Site Update: What's New & Feedback

[Matt]

Hi Hubbers,

If you're reading this it's likely you have noticed the site update we rolled out yesterday. While for the most part the update was smooth, we know change can be unsettling at first and, as with any new system, it's expected there might be a few early snags to address. 

 

Our team has been working through a few kinks and helping many of you who've reached out already. Thanks for all the feedback already shared via other threads, it has been noted and going forward we'll keep this thread open as the primary discussion on the topic.

 

---

Here's a summary of what has changed and an invitation to share your feedback.

 

Why the change?

In short, the underlying platform is getting old. This presents risks around stability and security while limiting our ability to improve the offering in the future. We've got many exciting features and improvements in the pipeline, but in order to realise these ambitions we needed to rebuild the infrastructure.

 

What has been updated?

• Classifieds: All new platform
• Home page: Revised look 'n feel, new platform
• Forums, Events, Articles, Stolen Bikes: Minor update to look 'n feel (Header / Menu)

 

Feature Highlights - Classifieds Update

Fully responsive design
Everything you can do on a desktop can be done on a smartphone.

 

Favourites
Need to save an advert to revisit later? Add it to your favourites to bookmark it. We’ll also notify you if the price or status changes.

 

Saved Alerts
Looking for something specific? Save your search to receive alert notifications when matching ads are posted.

 

Improved Rating System
We’ve moved to a simple star rating system and built-in prompts to kick off the feedback process between seller and buyer.

 

Chat
Easily communicate with buyers and sellers on any device with context of the item being discussed.

 

Improved category structure & filtering
We've grouped bikes and components more sensibly while allowing more filtering options.

For example, within Dual-suspension Mountain bikes there are now filters for riding style, e.g. Marathon/XC, Trail/Enduro or Downhill, Frame material and year model.

The improved filters will take time to have a real impact as their usefulness depends on the data supplied in adverts which is missing on imported ads.
 

How does it affect me?

Log in
You will need to login to the Classifieds and Forums separately, however your account details (username and password) will remain the same. We aim to better integrate this in the near future when the forum platform is updated.

Advert data
All your advert data (current and past) has been migrated to the new system and you’ll be able to login with your usual Bike Hub account details. Please check your ads and we'd suggest updating your Communication Preferences (Email and Phone number display on ads).

Ratings & Feedback
Your trader ratings will also be migrated to the star rating system (Negative rating = 1 star, Neutral rating = 3 stars, Positive rating = 5 stars).

 

Private Messages
All your PMs are still available on your forum profile, however new messages on Classified ads will be facilitated by the new Chat feature. 

Both PMs and Chat can be accessed via the user menu in the respective sections (click your avatar in the top right of the menu).
 

Forum content
All forum data (posts, topics, etc.) remains on the old platform

 

 

Any questions, feedback or issues?
Post in the comments or contact us via support@bikehub.co.za 

Alternatively, hit the Contact Support link in the footer.
 

[Ozzie NL]

Don't know whether this has been mentioned before but for me the classified are a bit too prominent. 

 

To me the Hub has always been a cycling community site with a focus on chats whereas now it feels more like a marketplace with a bit of banter om the site 

[Schmorglebot]

Am I missing something or can we no longer subscribe to a particular classifieds section for email alerts?

 

I see we can create alerts ala Gumtree, but sometimes I'm not looking for a specific thing, just broadly looking to spend my money :3

[Matt]

Am I missing something or can we no longer subscribe to a particular classifieds section for email alerts?

 

I see we can create alerts ala Gumtree, but sometimes I'm not looking for a specific thing, just broadly looking to spend my money :3

You can leave the criteria open (i.e. don't specify a search term, just select a category) to still receive a broad range of alerts.

 

What category(ies) or searches are you looking for?

[Hello Ruan]

Don't know whether this has been mentioned before but for me the classified are a bit too prominent. 

 

To me the Hub has always been a cycling community site with a focus on chats whereas now it feels more like a marketplace with a bit of banter om the site 

I might be wrong about this but like most things in life nothing is free. And this is a free to use platform, much like Facebook etc. difference being Facebook etc. makes millions and billions out of marketing tools, ads etc. Bikehub, maybe doesn't make millions and billions from upgraded ads but at the same time I think the classifieds with it's upgraded ads etc. is what helps to fund Bikehub, I think it is what actually helps to keep Bikehub alive in terms of traffic on the site.

 

I always thought most people who use this website, use it for the "marketplace". I never got the same idea as you that the site's focus was for chats, I always thought it was for the buy and sell.

 

Point being, it costs money to run this website. A lot more than people might think, so I really like the focus on the marketplace and I hope it helps with sales for upgraded ads.

Edited December 3, 2019 by Hello Ruan

[Uni]

like all things, when change happens we feel uneasy, we may complain, but we quickly adapt. I remember there was a time when off topic chat was moved and there was uproar, but yeah, we all survived. 

