New website

[BushMogulMaster]

Anyone else notice it? www.sugarbush.com

I like the blue theme much better than all of the dark colors. Feels more like skiing now.

[Lostone]

I had looked at it, earlier. My impression was, (and still is) that it is just a new color scheme. Anyone else find anything really new?

[BushMogulMaster]

I had looked at it, earlier. My impression was, (and still is) that it is just a new color scheme. Anyone else find anything really new?

No, that's pretty much it. But that makes a pretty big difference in my book. I hated the dark scheme.

It could still use some touch ups and some changes, but this is a start.

[ski_resort_observer]

I too think it's much easier to read....one problem...on my puter the names of the diferent kid's programs' after the Micro-Blazers listing are near impossible to read.
http://www.sugarbush.com/skiandride/cm.asp?pn=seasonalprograms&pid=143

[Lostone]

I agree with you on the color scheme.

When I run into something like that, I highlight the text. It almost always becomes clear, then.

Still... That shouldn't be necessary. Good catch. :wink:

[boze]

...the bigger pictures have more visual impact but it's a shame they did not take the opportunity to improve their very crude e-commerce capabilities. Eg, it's absolutely ridiculous how many 'clicks' you must go through to buy a season pass, and then you hit a dead-end. A Mickey Mouse approach to an otherwise well-done web site.

And you'd think they'd do more of an 'eye candy' section, including links to any number of the Sugarbush pics from seasons-past (eg photo contest pics) and incorporating links to any of the S'bush videos on YouTube, along with the 'videos from last season' which is essentially buried deep in the About Us section.

[skibum1321]

Does anyone else notice a big gap between the top navigation and the content. It looks like they were trying to float the 2 columns and they made them a little bit too wide.


http://www.postimage.org/aVw5a8i.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVw5a8i)

[BushMogulMaster]

Does anyone else notice a big gap between the top navigation and the content. It looks like they were trying to float the 2 columns and they made them a little bit too wide.


http://www.postimage.org/aVw5a8i.jpg (http://www.postimage.org/image.php?v=aVw5a8i)

They're playing around with it a lot right now. It wasn't like that yesterday.

They're just moving things and trying things until they find something that works. Thus is the nature of web development. Of course, I usually debug sites PRIOR to launching them. But that's okay. At least an effort is being made to improve the site.

[skibum1321]

I'm a web developer, so I know the nature of developing websites. Like you said, you usually would want to have a beta site where you play around with things. Playing around on the production server usually isn't such a good idea.

[boze]

Given the rudimentary e-commerce engine, and mickey-mouse approach, it would seem that some or all of the web site development is being done by a sub-par commercial outfit, or a near-novice in-house resource. Either way, management should re-examine their approach as the website is increasingly the first - and on-going - 'experience' many have with S'bush. It may warrant a tad more professional & polished approach.

Having said that, I should qualify that by also stating that I'd of course prefer mgmnt to (continue to) focus the bulk of its energy & resource on things like clearing out the glades, etc than a slick web site...

[BushMogulMaster]

I'm a web developer, so I know the nature of developing websites. Like you said, you usually would want to have a beta site where you play around with things. Playing around on the production server usually isn't such a good idea.

Yeah, been there done that. And if I do upload it pre-completion, I usually create a subdomain for it (in this case, something like beta.sugarbush.com) to do a live test, then when I'm satisfied I'll upload it to the root publichtml folder.

But hey... we're not the ones developing the site, are we? :wink:

[noski]

Does anyone else notice a big gap between the top navigation and the content.

I reported that issue myself. I learned that if you upgrade your browser to IE 7 (I had IE 6) it is no longer an issue.... Neither should it be an issue in Mozilla or Firefox.... I like the new IE 7 with the tabbed windows.

[jkvt]

Does anyone else notice a big gap between the top navigation and the content.

I reported that issue myself. I learned that if you upgrade your browser to IE 7 (I had IE 6) it is no longer an issue.... Neither should it be an issue in Mozilla or Firefox.... I like the new IE 7 with the tabbed windows.

While I agree that upgrading is always a good thing if possible. It is not always the way to solve an issue.

Even in Firefox 2.0.0.7 (my preferred browser - down with IE) the passes page has some conflicts in the div tags that drop the main content down below the right menu.

That aside, it is difficult to design up-to-date standards based code when people are still using five year old browsers.

My advice, if the criticism is to be constructive, is to let them know which browser and OS you are using and the problems you find. Every browser handles code differently and IE is the biggest culprit of this as the browser is very integrated into many back end products.

For some fun reading on the issues check out http://www.webstandards.org or http://www.w3.org/

jkvt

[Lostone]

For some fun reading on the issues...

That is FUN???? :shock:

You won't believe how good my life has suddenly appeared, in perspective. :lol:

I'm also using Firefox. I'm really happy IE has finally caught on to tabbed browsers. Only took them around 7 years?

