MGS Forum Content Poll

[GolfSpy_APH 7,054]

As nearly all of you know we have had some changes to the forum this year and it has had its ups and downs, however I am happy with the progress we have made so far... key being so far. First I want to start of by saying I know the changes haven't been accepted by all, but I continue to get PM's and the like about the site and how we can adapt and improve it these messages are important and always taken into consideration. 

Before going any further I expect conversation in this thread to be productive. I am more then willing to listen to suggestions as well provide feedback as to why things are what they are, however if this just turns into constant complaining then well.... lets just hope it doesn't come to that. We all want to see the site grow and do well so lets keep comments in a productive manner. Also we know about ads... there have been a lot of discussion on it already and we have sent messages out to the powers to be and hopefully at somepoint we will have a permanent fix for that. 

Headed into the off season we will continue to take a look at everything and how to improve on what has been implemented and what is dated and should be improved on. 

A few highlighted features that have been added this year are as follows
- New testing platform
- AMA!! - Thank you @GolfSpy_TCG
- User Groups - @tony@CIC with a great suggestion that has been used a fair bit within shotscope and arccos and will likely see growth with more devices coming out. https://forum.mygolfspy.com/forum/91-mgs-user-groups/

Keep in mind the Forum is always evolving, we have had several features come and go and the site continues to grow. 

A few more things to keep in mind before you comment

- You can always PM me privately to discuss a specific topic. Trust me you would not be the first nor the last and again I am happy to discuss a situation or topic that may be on your mind. 

- The testing section will continue to be worked on. We recognize it isn't perfect and want to continue to improve with it. That being said I know it is signifcantly better then when first launched and based on traffic reviews are getting a lot more attention. 

- Added to the testing section we will be revising and adapting some of the procedural processes to steam line the reviews on the frontend and backend. This includes some work on the templates for reviews and more. Part of this will be to keep things a bit more consistent across all reviews. Including the new star rating system which is there. 

- We have had a big change over this year with the mods (myself being new included) and there was a pretty steep learning curve to start off. Added in this with a near record number of tests so far and Covid delays/issues it has been a trying season to say the least. We are very appreciative of all the testers and feel for all those who have had to wait or are still waiting for their equipment to come to test. 

Okay I think that is all for the moment. I will be trying to respond to as much of these as quickly as possible and watching/reading all the comments, but feel free to tag me in it so I get to notification if its overly important that you feel it needs to be read. 

Last last point, please please fill out the poll as it helps us get an idea for use within the forum and we may send out a survey later on via email for everyone to fill out, but this is the start for now. 

[MaxEntropy 8,180]

I understand and appreciate what you guys are trying to do. My biggest complaint is that the testing forum was not tested/debugged nearly enough before going live and there wasn't near enough education for the members. I don't have the stats you guys have, but I would suggest there was a huge decrease in engagement. I was part of the Callaway Epic test - there are three pages of comments. The most recent analogous test under the old system would be the TSi drivers last year with 44 (!!!!) pages of comments. If the new method was intended to drive engagement, it failed miserably (nevermind the wonky behavior that continues).

I'll leave the ads and the brutal effect on user experience alone, as you guys are at least trying to address it.

My preference is to view from the main page, but have been forced to use recent content on my phone because of the terrible user experience. I shouldn't have to change my preferred method.

[bens197 11,613]

This past year and correct me if I am wrong but there seems to have been an influx but also a retention of new members.

That was nice to see...clearly this community is doing something right.  I don't have any constructive feedback, it's a pleasure to browse and participate with all of you.

[tony@CIC 21,955]

@GolfSpy_APH, good update/thread. A few recommendations: Provide next steps after you and the other mods have had a chance to digest the feedback. As to site improvements, I would recommend that polls have a close date and disappear after that date. The current poll; scotty vs ping gold vault has been up for several weeks and maybe even months. This makes the  site look a bit stale.   Lastly the push emails 'Forum Digest' provide little to no value to me, not sure about anyone else.

Thanks again for the ongoing communication! 

