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Okay, I got asked the other day, “where would I ask about a spare part?” from a member of the public, so I added a forum for that. Another one for Dave to watch. š
The search engines are starting to kick in, but as I’m sure Andy will confirm, it takes ages for them to get there fully most are on a 4-6 week turnaround but it will happen.
Meta tags are set up a lot better.
Reviews will be added by the public, I’ve had a few people on that wanted to know how etc. but would any of you like to spend a few minutes and do one please? The more content that’s on there the more recommendations we’ll get and the more links to the site the better the Google rankings, that’s how it works I’m afraid. š
I’m sure one or two of you have seen a couple of machines you could write a paragraph or two about. š
The whole thing with asking for agents I’m quite happy with and so far it seems to be working well, as well as the people using it for that having complete anonymity should they wish, it’s very easy to do. If you do know anyone that wants to advertise for agents or whatever put them in touch with me and I’ll sort it out for them it really is very simple to do this.
There are few members of the public now subscribed to the site and we even got our first post on the public forums tonight, hopefully the first of many but we have to start somewhere and this takes time.
We now seem to be averaging between 700 & 1000 page views a day and it seems to be getting better all the time for the most part and this should pick up some over time, but as I said this does take time.
I am subscribed to many a manufacturers press release list but TBH my current sources of information seem to be coming up trumps for the moment, I noticed that there was stuff on the site a few days ago before it was published in ERT! Much of the news, particularly financial reports, is there within a few hours, if not minutes, of the actual event.
Fair few links added today, if I’ve missed any or if anyone’s url is not added can you please add it or PM/email me and I’ll add it for you?
I’m still looking for reviews etc without much success, come on I *KNOW* you lot have seen a couple of washing machines etc.! š
You may also have noticed we passed 40,000 page views in under two months from launch! šÆ
K.
It is a great pleasure to see that the website has today passed the 100,000 page views mark and it is growing in both strength and numbers, as well as very importantly, building a community of like-minded individuals within the Whitegoods trade.
The truly amazing thing is though that, even springing from the Whitegoods Mailing list, which is still very much alive and kicking, this has been accomplished in a little over three months from the launch of the website.
It has brought closer the manufacturers, work providers and repairers and at times offers a unique insight into the workings of each party. Almost all the posts and information is of great interest and of use to us all to help create a better understanding in the industry and to, hopefully, breed more tolerance and better working relationships for everyone.
The thing to remember is though that this is your community and website! You all contributed and have made it a valuable commodity as well as steering the course of it for the most part. So if you wish to applaud anyone for this effort, applaud yourselves.
My thanks goes to the people that work tirelessly behind the scenes for what is often thankless tasks like Dave Conway, Kevin Heath, Neil Howieson amongst others. Your contributions, help and guidance have been invaluable and appreciated over the past few months to both myself and the many people that use the website.
The past few months have seen some radical moves in the industry and some surprises and twists along the way, MFI deciding to go direct and use agents who have done this in an extremely professional manner and have earned a huge amount of respect from us all Iām sure. As well as the public announcement of Network DASA, a network that is designed to help repairers and manufacturers or insurers alike and build a better foundation for service work for independents in the UK for the future. I wish these endeavours every success for the future.
As for the site there is some remarkable figures returned from the site statistics, this month alone has seen the site for the first time break 30,000 page views in one month as well as having our busiest day ever on the 12/09/2003 with 3121 page views in a single day! Which, to me, only highlights the passion of the people that are using the site and the high level of interest in the topics on the agenda?
We have also seen the first ever UK Whitegoods meeting in Peterborough this month which I feel and, hope others do too, was productive and worthy of the effort and hopefully there will be more over time.
So thank you everyone for your comments, posts, help and advice and all the efforts that have gone into this website and the group in general and hopefully it will continue far into the future and contribute to making this an industry that we can all be proud to work in.
K.
Re-posted here just in case you missed it on the frontpage.
kwatt wrote:It is a great pleasure to see that the website has today passed the 100,000 page views mark
And my eyes are telling me about it šÆ
Just past midnight when we passed the landmark š 100,000 š was it not ?
Dave.
Live Chat! Added To The Site
Okay, I got fed up with the debate about live chat, MSN, IRC, Yahoo yadda, yadda so I decided to sort it out! I went on a mission to find an add-in that can be used off the website and found the ideal thing for it that kinda kills two birds with one stone.
For a start you will shortly see “Live Chat!” in the navigation panel, clicking on this will lead you to a new page that may take a minute to load and it will offset the page a bit so it’s not just as pretty due to the Site Info panel, but I can live with that for now.
What it does , for those that want to know, is connest you to an IRC server using a Java applet so Java will have to be allowed in your browser to use it. Since most of you will be using the MS Internet Explorer it shouldn’t be an issue as it’s enabled by default in the last few versions. Other than that if there are any issues please contact me directly and I’ll see what I can do to help if you have a problem.
