Rethinking my methodology and site structure...

[The Commish]

I'm putting this out there for everyone to submit constructive ideas and comments...

I'm still in the web "stone age" so to say, whether I'm coding a site via htlp or php there's a time honored site structure...

Well, with the CMS software we're using now, I'm wearing cleats and carrying a bat on an ice hockey rink... This is a whole new ballgame!!!

We had sections like "Historical Places" and then sub sections like "Schools"... Although schools fall under the historical places, I'm feeling they need their own section in the upper navigation bar.. I'm having issues with the way the section manager on the right side of the home and content pages is working and it's making a lot of work.

So instead of using the "Sections" I'm considering adding to the upper navigation and using "Categories." I'm also 86'ing certain sections and adding new ones...

The main categories would be as follows...

Abandoned
Transportation
Roadside
Bygone

They are catch all categories, many things can fall under them that also fit into other categories.

I want to move;

Schools
Churches
Gold Coast Mansions

To their own upper navigation and use categories to navigate them, they will also be previewed on their respective pages.

The ultimate goal is the KISS principle and for the most computer illiterate person to visit the site and find what they are looking for... I also want it to be easier for those of us who will be putting content up on the site, as of right now we are making double pages, one is navigation and one is the article and with what little is up, I can see how confusing it's going to get....

Does everyone understand what I am saying? If you look around the site, I've got a combination of both the old and new going on...

Comments are very welcome here....

Remember we need to keep it easy to navigate and find what you are looking for unlike other places on the net...

[DOC]

Well, like nasus said earlier, we think that the then & now forums new to be highlighted better instead of hiding behind the general discussion title. I know it's there, but needs it's own section?

[Nasus]

I think the cemeteries and churches should have their own place along with the schools. Sometimes those awesome pics and info get lost in the forum. Definitely worthy of having their own pages/link up top.

[The Commish]

Well, like nasus said earlier, we think that the then & now forums new to be highlighted better instead of hiding behind the general discussion title. I know it's there, but needs it's own section?

I think the cemeteries and churches should have their own place along with the schools. Sometimes those awesome pics and info get lost in the forum. Definitely worthy of having their own pages/link up top.

This is for the main site, not the forums.... I know we discussed it in the past, but I was never comfortable with punting photos of cemeteries on the main site, I think others agreed with me...

The forums are not a priority at this moment, suggestions and bugs will be addressed as quickly as possible but my main concern is getting the content back on the site... Google and the other search engines are crawling us and the content that was once there is no longer which means we are losing our rankings in the search results...

[Nasus]

This is for the main site, not the forums.... I know we discussed it in the past, but I was never comfortable with punting photos of cemeteries on the main site, I think others agreed with me...

The forums are not a priority at this moment, suggestions and bugs will be addressed as quickly as possible but my main concern is getting the content back on the site... Google and the other search engines are crawling us and the content that was once there is no longer which means we are losing our rankings in the search results...

Good thinking about the cemeteries......agreed. But what about a sub category for places of worship? I think at one time that idea was thrown around. Maybe the churches & cemeteries can have their own place in there eventually? Im liking how if you click on something, the sub categories come up to chose from. Again, very user friendly which is something we should have here.

[The Commish]

I'm having issues with the sub categories, it's the whole premise of my ramblings...