Hi all!

 

ASEAN NOW are launching a new front page (portal) later this week.

 

Feel free to have a look and your comments and suggestions are welcome. This is still a work in progress (~90%), with many new features to be launched as we go.

 

We have so far included all News forums, and all the local subs will be added by tomorrow.

 

Which subs/categories do you guys think should be listed on the new page? 

Visa sub forum is already there and a few more...

 

Which subs should we add on the new front?

Any bugs or broken links?

 

https://home.aseannow.com/

 

Why a new front?

1. Forum software design isn't appealing at all. The new portal is our alternative starting point.

2. We neeed to improve our internal linking structuren for SEO reasons. 

3. Google loves portal pages like this, and humans too…

 

Here it is:

https://home.aseannow.com/

 

The current forum home page will remain.

 

Your feedback is welcome ???? 

Will you actually be able to see it.  Or will it be covered in pop up ads like every other page on this website?

31 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

Will you actually be able to see it.  Or will it be covered in pop up ads like every other page on this website?

Yes, we are actually doing an overhaul with less ads.

 

What did you think of the new portal page?

8 minutes ago, george said:

Yes, we are actually doing an overhaul with less ads.

 

What did you think of the new portal page?

I hate change and prefer that everything stays the way I got used to. However, the proposed portal page looks smart and I expect I will cope.

I just had a look. It looks like many other news pages.

Personally, I am not interested in another Thai news page.

I come here for the forum, and only for the forum.

 

And about all those pictures: Some sites, i.e. The Guardian app, have an option to see the news pages with all those pictures or just the headlines and no pictures.

I prefer just the headlines. Often the pictures are meaningless, they just take up space.

 

I guess the good news is that something is done at all with this website. All those adds, often multiple times, and often necessary to click away, are just annoying. Do people actually want to click on any of the adds? Or do they only click to get rid of the adds they have to click and click and click and sometimes people click by accident on the add and not on the (inconstant) buttons to close them.

 

10 hours ago, george said:

Yes, we are actually doing an overhaul with less ads.

 

What did you think of the new portal page?

LOL.....

 

I use a dual monitor desktop PC.  I like to open multiple tabs to view different pages.

 

To do this I press ctrl then click on the links that I want open.

 

When I do this on AN it bumps me automatically to a full screen pop up ad.

 

I just tried to visit your new portal page.

 

All I got was a full screen Simon Cabaret ad.

 

I have been here a very long time.

 

In terms of the ridiculous fake content and intrusion of ads it is depressing how uninviting this website has become.

 

Here is what I get when I try to visit your new portal:

 

 

21 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

LOL.....

 

I use a dual monitor desktop PC.  I like to open multiple tabs to view different pages.

 

To do this I press ctrl then click on the links that I want open.

 

When I do this on AN it bumps me automatically to a full screen pop up ad.

 

I just tried to visit your new portal page.

 

All I got was a full screen Simon Cabaret ad.

 

I have been here a very long time.

 

In terms of the ridiculous fake content and intrusion of ads it is depressing how uninviting this website has become.

 

Here is what I get when I try to visit your new portal:

 

 

Let me guess, you didn't click 20 times on that add. Maybe not even one time.

I do the same with multiple tabs. 

50 minutes ago, Adumbration said:

LOL.....

 

I use a dual monitor desktop PC.  I like to open multiple tabs to view different pages.

 

To do this I press ctrl then click on the links that I want open.

 

When I do this on AN it bumps me automatically to a full screen pop up ad.

 

I just tried to visit your new portal page.

 

All I got was a full screen Simon Cabaret ad.

 

I have been here a very long time.

 

In terms of the ridiculous fake content and intrusion of ads it is depressing how uninviting this website has become.

 

Here is what I get when I try to visit your new portal:

 

 

Thanks for feedback regarding browsing with dual screen, which can be a bit tricky for the software sometimes.. Could you please try again now. We have done changes that should fix this issue.

cheers

 

5 hours ago, george said:

Thanks for feedback regarding browsing with dual screen, which can be a bit tricky for the software sometimes.. Could you please try again now. We have done changes that should fix this issue.

cheers

 

I have worked on dual screen and three screens PCs for 25 years.  They are not tricky for software. 

 

What is tricky is having your pop up ad feed set so that it triggers every time there is a visit new page event.