[GolfSpy_BOS 15,168]

Thanks for the hard work @GolfSpy_APH and mods!  Some growing pains, sure... but I think you guys have us headed in a good direction.  And I agree with @bens197 it does seem like we've got a good amount of new members going the party, which is great news!  As long as they aren't Bills fans like he is.  

 

 

[greggarner 1,249]

53 minutes ago, MaxEntropy said:

I don't have the stats you guys have, but I would suggest there was a huge decrease in engagement. I was part of the Callaway Epic test - there are three pages of comments. The most recent analogous test under the old system would be the TSi drivers last year with 44 (!!!!) pages of comments.

Not piling on here, just dropping in to +1 this. I only just realized there were different tabs for different types of comments within testing. I was about to 'leave feedback' for the third time on my current test when I noticed that there was a discussion thread like in the old version. I wonder how many others folks are in the same boat and if there might just be a banner announcement with a quick user tour on some of the changes (for this and for future changes)

[Getoffmylawn 5,184]

I’m all for the constant attempts to improve, and as long as we’re all open to feedback (and everyone clearly is here) then keep it coming.

I am curious, and forgive me if this is the wrong thread to ask, but what are the drivers that impact the lead time before closing a testing opportunity for sign-ups and actually selecting and announcing testers?  I’m sure the number of applicants impacts things, but I also noticed the Titleist iron testers were announced in a day (I think) while other opportunities seem to take longer than others.

This is NOT a complaint by any stretch, I’m just genuinely curious as to what the drivers or factors are that impact that lead time, and I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving a little peak behind the curtain regarding that.  Thanks!

[GolfSpy_APH 7,054]

1 minute ago, greggarner said:

Not piling on here, just dropping in to +1 this. I only just realized there were different tabs for different types of comments within testing. I was about to 'leave feedback' for the third time on my current test when I noticed that there was a discussion thread like in the old version. I wonder how many others folks are in the same boat and if there might just be a banner announcement with a quick user tour on some of the changes (for this and for future changes)

 

1 hour ago, MaxEntropy said:

I understand and appreciate what you guys are trying to do. My biggest complaint is that the testing forum was not tested/debugged nearly enough before going live and there wasn't near enough education for the members. I don't have the stats you guys have, but I would suggest there was a huge decrease in engagement. I was part of the Callaway Epic test - there are three pages of comments. The most recent analogous test under the old system would be the TSi drivers last year with 44 (!!!!) pages of comments. If the new method was intended to drive engagement, it failed miserably (nevermind the wonky behavior that continues).

I'll leave the ads and the brutal effect on user experience alone, as you guys are at least trying to address it.

My preference is to view from the main page, but have been forced to use recent content on my phone because of the terrible user experience. I shouldn't have to change my preferred method.

I won't disagree there were several bugs within the new system and as we fixed one more were found out. Included in the previous forum testing update thread I discussed a LOT of those things there. Whether it was timing of it rolling out or whatever I hope we don't ever run into any of those situations again. For what it is worth there was a test site created, however none of the bugs were present there. Added to that it was the forum testing update thread that lead to a lot of the changes which have now been implemented and were suggested by the community. 

These being the tab format - Members didn't want to see the pick me pick me comments hence why we added the Comments and Pre Testing comments. 
@greggarner the "Leave Feedback" is only available for testers. Anyone commenting on the thread will have to do so under the regular comments as they do not have access to the review tab. This is exactly like the old placeholder posts just in a newish area... rather then being at the top/beginning of the thread its under its own tab. I thought I had mentioned this a few times before in previous threads, but I'll have to try and make it more clear for the future. 

We also manually change all the titles for the testing threads as to show when they have signup available, closed, testers announced, in progress and upon completion we send out an announcement to get more eyes on it. 

Part of the issue with fewer pages on the first few reviews on the system was they were not in recent content and unless they were followed it was less then ideal for users to find. Again this was something we worked on and moved as well as renamed as per the memberships request to make it more user friendly. Since then we have been able to get more eyes on them and had a better system for getting the tests more views and gain more traction within the forum.

