TF development in 2006

I think TF is a great place. The people make or break the forums but other qualities/features certainly help .

Some things I think might be beneficial:

1. New design. I think TF's design is great. However, I think there are some issues. Not a fan of the fixed width. I think it is easier on the eyes not to have everything bunched up and I find it easier to read other vb forums that are not limited to XXX width. Although I must say TF has implemented it the best and it does look nice. Originally I can see how it was beneficial. The XXXpx width allows the site to seem more "full". So as the site is getting started off and has less content, the fixed width makes the forum seem more active by keeping all the content in a smaller space. However, I think TF is getting big enough now where this isn't an issue.

I could go either way on the colors. I think the colors work great for the site but are not near as unique as they use to be. TF was one of the "more original" sites to use the light green/blue combo but unfortuantly desingners these days use and abuse those colors like a red headed step child.

I like the front page (also have the same issue of many people ripping the exact design lately), but it would be cool to have the frontpage have info on it other than just the forum itself. Maybe a block for "member of the week". Each week a different member is chosen with short writeup/bio on a member with a picture. Doesn't have to be some "great honor", just to get to know the community better. Also maybe some TF news or the previously mentioned articles. Really just little features to mix things up. Personally I would just like to see a front page that offered so much more than just a "forum". If I wanted to go straight to the forums then I could do that as well. www.talkfreelance.com/forums, problem solved :P

2. vb upgrade would be nice although I think to the majority of people it really doesn't make much of a difference. I know that is on the TF "list to do" anyways.

3. more options. I think periodically new features/hacks keep people wanting more. One of the old forums I go on had a 'thing' where about every 1 or 2 months they would install a mod/hack/feature to the forums. Usually nothing major, but it was just enough to keep people loving it. Sometimes they would take suggestions and other times they would just pick something. Either way it just kept things interesting. An option I would like to see would possible more member options. More profile features, maybe even user galleries. I love forums that give the users lots of "toys" to mess with.

4. The face. The big grin face has to be my favorite smiley of all times!

5. Wouldn't mind seeing a couple new sections. Maybe a 'hardware' section or something of that nature. I like getting in discussions like "what should my new computer be", "how to setup RAID0", or "what laptop PWNZZ" etc. However, I often don't venture into the off topic area.

I will brain storm and see if I can come up with some other suggestions. TF has been great so far and I am sure it will only get better. Robson seems to have a knack (sp?) for business so I'm sure things will evolve great.

Cheers

edit: didn't realize BigZee is the new owner! Opps! Congrats Z

Good suggestions guys - keep them coming.

Give up the silly notion of only being a "web design & webmaster" forum. Remember, we're TalkFreelance not TalkWebDesignAndWebmastering.

• Blogs, no.
• Articles, not a dedicated section: keep what we have in the forums.
• Webmaster tools, no. Freelancer tools, maybe.
• New skin, no.
• [SOLD] feature for sales, yes.
• vBulletin upgrade, yes - if only for improved security (and a bit more bloat).

My suggestion, KISS. I'm sure you know what that means.

Cheerio,
Salathe

Originally Posted by Salathe Give up the silly notion of only being a "web design & webmaster" forum. Remember, we're TalkFreelance not TalkWebDesignAndWebmastering. Blogs, no. Articles, not a dedicated section: keep what we have in the forums. Webmaster tools, no. Freelancer tools, maybe. New skin, no. [SOLD] feature for sales, yes. vBulletin upgrade, yes - if only for improved security (and a bit more bloat). My suggestion, KISS. I'm sure you know what that means. Cheerio, Salathe

So basically you are suggestion little/no change? I think that is part of the whole reason Robson passed on the site was to grow and develop the site further, into more than just a simple forum.

I think web design is a big part of Freelancing don't you?

I'm confused as to what TalkFreelance should be in your eyes. Would you to elaborate? I am just curious of your view

Originally Posted by jared So basically you are suggestion little/no change? I think that is part of the whole reason Robson passed on the site was to grow and develop the site further, into more than just a simple forum. I think web design is a big part of Freelancing don't you? I'm confused as to what TalkFreelance should be in your eyes. Would you to elaborate? I am just curious of your view

Jared, of course I'll take a little time to elaborate on my points.

Little changes, baby steps if you will, would be preferable in my eyes than sweeping reform. If Robson/Zee prefer to change TalkFreelance's direction to something other than a "web design & webmaster" forum then some of the suggestions here might be a good start. Personally, I'd rather stick with the forum being the focal point of the community. Actually, not just a focal point but the only point to the community. I have banded a certain word around twice in as many sentences: Community. This is how I see TalkFreelance. We are a community of freelancers coming together to talk about our related interests. We are not all designers, not all programmers, not all marketers, consultants, copy writers, etc but we are all united under the freelance umbrella. This is why I take issue with the "web design & webmaster" labelling (I understand the labelling was purely for SEO).

