Roughfish.com Upgrade - Looking For Input From Our Users

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andy
andy's picture
Roughfish.com Upgrade - Looking For Input From Our Users
<p>Corey and I will be upgrading to the newest version of our CMS now that it has been stabilized. &nbsp;This will improve our mobile-friendliness and hopefully make adding content - images and other content - much easier for you guys. &nbsp;We may re-skin the appearance of the website a little bit too.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>If any of you have suggestions about how to improve the look or functionality of roughfish.com, please post your ideas to this thread. &nbsp;We are striving to make it a better home for our community!</p>
FP4LifesDad
FP4LifesDad's picture
You guys do a great job here, much appreciated!

I know you guys have started updating fish species tactics, etc. like the gizzard shad, bullheads, and yellow bass!  That's extremely helpful.  As new input comes along it'd be nice to have anything worthwhile right on that species main page if it's possible, if not, it's not that much work to search the fish and go thru forum topics to get what I'm looking for.  I direct as many people as possible here for anything fish related they are looking for, and we constantly try and promote the species derby and lifelists.   The more people who join the hunt the more info we will all have, the easier it will be to unwrap the puzzle of some of these strange dwellers of the deep.  Just met a guy the other day who has caught blue suckers in the Miss, didn't know what they were and threw them back (thank God), but once he described them I knew what it was.  He's seen other people catch them as well fishing walleyes.  It amazes me how much local knowledge is out there ................. if you can find it!!  Thanks fellas!

SomewhereDownstream
SomewhereDownstream's picture
Fish species

I don't know if everyone's aloud to write species profiles, but I think that we should have solid informant profiles on as many of the international and saltwater species as possible, preferably written by the people who have actually caught them. As someone who used to only use this site for research, I was disappointed when there was little to no information here on mostly saltwater species that I wanted to catch. There needs to be some information, at least on common species like stripers and crevalles. I would be willing to write a few and I'm sure that between all of the site's members, we have enough information to write at least a couple of paragraphs on every species here.

SomewhereDownstream

Outdoors4life
Outdoors4life's picture
Everyone can write

Everyone can write and submit what they would like to be considered. 

The reason saltwater is almost non-existent is because most of us live in the midwest where there is no saltwater. I personally have only fished in salt water 2 times.  

With the species that have lots of info it is a collaboration of those that share our experiences.  We have even tried to include pictures of different sizes and from different drainages to get the best sampling of variations. This helps with people to learn ID for fish that look very different in juvenile, adult, and trophy size. 

It is all perspective!

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Deftik
Deftik's picture
I know I'm showing my age

I know I'm showing my age here.....but maybe like a chat area.....theres always like 10-15+ people online here and no effective way to communicate other than forums and private chat, we all collectively talk on facebook but I feel that would be a nice addition to the site, and maybe possible to implement in a way that compliments the site.

 

More emphasis on lifelists, I've always felt that was what made this site not only exciting but down right innovative, I know it propogates the idea that you're in a competition to catch the most fish but no more so than being inudated by people of them flying the country for suckers.

 

Maybe more emphasis on upgrading the badges function, everyone loves something in the vain of "achievements" xbox style. It would also put more focus on catching species in your own back yard if you have a shiny badge under your name that says you caught a trophy redhorse or all the redhorse etc etc


just some ideas....

SomewhereDownstream
SomewhereDownstream's picture
Sweet

That's awesome that anyone can write a species profile and at least have it considered for inclusion. 

I only fish saltwater about seven or eight days a year, usually in southern Delmarva, but I have a fair amount of experience and there are about twenty five or thirty species that I believe that I could write a useful, informed profile about. I don't have pictures for all of them, but I do have the information.

I think we should start a forum for each species that needs updating. Pretty much all of the saltwater species, and some of the freshwater ones could probably use a bit more information, too.

Is that too many forums?

SomewhereDownstream

Corey
Corey's picture
Species Profile Forum

That's a good idea, we'll consider it for the next version.

FP4LifesDad
FP4LifesDad's picture
Ditto that Deftik!

