The new Ennis App and Visit Ennis website

CptSternn

Anyone else see the new app and website?

http://www.clarechampion.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=11769:know-whats-appening-in-ennis&catid=74:general&Itemid=60

http://www.visitennis.com/

Thoughts? Comments?

Clareman

I've installed the App, can't say I'm overly impressed by it, not only are there a lot of technical issues with it there's also a lot of businesses missing from it. Nice to see the webdesigners are all use the same dreamweaver templates for all the sites done for businesses in Ennis.

web2europe

I've downloaded the Ennis App and have to say I find it good. I haven't come across any technical issues yet. The listings seem very comprehensive and there are decent value vouchers. There is a website as well where businesses can get listed www.ennisapp.ie so if there are lots of businesses not listed it is easy for them to rectify it.

Spiritual

web2europe wrote: »

I've downloaded the Ennis App and have to say I find it good. I haven't come across any technical issues yet. The listings seem very comprehensive and there are decent value vouchers. There is a website as well where businesses can get listed www.ennisapp.ie so if there are lots of businesses not listed it is easy for them to rectify it.

Well get on with it.

Niall_G

I think it's pretty good - certainly clean and easy to use. It is obviously easier to design an app for tourist than for locals. This one certainly fits the bill for tourists and is therefore very welcome. I think the offers amy end up making it relevant to locals too, provided they are kept current and relevant. A very good start I think.

CptSternn

Clareman wrote: »

I've installed the App, can't say I'm overly impressed by it, not only are there a lot of technical issues with it there's also a lot of businesses missing from it. Nice to see the webdesigners are all use the same dreamweaver templates for all the sites done for businesses in Ennis.

I was going to say something similar.

Don't get me wrong, the idea is brilliant, it's the execution which leaves much to be desired.

First off the app. It's ok, but the problem is as mentioned it's buggy and there are so many places not listed there. The lack of many businesses though is a separate issue I will come back to.

Second of all is the website. My first thoughts when seeing it was it looks horrible. It is ORANGE. The app also seems to suffer from being overly orange. I mean, as a site that is supposed to be promoting tourism to Ireland a bit of green would be nice. Orange makes people wonder if they are at the right site. Also, orange looks like crap especially when everything on the site is in some shade of orange. I dunno if they hired a designer that used to work for Meteor or Eircom or if they are just big Orange Order supporters, but the orange theme is dreadful and hard on the eyes.

Also as mentioned in the app there are so many businesses and places missing. I am guessing this is because it is not an app for Ennis, but an app for certain businesses in Ennis who have paid money and are getting billing. This bothers me as it is not representative of the town, but those who have the money to throw at expensive advertising, leaving many businesses out.

Then as you Clareman mentioned the layout. You can't blame Dreamweaver totally for that as it is a WordPress website. That's right, it's a pre-built boiler plate website with a background and colour scheme slapped on. It doesn't surprise me - check out the Chamber of Commerce website - also designed by the same group, and it looks almost identical with the same layout even the calendar, just different colours and background. However much they got bilked for this copy paste job was too much. I am betting the local businesses once again got stuck with the bill for this, paying WAAAY to much for something that just is not worth it.

That's before you get into the issues regarding security. The problem with using pre-built template sites like WordPress is they get hacked, often. See, it's much easy for hackers to go after packages like WordPress since if they find a flaw in one, it means thousands of others are also compromised and they can write a script to take down thousands of sites at a time. Even worse - if you check the code on this site it has a dozen third party javascript packages also included meaning this site has weeks, if not days before someone defaces it. I checked the builds listed, as whoever designed it didn't even hide the build information nor tried to hide what packages were installed (listed clearly in the code), so all of those packages like the WordPress installation will need to be updated WEEKLY else it will be hacked.

A real cowboy job on the design and backend. You would expect if they were paying good money they would get a bespoke design and not some cookie cutter template slapped on to a free website package.

If that's what they got for the website, it's no wonder the app is buggy.

Here is what really bothers me - this whole fiasco seems to be revenue driven and NOT aimed at actually providing a service for the town.

They SHOULD have put out a notice, gotten some quality coders who live here in town and actually care about the town to work on a design and app FOR FREE. I mean, we do have a Code Dojo now here and with the help of volunteers around town we could have actually made a quality website and app and could have included EVERYONE, with NO COSTS to the local businesses. But, alas, it looks like the same crowd who thought bringing in one of the Dragons from the Den and forcing all the businesses to pay money to tell them 'secrets' is again finding ways to make money off the local businesses.

I for one would donate my time and services for a REAL town project and I know of a few others who would do the same. It's a bit of a let down when you see how wrong they get it and you know they paid too much for it on top of that.

