Peter Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 There have been a number of people on this forum complaining about the lack of information from Heart HQ both in e-mails and on our club website (which I know is somehow run by the A-League/Optus). I believe the website is poor, out of date, limited information, etc. My wifes local club, Montreal Impact in the MLS, is a club in a similar positon to ours in that it is a minor player in the citys sporting landscape. Their website, on the MLS website template, is first class, up to date, provides all club information, supporter groups, audio of chants, links to approx 8 minutes of extended highlights of all games on "you tube". etc. Here is the link: http://www.impactmontreal.com/en What do people think? Is this better than what we have? What else would people like to see on our website? Which other clubs have websites/communication with supporters that MHFC should try to emulate? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ticker Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 Apart from their god awful name of "Impact" it looks pretty damn good! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WilsonMHFC Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 Obviously there's is a lot more professional than the Mhfc official site. I like the idea of posting links to chants and highlight vids, this would allow newcomers to learn the chants and hopefully participate on game day. I personally couldn't care less about the website because the forum covers all aspects of everything MHFC anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HEARTinator Posted July 21, 2012 Report Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) There have been a number of people on this forum complaining about the lack of information from Heart HQ both in e-mails and on our club website (which I know is somehow run by the A-League/Optus). I believe the website is poor, out of date, limited information, etc. My wifes local club, Montreal Impact in the MLS, is a club in a similar positon to ours in that it is a minor player in the citys sporting landscape. Their website, on the MLS website template, is first class, up to date, provides all club information, supporter groups, audio of chants, links to approx 8 minutes of extended highlights of all games on "you tube". etc. Here is the link: http://www.impactmontreal.com/en What do people think? Is this better than what we have? What else would people like to see on our website? Which other clubs have websites/communication with supporters that MHFC should try to emulate? It might be the off season but at least one email a week keeping us informed about wot's going on surely can't be toooo hard can it? And look at the list of players at www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/players - see any of our new imports? - NO! At the moment, I'd be happy just to have a web site that was up-to-date FCOL. Edited July 21, 2012 by HEARTinator Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jw1739 Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 All the HAL club websites are controlled by FFA and must conform to a template, and they are essentially clones of one another, so there is not much room to move. FFA seems to be paranoid about control. However, yes, there's nothing worse than an out-of-date website, so at the very least ours should be kept up-to-date within the restrictions imposed by FFA. Other than that, IMO we have to ask ourselves what the purpose of the site is? If you're already a member or go regularly to Heart games then you probably won't visit it much, if at all, so for me it is a site that people might refer to if they want to find out more about the club and/or contact the club. For example, prospective members, visitors to Melbourne who might be football fans and might go to a game if there's one on, etc. etc. Many organizations don't seem to understand that web-sites are for those who don't know rather than those who do. And, on the KISS principle, as few linkages as possible. You shouldn't need to use the 'search' function to find a telephone number! So I would say the key things you want to have splashed all over your home page are: Telephone number and e-mail address of the club; Details of the next home game including map and transport details of how to get to AAMI Park; How you can get a ticket to the game; How to become a member of the club. These are the essentials. Everything else is 'nice to have.' On the second issue, that of communicating with members, yes,I agree that the club has fallen short of what it could quite reasonably do. I don't accept that the banality of Facebook and Twitter is an effective way of communicating with paid-up members, nor that I should attend the Latrobe campus in person to find out a little more about what's going on inside the club. Getting membership numbers up is not just about attracting new members, it's about keeping faith with existing members. Monthly e-mail a minimum expectation here. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
belaguttman Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 The MHFC site looks like a standard bland corporate website. Out of date info, little content, nothing at all about what makes our club special, nohing that would make you want to join, no match highlights showing the skill of our players Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jake Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 it's just crap and unprofessional. they must know it. they just gotta fix it, and i can only presume something is slowing down the process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesla Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 (edited) We also really shouldnt be advertising Stephen Conroy as a key ticketholder http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/aboutus He probably force them to do it. Edited July 22, 2012 by Tesla Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesla Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 I should also add that I believe its likely that our website, and all the other A-League club websites are in breach of Australian law and in breach of UN adopted human rights conventions. The club or FFA would probably want to get that fixed before any potential legal consequences arise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Sorry what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesla Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Sorry what? I believe its likely that the MHFC website, and all other A-League club websites, are in breach of the Disability Discrimination Act, as well as the UN adopted Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. Basically in Australia, you cant just make a website and put it on the internet, it has to apply to certain guidelines for web accessibility so that disabled people have a fair and equal access to it. Just some typical nanny state type laws one comes to expect in Australia, but I guess they do provide a benefit for disabled people. I'm not a lawyer, just a web developer, but , despite it being a subjective manner, there isnt any doubt IMO that the websites doesn't meet the guidelines, and I know the websites were developed after 2010 as the new sites only came online recently, so I'll say its likely to be in breach of the DDA. I use the term likely just in case there is some loophole I dont know about. The UN thing probably doesnt mean much, all I know is you can be found to be in breach of human rights, not sure what the consequences of that are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 If you're trolling it's going straight over my head, but what specifically are other websites doing that A-League websites are not in regards to accessibility to a person with a disability? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tesla Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Well, for example, a blind or visually impaired person may have to use a screen reader to access a website, which, like its name suggest, reads out what's on the screen. This means any non-text content (eg images) needs to have a text alternative. There are lots of images on there without a text alternative. Thats just one example, there are lots of little things like that which need to be marked up in a way that makes them available to a disabled person just the same way it is available to a fully abled person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jimmy Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Unsure of seriousness levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baresi Posted July 22, 2012 Report Share Posted July 22, 2012 Unsure of seriousness levels. The man speaks truth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted July 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 29, 2012 It is a shame that the club website has made no mention of the game in Geelong Friday night. Thankyou to The MHFC Index.com for the match report http://mhfcindex.com/report-heart-kicks-off-preseason-with-win/ And thankyou to MFOOTBALL for the highlights http://www.mfootball.com.au/video-melbourne-heart-v-victorian-champions-league-xi-highlights/ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted July 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted July 30, 2012 I just looked at the MHFC website and they have posted a match report from Friday nights game at 3:21pm. Is this still classed as news? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted August 1, 2012 Author Report Share Posted August 1, 2012 I've been banging on about the lack of up to date information on the MHFC website. Therefore I would like to say, well done to the club for getting up to date info out about tonights game against Port Melbourne including those players out as well as those trialing etc. http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/news-display/Heart-to-take-on-Port-Melbourne-tonight/48360 Hopefully a match report will be online later tonight or early tomorrow. Perhaps we could even hope for footage from the game? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted September 16, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 16, 2012 Well done to the club for putting up the results and a short discription of the game against the Peninsula XI by 10:45pm on the night it was played. This is a vast improvement on earlier efforts. Keep it up. http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/news-display/Heart-downs-Peninsula-side/49141 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Posted October 22, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 22, 2012 Nice to see this match report for the NYL match against WSW: http://www.footballaustralia.com.au/melbourneheart/news-display/Heart-notch-NYL-win-over-Wanderers/50991 It would be good if the team line ups were also included as these players should be the future first team players for the Heart (not Newcastle or any other team) and so it would be good to know who they are in order to track their development. Perhaps the Heartcast will give more details (it usually does - keep up the good work boys). The podcast can be heard here: http://www.redwhiteunite.com/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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