Badges and achievements give people something to strive for and aspire to.  For example FP's lifelist lake trout, ya he caught one but it was a little one and a species neither of us have any desire to pursue again, lifelist species check, but if there were a trophy size recognition of some sort, it would get people out retargeting fish for bigger ones, like Deftik said in our own backyards, just a thought.  I know the MN DNR has the Master Angler program and we frequent that alot with bigger fish if they qualify, maybe something on those lines.  His scrapbook has little tiny certificates from there that I posted by the pics of the fish as he catches and documents them, something simple but valuable to the person that gets them.  When we used to be heavy in cub/boy scouts that was the one thing the kids went nuts over (as well as the dads & moms) was little achievement pins, pics, awards, whatever, not something major just something that says "hey I did this", the acheivement awards here are cool as heck.  He's still bragging to all of his school and fishing buddies about his golden fish award, very, very cool, that's something he and I will remember forever, thank you guys again, to be recognized by not just people but serious fisherpeople, the best of the best, for a cool catch, is a MAJOR accomplishment, one that gets people off the couch and on the water! I know at one time there was a trophy species idea that was going around here as it was talked about again not to long ago.  What killed it was everyone had different opinions on what a trophy fish would be.  Maybe put together some sort of council of the most active members with the most species and experience under their belts (like the one for the June derby) and have them come up with some numbers set in stone so they are what they are.  Just some thoughts that could bring more people on board, not everyone will be happy with everything all the time ever anyway! 

On a side note, I can't imagine the amount of work it took to develop and ongoing work it takes to maintain something like roughfish, with the round up, the derby, all the forums, pics, lifelists, etc. if you guys decide to say no way it stays as is, I'm pretty sure everyone on here, including us would be more then understanding, I'm super happy with what we've got.  My family and I really, really appreciate all you guys do here, including other members who've been cool enough to share info, ideas, etc.  With out this website our lifelists would certainly be a lot smaller, much appreciated fellas, truly, keep up the awesome work. I don't know of any site anywhere with this much knowledge on fish and fishing then there is right here, it's AWESOME!!!

Outdoors4life
Outdoors4life's picture
Time commitment

There is a lifetime of work in this site. 

One thing to remember is this site has been done with no advertising to pay a full time employee to keep it up. THe cost of time and money is huge to run a site such as this one. 

I might be the odd one out but I fish for myself and to share what I learn is an honor. I don't need no stinking badges (although I have some) with trophy sizes it is really a tough call. One area  a trophy would be considered small in another area. 20 inch shorthead redhorse on the croix is large. In another area I fished a Caught a couple about 21 inches where I have barely spent any time.  A trophy is up to the person who catches it. We got into a heated discussion about trophy sizes a few years ago.

The best thing any of us can do is write about what we know and contribute because it does not need admin to spend time on it. Corey knows I put bugs in his ear all the time about improvements. To his credit he has implimented every feasable improvent.

Some here know I started my own website before RF greatly improved the website and I had a virus that was an attack and it waited a year to corrupt and every backup was lost. It nearly killed me for the amount of time that went into the site. I choose to contribute here any way I can instead of rebuilding my site. 

As fara as a forum for every species it would be aweful and hard to navigate. Threads can be made and easily searched though. 

Everything takes time and that is something you can never get more of. I am sure there are many cool things in the works.

 

It is all perspective!

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Waxworm
Posting pics
Haven't been able to post any pics here for some time - embarrassed to admit not for lack of trying. Just can't get any pics from Photobucket uploaded. Maybe the problem is Photobucket? I know to keep the site more secure, from "bots" especially, it's necessary to not make posting pics overly simple or easy. But it seems other folks have experienced the same pic-posting trouble, and maybe this might prevent more reports from being posted. Anyways, any way to streamline posting pics (for dumb old farts like me who aren't very tech savvy) and retain enough bot busting security? Thanks!
andy
andy's picture
photo uploads

Waxworm, we will hopefully see some improvement in image uploading and posting content in general.  I think we need a tutorial posted about how to utilize the Rich Text Editor for making posts as well.  Also, don't forget that you can upload photos to your own custom Galleries right here on roughfish.com too.  That makes it a lot easier for many.

 

http://roughfish.com/all-batch-image-sets

 

 

 

 

FP4LifesDad
FP4LifesDad's picture
That's by far the easiest for me boss!

I usually upload to my own photos for my page then I can just copy and paste them when I want them on the forum or for an article, expedition, etc.  It took some getting used to but once I figured it out it's pretty easy, and I'm by no means good on a computer.

Divemaster
Divemaster's picture
It'd be nice to have a

It'd be nice to have a section to just make quick day reports. Something where you say where you were (if you want to), target species, fish caught and size, what tactics used, etc.. I know there's a trip reports section and obviously the expedition reports, but I think that something which can be filled out and submitted in not too much time would encourage more people to post more content, myself included. I've been meaning to make an expedition report for the past two months but if I write one of them, I feel the need to write it very professionally and triple check everything once done, which I often don't have the time to do.

