FWFF website circa 10-2014

Greetings. Some of you may know me, but I am guessing many of you don’t. My name’s Shannon, and I’ve been brought in to do some work on the Fort Worth Fly Fishers club website. So here we go!

You will notice some subtle changes virtually overnight:

  • I’ve rearranged the menu at the top of the site to be a little more efficient and intuitive.
  • The calendar of events turns out to be a very powerful feature in this site, and we are beginning to add events to it. Not only do these events show in a simple calendar, they also contain maps to the events and (when I find or have them) contain links to information directly related to the event.

There are many more changes coming of course, but none of them are intended to obscure or diminish access to information, or delete anything the majority considers critical to the club’s purpose and identity. All this work goes on behind the scenes in real-time, and you will not have any “downtime” on the website whatsoever.

IN GENERAL, the website is  evolving quite quickly from a static (same information all the time) to a dynamic front page with fresh content provided by you, for all of us to enjoy, learn and commune. Not only will the new look provide unprecedented information for, from and about the Fort Worth Fly Fishers; it will also give visitors from around the world a window into what this club and its members are all about – RIGHT NOW.

SPECIFICALLY, we need your stories, photographs and club-related announcements. If we’re going to have a “Fly Tying” page, we will need to have content for that page. Late breaking news: fly tying  will be managed by Mark Kolanowski who has some fantastic ideas and energy coming to this part of the FWFF community.

Last month’s club trip to Port Aransas, Texas, was a perfect opportunity to catch fish, take photographs, collect words and send them in to us. We will put it all together! More Content!

CHANGING SOON

  • By the next time you arrive on the site there will probably be even more changes.
  • The front (landing) page will have “News” instead of the static “Home” page.
  • We are slowly ramping up social networking with the ability for you to LIKE – SHARE – TWEET – GOOGLE+ what you see here to your own social network.
  • More social networking – There’ll be a Twitter feed for Fort Worth Fly Fishers and we will be sharing information to the Facebook page as well as a new Google+ and YouTube account.
  • A new general “Contact” page that simply allows people to contact the club.  DONE.
  • I’ve been tasked with changing the entire look of the Fort Worth Fly Fishers website, and we will be working toward that goal. While the look may change, the discussion boards, content and information already invested in the site will remain in place throughout the process.
  • As always, suggestions to make the site better are always welcome. Ideas for the site are already circulating, and trying new things can be implemented on an “experimental” basis to see how they work and are received by users of the site. If they don’t work, they can be easily removed.
  • One idea I have is to boost interest in the fly tying page by selecting / creating new fly tying videos on a regular, consistent basis. They would first appear in a post, and then be placed on the fly tying page. Tying flies (posting videos)  related to upcoming FWFF outings or fishing conditions makes sense, doesn’t it? (Mark Kolanowski)
  • We will probably also want a page with a slideshow of FWFF photography that is edited to add photography over the years – making a permanent visual historical document.
  • I also suggest a “Member Feature” which would be a feature story about an individual member, and published on a regular, ongoing, basis. It would be a healthy way to give new members, and potential members insights into the kind of individuals that comprise the club’s membership. It also highlights the dynamic fly fishing knowledge embodied in the FWFF group. DONE
  • We will also be adding a PayPal button so that people can make club payments online.
  • For those of you operating your own fly fishing websites, feel free to put a hard link to the FWFF website if you like.

 

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