Heroes & Villains, the Aston Villa fanzine
Heroes & Villains => Heroes Discussion => Topic started by: mike on June 17, 2019, 09:27:07 AM
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Whilst I'm generally buoyed up at the apparent new professionalism around the club, there are still things that need improving... like the fact that season tickets weren't on sale when that post play off wave of enthusiasm would have encouraged sales. There is no information on when cubs/clarets memberships will be available, meaning people like me can't tell my children we'll most likely be going to the Bournemouth game. And as the main means of communication, the website is hopeless. Apparently, it remain 'Breaking News' that we have signed Wesley subject to a work permit. It's good news, but it's definitely well and truly broken in by now. Most of it looks like it hasn't been touched since the playoff final, I'm wandering whether the person in charge went for post match celebrations with Jack and still hasn't surfaced. It's all about small things making a big difference and a professional website and having tickets and memberships sorted out is a big money earner. If I could, i'd be buying two cubs memberships, two personalised shirts and wasting a shit load of money in the club shop. Add that up and from this fan, that's a lot of money. I'll end up doing it regardless but for some, the moment will pass, the excitement will fade and the opportunity is lost.
This is to take nothing away from the apparent common sense that is happening in the transfer market.
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Agree Mike, it’s piss poor.
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Also agree. We need a premier league club, not just a team.
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It's not just Pravda that needs an upgrade, the matchday refreshment offering needs sorting - it was like Fred Karno's Army in the Doug Ellis for most of last season.
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It is a sorry excuse for an official website. It was perfectly fine when it was last given an overhaul 3 years ago. 3 years is probably 2 lifetimes in internet terms - so this version should really be dead by now.
An awful lot needs updating though, let's face it. The fact that there's still not consistent branding on signage etc. around VP is mental.
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I think they need a little more than three weeks after cementing PL status to get everything up to the level you require.
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I think they need a little more than three weeks after cementing PL status to get everything up to the level you require.
They could take down all the 18/19 stuff. You don’t have to be a Premier League club to have a decent, up to date website and proper information on when memberships will be available or at least when we’ll find out.
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If they take down all the 18/19 stuff, the site will be full of 17/18 videos of Steve Bruce saying "It were one of them horrible ones".
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If they take down all the 18/19 stuff, the site will be full of 17/18 videos of Steve Bruce saying "It were one of them horrible ones".
You forgot "...or thereabouts."
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If you know a little about web design and CSS then you may be familiar with a 2001 article "Flash of Unstyled Content" (an instance where a web page appears briefly with the browser's default styles prior to loading an external CSS stylesheet, due to the web browser engine rendering the page before all information is retrieved.) which gave us the acronym FOUC.
Well, when I open the Aston Villa app, I get a sort of FOUC because I get a flash of Potato Head before the latest article is loaded. Does anyone get this horrifying bug?
(https://i.ibb.co/zRzBj52/Screenshot-20190709-140148-com-incrowdsports-football-villa.jpg) (https://ibb.co/cFjZMv8)
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Have you tried deleting the app's data?
Nobody should have to suffer that photo of Mrs Doubtfire any more.
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There is a reason why I don't want to touch my app's data, which I have explained via pm *taps nose*.
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I don't remember Bruce going off on maternity leave during his time with us...
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I don't remember Bruce going off on maternity leave during his time with us...
And we all know he didn't deliver.
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I get Andre Moreira wanting to talk about his personality both on and off the pitch.
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It is a sorry excuse for an official website. It was perfectly fine when it was last given an overhaul 3 years ago. 3 years is probably 2 lifetimes in internet terms - so this version should really be dead by now.
An awful lot needs updating though, let's face it. The fact that there's still not consistent branding on signage etc. around VP is mental.
The site itself is ok (bar a few things that could do with a bit of a refresh), there's no major UX (user experience, generally meaning navigating the site and reducing clicks to get what you want) issues with it, not really any core functionality that's missing (again, there are a few things that could be added) and the performance is fine. The problems are all with the data that gets put on there, too many things are vague or late or just not there at all. They need to add content creators, which is more marketing than IT and is a reflection of the sub-standard marketing all round, which has been the case for years.
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The website is clunky and has poor links between screens and has old meaningless information.
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The website is clunky and has poor links between screens and has old meaningless information.
eg, if you click on the main stadium pricing link, you still get last year's prices
https://www.avfc.co.uk/club/villa-park/visiting-the-stadium/seating-plan
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The website is clunky and has poor links between screens and has old meaningless information.
Agreed.
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The old information I agree with but what do you mean by clunky and 'poor links between screens'? As I hinted at above you have to split web design into 2 parts, the flow and structure of the site itself is still largely technical, either through a content management tool (such as wordpress for a simple option) or in a template and then the content is added by a content team. That's why it's worth considering which specific areas are wrong/poor.
Based on my experience in a web service company for 10 years the technical side of the site is ok (it's not cutting edge but nor is it outdated or desperately in need of an overhaul). However I don't use the site much (because the content is poor, old and, in many cases, missing) so I might be missing something deeper into the site.
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Just giving the user experience, it was difficult accessing the Live games and commentary on the site last season, also when you log in it has stored the last log in page from that date. It is the opposite of intuitive.
Not an expert on websites but use them frequently and it’s a bit shit.
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Never tried the live games through it but generally the the live content in there is utterly shit, I'll agree with that.
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Sending out the 'pre-order your home shirt now' email before actually uploading it onto the shop page is a new level of fuckwittery.
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Sending out the 'pre-order your home shirt now' email before actually uploading it onto the shop page is a new level of fuckwittery.
Yep, it's that kind of thing rather than the layout and design that annoys me. When are Bournemouth tickets on sale? Why were photos of Wesley released by a shitbag, clickbait disgrace of a local rag before the club's website?
