The New FAI Website

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03/04/2006, 3:32 PM
Breifne

The New FAI Website

Is it just me, or does the new FAI Website look like it might actually be what it says on the tin.

eircom League is highlighted on every page,
Womens football moves from not even a mention to having a dedicated section, with as much focus as every other section.

Did notice that the coverage for the Junior Competitions hasn't improved, very little on the FAI Junior & Intermediate Cup. Also the Oscar Traynor Cup still has no existance on the site.

Still has Dublin City down as playing in Tolka Park also.

But on the whole I have to say the FAI deserve a big vote of confidence on the progress made on the site so far. Version 4 seems fresher and easier to navigate than its predecessors, the RSS feeds are an excellent addition.

The FAI get a lot of crap when they feck up something, so just like to congratulate a job well done. Here's hoping they continue to develop the site. Next target: Junior Soccer.
03/04/2006, 3:36 PM
Ash

Still has our manager down as Alan Kelly :confused:
03/04/2006, 3:51 PM
pete

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breifne

But on the whole I have to say the FAI deserve a big vote of confidence on the progress made on the site so far. Version 4 seems fresher and easier to navigate than its predecessors, the RSS feeds are an excellent addition.

The FAI get a lot of crap when they feck up something, so just like to congratulate a job well done. Here's hoping they continue to develop the site. Next target: Junior Soccer.

I presume this is a joke? :confused:
03/04/2006, 4:11 PM
Gareth

seems more straight forward. news content there too.
03/04/2006, 4:16 PM
Mr A

Seems like a massive improvement. Good to see the league so prominent.
03/04/2006, 4:39 PM
Breifne

Quote:

Originally Posted by pete

I presume this is a joke? :confused:

No, The FAI get slack from everyone (myself included) when they get something wrong. I think this website is finally an indication that the FAI have finally realised what is most important on a website. The visitor. I want to express my congratulations to them for making the decision to forget about their own needs for a moment, and worry about what supporters want on a site.

The site seems to be aimed at the football fan, looking for the most recent information quickly and easily. It's bright, and has very little clutter on the page.

The commercial side of the FAI is still present on the site, but now it isn't the first thing you see when you enter the site. 7 out of nine stories concern the eircom league, the oldest of which is Saturday's (2 days old). Not bad in my opinion.

Each of the main sections has there top stories from the last few days
eircom League - 2 Days
Womens - 1 Week (Out of Club Season & lets face it quiet for news)
Schools - 1 Week (Quiet for news)
International - 3 Days

I think its a good start, needs a lot of support and work to progress, and maintain this, which will be the acid test. But finally there seems to be an element of progress within the FAI, looking at the bigger picture. Hopefully this will continue into the future.
03/04/2006, 4:45 PM
Schumi

It looks a lot better anyway and the EL stuff is easier to find.
03/04/2006, 5:31 PM
pete

Just checked now, did not realise they had changed...

Structure looks better (would be very hard to be any worse) but navigation is still dodgy & content needs to be updated although i'll assume for now they are doing that as some dead links 'n stuff...
03/04/2006, 6:25 PM
Derek

Just had a look, much better.
03/04/2006, 6:35 PM
Poor Student

I still prefer the pre re-branding one but the structure of this is an immense improvement. I know you shouldn't moan when something positive happens but for an organization of that size and with the kind of finances they possess it took far far too long to sort the site out. It was getting complaints from day one.
03/04/2006, 10:11 PM
GalwayFrancis

yea, great site and loadsa eircom league news!
04/04/2006, 2:13 AM
A face

Lads, we harps all the time about them to be fair ....

The new site looks good so let take the finger out and let them know, good feedback is just as important as bad feedback.

info@fai.ie

Dont be shy, if you like the new look www.fai.ie then say so !!

My opinion, the old one looked better but it wasn't updated. There is a search on the new one !! The quarterly PDF is the job, there is an online newsletter now which seems to be well organised so far. The only thing that i'd worry about is if this is kept up .... but right now, its the job !!

info@fai.ie

Get it in thre lads, in all fairness let them know !!
04/04/2006, 10:25 AM
BohDiddley

Brilliant that national league gets such prominence, with both news stories and tables. That's a sign of a major shift in thinking, and should not be dismissed lightly.
It'll be interesting to see if the site editors are given the resources and support to keep it fresh and up to date, which is the biggest challenge in an undertaking like this.
04/04/2006, 10:32 AM
soccerc

Quote:

Originally Posted by BohDiddley

It'll be interesting to see if the site editors are given the resources and support to keep it fresh and up to date, which is the biggest challenge in an undertaking like this.