You are automagically logged into the IRC chat room using your username as used on the site and it is enabled for registered users *only*! The reason for this is that, as admin, I can see who’s online and trace any abuse like the toad that was stealing someone’s identity the other day and, believe me, since I personally know the people that built and run these servers if there is any abuse we will find out who you are.
You will find me logged on there most of the time with the name of “Lynchpin” (don’t ask, it’s a throwback to the heady days of online gaming and stuff when I had the time for it) because I use a pukka IRC client to get admin for the channel.
You cannot refresh the page once connected or you will be disconnected and you’ll have to wait a few minutes before reconnecting or the server will whinge about clones, so don’t do it okay! š
You can also “right-click” on the “Live Chat!” text in the navigation panel and select “Open In New Window” from the dropdown menu and that will allow you a window to browse the site on and one for chatting in.
There is a slight lag using the Java client, but only very slight indeed.
But most important of all, have fun with it! It’s so easy to use I really couldn’t have made it any easier if I tried as it is truly a “one-click” solution.
K.
More site news, once it’s live I’ll write it up properly on the front page but just so you lot have a heads up on it the following have been registered:
http://www.ukwhitegoods.com
http://www.ukwhitegoods.org.uk
http://www.ukwhitegoods.orgThe will all point to this site but the jewel in the crown is the .com address as that’s a 1st level job and should recieve more recognition as well as being a LOT easier to remember than .co.uk, as well as say! š
The .org one is also a premium one, the .org.uk costs pennies a year and it just seemed logical.
Once they are live you should be able to access the site using any of the above urls, not stunning I know, but it’s good for the search engines etc.
K.
Calender added
You will see a new link to ‘calender’ on the navigation panel on the left.
You can add events, meetings etc. or anything else relevent to the trade.
This facility is only available to registered users of the site and all submissions will need to be verified by site admin for approval.
Another addition to make the site even more useful for everyone š
Dave.
You will see this morning I have added a block that scrolls the last few subjects posted to on the frontpage etc. It works like this:
Click on the subject to be taken straight to the new post
Click on the forum name to go straight to the forum
You can click on the user as well, just as you can in the forums
I like it! š
K.
Ken has come up with yet another beauty. how does he keep on coming up with these superb easy formats. Is there any end to what he cannot do.
well done. š
Regards
DonRe: Site News & Updates
Cor, wow, fantastic, superb and very 8) colour graphics.
Just when I thought it had all been said, Ken comes up with a real gem of an upgrade. Dare I say that the “downtime” has been really worth it from the end user point of view. The extra functions are an excellent add on.
Thanks very much Ken and Trevor for all the hard work over the weekend. Hope children get better soon K. š
regards and best wishes
DonRe: Site News & Updates
don wrote:Cor, wow, fantastic, superb and very 8) colour graphics.
Just when I thought it had all been said, Ken comes up with a real gem of an upgrade. Dare I say that the “downtime” has been really worth it from the end user point of view. The extra functions are an excellent add on.
Thanks very much Ken and Trevor for all the hard work over the weekend. Hope children get better soon K. š
regards and best wishes
DonAnd so say all of us! Ernie
Re: Site News & Updates
Well folks tonight we passed 200,000 page views, but I’ll celebrate when we pass the 1/4 million mark, which at the rate we’re going won’t take too long!
We’ve also passed 230 members this month, 233 as of writing this in fact!
I’m as usual dumbfounded at the rate the site has grown and thank the hard work of all those involved as well as all the people using the site, every little helps, so thanks.
If you’re reading and not posting, join in, it really is good fun that’s what it’s supposed to be, enjoy the site, enjoy the company and have a bit of a laugh as well as talking shop all the time.
Stats are:
UK Whitegoods Access Statistics
We received 200148 page views since June 2003
Today is: 29/11/2003Busiest Month: September 2003 (47813 Hits)
Busiest Day: 24 November 2003 (3530 Hits)
Busiest Hour: 17:00 – 17:59 on November 24, 2003 (436 Hits)Oh and we lost three days stats due to the downtime, again my apologies for that this month. š
Am I pleased, well of course I am! š You guys should all be proud of the community *you’ve* all helped to create here and friends you’ve made, I raise my glass to you all.
K.
Re: Site News & Updates
Yes, it’s quite amazing how the community has grown, I’m as dumfounded as Ken at the interest and the huge contributions from all the members.
Apart from the congratulations to all who contribute to the site, it may be appropriate (I hope the spelling’s correct) to say, once again, a huge thankyou to Ken for having the forethought and taking the time to get this whole thing going in the first place.
Personally, it is a pleasure and a privilidge to have a part in this, which has to be said is a revelation, and I think many, if not all the members will agree.
Thanks Ken, you old Haggis Shagger š
Dave.
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