thoroughly.

Definitely like all of those. Also signatures, the My Scorecard link is kind of interesting, the "What's New?" page, and that's all I got right now. It's tough to think of things.

In my bag:

Driver: Titleist TSi3 | 15ΒΊ 3-Wood: Ping G410 | 17ΒΊ 2-Hybrid: Ping G410 | 19ΒΊ 3-Iron: TaylorMade GAPR Lo |4-PW Irons: Nike VR Pro Combo | 54ΒΊ SW, 60ΒΊ LW: Titleist Vokey SM8 | Putter: Odyssey Toulon Las Vegas H7

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I qualify as an "active user" and an idiot*, so good luck and we'll see how it looks after the jump.



* I thought this thread was about the Red Wings.

Mizuno MP600 driver, Cleveland '09 Launcher 3-wood, Callaway FTiz 18 degree hybrid, Cleveland TA1 3-9, Scratch SS8620 47, 53, 58, Cleveland Classic 2 mid-mallet, Bridgestone B330S, Sun Mountain four5.


  • Administrator
  jamo said:
Definitely like all of those. Also signatures, the My Scorecard link is kind of interesting, the "What's New?" page, and that's all I got right now. It's tough to think of things.

Signatures are a given (though I'm going to add smileys for company logos to the list), the Scorecard link, and I think "What's New?" is built in but worth double-checking.

Just post here when you think of something. One at a time is fine. I've already asked about embedding videos. That's another.
  sean_miller said:
I thought this thread was about the Red Wings.

Yeah, wrong Hu(d)dler...

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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The main concern I have is that the navigation be straightforward and the layout be readable. The "jump to new post" is a must (and if it can be larger than the button on the current forum that would be a HUGE improvement). Please insist that the messages are given at least as much screen real estate as they are now, and that the display make good use of an arbitrarily wide window. If it locks itself to 1024 pixels wide and just leaves the right-hand blank, I'll puke.

Ads are fine---a necessary evil---and the current system does a good job of placing them prominently without being intrusive. I hope this will be maintained.

In the bag:
FT-iQ 10Β° driver, FT 21Β° neutral 3H
T-Zoid Forged 15Β° 3W, MX-23 4-PW
Harmonized 52Β° GW, Tom Watson 56Β° SW, X-Forged Vintage 60Β° LW
White Hot XG #1 Putter, 33"


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  zeg said:
The main concern I have is that the navigation be straightforward and the layout be readable.

They like our current design and wouldn't change it a whole lot. Obviously it'll change, but they're fans of "clean" sites with a fair amount of whitespace, easily read fonts, etc. I've seen about 10 Huddler sites and they're all clean layouts. Obviously some buttons and features will move to different places, but the layout itself would still be clean.

  zeg said:
The "jump to new post" is a must (and if it can be larger than the button on the current forum that would be a HUGE improvement).

I agree. FWIW, I use an AppleScript to open them all. I don't think you're likely on a Mac, but perhaps Windows has some similar capability. I never have to click on those things - I press a keyboard shortcut and all the links are opened to their new posts. But yeah, they are small, and I've added this to the list (I know Huddler supports this feature though, so I think this one should be ok).

  zeg said:
Please insist that the messages are given at least as much screen real estate as they are now, and that the display make good use of an arbitrarily wide window. If it locks itself to 1024 pixels wide and just leaves the right-hand blank, I'll puke.

Their sites stretch to make use of the width of the browser. The ones I've seen anyway.

The actual message area may be smaller or larger. Not by a lot. They like a right-side sidebar, though (which may be why most of the sites I've seen have a "top" postbit and not a left-side postbit like we currently have).
  zeg said:
Ads are fine---a necessary evil---and the current system does a good job of placing them prominently without being intrusive. I hope this will be maintained.

We would have the final right of refusal on all ads, but there may be more. Not a bunch - I've been clear - and the forum already has three so at most we're looking at one more. Different sizes and different places, but no, we're not gonna slap a thousand ads on here. And, on the bright side, they'll be more relevant ads. Perhaps no more of those oddly bright ADT ads.

