It is OK for information, albeit if you want to hear press conferences etc. you have to sign up to Player which frankly, because hitherto it was so awful, I haven't renewed.
On the wider issue of this site versus the old one, frankly the old one was much better.
Its a bit like comparing a tailored suit specifically made to your personal measurements, versus one that has been made "off the shelf" which looks OK on the hanger, but there are loads of identical ones out there and then when you look closer, they are all slightly ill fitting.
I think the club had great difficulty when money was extremely tight to justify an in house team producing their own site for some cost when the Premium TV offer was out there which would almost certainly have a revenue generating effect.
Now though we are in a different chapter. The new holding company has appointed a very well known and presumably expensive PR guy to manage corporate image issues. I would have thought that going back to a bespoke site would:
a) be generally welcomed by fans
b) show the club has moved forward to a new brighter era
c) be an adjunct to the PR moves which the owners feel are needed corporately
[cite]Posted By: bingaddick[/cite]It is OK for information, albeit if you want to hear press conferences etc. you have to sign up to Player which frankly, because hitherto it was so awful, I haven't renewed.
On the wider issue of this site versus the old one, frankly the old one was much better.
Its a bit like comparing a tailored suit specifically made to your personal measurements, versus one that has been made "off the shelf" which looks OK on the hanger, but there are loads of identical ones out there and then when you look closer, they are all slightly ill fitting.
I think the club had great difficulty when money was extremely tight to justify an in house team producing their own site for some cost when the Premium TV offer was out there which would almost certainly have a revenue generating effect.
Now though we are in a different chapter. The new holding company has appointed a very well known and presumably expense PR guy to manage corporate image issues. I would have thought that going back to a bespoke site would:
a) be generally welcomed by fans
b) show the club has moved forward to a new brighter era
c) be an adjunct to the PR moves which the owners feel are needed corporately
I think they've signed a contract to this for quite a few years if I remember what Airman said correctly.
I hate it still and avoid it whenever possible. I can't see our new owners spending on anything that isn't going to bring in revenue directly or indirectly other than on the football side of things, at least if and when we reach the prem - which you can understand. Perhaps if we are very lucky they will fix the big screen
I also hate it. Much preferred the old site. This one is difficult to navigate and misses the front page impact of the old site. I realise they need to try and generate revenue but this one seems to have as its prime purpose to sell CAFC Player and everything else is secondary. Also seems really slow to update - by now the old site would have at least a 'breaking news' on Eccleston.
What is weird is that the mobile page has the Nathan Ecclestone story but the website doesnt. So when you used to say I'll believe it when its on the os IS NOW BOLLIES
neverb going to like the layout and structure, don't understand why a professional organsition would put together such a higgldy piggldy site, however once you get over the functional issues its not too bad for background information and stats. Appears to have more information on it and more accessible than the old site but maybe it was just being run down.
Viually poor, content as good if not better than the old site, accessibility poor.
Happy for it to stay where it is, would rather we had a screen that areturn to the old site - a screen that replayed goals would be nice.
My main point of criticism is that I can no longer call up the site at work, due to the tv bit in the name. When at work I now use the usual news sites and CL. I don't mind paying for CAFC Player as it means I can get to hear the games live.
I rarely look at it now, too busy with ads etc and not easy to navigate. Did however find out about Boden sale which i did not know about but not actually what i am particularly interested in when i look at OS. I look at CL if i want any news, gossip or FACTS
Seem to have got there main objective wrong! Surely it was to increase traffic/hits and as others have posted if you want to keep up to date while at work a lot have blockers stopping doing that!
So an own goal there I am afraid.
Also.... Still slow to respond to main official announcements, the recent Southampton match called off was a bit slow, and the current manager scenario has been 'overlooked'.
I appreciate that the club can not go into denial/refutes/rumours etc, but this is the nature of the beast I am afraid.
If you are dealing with rolling news, you have to roll with it!......
I receive the updates, but rarely check the site.
I stopped posting on the site months previously, for the well known reasons!
The site is bad, but the content is worse. The articles are full of crap. And when there is any breaking news the site is always last to update, behind SLP or Sky.
Terrible, layout is awfull, content squashed into a small square in the middle of the screen. Can't access it at work, but don't really want to. Only use it to listen to games when I can't go.
With all the pre-publicity, I expected it to be a lot worse than it actually is. However, it is pretty bad. Couple of specifics:
1) You can no longer rely on it for breaking news as this seems to be very slow coming through. I am not talking about rumours, I'm talking about "done deals" i.e. when Parkinson was sacked that should've been on the website immediately.