Lady Chatterton

CptSternn wrote: »

Second of all is the website. My first thoughts when seeing it was it looks horrible. It is ORANGE. The app also seems to suffer from being overly orange. I mean, as a site that is supposed to be promoting tourism to Ireland a bit of green would be nice. Orange makes people wonder if they are at the right site. Also, orange looks like crap especially when everything on the site is in some shade of orange. I dunno if they hired a designer that used to work for Meteor or Eircom or if they are just big Orange Order supporters, but the orange theme is dreadful and hard on the eyes.

I have to agree with you about the ORANGE, I'm not very keen on it, I always associate orange with the low budget airline, Easy Jet

babygirlz

I didn't even know this app existed until I saw this post. I think it is a handy tool for the tourist but as a local they could have used an updated list of businesses in town. I just had a quick look through the boutique section and a few mentioned do not exist anymore. Correct me if I am wrong but are Le Reve ( Tesco shopping centre ) & Marion's boutique closed now? Thats just 2 I could remember.

Lady Chatterton

babygirlz wrote: »

Correct me if I am wrong but are Le Reve ( Tesco shopping centre ) & Marion's boutique closed now? Thats just 2 I could remember.

You're correct babygirlz, both shops have been closed for a while now. There is a 'Cash for Gold shop' where Le Reve used to be and Marion's shop is empty.

CptSternn

Therein lies the other issue. Who is going to update the site? Just launched and we are already finding listing are out of date, just like the site that was replaced which was run/designed by the same crowd.

Lady Chatterton

I've been playing around with the App tonight and I think it is disappointing that there isn't a picture to accompany each business listing. A lot of the businesses just have pictures of O'Connell Street even though they aren't situated anywhere near O'Connell Street. Example: Meere's Butchers, Roslevan.

I notice that some business addresses are out of date too.
For example: NC Paints address is listed as Quin Road but the store is actually in Ashline, Kilrush Road.

johnam

The business I work in was contacted to submit photos, so business's with the wrong photos or no photos are the fault of the business, not the app. Also maybe just a slip, but Meere's butchers is in the town. Molloy's butchers is in Roslevan, and they also have a place on Abbey Street if I am not mistaken

Lady Chatterton

johnam wrote: »

The business I work in was contacted to submit photos, so business's with the wrong photos or no photos are the fault of the business, not the app. Also maybe just a slip, but Meere's butchers is in the town. Molloy's butchers is in Roslevan, and they also have a place on Abbey Street if I am not mistaken

Such a wasted opportunity if businesses were asked for photos and didn't provide them. You're right, Meeres have two shops, one in Roslevan and the other in Abbey Street as you said but the photo beside their listing is of O'Connell Street which is a bit ridiculous.

Inky_Lady

Just came across this thread now.
I also work for a business in Ennis - we were contacted for photos last summer, which were then never used in the app. Disappointing really.
In order to be listed & put on the map with (as far as I remember) 3 images of the business, plus listing in sub-categories, it costs €120-150 per annum :rolleyes:
It's a great idea, but I can't see it taking off to be honest...and I agree that the choice of colour is grim!

Clareman

€150 per annum per business :eek::eek::eek:

I must get into app development

Lady Chatterton

MrsD007 wrote: »

I've been playing around with the App tonight and I think it is disappointing ....................................

I notice that some business addresses are out of date too.
For example: NC Paints address is listed as Quin Road but the store is actually in Ashline, Kilrush Road.

Almost three months on and NC Paint's address remains unchanged on the Ennis App :rolleyes:

babygirlz

MrsD007 wrote: »

Almost three months on and NC Paint's address remains unchanged on the Ennis App :rolleyes:

Obviously NC Paint's haven't noticed the error because I am sure they would be on to whoever is updating the app.
The phone no for my husbands business was incorrect and he contacted them and they changed it immediately.

Lady Chatterton

If businesses are really paying €120 - €150 to be on the Ennis App, it is bad form that their details aren't correct from the beginning.

babygirlz

MrsD007 wrote: »

If businesses are really paying €120 - €150 to be on the Ennis App, it is bad form that their details aren't correct from the beginning.

I agree totally with your MrsD007 but if I had my business advertised on the app I would make it my business to check that the information was correct.

Shapey Fiend

As said earlier that's a total cowboy job charging €150 per business to be put on a Wordpress blog. At that price they could find their own photos.

There have been countless Ennis websites going back to the Information Age Town era that cost a fortune to set up and then were just left to never be updated again. They should have gotten some good coders to volunteer, and maybe pay whoever maintains ClareFocus.ie to keep it up to date because they've a great track record on that front.

