New website

[Andrew McHarg]

Thanks all for your feedback.

Some replies...

Alex:
Non-members or people who are not logged in shouldn't be able to access the member-only content. The member-only content is the live grades and games lists (with stats etc). Currently I don't think those who are marked as non-members can see this stuff? Or is it some other content you thought should not be available to non-members?

Andrew see screen cap attached. Members only forum- you need to login to post but you can view only without logging in.  Slightly confusing wording wise  but I think its actually meant to work that way.

The screen cap is also the page that contains too much old posts.

Newsletter feeds, agree with what you said  - I wasn't suggesting any new content , just an email link to email list now and again highlighting interesting issues/events to try and encourage wider use of the website and forum and perhaps chess membership. 

Re social media - I realise it's the usual suspects who do all the unpaid work but the point of linking to something like a closed facebook group  or twitter is that you want it to grow itself and I assume less admin and responsibility as a result.  The website and forum are both under used and although the new website is much better already I still don't see it being used as much as it should or could be.  I see ECF have links on home page website but not the forum - I think the twitter feeds work better than facebook

Thanks for the info Alex.

I may be mistaken (I rarely used the old forum lately), but I was sure the Members Only part of that wasn't set-up specifically for members of Chess Scotland, but - rather - for members of the forum (i.e. people who created an account). It was done this way when it was decided (I think by Andy Howie) to only show certain parts of the forum publicly (which IIRC was the reason for the creation of the Public Area). But then, after some time, the decision was made to open the whole forum up to be viewable publicly again. I thought at the time that the expression "Members Only" was misleading, and I still think that - so totally agree with you on that one. Something to look at for sure, but technically intentional the way it currently is and not an issue with the website.

Also agree with you on the social media side of things in that it would certainly be a really good addition. It might even drum up more sales for the magazine etc if it was done well (i.e. sneak previews at some of the magazine articles, for instance). Maybe that's the next area for Chess Scotland to move into (I know the ECF do - to some extent).