I use the forum a lot too and I'm not a huge fan of ads. Huddler increases revenues by keeping visitors on the site a little more and by providing some things - like the product pages (which will be really awesome for a golf site) - which keep existing members around a bit longer. Not by putting 20 ads on each page. Advertisers don't want their ads getting lost in a mess - there's something to be said for minimal amounts of ads. ------ I've started adding people to a secondary user group "Forum Leaders." You get a little badge under your avatar. It'll just help me find you guys if/when we move. Consider it a stamp of approval that your opinion matters to me and you use the forum enough to be helpful in the sandbox phase (if, again, we get there).

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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  iacas said:
I don't think you're likely on a Mac, but perhaps Windows has some similar capability.

How dare you! I am on a Mac (and before that Linux).
  iacas said:
Their sites stretch to make use of the width of the browser. The ones I've seen anyway.

Good. I think perhaps (fingers crossed) the days of the fixed-width templates are nearly over.....

  iacas said:
The actual message area may be smaller or larger. Not by a lot. They like a right-side sidebar, though (which may be why most of the sites I've seen have a "top" postbit and not a left-side postbit like we currently have).

Interesting. I think I prefer the left-side sidebar since it better emphasizes the identity of the author, but this wouldn't be a deal-breaker.

  iacas said:
they'll be more relevant ads. [...] Advertisers don't want their ads getting lost in a mess - there's something to be said for minimal amounts of ads.

Good. If the ads are things we're actually interested in, obviously that's a win for everyone.

Good luck making the decision, and since I didn't say it before, thanks for publicizing the process early on. That's definitely a smart move.

In the bag:
FT-iQ 10Β° driver, FT 21Β° neutral 3H
T-Zoid Forged 15Β° 3W, MX-23 4-PW
Harmonized 52Β° GW, Tom Watson 56Β° SW, X-Forged Vintage 60Β° LW
White Hot XG #1 Putter, 33"


idea for new site:

a club builders dedicated section to talk about ....well builds

-things like, what shafts are hot now, what shafts works with what head combo, posting about your experiences different combo's
-adding stickies at the top about frequently asked questions, like: "What DG shaft is a PJX 5.5 comparable to?" (or all shaft frequencies comparisons etc.)
-in this section, we could have a seperate "REVIEWS" forum, where all of the sandtrap reviews would be linked (everything from clubs, bags, balls, gloves etc..), will be accesable and free to chat about, without searching it from the main page
---
-a dedicated WITB section (again inside the equipment forum) where we can all post our bags, pics and info about them
-a deciated section for ball reviews...how often are we seeing, "what compares to the pro v 1?" etc.......let's put em all together

im an equipment junkie...........seriously
i think it would be a hit

just my 2 cents.....

thoughts?
"My swing is homemade - but I have perfect flaws!" - Me

Can you post some more links to Huddler sites/forums? The easiest way for me to see what I like/dislike about something, is to compare it to what I am currently used to. Sometimes you don't know what you have until it changes. If I can 'play around' on a few of the current designs, I might have some additional input.

I am pretty easy person to please when it comes to this kind of stuff. It's your world, I'm just living in it. As long as I can easily navigate my way around, I won't care what you do.

I will judge my rounds much more by the quality of my best shots than the acceptability of my worse ones.


  enis750 said:
idea for new site:

agree, as well with customizing your clubs and such

OHIO

In my Revolver Bag
R9 460, RIP
R9 TP 3 Wood, Diamana 'ilima 70*Idea Pro Black 20*Titleist AP1 712 4-AW Spin Milled Black Nickel 56.08 & 60.10


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  zeg said:
How dare you!

OK then, here you go. I trigger it with cmd-opt-f from FastScripts.
  None said:
None

Erik J. Barzeski β€” β›³ I knock a ball. It goes in a gopher hole. πŸŒπŸΌβ€β™‚οΈ
Director of Instruction Golf Evolution β€’ Owner, The Sand Trap .com β€’ AuthorLowest Score Wins
Golf Digest "Best Young Teachers in America" 2016-17 & "Best in State" 2017-20 β€’ WNY Section PGA Teacher of the Year 2019 :edel: :true_linkswear:

Check Out: New Topics | TST Blog | Golf Terms | Instructional Content | Analyzr | LSW | Instructional Droplets

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Note: This thread is 5239 days old. We appreciate that you found this thread instead of starting a new one, but if you plan to post here please make sure it's still relevant. If not, please start a new topic. Thank you!

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