FP4LifesDad
FP4LifesDad's picture
I like that idea too!

I would post more reports and info too, but hate adding something unless it's really cool to the expedition area because I don't want to knock a super cool report about someplace far away with tons of great pictures off the main page to tell everyone the carp are biting. lol  If we could somehow link specific species reports to the bottom of the species page that would be super helpful too.  That way they wouldn't clog up the species page, but be easily accessible if a person was researching a certain fish.  Example Gizzard Shad, there is some info on the main page for that species but if we could some how link it to the forum topics where everyone threw in their 10 cents on how to catch them and where to find them it would really increase the amount and ease of access to the info.  Just a thought.

andy
andy's picture
good idea
Divemaster. I think we should do something like that. Quick little fishing reports by region.
Graceclaw
Graceclaw's picture
A couple more thoughts

I agree with Divemaster- it seems like a lot of us post on Facebook because we just want to share a quick little outing that we enjoyed. If there were a section of the forum/specific section of the site dedicated to 'ordinary' trips, we would definitely get more activity. Hopefully people won't post EVERY little Green Sunfish or Creek Chub they catch, but maybe a particularly enjoyable or successful trip to a favorite hole. Maybe even without pics. I dunno.

One suggestion I have- let people choose which lifelist is displayed when someone clicks on their bio. I know a lot of people want to show off some of their super cool micro catches as well; as it is, it's quite difficult to get to the micro (or even combined) lifelist.

While we're on bios, something that has bugged me for a while is the fact that there's both a 'User' and 'Bio' page for everyone. It's moderately annoying that, after 2 years on this site, I can still click and be taken to a user's page rather than their bio when I wanted to see their lifelist. It seems like it would be an easy enough thing to combine (or just get rid of the 'user' page entirely).

Two more cents in the jar.

andy
andy's picture
Great Suggestions Everyone!

Keep 'em coming.

SomewhereDownstream
SomewhereDownstream's picture
More than a couple more thoughts

I really like the idea of a regional reports page. I think the most effective way to organize it would be by state, although members in the Midwest would have to post less (because it seems that most people on this site are Midwesterners) and any members from, say, Hawaii would need to post a lot to keep up a functional page, because I'm really not even sure that we have anyone from Hawaii on here. I also think that the page wouldn't work if you had to post an exact location, though, because, as well as I like this site, I refuse to post most of my fishing spots on the internet and I think that a lot of other guys are on the same boat. It would be really, really cool to have a page like that, though, something like the notable catches page but with a bunch of notable fish, as opposed to gigantic/rare/ridiculously elusive ones.

Bryan: it's certainly an interesting idea, but sorry man, part of why I like this site is because there is no like button.

I also really like the idea of having more contests. Not huge ones, like the species contest, but maybe something like a biggest sucker contest running from the beginning of March to the end of May, with just a badge or something as a prize. I don't know how hard they are to manage, but it would be fun if we had a couple of small scale contests throughout the year. 

I agree with graceclaw that the user page needs to go.

That's what, six cents in the jar now?

SomewhereDownstream

andy
andy's picture
Like Button

I' m actually a fan of the like button.  Any more opinions on it?

 

 

IsaacsFishingCorner
IsaacsFishingCorner's picture
I'm actually a fan of the

I'm actually a fan of the like button too, that is one of the few aspects of Facebook that is appealing to me

Mike B
Mike B's picture
Some times you don't really

Some times you don't really have much to add to the discussion other than a compliment. The like button is a good way to pay one without having to find a new way to say something already said. So I like the button too. I'll add I miss the avatar tags with the different fish species indicating how long people have been members. Having it change with time was something to look forward too.

mike b

Jason E.
Jason E.'s picture
I'm a history nerd, so feel

I'm a history nerd, so feel free to discard this, if it seems dumb.  It would be cool to have documents related to the history of fishing somewhere on here.  There's loads of stuff out there about the history of fishing, from Izaak Walton to Robert Roosevelt to World War I propaganda posters.  The first known book on angling was written by a nun (Juliana Berners, in 1496).  How many people know that? She described techniques for building equipment, finding bait, and catching various species, including carp. A lot of these materials are public domain, so I don't envision copyright issues. I'd be happy to pull together a list of sites or collection of files this summer, if it would help. I already did a lot of this work for my class, so it wouldn't be too tough.