As we work on some newer changes/optimization we will continue to update the thread (in posts much like these and the previous one I did) to educated and inform the members of whats going on and be there to answer questions that may arise. 

[GolfSpy_APH 7,054]

11 minutes ago, Getoffmylawn said:

I’m all for the constant attempts to improve, and as long as we’re all open to feedback (and everyone clearly is here) then keep it coming.

I am curious, and forgive me if this is the wrong thread to ask, but what are the drivers that impact the lead time before closing a testing opportunity for sign-ups and actually selecting and announcing testers?  I’m sure the number of applicants impacts things, but I also noticed the Titleist iron testers were announced in a day (I think) while other opportunities seem to take longer than others.

This is NOT a complaint by any stretch, I’m just genuinely curious as to what the drivers or factors are that impact that lead time, and I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind giving a little peak behind the curtain regarding that.  Thanks!

Titleist irons were a little different because Titleist needed everything asap to get the irons to the testers for launch. So that was a bit of abnormal circumstances.

This is how it works in general:
Test is Announced published (usually a Thursday/Friday) and left open for roughly 1 week. 
Test closes and we have our "short list" made for selection within a day or so of Sign Up Closure. 
Mods provide feedback on short list over the next few days and after agreement we announce.
- Depending on the test short lists are easier or harder to do and certain requirements have to be met from the OEM. 
So from Signup Closure to Announce is usually 4-6 days or about 2 weeks from when the test is first posted. 
As you all know we have jobs and real life outside of MGS so sometimes schedules can be a bit harder to coordinate as we need at least 3 of us to agree on all the selected testers to ensure we are not playing any bias or missing out on any good candidates that would be good for selection. 
Following that a PM is sent to all the testers asking them to accept the test and get any info we need to send off for them to get the product... if fittings are involved this takes a bit more time. 
 

[Kenny B 32,306]

What's the purpose of the All/None choice in the poll?  All selects all options; None doesn't select anything.  Can't submit the poll with None selected... a choice must be made.

If more than one selection is appropriate, then the option should be "Select all that apply"

[GolfSpy_APH 7,054]

12 minutes ago, Kenny B said:

What's the purpose of the All/None choice in the poll?  All selects all options; None doesn't select anything.  Can't submit the poll with None selected... a choice must be made.

If more than one selection is appropriate, then the option should be "Select all that apply"

Just seems to be a default setting.. I'll look into it, but not something I'm too concerned about unless there are options that are missing?

Edit: Confirm it is a default setting that cannot be changed... If there is a specific option you want I can add it in. 

[daviddvm 3,071]

3 hours ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

last point, please please fill out the poll as it helps us get an idea for use within the forum and we may send out a survey later on via email for everyone to fill out, but this is the start for now

Maybe I'm missing something but I could not find the poll to fill out.

[GolfSpy_APH 7,054]

1 minute ago, daviddvm said:

Maybe I'm missing something but I could not find the poll to fill out.

Should be at the very top... I just signed up to triple check that its all up there at the top of the page. 

[daviddvm 3,071]

1 minute ago, GolfSpy_APH said:

Should be at the very top... I just signed up to triple check that its all up there at the top of the page. 

Okay thanks

[GolfSpy_APH 7,054]

19 hours ago, tony@CIC said:

@GolfSpy_APH, good update/thread. A few recommendations: Provide next steps after you and the other mods have had a chance to digest the feedback. As to site improvements, I would recommend that polls have a close date and disappear after that date. The current poll; scotty vs ping gold vault has been up for several weeks and maybe even months. This makes the  site look a bit stale.   Lastly the push emails 'Forum Digest' provide little to no value to me, not sure about anyone else.

Thanks again for the ongoing communication! 

I think there is a feature to have a thread timed and close at a certain date. So this is something we can look into and look to improve. 

Push emails have been something we have talked about as well and get a fair number of responses to. 