Regarding your comment about web design being "a big part of Freelancing". Well, on this forum it is fact that most of our members are web designers (whether freelancers or otherwise). However that does not mean web design is a big part of freelancing 'out there' in the real world. Web design is just another slice of the pie that is being a contractor for a living (freelancing). I don't have facts and figures, but common sense judgement would hopefully make it clear that of all the industries out there to work in, web design is just another tiny fish in a very, very big sea. Does TalkFreelance want to concentrate on just web design (and webmastering) or do we want to invite other fish to our party?

Hopefully by now you've got at least an idea of my view concerning what TalkFreelance is (and should be). Every member here is entitled to their own view point, which in all probability is likely to differ from my own.

Thanks for reading,
Salathe

Originally Posted by Salathe Give up the silly notion of only being a "web design & webmaster" forum. Remember, we're TalkFreelance not TalkWebDesignAndWebmastering. Blogs, no. Articles, not a dedicated section: keep what we have in the forums. Webmaster tools, no. Freelancer tools, maybe. New skin, no. [SOLD] feature for sales, yes. vBulletin upgrade, yes - if only for improved security (and a bit more bloat). My suggestion, KISS. I'm sure you know what that means. Cheerio, Salathe

If you know about SEO, you should know that getting the keyword your target audience search for in the title and description is absolutely key to people actually finding you in the search engines. So you need to target both A). What freelancers search for and B) What freelance customer search for.

That way you create an internet space where freelancers can meet potential customers. People do not search just for "freelance" they search for "freelance web designers", "freelance developers" etc etc. Therefore it is essential to have those keywords in your title and description to actually get found on the search engines - it pretty competitive out there and we need to take every opportunity we can get.

I would have thought that "Freelance" tools are very similar to "webmaster tools" ?? Freelancers develop websites, webmasters run them - both relate directly for tools relating to websites. EG if a freelancer is asked to do SEO for a customer, then would some tools to help with SEO not be an advantage?

Originally Posted by Salathe Give up the silly notion of only being a "web design & webmaster" forum. Remember, we're TalkFreelance not TalkWebDesignAndWebmastering. Blogs, no. Articles, not a dedicated section: keep what we have in the forums. Webmaster tools, no. Freelancer tools, maybe. New skin, no. [SOLD] feature for sales, yes. vBulletin upgrade, yes - if only for improved security (and a bit more bloat). My suggestion, KISS. I'm sure you know what that means. Cheerio, Salathe

kudos.

If you want my opinion where I see Talkfreelance.

> The best marketplace hands down out of ANY webdesign/development community, this is done by enforcing a few new policies, including not having threads bumped to the top upon replies, stricter advertisement limits (e.g one per every 14 days). Some additional services such as thread highlighting and I really like the idea of the "sold" feature. I also had the idea of combining a system like www.scriptlance.com has, instead of simply listing work and recieving offers, people would "bid" on it.

> Skin, I would hire the same designer who did Talkfreelance but I wouldn't change the "style/colours", I would make it 100% wide and include a better brand identity, more like an enhanced version with 728x90 sitewide ads and the like.

> Article system, like sitepoints, that's the site I have always tried to emulate, it works.

> Blogging, very popular, you could also have some feaured blogs on the index page or something.

> Freelancers directory, with premium sticky listings and what not.

I have alot more ideas, but that's what I see TF version 3 doing (in my eyes) a portal like site with alot more functionality, a better community and a much better marketplace!

Webmaster tools could easily include such things as SEO tools, (inter)network tools, etc.
Freelance tools (IMO) would cater more for things like contracts, per-hour payment calculations, invoice tools, etc.

They're both very, very brief lists of what might be available but hopefully it gets my point across. Sure, a webmaster and a freelancer (whatever their career line) might use some of the same tools but there is a larger difference between the two than it seems you see. You even outline a key difference: "Freelancers develop websites, webmasters run them." That's actually a very big difference (to me).

With regards to your SEO statements. So you're going to include "web hosting" or "programming & databases", "advertising", "marketing", "legal help" in the page title's keyword list for topics/pages in the appropriate category?

Originally Posted by Salathe Webmaster tools could easily include such things as SEO tools, (inter)network tools, etc. Freelance tools (IMO) would cater more for things like contracts, per-hour payment calculations, invoice tools, etc. They're both very, very brief lists of what might be available but hopefully it gets my point across. Sure, a webmaster and a freelancer (whatever their career line) might use some of the same tools but there is a larger difference between the two than it seems you see. You even outline a key difference: "Freelancers develop websites, webmasters run them." That's actually a very big difference (to me). With regards to your SEO statements. So you're going to include "web hosting" or "programming & databases", "advertising", "marketing", "legal help" in the page title's keyword list for topics/pages in the appropriate category?

Yes, your idea for the above is a good idea - although you are obviously a bit limited with the title for number of words.