New Kilkenny GAA website

php-fox

Hey all.

I am the web developer for Kilkenny GAA. We have just launched a new redesigned web site (www.kilkennygaa.ie) a week ago.

I am hoping to get some feedback from boardies
I'd very thankful if you could rate the web site (from 0 to 10) under three simple points below.

1. Ease of navigation
2. Aesthetics, general look&feel
3. Usefulness of content.

I am also hoping to get some general information from people who used the website in the past. Maybe there is something you always wanted it to have? Content, social features, etc?
How do you find the switch over from old to new? Is it better, worse?

Any other thoughts and suggestions are very welcome.

Thanks a lot for your time! Happy new year to everyone

Dostoevsky

As a website goes I think it's professionally done. As I personally would like to see a GAA website, I think you could make a few changes.

1. I always like to see Irish on GAA websites, and those sites which are bilingual get a lot of meas from me. It's refreshing and makes those connections with community, culture and history that make the GAA unique.

2. Maybe you could put a link to each GAA club in the county on the front page? (on each side?) After all, most people who'll visit will want a connection to their local club

3. Stair/History section. This could have great potential and you could get contributions from all across the county, be it on matches or any type of history. There's a huge wider history in the county and maybe highlighting places like Jerpoint would strengthen that GAA parish-sense of place bond.

All the best/Le gach dea-ghuí.

php-fox

Hey Dostoevsky. Thanks for the input!

1. I'll talk to the KGAA board about this. Since I am not the one writing content, I can't really know what is involved in maintaining a bilingual website.

2. We have a link to clubs page in the menu. http://www.kilkennygaa.ie/page/Clublinks. The list of clubs is extensive. I am not sure if we can fit them on the front page. And should they really be on the front page?

3. I have actually suggested user participation to the board a while ago. I support your opinion on this one. What kind of content do you think users will be willing to contribute? Pictures, articles, match reports?

Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it!
To other boardies - don't be shy

Dostoevsky wrote: »

As a website goes I think it's professionally done. As I personally would like to see a GAA website, I think you could make a few changes.

1. I always like to see Irish on GAA websites, and those sites which are bilingual get a lot of meas from me. It's refreshing and makes those connections with community, culture and history that make the GAA unique.

2. Maybe you could put a link to each GAA club in the county on the front page? (on each side?) After all, most people who'll visit will want a connection to their local club

3. Stair/History section. This could have great potential and you could get contributions from all across the county, be it on matches or any type of history. There's a huge wider history in the county and maybe highlighting places like Jerpoint would strengthen that GAA parish-sense of place bond.

All the best/Le gach dea-ghuí.

Dostoevsky

php-fox wrote: »

Hey Dostoevsky. Thanks for the input!

1. I'll talk to the KGAA board about this. Since I am not the one writing content, I can't really know what is involved in maintaining a bilingual website.

2. We have a link to clubs page in the menu. http://www.kilkennygaa.ie/page/Clublinks. The list of clubs is extensive. I am not sure if we can fit them on the front page. And should they really be on the front page?

3. I have actually suggested user participation to the board a while ago. I support your opinion on this one. What kind of content do you think users will be willing to contribute? Pictures, articles, match reports?

Thanks for your input, I really appreciate it!
To other boardies - don't be shy

Ah, I overlooked the menu for the club links - very well done.

The content section could be huge.

A) GAA stuff: It could include photos of matches, match reports, GAA historical articles, and video reports. I remember, for instance, two guys arriving into a pub I was in and asking the owner could they put on the video from a local hurling match that they'd just recorded, and the owner obliged and we all sat around the tv watching the match which had been on two hours beforehand. Similarly, you could have a feature like that for people to upload matches to the site. They're probably uploading it already to YouTube so perhaps you could have some loyalty system in operation across the entire website. For example, you get a certain number of points for submitting photos, more for accepted match reports and more still for accepted film footage of a local match. Rewards could include All-Ireland tickets, signed memorabilia or whatever you think. I haven't seen such a system in operation on a GAA website yet, but it might be worth investigating.

Local history stuff: There's a strong crossover in interest in local history and in the local GAA. Felicitously, I see on the homepage of the website over 400 people recently attended the launch of a history of Kilmacow GAA club. You could have people writing on general local history, archaeology and folklore and become a repository for local history online. In this you could have some excellent photos of historic Kilkenny (I have loads if you'd like) and basically create a website that's not only about the sports but the local culture and history they come from. It could be very much a cultural website just as the GAA is also a cultural organisation.(http://www.gaa.ie/about-the-gaa/)

D) Discussion forum: it would probably be hard to attract people consistently into a talk forum but again you could create some form of 'rewards' system to get the forum up and running initially at any rate. Within it, you could have a section on local history and community notices.

Again, these are just ideas which need to be fleshed out more. Keep up the good work.

FatherTed

You need more pictures on the front page to make it more colorful e.g. take a look at the Tyrone website http://www.tyronegaa.ie/