One of the amazing things I discovered while building a university class on fishing was that the pursuit of a variety of fish species has been a hallmark of humans for centuries.  The whole "gamefish" movement is relatively recent. It seems to me that one of the main goals of this site has been to encourage people to go beyond the "normal" angling pursuits.  A better recognition of angling history offers us several benefits, including recovering information about long-neglected species and revealing conclusive evidence that angling preferences change over time (history shows us there's nothing inherently "cool" or "normal" about just fishing for bass or walleye, in other words).

I also think a bibliography, of sorts, containing awesome secondary literature we've read, could be nice to have. There's some good reads out there, and a concise list of materials would be useful to anglers, educators, etc.

This site, in other words, could be a "go-to" resource for educators hoping to teach others about fish/angling.  It already was enormously useful for me, but these are just some ways it could be even more helpful. But, like I said, I'm a history nerd, so others might dismiss this idea as too boring/academic.

SomewhereDownstream
SomewhereDownstream's picture
Good idea

I like it. I don't know if it really fits this site and the people on it, and that's what Andy and Corey are going to have to decide, but I like it.

SomewhereDownstream

Outdoors4life
Outdoors4life's picture
Often I do not comment but I

Often I do not comment but I want to show support. 

I'd LIKE that!

 

It is all perspective!

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the bearded angler
the bearded angler's picture
anyhting that brings more

anyhting that brings more posts and pics is fine with me. I don't and won't ever facebook so it sucks I am missing out on these reports.

Moose439
Moose439's picture
I vote to kill the RF

I vote to kill the RF facebook. Facebook is cancer.

Mike B
Mike B's picture
I know but you and I are on

I know but you and I are on Facebook a 100 times a day. I think killing the Facebook page would be a mistake. The key is using Facebook to draw people to features on this website.

mike b

Moose439
Moose439's picture
I get the positives but I

I get the positives but I hate that so much shit only gets posted there.

Gunnar
Gunnar's picture
Ability to scroll from one photo to next in lifelists

When you click on a photo in a lifelist, it's a link to that photo. To see the next one, you have to go back then click on another photo. I've always wished I could just click on an arrow and go to the next one in the same lifelist. Same for the bunch of lifelist photos at the bottom of a species info page. 

And I'd like to be able to scroll through EVERY lifelist photo of a species, not just the dozen or so that are shown at the bottom of a species page. Obviously wouldn't do it for hundreds of bluegills, but sometimes I just want to see all the spotted gars or river redhorses or something.

If a "like" button isn't an option, maybe just a way to follow a post and its replies without having to post a reply. And it would say "users following this post" somewhere, indicating to the post's author that people are interested. Honestly, though, it does always feel good when someone replies, even if only to say "nice fish" or something.

 

 

Redhorse ID cheatsheets, gars, suckers: moxostoma.com


2020: 10 days fishing 11 species 0 lifers. 2019: 34/45/13 2018: 39/40/5

Corey
Corey's picture
Gunnar - Lifelist Search

At the bottom of the main lifelist page is a link to LIFELIST SEARCH. This allows you to look at all the lifelist entries for a particular species.

 

Definitely going to incorporate these suggestions whenever possible in the updated site.

Gunnar
Gunnar's picture
True.

Maybe the lifelist photos part of a species page could have a link to a lifelist search of that species for anyone wanting to look at all of them.

Still have to use the back button too much when looking at them, but good to know there's already a way to see them all.

 

Redhorse ID cheatsheets, gars, suckers: moxostoma.com


2020: 10 days fishing 11 species 0 lifers. 2019: 34/45/13 2018: 39/40/5

Corey
Corey's picture
Sure

Both great ideas. I will look into them. The new platform will be Drupal 8, which is a very flexible system, mobile-ready from the core, a better forum, and with robust social media facilities. I could probably implement something like that on the current site but I don't want to have program it all twice. Keep the input coming!

andy
andy's picture
photo gallery < >

I think any galleries - lifelist, batch image set, etc. should be navigable by arrow buttons or clicking somehow.  Like a lightbox type thing.

 

SomewhereDownstream
SomewhereDownstream's picture
Ideas

I think that that would make the galleries and lifelists a lot more navigable. 

If possible, can you guys bring back the thing that shows how many people have looked at an expedition report? I know it's probably quite vain, but it was interesting to see how many people were looking around here. I'm also something of a hobbyist fishing writer, and I liked seeing what kinds of pictures and titles attract people the most.

One last request: if possible, a regional reports page would be COOL.

SomewhereDownstream