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Sending out the 'pre-order your home shirt now' email before actually uploading it onto the shop page is a new level of fuckwittery.
Yep, it's that kind of thing rather than the layout and design that annoys me. When are Bournemouth tickets on sale? Why were photos of Wesley released by a shitbag, clickbait disgrace of a local rag before the club's website?
I don't find the UX great either tbh, despite what paul_e is saying. But yes the content issues are the most alarming thing and one would think the easiest to address? We clearly have an active and reasonably clued-in social media team, would it be so hard to keep the site up to date?
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Sending out the 'pre-order your home shirt now' email before actually uploading it onto the shop page is a new level of fuckwittery.
Yep, it's that kind of thing rather than the layout and design that annoys me. When are Bournemouth tickets on sale? Why were photos of Wesley released by a shitbag, clickbait disgrace of a local rag before the club's website?
I don't find the UX great either tbh, despite what paul_e is saying. But yes the content issues are the most alarming thing and one would think the easiest to address? We clearly have an active and reasonably clued-in social media team, would it be so hard to keep the site up to date?
I'm not saying it's great, my point was that the technical issues are fairly minor compared to the content related problems.
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Sending out the 'pre-order your home shirt now' email before actually uploading it onto the shop page is a new level of fuckwittery.
Yep, it's that kind of thing rather than the layout and design that annoys me. When are Bournemouth tickets on sale? Why were photos of Wesley released by a shitbag, clickbait disgrace of a local rag before the club's website?
I don't find the UX great either tbh, despite what paul_e is saying. But yes the content issues are the most alarming thing and one would think the easiest to address? We clearly have an active and reasonably clued-in social media team, would it be so hard to keep the site up to date?
I'm not saying it's great, my point was that the technical issues are fairly minor compared to the content related problems.
Fair
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There is a reason why I don't want to touch my app's data, which I have explained via pm *taps nose*.
Haha - I actually remembered that - probably same reason you have that potato on show. (if I remember that, there wasn't enough wine)
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Signing up for a FAN-ID must be one of the hardest thing on the internet. On the Faroese Lions site, I have ordered the 30 members to register and get a fan-id (explaning how etc.) I think 1 has managed to do it - the rest have all given up. (I even have done a click by click with how I managed to get one for my son)
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Signing up for a FAN-ID must be one of the hardest thing on the internet. On the Faroese Lions site, I have ordered the 30 members to register and get a fan-id (explaning how etc.) I think 1 has managed to do it - the rest have all given up. (I even have done a click by click with how I managed to get one for my son)
I bought three Cubs memberships online. I was never asked for any details of the children or any fans id. They automatically signed all three to my son who had one last year. I had to phone up, cancel two of them, rebut them and spend ages changing all the details. The bloke who did it was spot on, it was just some totally useless software that was the problem. Now, I can’t work out how to assign a Fan ID to my daughter. I have about three different references but none of them are her Fan ID. I’m hoping it comes with her welcome pack.
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https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2018/07/31/gallery-aston-villa-stars-as-you-have-never-seen-them-before (https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2018/07/31/gallery-aston-villa-stars-as-you-have-never-seen-them-before)
This is embarrassing (as it will be if this link doesn't work.) This is how amateurish our website is.
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I would like to think that they are developing a new website which will be going live shortly. If so, I could just about let them off for allowing the current version to lapse into its current dilapidated state.
If they do not have a new website in the pipeline then it is an astoundingly poor state of affairs.
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That link is a little out of date but it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I'm sure it will be updated in time.
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aston-villa-stars-as-you-have-never-seen-them-before (https://www.avfc.co.uk/News/2018/07/31/gallery-aston-villa-stars-as-you-have-never-seen-them-before)
(https://i.ibb.co/0MPprgF/306529.jpg) (https://ibb.co/zRKWZy7)
Mile Jedinak
(https://i.ibb.co/tDDZnwq/Mile-Jedinak2.jpg) (https://ibb.co/kXX3zV4)
Donald Sutherland
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Well, maybe I'm too demanding. A currently accessible link entitled 'Aston Villa stars as you've never seen them before' brings up an ex player wearing last year's kit? I think that shows a really shoddy attitude to managing the content.
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The article is from 31st July, last year.
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The article is from 31st July, last year.
Yes, so take the link down. But I'll just accept that it looks like I'm in a minority.
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The article is from 31st July, last year.
Yes, so take the link down. But I'll just accept that it looks like I'm in a minority.
Not just you, but we have to give hem a chance to wade through all the other things that need updating!
Kit, ST's, team, recruitment etc. Some things need to take priority. I'm sure it's getting towards the top of the list.
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Granted the NSWE ownership has been in place for nearly a year now: but I’d rather they continue the excellent on the field improvement ahead of the website.
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The article is from 31st July, last year.
Yes, so take the link down. But I'll just accept that it looks like I'm in a minority.
Sorry, I thought someone was just posting an old link so didn't get the point you were making. If you're saying that shouldn't be a leading article any more, I agree with you.
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The article is from 31st July, last year.
Yes, so take the link down. But I'll just accept that it looks like I'm in a minority.
Sorry, I thought someone was just posting an old link so didn't get the point you were making. If you're saying that shouldn't be a leading article any more, I agree with you.
I clicked on some current link, which then suggested other links, including this one.
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Ah, so perhaps the algorithm that decides which articles are related is the problem? Even then, not sure it's a big problem. I look at articles on, for instance, the BBC News site all the time, and the suggested stories can sometimes be years old.
You look for new kit. Algorithm thinks you are interested in articles about new kits. Suggests reading an article about the new kit, albeit last year's.
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Why has it decided that I am interested in Potatohead's pregnancy? cf. page 1 of thread.