I'm probably unable to upgrade to the latest IE, anyway. I'm running Win98SE. I can't upgrade to the latest browsers as they require me to throw away this perfectly operating (OK... for a Windows machine) computer and buy another.

It ain't happening! So I'll have to struggle with Firefox... which helped teach Billy that he needed tabbed browsers... years ago. :wink:

And for the record, I also see the web page as very distorted with a long blank panel on the left. I don't think it was like that, yesterday.

[Lostone]

This turned into a giant hijack! :shock:

Split the operating system comments from the Website thread here, (http://forums.skimrv.com/viewtopic.php?t=1078) in the Misc section.

Please continue comments on the Sugarbush website, here.

Hopefully, I made the split fairly well, but it drifted, as opposed to switched. :?


Thanx for your support.

[kcyanks1]

This turned into a giant hijack! :shock:

Sorry :-(

[Lostone]

No problem. Both threads can now continue. :wink:

[shadyjay]

Came across the new website earlier in the week - looks nice... mainly just new backgrounds with the same info. It's a 1000 times better than the black that has been the norm for the past 2 seasons.

BTW, if you go to the internet archive wayback machine, you can put in sugarbush.com and see how far they've come with websites for the past several years. Thanks Mr Peabody for that!

[Strat]

I still think the menus could be organized better... I don't really have a vision for how it should be rearranged, but it doesn't quite seem as intuitive as MRG's... the Windows to MRG's Mac... oops, no more tech talk, haha...

[Strat]

Okay, maybe a few thoughts... all the items in "Warm Weather Stuff" from "More Fun and Events" should just be moved into the Summer Sports menu... Mountain Stats should not be top in the "Ski and Ride" column... it's in "About Us" already, and doesn't need to be there twice... Trail Map should move over too, along with the "US Freestyle" link, which is outdated anyway... Groomer Rides should move to "More Fun and Events," to which it's more related than "Ski and Ride"... just a few quibbles...

[chuck]

Under the Parents Page, places to eat, it still lists the Blue Tooth for burgers and beer? Any possibilities of bringing one of my favorite places back?

[HowieT2]

I just tried to purchase a season pass and season ski school for my daughter and I have a no idea if it worked. The transaction process is terrible. After getting all the billing info and clicking on complete, after a delay, it just logged me out.

[win]

Howie - Not sure why. This has been working well. Will check it out.

All the pages are being read and updated. There are a few things like the BT that got missed.

[ManyTurns]

One thing I really miss is the webcam that used to be available. I especially miss it because I'm on a two year sabbatical, living on Kwajalein, an island 600 miles north of the equator, and 835 miles west of the international date line. It's always in the high eighties here, with so little seasonal variation that a cut tree doesn't show any growth rings.

I would really like to be able to see the 'bush and vicariously enjoy a real winter. I mean, I really enjoy sailing, diving, and windsurfing, and not having to fight traffic to get to work, but I'd still like to see some clue that the Saddle, the Church, Three Sisters or parts of Slidebrook are skiing well.

Is there a secret webcam somewhere that could be piped out to the Central Pacific?

Have a great winter guys!

[HowieT2]

One thing I really miss is the webcam that used to be available. I especially miss it because I'm on a two year sabbatical, living on Kwajalein, an island 600 miles north of the equator, and 835 miles west of the international date line. It's always in the high eighties here, with so little seasonal variation that a cut tree doesn't show any growth rings.

I would really like to be able to see the 'bush and vicariously enjoy a real winter. I mean, I really enjoy sailing, diving, and windsurfing, and not having to fight traffic to get to work, but I'd still like to see some clue that the Saddle, the Church, Three Sisters or parts of Slidebrook are skiing well.

Is there a secret webcam somewhere that could be piped out to the Central Pacific?

Have a great winter guys!

Isn't Kwajelein one of the atols where an atomic bomb was tested in the 40's?

[ManyTurns]

Almost, but not quite. The bombs were tested on Bikini and Enewetok atolls. Bikini is a few hundred miles to the north west, Enewetok is a little further than that.

But they are part of the same country, the Republic of the Marshall Islands, which gained its independence from the US a decade or two ago. Kwajalein might have played a logistical role in the bomb testing; I don't know. These days, the U.S. leases a few islands, which play a part in missile tests and in space tracking. There are also some commercial rocket launches (by a company called Space-X).

[Bubba]

One thing I really miss is the webcam that used to be available. I especially miss it because I'm on a two year sabbatical, living on Kwajalein, an island 600 miles north of the equator, and 835 miles west of the international date line. It's always in the high eighties here, with so little seasonal variation that a cut tree doesn't show any growth rings.

I would really like to be able to see the 'bush and vicariously enjoy a real winter. I mean, I really enjoy sailing, diving, and windsurfing, and not having to fight traffic to get to work, but I'd still like to see some clue that the Saddle, the Church, Three Sisters or parts of Slidebrook are skiing well.

Is there a secret webcam somewhere that could be piped out to the Central Pacific?

Have a great winter guys!

This may help a little.

http://www.madriverweather.com:8888/view/index.shtml