My biggest gripe is the awful graphic design.

I'm sorry  but "baby poo" yellow just doesn't do it for me.

I know some doting parents refer to this as "liquid sunshine", but for the rest of us it's just poo.

I just think it makes the whole site look slightly amateurish.

I agree about the "posting your own blog" comment.

I'd prefer original, quality content., and guest writers as suggested by others.

Some better filtering of posts too would be better. The first day I came to this site there several posts about Heath Ledger.

I know he's a Perth boy and all that, but really if I'd wanted gossip stuff I could have gone elsewhere.

Thanks for your design feedback - I think it is orchre/orange rather than yellow  - but it is ok you are not the first to comment and hopefully like others before you we can win you over to the "sunshine" glow.

I have enjoyed your comments so far and we welcome your passion for the "good things".

As for content I think you'll find on balance it is very "on topic" and of course the community has the power to vote down off topic information.

You mentioned the Heath article - I think it was posted by one of our active on topic members and I believe he was making an on topic media point of view - but he also tapped into an emotional issue. I can understand these posts can give off a different signal if you just scan the headlines.

Good post.

I agree...the blog feed stuff is annoying. rather see articles.

look at today...all the blog stuff is moving all the decent posts down from the Recent Activity list.

My 2 biggest complaints are

1.  the recent activity list.  someone can write an awesome original article and it can be buried in minutes because of new photos and welcome new members.  can these activities not be included in the recents list?

2.  Too many people posting great original content on their own blogs, then simply adding a post on gooruze with a line or two and a link to their personal blog.  Maybe this can have its own section and not included in recent activity either?

A great follow-up post Brian, and I agree with others that the timing is just right with word of Gooruze spreadng even faster everyday.

UI gets the least rating in your scorecard, frankly this site is for online markleters & they are more evolved internet users than the generic ones...so we will find what we want, may be as the score the least time should be spend in it.
Having said that making the home page a getway for all prominent content/features is important.

Some quick thoughts :.

1. Site is too text heavy, having snapshots of latest online campaigns can bring in some ease & quality inputs to the group.
2. Industry speak, guest column, face to face...whatever you call it, how about knowing more from prominent online marketers.
3. RSS feed, newsletters will help stay in touch & know whats happening even if one doesn't get time to be in Gooruze every day.& gets a reason to come back.
4. Online marketing jobs - To start with members can put in details of the vacancies they know.

Finally a word on member usage & contibution (UGC) - This is the key, however I see known 10-20 names writing most of the articles.

How do we encourage more members to contribute.

• Invite members to write
• Showcase a new member every week & let him host a Q&A session on a topic of his choice (under online marketing)
• 'It failed" - In Gooruze we all read what works or can work...how about what has not worked. Most of us sure know a lot on that & can contribute.

Happy journey

 

the idea of guest Q&A sessions to encourage more members to get involved is super...would be great to tap into more of the communities knowledge.

Thanks Bossam - some encouraging words and food for thought.

We'll digest all this feedback as we finalise the next release.

To elaborate on a couple of points ...

1. Yes agree could be text heavy..... can you elaborate when you say latest online campaigns ....I have had an idea brewing for a site clinic - perhaps a picture of a site,landing page or online campaign -  we could seek submissions and then maybe showcase one per day? Perhaps we could pilot it using a group?

2. Guest column etc - yes challenge is everyone is so busy which is why it is great to share it around.

3. Online marketing jobs - yes interesting idea - but I wonder would it risk distraction and are we better off leaving niche employment sites for that..

I agree we need to get more widespread member activity - I also like showcasing a member.  

As for failures - gosh that is a utopian idea - I wonder if anyone would. Would make a great group - share your failures - why don't you kick start it and see what response you get.

Thanks again - we love your feedback

"1. I have had an idea brewing for a site clinic - perhaps a picture of a site,landing page or online campaign -  we could seek submissions and then maybe showcase one per day? Perhaps we could pilot it using a group?"

I think this is a fantastic idea!!! A place where we could review a site, maybe like once a week, and marketers could give their insight on what it is doing right, what it is doing wrong.

thanks for the feedback brian...all very relevant points, and probably highlight frustrations of many other community members...it's also great to see that we are meeting a good proportion of your needs so soon after launch.

It's ongoing feedback like this that will continue to improve the community.

with regards to the RSS for recent activity...you'll find an RSS icon for this near the top right of the "activity page"(admittedly quite small). I agree that it's an important part of the community and is generally my first port of call when visiting the site.

If you visit my Gooruze blog where I posted about a  new Gooruze articles widget, you'll find a widgetbox widget that claycook created for "latest activity" which runs off this activity RSS feed.

With regards to your "cons" point for community enhancements - are there any issues missing from the "Feature Enhancements" group blog? If so, we would appreciate them being added to the list, as this is a great source of feedback for improvements from the Gooruze community, and we are endeavoring to work through them as quickly as possible.

Once again great article...

Brian, I am so glad to see that you suggested removing adding of images from the recent activity list. That has been bugging me for a while! Personally, I follow the recent activity list pretty closely and it is from there that I decide what topics I want to jump off to, so making that list more accessible would satisfy me.

i suggested that a few weeks ago as well.

Gee give you a prize and you grab a soap box  

No seriously these are fantastic comments and on behalf of gooruze thanks for the honest feedback - no 5 stars hey. Actually I agree with most things you have said.

Your timing is excellent -  as we are just working through the priorities for the next 2 months enhancements.

Specifically ...

1. Stagnation - I agree gooruze is generating some great information and yes excellent usage across all areas - I have found it to be an excellent training tool for staff and encourage daily gooruze review to stay abreast. I agree some tweaks could make it easier to follow.

2. Spamming - agree so far so good but we need to keep an eye on blogs - did you see the chat today re this - I was pleasantly suprised how responsive one member was who was blogging off topic - so that's encouraging

3.  Responsive - yes we can always improve - as I said your timing is excellent - the last month has focussed on a lot of behind the scenes fixes but for the next 2 months we have some time to make some front end improvements.

4. UI feebdack - some great suggestions here to think through and yes we would love to hear others thoughts on this 

 Groups agree - I like the idea of bringing groups into home page - personally I'd drop the tag cloud but mine is 1 vote.

Again thanks for the response Brian - others please feel free to comment - like I said we are prioritizing wishlists as we speak.

 

"Gee give you a prize and you grab a soap box"

I have never been one to hold my thoughts in, speak first, think later

The site is still very young and has done great so far, look forward to what other things you guys have up your sleeves!