AAAAAAnd...
how about a awards gallery?
So all the awards are displayed in one place.

Cheers
Peter
:-)

Mirko,
What do mean by the size? It's too big?

Jim

Some usability tips and features I'm used to in other forums:

• after posting in a thread it'd be nice if the system transferred the user to the last page and post in the thread instead of the first page, especially now that there's not post preview option
  
• a post preview button would be useful, might reduce the number of broken images, links and other syntactic problems
  
• when editing a post the emoticon and tag buttons don't work
  
• I'd like a "go to last post" function for each thread. It would be very convenient to be able to skip to the latest entries instead of navigating page by page. This could be a Last Post link in the already existing "Last Comment" column.
  

The only improvement that comes to mind would be to have the forums link more prominent on the home page.
I was a member for quite a while before I clicked the forums link and realised what a friendly place it is to hang out.

As for the comments on wanting to see more step by step builds and techniques I suppose that it is up to the members to submit them and maybe some sort of content drive may help. How about a "Submissions Campaign" in which a medal is awarded for submissions that are used?

Jim, could you give me a link, I can't seem to find the "Show all from" button

Something else that I would like to change - I don't know if anybody mentioned it (if so, sorry) When moving images from one category into another, the image stays in the old category and shows up in the new one. I think this should be modified so that the photo moves completely into the new category and doesn't stay in the old one - if you know what I'm trying to say.

Another interesting idea I had was adding some media to the website. I don't know how this will affect space and speed of Armorama, but I think it would really make our site different if we had some short videos and MP3's about war. I know a lot of Russian WWII songs and might be able to get some if needed.

Kenselot, we actually have a newsletter for the Russian speaking members and it does help a little, but I don't know if it will improve the popularity of our main site.

Also, would it be possible to make Cyrilics readable on the main page? it just looks bad when any Cyrilic text you get has those nasty symbols

I definitely like Slodders idea of an RFP for SBSs or even feature article in general. The idea hadn't even occured to me.

The site is great, absolutely supurb. I'm still waiting to see the new Truck O'Rama forum to go up quicker than an ammunition truck (do I detect a bad analogy?), but I am more than willing to sit back and wait (all good things...).

The walkarounds and resources section is starting to grow and I know FAUST and his team of guys are hardly working...er...working hard. As for me I think the gallery is a little small, maybe increasing to 5mb instead of 3. For me, picking out details is impossible with the tiny little images I constantly see people put up so that they can show all that they want. However, I know the idea is a sort of 'teaser' to get people to join A-Guard -oops sorry if I spoiled the secret.

Anyways, this site has a great future ahead of it. I believe we are in the middle of a growth spurt and the only way to keep its stamina is to keep at it. Jim, Rob, Roo, Gunnie (who I haven't heard from in ages), and the rest of the staff, you are doing an awesome job, keep it up, we are completely behind you.

Jeff

I love this place. The only thing I'd like to see, and I really don't know how difficult it would be, is a "View posts since last visit" feature for people that might have been gone longer than the "Latest Posts" time limit allows.

Art

this may be a bit from the part of the members, but it would be great to see some pictures, if possible, of someone actually applying a technique to their model. sometime people tell you to do this or that, but you are simply stumped as to how this ties in with the comment at the beginning of the post.

also, more reference pictures would be great

My motto is KISS (keep it simple stupid)..
IMHO, this site is getting so complicated, I had to study the home page for a couple of minutes just to find the Forums section when this site last changed..

Well big talk on that and thats the way it should be:

As for its present condition i think that the site is well structured and features a lot more things than other sites hold organised (not only modeller's sites). I think is simple enough and after some searching u become very well positioned in the drivers seat and do things u want.

For future changes and improvements i would suggest .

1)Massive delete option from personal gallery of every members

2)Some better organization of the reference stuff maybe in the way FAUST said or in another even better way that we can discuss.

3)A Kit construction manual library. every one or most of us could spare 2-3 minutes to scan the instructions of the kit we re making and offer that to Armorama so that there can be a good library of leaflets, and the one who misses his own can discover it very easily in there.

4) The feature of sending pictures inside PM is serious cause many times saves time . I mean u want a picture and u do a post to a forum. u have to wait the guy that has it to answer u and then exchange some 3-4 more posts or pm's till he finally sends it to an email adress. If pictures are allowed in pm's and i seesomeone needs a pic, i could pm him right away with the pic included , and saving the site from additional posts .

5)More Step by Step articles are of course a welcome item since they really bring something new and are well structured.

