69 replies to this topic

[rcthelp]

Some of you may be aware that the board software we use here is having a huge shakedown for the next version. You can see the beta version 3 at http://ipb3preview.ipslink.com/index

The Ride Exchanges and Steve Franks Track Packs will have to be completely rewritten to work with this new version.

So I thought it would be a good time to do a 'Voice of the Customer' survey to see what people thought of the existing exchanges and how they could be changed/improved. To get ideas flowing, here are a few thoughts of my own.

• Combine both Exchanges together
• Allow uploaders to edit their comments and screenshots
• Have Exchange Moderators who can also edit the comments and the screenshots.. In particular, they could add screenshots to make the Exchange more 'valuable' to people looking for rides.
• More flexibility in the screenshots. Allow larger resolutions, and more graphic format instead of just jpeg.
• Allow users to select the number of rides per page instead of it always being 10
• Allow you to have default global search settings that are used every time you access the Exchange. At present, every time you use it the default is absolutely everything.
• Allow you to change these defaults [obviously].
• An "I'm feeling lucky" page of random rides
• Display in metric or imperial measures, you choose
• Exclude rides that are actually shipped with the game from searches
• A different download capping system [currently 1 per hour + 1 for every 10 posts + 1 for every ride you upload]
• Options for you to reduce the amount of stats displayed
• When people view your profile, they can see what rides you've uploaded

I'm researching how feasible these are at the moment, so no promises that they will happen, but I just wanted peoples' views, and any other ideas they may have.

[Woodpecker]

Those are good ideas. Regarding Steve Franks' Track Packs: "Airplane" @ Rye Playland is on page 14, but "Vonkaputous" @ Linnanmaki Park is on page 1, followed (bizarrely) by "Buzzsaw Falls" @ Silver Dollar City. I know you can search by name but surely if you are browsing for the first time it makes sense to have them in alphabetical order, as they are on RCTStationarchive? Then if you want to come back to one but have forgotten the exact name, you don't have to search through 16 pages for it. I'm supposing they are currently listed in the order Steve uploaded them. Anyway, it's just a thought.

Edited by Woodpecker, 09 February 2009 - 12:39 AM.

[rcthelp]

Thank you for the feedback.

They are in 'most recent' order. That's the way Steve wanted them.

The same system is used on the Ride Exchanges. It's done that way to encourage people to upload so they can be on the fornt page, and to discourage people from giving them 'silly' names just to make them first on an alphabetic list.

[Sambo]

Since I like all your posted suggestions for ridex updates, I wasn't going to say more than that ...but... I would very much like a button to sort by alpha. Steve can have his default sort by most recent, but then having an alpha sort option would be a joy. I'd even like a single letter alpha sort option in the search if that would be easier. Say I was looking for a much older submission called "Wood..." something. Wood chip. Woodpecker. Woodchase. The current method of searching relies on me knowing which coaster type, and I must go through at least three screens to narrow down my search to less than a hundred.

Displaying by most recent as a default is still OK, but a simple search on name or by letter would be a godsend. Wildcards in the search sort would be one step closer to Nirvana.

[rcthelp]

Thanks for the feedback.

In the Track Packs if you go to the search screen you can type in 'Wood' and it will find all rides containing 'Wood' anywhere in the name.

Similarly in RCT2 Ridex, if you use the 'Fast Track' option.

Admittedly, in both cases, it still lists the rides in 'most recent' order rather than alphabetical.

There is no such feature in the RCT1 Ride Exchange, but if I were to combine them, this feature would be 'inherited' from the RCT2 Exchange.

It's not unusual when seeking the 'Voice of the Customer' for them to ask for things that are already there.

[Sambo]

I must admit that I always have used the search rather than the fast track. Now that I know - I'll be going there.

[Woodpecker]

When you look at the choice of search methods (stat-attack etc.) name-searching isn't mentioned anywhere. Perhaps it could be flagged in the 'fast-track' description so that people can find it more easily?

[rcthelp]

Thanks for the feedback. The new Ride Exchange will use the search features built into the board.

[rcthelp]

One of the things I don't like about the Exchange is the complexity of the search system. You have to go through between 2 and 3 screen before you get to see any results. As well as being so many screens, they are also difficult to use. Plus, because I let people navigate forwards and backwards through the screens, the coding is very complex. It has to behave differently depending on whether you have come forwards to the screen or gone backwards!

So I'm trying to design a single search screen just to see how and/or whether it would work. Here is my first draft, with content but no layout yet. I'd appreciate feedback.

 sneakridex3_2.png   61KB   36 downloads

[Sambo]

I am liking very much the selection critera - and then at the bottom the sort query preferences.
Having it all on one screen allows me to modify parameters without traipsing back and forth between screens. Nice and clean.

The only thing I noticed was layout - not with the amazing way you have created to make the selection process easier. The themes seem to be in the middle - breaking up the coaster category symmetry/ (reading left column top to bottom then right column top to bottom. (two zones) The way it looks now is left column down to half way then jump to top of right column half way down - then left column from center of screen down to bottom and back to right column center of screen down. (four zone)

Two zones -  sneakridex3_2a.jpg   19.62KB   28 downloads

Four zones -  sneakridex3_2b.jpg   21.83KB   25 downloads

But you probably wanted comment on content (which is OK in my book) rather than presentation...