 

The problem is not fixed.  It is still there.

 

I also like to click on the notifications bell icon.  I then press crtl and click on any new comments or feedback in the drop down menu to review previous posts.  However this is also impossible because it triggers a full screen covering pop up ad.

 

But don't knock yourself out trying to limit the amount of ads and when they trigger.  There are only a few genuine members left on this forum and the make believe ones wont be troubled by something as trite as usability.

 

 

 

I think you will lose a lot of posting members. They want a forum not a newspaper.

Just now, ripstanley said:

I think you will lose a lot of posting members. They want a forum not a newspaper.

This is not a replacement for the forum home page, it’s an addition for visitors who want a cleaner look. We try to make everybody happy.

1 minute ago, george said:

We try to make everybody happy.

You won't be able to do that.

But I am sure many members here would appreciate if you would listen to the existing long-term members.

Many of us are still here because we are too lazy to look for a better alternative, not because this site is so great. The site could improve in many ways. And many problems were discussed already.

Sorry, but someone has to tell you. 

2 minutes ago, OneMoreFarang said:

You won't be able to do that.

But I am sure many members here would appreciate if you would listen to the existing long-term members.

Many of us are still here because we are too lazy to look for a better alternative, not because this site is so great. The site could improve in many ways. And many problems were discussed already.

Sorry, but someone has to tell you. 

I am here to listen. I am here to fix a lot of things so this will be a better place.

 

We are about to upgrade the forum software (end of September is my best guess) and we will serve less ads in the future. This is my Prio 1.

 

If you guys have feedback on anything AseanNow so please post and I will reply. 

2 minutes ago, george said:

I am here to listen. I am here to fix a lot of things so this will be a better place.

 

We are about to upgrade the forum software (end of September is my best guess) and we will serve less ads in the future. This is my Prio 1.

 

If you guys have feedback on anything AseanNow so please post and I will reply. 

Thanks for your reply.

Maybe I summarize how I personally use the forum and write about possible improvements:

 

I start with the front page, and I see if I have any new notifications. If yes, then I look at them first.

I right click on all the new notifications to open new tabs in my Desktop browser. Then I look at each tab and maybe answer or comment in that thread.

Sometimes that means that I see on all tabs a big popup add window. That is just too much!

 

After that I look at the topics list on the right. The good thing about that list is that is often shows new topics. The problem is that sometimes it also brings up old topics like that god thread. It also often shows new topics from members which I blocked. I blocked them mostly because they are annoying. I really don't want to see more of the same annoying members.

I suggest that topic list should be only for new topics.

I also suggest that it shouldn't show new threads from new members. There are too many new users who bring up one new thread and never return. That's annoying and it would be good if such topics wouldn't be promoted.

 

The too many adds topic was discussed often enough. If it is just a picture I don't really care. But annoying videos and other windows, which have to be clicked away to continue, are just annoying. And sometime the X to click them away is hidden by another advertisement. Very annoying!

 

Another issue is the current moderation. I understand that we shouldn't personally attack each other. Ok, understood. I learned not to do that anymore.

Sometimes the moderators don't understand any humor. I.e. I commented once "is this really news?" and I was banned for that comment for a couple of days. Come on, relax. If this is really a sin, then just delete that comment. 

There are other moderation issues if someone doesn't want to be part of this stupid woke gender-whatever trend. We shouldn't be banned for having an opinion which was perfectly fine for the last 50 years.

 

Thanks for "listening". I am looking forward to the new version.

19 hours ago, george said:

Hi all!

 

ASEAN NOW are launching a new front page (portal) later this week.

 

Feel free to have a look and your comments and suggestions are welcome. This is still a work in progress (~90%), with many new features to be launched as we go.

 

We have so far included all News forums, and all the local subs will be added by tomorrow.

 

Which subs/categories do you guys think should be listed on the new page? 

Visa sub forum is already there and a few more...

 

Which subs should we add on the new front?

Any bugs or broken links?

 

https://home.aseannow.com/

 

Why a new front?

1. Forum software design isn't appealing at all. The new portal is our alternative starting point.

2. We neeed to improve our internal linking structuren for SEO reasons. 

3. Google loves portal pages like this, and humans too…

 

Here it is:

https://home.aseannow.com/

 

The current forum home page will remain.

