What would you like to see on the home page?

[Brian the Automator]

It's been a couple of years now since our last site re-design, and we've tried to put together a site home page that gives the best overview of all the information we have to offer.

 

What kinds of things do you think would be nice to have on the home page?... or even, what kinds of things do you think it would be nice to have on the site in general?

 

The one caveat is that we don't have control over the functionality of the fan forum, so please keep suggestions and ideas limited to the "main site".

 

Thanks!

[homer]

Not sure how feasible any of this is (since most require feeds from someplace else or manual intervention), but here goes:

 

- be nice to have a stat recap of the previous days' 'stars' from all levels of the org.

- I still think standings for each team in the org would be a nice thing to have (since you normally have to go to several places to see it all in one place) but I understand you need to get them from somewhere else so this probably won't work.

- can we get the minor league scores in the Scoreboard section?

- maybe the top five/ten of the power 50 with a link to the rest?

- I think the article crawler and transactions should be more prominent. Maybe swap spots with the player index, store, and fan forum boxes. Since the player index and forum are already on the top menu, maybe you don't even need them on the right hand side.

- As we get closer to the draft, I think it would be awesome to have some kind of daily blog by Colby on potential Brewers picks. Maybe just a paragraph with a link to more information.

 

I guess to me, a main page is something with frequest updates. I tend to only look at it when there is a new story - usually I just skip right to the forum.

 

Like I said, I realize not all of this is possible.....just brainstorming a little.

[Mass Haas]

I still think standings for each team in the org would be a nice thing to have (since you normally have to go to several places to see it all in one place) but I understand you need to get them from somewhere else so this probably won't work.

 

For a few years now, that has been a prominent part of the Link Report's first few posts. Granted, it reflects action before that day's games, but that's still a nice attraction.

 

can we get the minor league scores in the Scoreboard section?

 

We've done that for years; I know, because I tediously do so each evening / morning http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif .

 

(We do not post the minor league spring training games there.)

[homer]

Quote:

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We've done that for years; I know, because I tediously do so each evening / morning

---

 

 

OOF! Yeah I knew that. Strike that from the record, please.

[sbrylski]

I guess to me, a main page is something with frequest updates. I tend to only look at it when there is a new story - usually I just skip right to the forum.

 

Brings up a good point. So much of the business is done on the forums that could be done on the main page. Even things like the Daily Link Report (which is one of the sites best features, if not the best) could be done off the main page rather than the forum. It might seem more "official". Just a thought.

[Ando Calrissian]

This site is quite good at allowing for differing points of view to be shared where traditionalists and non-traditionalits can exisit together in some level of harmony.

 

That being said, I think the site has a bit of a progressive edge to it in that regard.

 

To see that envelope pushed a little bit, I would enjoy seeing a stat leader board on the main page using advanced stats (sabermetric or something else I don't know about that consitutes "advanced stats") for either Brewer players and/or league leaders in the respective categories.

 

In that way not only would useful information be shared but it would also help continue educate us about new ways to look at the game. This site has so greatly enhanced my love of the game and my knowledge of it through it's discussions of things like this that I think it would be great way to keep that kind of information in front of us and in the process continue to help us learn different ways to talk about the game.

 

Thanks.

[1992casey]

I like Ando Calrissian's idea. Some of this may be determined by where Brian gets his stats. It may not be practical to do VORP or FIP, for instance.

 

But for hitters, you might be able to do AB, BA, OBP, SLG, and OPS, with the sort done by OPS. (BA is still useful to statheads if it's used with OBP and SLG.)

 

I'm not sure what you'd choose for pitchers, but I'll throw this out there. We often use K/9 or K/BB because that's what is generally available. But I've read that K/AB or K/PA is even better. (It makes sense; K/9 can be skewed if a pitcher gives up a lot of hits.) I'd have to dig up the article to see if it recommended AB or PA.

[sbrylski]

I'd have to dig up the article to see if it recommended AB or PA.

 

I'd imagine K/AB is more accurate, because K/PA can be skewed if you walk a lot.

 

And I would love to see some form of fielder independant pitching metrics used if something like this was to happen. FIP, LOB%, and BABIP would be great. Fairly simple yet often overlooked aspect of pitcher evaluation by "casual" fans.

[pogokat]

I do wish the link report had a link from the main page...perhaps we could replace the second fan forum link with a link report one? even though this would require changing virtually everyday...

[1992casey]

I'd bet there's a way to semi-automate putting the current link report in a prominent spot on the main page. If all Mass Haas has to do is paste the link to the thread in a box and hit submit, that wouldn't seem like a lot of extra work. Maybe everything he has to do to start the thread could be included on such a page, too.

 

I do like using the forum for the reports, though. Once the thread is started, everyone who's able to post a message is able to assist.

[MadisonBrewerBlue]

i would like the page centered. how easy is that ?

[1992casey]

It would be easy to center the page. I don't know if that's Brian or Patrick's preference, though. I don't think I'd care one way or the other.

 

If you'd like, I can dig up some custom CSS so the pages would be centered for you in your browser. I know the instructions for the Gecko browsers (Firefox, SeaMonkey, Camino, Flock, K-Meleon, Netscape) and Opera. If you're using something else, someone else would have to chime in with directions.

[NeedMoreFans]

How about listing the games for each series with start times? This could go under the Scoreboard. So right now, you would have the first 2 Brewer/Cub games with the final score with tomorrow's game and start time below. Yes, we should know the start times, being we are all diehard fans, but honestly, I had no idea today's game started at noon.

[Nader Raider Tim]

Kittens

[SenatorShriv]

I think that the minor league link report and the in game thread are two of the coolest features of the site, but someone just stumbling across the home page might not find them very easily. If both of them were linked in a section or featured more prominently (like how the Daily Brew and the articles are) more people might find them.

 

I think about my father as an example of someone who would utilize direct links from the homepage. He would never enter a chat room / forum, but would certainly be interested in the great statistical breakdowns at the beginning of each game thread.

[GAME05]

I could be repeating what others have said above. The week's schedule would be helpful, saving me checking it on other sites. I also like what MLB does with their brief analysis of upcoming series, and most anyone on BF would do a great job to write that and dig deeper.

It would be too much to do with every prospect, but maybe statistical updates on the Top 5 prospects, as a reason to visit the Power 50 between the major updates.

of course milwaukeebrewers.com already does it, but would a short list of promotion dates and items be a help to the number of collectors on this site?

I don't use the main page much, but I really enjoy this site overall, you guys do a great job.