6)Monthly newsletter is a good idea, but maybe will be a confusion with the News posts in forums that are everyday showing up.

well maybe there are 1000s more things that u could do a site but i think Armorama's beauty is the human contact . If everything was perfect and u didn't need to get in touch with anyone , the site would be more "technical" and less human , so i wouldnt like it that way .

I trully believe that people's actions and contact make the difference and in that section Armorama is really PERFECT, and no need to change anything.

Even if it would stay exactly like the way it is i would still ADORE it .

COSTAS

From a vendor standpoint, I like the mini add banners. I think they are an excellent option for small to midsize companies. I've used them once and intend to use them in the future on a more regular basis. Thanks

Jim - here's an idea -
On the campaign page make change the color of the 'in process' campaigns to black or blue. That would make the 'sign up or to be started' campaigns as green, 'in process' campaigns in blue or black and then when there is one month to go or two weeks to got the color changes to Red

Hey Jim, how about a tips & tricks page. We do seem to pass along a few here and there. I have many tips i'd like to share.

Didn't read all the comments as I got a bit lazy and skipped to the bottom.
I don't think the site as some said getting too complicated. I think it is still easy to navigate.
The only thing I would like to see is perhaps all a person's campaign ribbons, and not just the latest one.

I am reading all of these of course and will act on specific requests, but I just wanted to say Scott that this is a very good idea.

And many of these are good ideas. Keep them coming.

Thanks,
Jim

I like Mother's suggestion for a "Tips & Tricks" forum. It might make it easier for people, especially new members, to get the info they're looking for. Again, I don't know how difficult it would be, but there are so many good tips out here already, could they be transferred to a single forum?

Art

Hmm....I think I prefer the idea of keeping the tips as one-page features as we have done in the past. However we probably need to do a better job with categorizing and finding them.

There are also many of these tips published in the forums. So perhaps adding Tips/Tricks groups to each of the main forums would be a good idea.

Thanks,
Jim

I'm in awe of this site and the pleasure it brings! I hope to contribute more as my computer and photography skills increase.
It would be kind of neat to have a "Collector's Corner", where photos of box art and true vintage built up models could be displayed and a forum to accompany this. How about this as a personal short example - I picked up an old Aurora "Sea Wolf" sub in the box for a dollar at the flea market. What a kick! (It's long since been built and sadly, sold.)

New idea - There seems to be a thread every so often that comments on our workbenches (not a bad at all).
How about adding an image to our profile next to our 'mug shot' that is our workbench.

Jim
What about a search facility in each forums section. so you could type in say "HUMMER" and get all the posts relating to your chosen subject instead of having to scroll through every page.
Tom
P.S.
Any news on AFV interiors yet?

I dont know if you got my armorama newsletter basic idea thing jim if you didn't PM me and ill send you it.

I didnt read all the post so sorry if I repeat something someone already said, but how a bout a 'how to' section, since i notcied questions like how to strip paint has popped up many times in the forums. Perhaps it oculd be divided into different section painting, weathering,glueing etc.

I like the idea of the mass delete in the gallery area.

I also like the idea of putting up a "request list" for a detailed build review so that those who like to do that sort of work may be inspired to do something others would like to see.

The ability to link in "normal" pictures to the campaign logs rather than to be constrained to a specific size would be helpfull (Although I believe I understand the reasoning behind this and that people can list comments in the rivet revieww area)

Personally, what I would like to be able to do even though it might not be realistic would be to post a log entry in the campaign area and have it also show up in the Campaign forum AND the Rivet Review forum. Maybe that is too much to ask though...

And giving us the complete " salad bar" under our avatar, rather than just the first one we were awarded, would inspire us "attention freaks" to be even more committed to the campaigns...er, that might not be a good thing afterall... :-)

Absofreaknloutely! :-) :-) :-) Thanks for the laugh Rob!

If that can't happen - then I'm with the "SBS" idea. I just don't have the time to whip out new item reviews - but I sure like the step-by-step content...

One more comment - since I had been away awhile, it too took me a little bit of looking around to get reoriented. Echoing a member's comment above - I hope the site as it continues to improve doesn't also grow in complexity to navigate. I can easily navigate to the Latest Posts page from the Main Page. But - when I go to the Main Menu and try the link, the page won't load. Must be a dang Mac thing...

I also read the "mass exodus" comments in personal galleries. While I understand the sentiment, I hope that the members who often link photos from their galleries to forum threads to illustrate points or ideas remember NOT to delete these items...

Gunnie

Would it be possible to e-mail pix to our gallery?

Art