 

Your feedback is welcome ???? 

My impression: seems like another newspaper with a little bit of forum tacked on the bottom. I have to scroll three screens full to even see any mentioning of the word forum. On the other hand I counted 15 times the word "News" on my small screen before I even started scrolling. And then I see more news news news news news. Not just the content but the literal word news over and over. AN (TV) for many old timers was a forum foremost. THE primary forum for expats in Thailand. But it seems to be moving away from that original purpose in the pursuit of growth. That's fine, just trying to state the impression I got. To give some positive feedback: at least it's relatively clean and loads fast.

1 minute ago, eisfeld said:

My impression: seems like another newspaper with a little bit of forum tacked on the bottom. I have to scroll three screens full to even see any mentioning of the word forum. On the other hand I counted 15 times the word "News" on my small screen before I even started scrolling. And then I see more news news news news news. Not just the content but the literal word news over and over. AN (TV) for many old timers was a forum foremost. THE primary forum for expats in Thailand. But it seems to be moving away from that original purpose in the pursuit of growth. That's fine, just trying to state the impression I got. To give some positive feedback: at least it's relatively clean and loads fast.

Thanks for your feedback!
 

The forum topics will definitively  be in more prime space when we are ready in a few days. As I mention in my op we are about 90% ready as we speak. It will also be a forum drop-down menu at the top of all pages, with quick selection of links to various sub forums.

 

Member topics are the most important content, “USG”, user generated content, We will slow down a bit on the news as the competition is hard, lots of sites posting Thailand related news.

 

If you look at our daily newsletter you will find that the featured member topics are listed above the actual news stories.

 

I believe in growth of AseanNow, our visitor numbers are up since three months and the trend is clearly positive.

 

 

1 hour ago, george said:

Member topics are the most important content, “USG”, user generated content, We will slow down a bit on the news as the competition is hard, lots of sites posting Thailand related news.

Well that's great to hear. And I really think the user generated content is where you can shine. As you mentioned there are plenty of news sources out there and you can't compete because they have actual reporters that gather the stories and AN as far as I've seen pretty much is then reposting them. You can't win the SEO game this way.

 

Many many users came to this forum because they needed guiance on topics like visas, business and everything around life in Thailand. Then many stayed because they found like-minded people to chat with. Maybe there is a way to leverage AN also as a knowledge base. That part is underdeveloped imho. Sometimes there are sticky topics but rarely updated. Posters like UdonJoe always came along with up2date reliable information. That's the gold that is sometimes a bit hidden. You can see people also asking the same or similar questions over and over because the answers are either hard to find or they want up2date info. Just food for thought. Hope it helps ????

It looks good and professional but if seeing it for the first time I’d think it was a generic Asian news site. Maybe needs a banner at the top to summarise what you want to be.

 

Bringing you news, advice, discussion and debate on issues  facing those in south east Asia with a focus on Thailand. 

Problem is I imagine you want to keep it broad so as not to focus too much on Thai expats to build the site but it seems that is the main audience. 
 

A further comment is there is no sense of fun or that there may be fun in the site. Or whether the site is an aggregator or has its own writers. 

Feedback.

Many of us read the forum on mobile or tablet.

Mobile site only show main articles, but was easier to read on mobile/tablet.

Con: missing out a lot of content.

 

Desktop site had a nice layout with so much more on start page.

I liked Desktop overall better.

 

To nitpick: Would like to see 'Desktop site' right side column, to have more last topics from top to bottom of the startpage. Easier to find a topic of interest to read, and maybe reply to.

 

Readers totally understand that revenue is needed to pay SEO, server costs, staff etc, but please take into consideration that in 'Mobile site' on phone & tablet, it's been almost impossible to read or write a reply due to 5-6-7 ads cover half of page, and further pop-up ads, and it was chaotic.

Please find a better less intrusive solution with consideration for the many who need 125% zoom, and larger font size.

 

Overall, great improvement.

Good job, just a suggestion maybe if you hover over any of the news articles you could able to see the latest or popular forum comments similarly as in the forum now so you know exactly without going into the page itself whats the fuzz about it in a quick review popup window.

On 8/29/2023 at 12:15 AM, chickenslegs said:

I hate change and prefer that everything stays the way I got used to. However, the proposed portal page looks smart and I expect I will cope.

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