Less than 5% of version 3.0's functionality was ever implemented.
04/04/2006, 10:36 AM
Magicme

Its very well laid out. Fair play FAI. I also hope to see more stories bout Mons wins on the front pages in the coming months!!
04/04/2006, 11:57 AM
Breifne

I had sent the mistakes to the Dublin City page yesterday on the FAI site, and got back a reply before Lunch time today, with the changes made and saying that all profiles will be updated by the end of the week. Keep up the good work.
04/04/2006, 12:59 PM
pineapple stu

Have to say, having personally mentioned it to the FAI at least twice, the format is an improvement. Now let's see if the content is up to speed...
04/04/2006, 2:53 PM
pete

FAI website is still terrible.

No list of results, match reports, only lists the last few new articles, no updated club info...

It should not be up to the public to hightlight where the website needs to be updated as its fairly small site in terms of content. They'd be better off updating it internally before launching on the public.

Overall looks like just a little change to style but like change of substance.
04/04/2006, 4:21 PM
Jaime

Don't see what the fuss is about either :confused:
04/04/2006, 4:43 PM
pineapple stu

Quote:

Originally Posted by pete

It should not be up to the public to highlight where the website needs to be updated as its fairly small site in terms of content.

That is true. Last season, shortly after the clampdown on anyone saying anything critical of the FAI, the FAI website had something critical - and wrong - about UCD. Had to e-mail in and complain. In fairness, they changed it straight away, but they just upload the first thing that comes to their hands without bothering to read it. It's one thing making a website look vaguely impressive, but content is the acid test.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jaime

Don't see what the fuss is about either

Did you see the previous attempt?:eek:
04/04/2006, 5:42 PM
dahamsta

Quote:

Originally Posted by A face

Lads, we harps all the time about them to be fair ....

The new site looks good so let take the finger out and let them know, good feedback is just as important as bad feedback.

info@fai.ie

Dont be shy, if you like the new look www.fai.ie then say so !!

My opinion, the old one looked better but it wasn't updated. There is a search on the new one !! The quarterly PDF is the job, there is an online newsletter now which seems to be well organised so far. The only thing that i'd worry about is if this is kept up .... but right now, its the job !!

info@fai.ie

Get it in thre lads, in all fairness let them know !!

Deserves repeating. Personally, I think the new website is a step in the right direction, if a tad dull for something that's ultimately supposed to be mainstream entertainment.
04/04/2006, 5:45 PM
Poor Student

Quote:

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

That is true. Last season, shortly after the clampdown on anyone saying anything critical of the FAI, the FAI website had something critical - and wrong - about UCD. Had to e-mail in and complain.

What was it?:confused: One thing I can remember off the top of my head was that they didn't update the league cup page last season until the semis. Before that it just had a match report from the prrevious season's final.
04/04/2006, 6:06 PM
pineapple stu

In a Derry match report, they commented on the woeful crowd at a UCD-Derry game (not what I'm whining at, before anyone comments!) and noted that the vast majority were Derry fans, even though Derry clearly only had 50/60 of the 500-ish crowd there. Utterly stupid thing to write (a) when you're after bringing in rules to fine clubs who are in any way critical of you and (b) when you're supposed to be helping all clubs, not running them into the ground.
04/04/2006, 6:09 PM
A face

Quote:

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

In a Derry match report, they commented on the woeful crowd at a UCD-Derry game (not what I'm whining at, before anyone comments!) and noted that the vast majority were Derry fans, even though Derry clearly only had 50/60 of the 500-ish crowd there. Utterly stupid thing to write (a) when you're after bringing in rules to fine clubs who are in any way critical of you and (b) when you're supposed to be helping all clubs, not running them into the ground.

But stu, what you're saying there amounts to there being one rule for one and not for the other ?? :eek: .... surely thats not what you're suggesting is it ?? :p
04/04/2006, 6:13 PM
Poor Student

I hate that crap. It's like a mypost weekly review. See a UCD attendance or result and assume your own negative ideas.
04/04/2006, 6:25 PM
pineapple stu

Quote:

Originally Posted by A face

But stu, what you're saying there amounts to there being one rule for one and not for the other ?? :eek: .... surely thats not what you're suggesting is it ?? :p

Well not now I'm not if I'm goig to get fined five grand for it!

Or...:)
04/04/2006, 9:11 PM
A face

Quote:

Originally Posted by pineapple stu

Well not now I'm not if I'm goig to get fined five grand for it!

Or...:)

Exactly .... shame on me for even dreaming up something so off the wall, i'm off to flagellate myself now for even coming up with something like that !! ;) :p
07/04/2006, 8:46 AM
CollegeTillIDie

A face

Flagellation is just another form of self-abuse ... :D

It's so much better than it was folks!