I will be set to close this poll likely middle of the next week. We have had good response so far, but traffic seems to get a bump Mondays (all of us at work missing golf seem to come here haha) therefore I want to leave it up through that and after I'll close it up and we can continue discussion simply in the thread itself. 

At some point we are going to send out a mass email with similar questions to do a complete Survey on the forum and various functions and so on. With that if there are specific questions you feel we should need to have answers to or want to see some info on please add them in here and I'll catalogue them. I cannot guarantee they will get asked, but we will do our best to cover any and all aspects in the survey. 

Finally I think we had a record number of tests this year as we are closing in on 30! opportunities with more then 120 testers this season! 

[Peaksy68 4,961]

I think my thoughts are already well known. I agree wholeheartedly with @MaxEntropy’s comments about the testing section rollout. Communication is absolutely the key to managing change. Having to actively look for review updates on a (technically) separate forum is annoying, and probably significantly reduces traffic on the reviews. 
 

To be totally honest, the AMA is mildly interesting at best. I was really hoping for a lot more from the Content Hunter role, although I understand that the forum changes have had an impact on the implementation of this role. One new thread with a handful of different topics has probably under delivered from the forums expectations.

Hopefully any future significant changes to the forum will be made separately to significant staff changes. Managing both at the same time only magnifies any problems.

There has been a significant lack of presence of most of the admin/moderator team on the forum since the changes in staff.  It’s all well and good for staff to be working in the background(and I appreciate the work being done), but it would be great to see more presence on the forums from the entire team. It seems like the only regular moderator presence on the forum over the last few months is from @GolfSpy_APH, hopefully we can see the rest of the team engaging with the forum and its membership 

 

 

[tchat07 1,847]

I was a frequent MGS app user and really was only way I interacted. When the app feature was removed it really cut down on my engagement. Even to this day I still struggle with the online format because I use my cell. I liked the ability to go in to the app feed and see everything that was recently posted and then I could engage that way. Now I feel like I have to look for what I want to talk about and sometimes it just feels tedious. I just think it's difficult to stay up on most recent content, especially if you are only able to log in once a day. Theres no real way to see what you've missed.

[russtopherb 9,277]

20 minutes ago, tchat07 said:

I was a frequent MGS app user and really was only way I interacted. When the app feature was removed it really cut down on my engagement. Even to this day I still struggle with the online format because I use my cell. I liked the ability to go in to the app feed and see everything that was recently posted and then I could engage that way. Now I feel like I have to look for what I want to talk about and sometimes it just feels tedious. I just think it's difficult to stay up on most recent content, especially if you are only able to log in once a day. Theres no real way to see what you've missed.

FWIW - I always have my phone showing the "Recent Content" view so it behaves like the old app or Tapatalk did. Makes it very easy to read the latest threads/posts.

[sirchunksalot 15,559]

First off, I want to say thank you to the moderators and development team for all the hard work you've put in this year on improving the forum. Not gonna lie, it was pretty rough at the start but it's starting to smooth out. You all have done a great job responding to our concerns and have put in a lot of work to make the forum better.

As far as the poll goes at the top of the page, on #7 I picked all of the above which included "other". I enjoy all of the options but want to say that the main reason I visit the forum is simply for the interaction with my fellow spies. I'm not big on other forms of "social media" I rarely post to them as they seem to have gotten away from wanting to bring us together and are too divisive. I am not a fan of all the negativity. On here we share advice and encouragement when it comes to golf and life in general, and I think that's pretty cool. 

[tony@CIC 21,955]

4 hours ago, Peaksy68 said:

There has been a significant lack of presence of most of the admin/moderator team on the forum since the changes in staff.  It’s all well and good for staff to be working in the background(and I appreciate the work being done), but it would be great to see more presence on the forums from the entire team. It seems like the only regular moderator presence on the forum over the last few months is from @GolfSpy_APH, hopefully we can see the rest of the team engaging with the forum and its membership 

I was thinking the same thing. However, I also appreciate the regular and ongoing communication from @GolfSpy_APH and @Golfspy_CG2. I assume the mod roles have changed and both are the primary 'face' of the forum mods .