New Site Applications!

[nywaw]

What's Coming

Now that Tapatalk is gone it opens the doors to adding more robust applications here to manage things better than just forums can.  The reality is forums and topics are great for discussing things, but it's a lot of manual work to manage more complex things like Classifieds, Giveaways, Contests, etc.  Dedicated applications offer a lot more consistency and feature specific aspects to support what you want to do with them.

In the coming months, a Contests application will be added.  It will appear just like any other application you currently see in the menu system (Forums, Leaderboard, Activity, etc).  

For a Contests application, the main benefit is having an application that is customized for its purpose, with custom entry forms  (i.e. submitting deer or turkey contest entries with a custom form for that contest rather than free form text in a topic) and automation (i.e. scoreboard calculations, etc).  We would be able to create a standardized form per contest that members would fill out and submit, can add validations and required fields so things are completed properly, can add calculations to automatically calculate what you need (think NWTF calculator), etc.  It would also have an automatically updated Scoreboard that could look like the current Leaderboard application (click the link or browse in the menu) which would present a heck of a lot better than a forum post and have a dedicated history of contests and winners.  It also provides a level of consolidation of pictures/entries while keeping comments separate at the bottom of the contest (like replies in a topic).

Similar to the reasoning behind a Contests application, there are other opportunities such as a Classifieds application which is dedicated to that purpose and has specific features for it (unlike forum/topics which is simply generic text sharing).  This has a lot more features than a forum/topic/reply model can support well.
 

What To Try Now

To get you guys some familiarity with a new application, I've installed a new Giveaways application.  This will follow the same principle of the other applications on the site and appear just like any other application you currently see in the menu system (Forums, Leaderboard, Activity, etc).  I've also included a link below.

Giveaways

You'll see I set a test Giveaway here that I'd like you guys to join to get familiarity with it:  NYW&W Giveaway: A Christmas Story Leg Lamp

There will be a bit of learning curve for some, but we've already done a trial run amongst the mods and it was easily adapted to and figured out (even for @Rusty)!
Give it a go, join the raffle, etc and get a feel for how to navigate the Giveaways application.

But How Will I Know a Giveaway, Contest, Classified, etc is Posted?

The great part about these applications is you'll see the updates in Recent Topics (which will really become Recent Activity as we move beyond just topics).  And if you're simply not interested in any of these things and only want to see Recent Topics, you can set your default stream to use that!

Screenshot example with a Giveaway listed in the Recent Activity:

 

 

Let me know what you guys think!

[Robhuntandfish]

I did a hunting season contest on another site. It was fun but def a lot to keep up with. 

[Cabin Fever]

I feel like we're getting spoiled will all this attention! 

[nywaw]

1 hour ago, Robhuntandfish said:

I did a hunting season contest on another site. It was fun but def a lot to keep up with. 

We run them on the NJ site and it is a lot of manual work.  Using an application specific for it will alleviate that!  Hoping to have it up and running for Turkey season!

[mowin]

11 hours ago, nywaw said:

We run them on the NJ site and it is a lot of manual work.  Using an application specific for it will alleviate that!  Hoping to have it up and running for Turkey season!

Look forward to that.  

[Stubborn1vt]

So far this site has exceeded my expectations.  I'm glad there was a migration here before the other site folded.  Then again, I'm from Vermont and I don't even belong here.

https://memes.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/f61f0f3b-969c-4ec9-9510-82ef62a0ed78

[mowin]

13 minutes ago, Stubborn1vt said:

So far this site has exceeded my expectations.  I'm glad there was a migration here before the other site folded.  Then again, I'm from Vermont and I don't even belong here.

https://memes.getyarn.io/yarn-clip/f61f0f3b-969c-4ec9-9510-82ef62a0ed78

My dad was born and raised in Fair Haven VT.  The house his grandfather and father built just before WWI is still in the family. 

[2012-Taco]

I definitely enjoy this site and appreciate how active you all are (mods). Looking forward to the new changes.