2) It is not easy to find the piece of news which is currently the most important - all news seems to be given the same priority. What I mean by this is that the majority of fans are likely to view news of a new player coming in on loan as of more import than, say the result of an under-18's game vs West Ham, but they are treated the same.
3) Mixing in "Charlton Player articles" with text articles. The website is one big advert for Charlton Player, but that is to be expected, as it's all about making money, rather than spending it.
Personally, I now use it a lot less - I occasionally visit it to try and find confirmation of news heard elsewhere - but see my comments above - for those reasons I am often frustrated. Other than that I use it to find out ticket information.
I like some of it. The player profiles are easier to see and its easier to see what is text, audio and vidwo content.
Obviously too overloaded with ads and informaiton on other football offerings.
But on the whole I can live with it.
Don't mind the new site at all, got used to it pretty quickly and despite the layout being very generic- use the site for exactoly the same stuff I used it before.
Would prefer us to have the old site as despite being a little outdated, it was our own. However, the site does the job.
Cant stand it . I go there maybe once a week , take a look for 3 seconds and reminisce about the old one.
It's a complete mess amd my 8 year old could have designed a better one.
Hate it. Only now use it to get a link to Player. Might start using the mobile site now though but those days of 'its not official until its on the OS' are over.
Twitter is definitely king and I have to say Matt, Gary and Tom from the OS appear much more engaged on there.
Comments
On the wider issue of this site versus the old one, frankly the old one was much better.
Its a bit like comparing a tailored suit specifically made to your personal measurements, versus one that has been made "off the shelf" which looks OK on the hanger, but there are loads of identical ones out there and then when you look closer, they are all slightly ill fitting.
I think the club had great difficulty when money was extremely tight to justify an in house team producing their own site for some cost when the Premium TV offer was out there which would almost certainly have a revenue generating effect.
Now though we are in a different chapter. The new holding company has appointed a very well known and presumably expensive PR guy to manage corporate image issues. I would have thought that going back to a bespoke site would:
a) be generally welcomed by fans
b) show the club has moved forward to a new brighter era
c) be an adjunct to the PR moves which the owners feel are needed corporately
I think they've signed a contract to this for quite a few years if I remember what Airman said correctly.
It's almost a sales point for CAFC Player which I have still refused to purchase.
Viually poor, content as good if not better than the old site, accessibility poor.
Happy for it to stay where it is, would rather we had a screen that areturn to the old site - a screen that replayed goals would be nice.
I wonder how it could be improved and what influence any one club can have in this process?
My main problem is the Charlton Player and my reluctance to cough up for it.
If I want facts I go to OS and not very often even before it changed.
Surely it was to increase traffic/hits and as others have posted if you want to keep up to date while at work a lot have blockers stopping doing that!
So an own goal there I am afraid.
Also.... Still slow to respond to main official announcements, the recent Southampton match called off was a bit slow, and the current manager scenario has been 'overlooked'.
I appreciate that the club can not go into denial/refutes/rumours etc, but this is the nature of the beast I am afraid.
If you are dealing with rolling news, you have to roll with it!......
I receive the updates, but rarely check the site.
I stopped posting on the site months previously, for the well known reasons!
Thank god for Charlton life!.
The articles are full of crap. And when there is any breaking news the site is always last to update, behind SLP or Sky.
1) You can no longer rely on it for breaking news as this seems to be very slow coming through. I am not talking about rumours, I'm talking about "done deals" i.e. when Parkinson was sacked that should've been on the website immediately.
2) It is not easy to find the piece of news which is currently the most important - all news seems to be given the same priority. What I mean by this is that the majority of fans are likely to view news of a new player coming in on loan as of more import than, say the result of an under-18's game vs West Ham, but they are treated the same.
3) Mixing in "Charlton Player articles" with text articles. The website is one big advert for Charlton Player, but that is to be expected, as it's all about making money, rather than spending it.
Personally, I now use it a lot less - I occasionally visit it to try and find confirmation of news heard elsewhere - but see my comments above - for those reasons I am often frustrated. Other than that I use it to find out ticket information.
That's all I use the new site for.
Obviously too overloaded with ads and informaiton on other football offerings.
But on the whole I can live with it.
Would prefer us to have the old site as despite being a little outdated, it was our own. However, the site does the job.
It's a complete mess amd my 8 year old could have designed a better one.
Twitter is definitely king and I have to say Matt, Gary and Tom from the OS appear much more engaged on there.
There is a link to CAFC Player down the left-hand side of our Forum under 'Live commentary'