New FM Scout site - discussion

As the founder and only developer of FMScout.com I'm always thinking of ways to improve this place and ultimately turn it into a solid community where people will enjoy contributing to, and not just use and go. This is far from easy though, so I really need your feedback here.

I was very happy to see a huge increase of our traffic this year, I'm also happy with most of the changes I implemented so far. The truth is I haven't done what I really wanted yet and it would take time and your help to go the extra mile.

What I want is your honest opinion no matter if it's good or bad, just make sure to explain your ideas and provide examples if possible.

Here are the topics we should talk about:

• Site design - what do you like and what you're missing; should I make a new design that's not derived from FM graphics?
• Member accounts - how to turn all those guests lurking around into logged in members?
• Main navigation - are the drop down menus handy for you? would you prefer something else?
• Homepage - how to make it more effective, what you'd want to see and where
• Forums - what is missing, how to make members wanting to post?
• Contests and Achievements - what do you think of our GOTW contest and the rest site achievements that can earn you some special icons?
• Downloads - what would you want to see more of?
• FM Network - a total failure so far, missing people to maintain it; your call?
• Interviews - would you enjoy having regular opinion updates from certain known people of the scene?
• Help/FAQ - an effort that kicked off well, but put in the fridge now; your thoughts?
• Player lists - I produced the best wonderkids list for FM11, but we should have more lists by country; thoughts?
• Blogs - they should turn into regular columns; I think we're missing tactical knowledge talk, and also some fun/humor column too
• Social Networks - are you happy with the updates done on our facebook page and twitter profile? what else you'd like to see?
• Overall - anything else you can think of that would help me improve the site, please share it

Overall I think the site is great, very well designed and easy to navigate, I like the drop down menus and the homepage has lots of important information and quick links to pages I want to see. I wouldn’t mind seeing the latest forum posts increased to about 12 or something and also widen the site as it seems narrow to me.

I’d like to see some guides written on different areas of Football Manager like teamtalk guide, tactics guide, scouting guide, LLM guide. I’d be willing to write some if I get in the mood for it.

I think the site is great and love the layout, keep up the good work. As for the guests to members problem maybe (if possible) you could get them to join by logging into facebook through your site, i see that a fair bit on other sites.

Having just joined this site, it looks really nice, and I will be staying here for a considerable time I think. The layout is very sexy @};-

stam, i see that you are the only idealistic guy on the site. we all have great confidence in you're ability to improve the site. you have always asked me(and probably red and mark) about improvements and they all were great. i think that everyone supports you're ideas even if you don't think they are very good ones because in the end, they are all great.

Full screen would be better with more forums that are not all about fm. More comps that are easy to take part in like the GOTW. Some kind of on-site fantasy league which doesn't have seperate joining etc - has to be on here. Make the site run on my phone using opera mini so i can come on at work or when i cant get on pc. Add a shout box on the main page for a laugh. Make the site more sexy and faster. Add some vids and pics for people to view and download - funny - real goals etc and desktop wallpapers etc - make a fmscout one too. Give free cups of tea away(or beer) lol

Update - April 2011:

We're marching into a dry period for FM11 due to last patch and final versions for most downloadables being released a couple of weeks ago. It's time for me to start planning for the next site version. In fact I've put together a decent plan already and just filling bits and pieces of the puzzle on paper.

Actual development on the new version will probably take place during the summer, but there's a good chance you might see some changes earlier. There's still time to throw in some ideas to the mix if you fancy doing so.

P.S.
@Evo @FM_GOD @paul1576 Thanks for your suggestions guys
@sun_chris Thank you for being a good friend through the years mate

All great ideas, what about an interactive chat with other FMers so you could discuss what you do in your seasons, taking advice of how to change tactics for your team, suggesting players etc....i know its abit like facebook but i think this could work

P.S - I think this site is fantastic, alot of information giving for different types of things you need! I've not long been with this site, i think i joined it when i had my Football Manager and i've been happy with what is shown on here

Keep up the good work Stam!

Thanks Craig. In all honesty, the site is currently full of flaws and mistakes and I intend to fix as many as possible with the next major update.

I'm convinced a standalone (on a page of its own) shoutbox could do more good than bad, because we could potentially avoid a few duplicate/unimportant forum posts as well. And yes, it will be implemented.

For one thing, the general forum discussion has very wide range of topics and it becomes difficult to navigate through them or stop people from posting unrelated posts. Most of the other things are great, and to make more people join, you can possibly keep a few important downloads and forum topics through membership only.

But still, great work stam!!!

You're spot on about forum discussions redalert; I'm aware of it and will work towards a more simple, clearer and easier to use forums platform as a result.

As for forcing people to register in order to download is simply not acceptable for me. I'm not interested in having "ghost" members who would sign in only to download and leave. What good is there?

The idea behind getting more members is actually getting more active members who would contribute a topic, a reply, a comment, a rating, a downloadable, an article even... But fear not, I think I've got it covered with interface tweaks and a couple of shocking new features.

By the way, thanks for the kind word.

I've been using this site for years, best FM site out there!

Keep up the good work Stam!

Thanks for your message tongi14, I take pride in such comments but I don't really care to be the best from the rest in a competitive manner. However, I do care to improve this place constantly for a smoother and more enjoyable experience for everyone.

By the way people, remember to throw in your most harsh and bitter comments as in constructive criticism please. I promise not to take any offense in them.