Lady Chatterton

+ 1 for Clare Focus, it's a great source of information.

CptSternn

The business model alone means it's doomed to fail.

First, they are reinventing the wheel. A website with a list of local businesses? One quick Google will show you sites like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Four Square, and others already provide this. The website is trying to do something which has already been done, and been done better for free.

Second and more importantly, the website depends on a company which has to get paid for it to work. This company then also has the responsibility to maintain this website for however long. The aforementioned sites which already have this information listed are community driven, and therefore are not limited by one company and ad costs.

The app is a good idea in theory, and the website as a complement of the app is also good in theory, but in the form which they have been developed they offer nothing you can't find for free out there already. Plus, on the other free alternatives you get the added bonus of getting testimonies and reviews from real people, not just a paragraph the company paid to have there.

If they really wanted this to work they should have, as I said previously, get some local developers to do it for free. Maybe get the lads from the coder dojo in town to help. Then instead of the current app and website they could have a website that pulls information from Yelp/TripAdvisor/Four Square/MyLocal/etc and builds a dynamic list when you select a category based on listing on those sites and returns an overall rating based on the cumulative scores on those sites.

This would mean it would be community driven, always up to date, and using the APIs those companies offer you could make a site that is full of content but you don't have to manually update.

Just an idea.

Jim Martin

Whilst on business in Ennis Tuesday, was informed that there had just been a power cut & whilst this was on, a local shop had just experienced an attempted theft. Didn't do much for my confidence in wanting to be in Ennis for anything!

Lady Chatterton

It's the times we live in Jim, it's happening in most towns and villages in Ireland, it's not unique to Ennis.

Jim Martin

MrsD007 wrote: »

It's the times we live in Jim, it's happening in most towns and villages in Ireland, it's not unique to Ennis.

I'm well aware of that but it doesn't alter the fact that, with the incident happening so close, it's made me think twice about returning again!

Lady Chatterton

I think the closure of Garda Stations in rural areas is a big worry too, it couldn't be happening at a worse time . We used to have 27 stations but last month we lost eight :eek:.

Quin, Inagh, Lahinch, Kilmihil, Labasheeda, Doonbeg, Broadford and Mountshannon have all closed, while Ennistymon and Killaloe Garda Stations now close overnight.

Shapey Fiend

Loads of those stations were only open for a few hours a day. It seems to me like a sensible cost saving measure to shut them down. Less stations means less guards indoors doing administration and out on the beat instead.

I lost my wallet this morning, someone found it and tracked me down on Facebook to give it back to me before I'd even noticed I'd lost it so my faith in Ennis people is on a high today.

CptSternn

One year later from when this app/website went live and the Ennis App still pretty much looks like it did when it kicked off. Many businesses still not listed and the ones highlighted on the front page of the website are still the same.

One good thing though, I found this today:

https://www.facebook.com/visitennis

This is what they should have done to start with. The chamber/town council need a Facebook page, not a separate website. The only issue is, I wonder if this is actually the council/town's Facebook Page.

I ask because currently there are about a dozen 'Ennis' pages/groups/profiles on Facebook all claiming to be the 'official' Facebook site for the town.

For example:

https://www.facebook.com/ennis.clare.1

https://www.facebook.com/ecountyclare

https://www.facebook.com/ennis.town.5

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ennis/163826720343428

...and there are more.

The problem is the chamber/council seem to be ignoring the fact so many other individuals have taken the reigns and now claim to be the official voice on Facebook for the town, and many of the posts there are spam for specific businesses or groups which own those non-official pages and of course all the phishing scammers who have inundated many of those pages with links.

Since the people running those pages are not the real thing, lots of spam and scams get posted out regularly. On top of that there have been a few incidents in regards to these pretenders as well. One time they were promoting a circus on on of the pages. Lots of animal activists complained to the council and the council was clueless as they claimed they were not promoting any such thing. They never bothered to actually get involved and shut the site(s) down though. Same thing goes with the last elections, you had some of those sites stumping for particular parties, making it look like 'Ennis' was supporting a specific party and/or candidate. I'm surprised no politicians in Ennis got involved in this, then again if any of the politicians in Clare were savvy enough to actually use Facebook properly that would be a news story in itself.

If the chamber/council really want an online presence that people actually look at and take notice of, they need to stop trying to reinvent the wheel and shut down all the fake Ennis pages, websites, and profiles out there as well. We need one page where we can view happenings, one run by the town itself, and not nameless, faceless individuals who may or may not have some other agenda.

angelfire9

Won't be an Ennis town council soon so they probably can't be bothered