 

i assume the currently community sections will eventually be updated to same UI as classifieds? 

 

• Forums, Events, Articles, Stolen Bikes: Minor update to look 'n feel (Header / Menu)

the switch currently feels disjointed. 

[Ozzie NL]

I might be wrong about this but like most things in life nothing is free. And this is a free to use platform, much like Facebook etc. difference being Facebook etc. makes millions and billions out of marketing tools, ads etc. Bikehub, maybe doesn't make millions and billions from upgraded ads but at the same time I think the classifieds with it's upgraded ads etc. is what helps to fund Bikehub, I think it is what actually helps to keep Bikehub alive in terms of traffic on the site.

 

I always thought most people who use this website, use it for the "marketplace". I never got the same idea as you that the site's focus was for chats, I always thought it was for the buy and sell.

 

Point being, it costs money to run this website. A lot more than people might think, so I really like the focus on the marketplace and I hope it helps with sales for upgraded ads.

My comments are related to the marketplace for 2nd hand stuff rather than the ads (I presume the latter brings in more funds than the former).

 

All good if you have a different view as to what you expect from the site.

[Schmorglebot]

You can leave the criteria open (i.e. don't specify a search term, just select a category) to still receive a broad range of alerts.

 

What category(ies) or searches are you looking for?

 

Oh okay, that's perfect then. Thanks for clearing that up for me.

 

I'm pretty much looking at all categories because I'm (and I suspect I'm not alone) addicted to bikes

[Matt]

like all things, when change happens we feel uneasy, we may complain, but we quickly adapt. I remember there was a time when off topic chat was moved and there was uproar, but yeah, we all survived. 

 

i assume the currently community sections will eventually be updated to same UI as classifieds? 

 

the switch currently feels disjointed. 

100% with any change there will be some apprehension and resistance. There are also some things which are not quite working as intended. Over the next few days we'll address any errors and get things working smoothly.

 

And in the coming weeks & months we'll be working on bringing all the other sections up to speed to ensure consistency across the site.

 

This phase will feel a bit disjointed and there will be some initial bugs, but please bear with us.... soon the bugs will be squashed, then we can get to work on smaller refinements and the larger updates to the rest of the platform.

[Matt]

Don't know whether this has been mentioned before but for me the classified are a bit too prominent. 

 

To me the Hub has always been a cycling community site with a focus on chats whereas now it feels more like a marketplace with a bit of banter om the site 

Forgive me quoting myself from another thread:

 

Classifieds does account for the lions share of activity on Bike Hub (70% of page views on the site) so it is certainly an important factor for the business and a big focus for us moving forward. One of our goals is to better highlight this section, particularly for new visitors.

 

However, it's vital for us to balance the community (forums), news & articles, events and other elements of the site. They're all important pillars for us and the forums and great Bike Hub community are the reason for our existence. 

 

Although we have increased the prominance of Classifieds on the home page, we've not decreased that of the forums (e.g. the Discussions aka "Latest Topics" box is still in a similar position).

[Ozzie NL]

Forgive me quoting myself from another thread:

 

Classifieds does account for the lions share of activity on Bike Hub (70% of page views on the site) so it is certainly an important factor for the business and a big focus for us moving forward. One of our goals is to better highlight this section, particularly for new visitors.

 

However, it's vital for us to balance the community (forums), news & articles, events and other elements of the site. They're all important pillars for us and the forums and great Bike Hub community are the reason for our existence.

 

Although we have increased the prominance of Classifieds on the home page, we've not decreased that of the forums (e.g. the Discussions aka "Latest Topics" box is still in a similar position).

Thanks for elaborating a bit. Seems I’m an outlier in terms of how I use the site.

 

Do agree you should be lead by the majority in terms of what the site looks like and against that background the chances make sense.

[Kenty]

Hi Hubbers,

 

If you're reading this it's likely you have noticed the site update we rolled out yesterday. While for the most part the update was smooth, we know change can be unsettling at first and, as with any new system, it's expected there might be a few early snags to address. 

 

Our team has been working through a few kinks and helping many of you who've reached out already. Thanks for all the feedback already shared via other threads, it has been noted and going forward we'll keep this thread open as the primary discussion on the topic.

 

---

 

Here's a summary of what has changed and an invitation to share your feedback.

 

Why the change?

In short, the underlying platform is getting old. This presents risks around stability and security while limiting our ability to improve the offering in the future. We've got many exciting features and improvements in the pipeline, but in order to realise these ambitions we needed to rebuild the infrastructure.

 

What has been updated?

• Classifieds: All new platform
• Home page: Revised look 'n feel, new platform
• Forums, Events, Articles, Stolen Bikes: Minor update to look 'n feel (Header / Menu)

 

Feature Highlights - Classifieds Update

Fully responsive design

Everything you can do on a desktop can be done on a smartphone.

 

Favourites

Need to save an advert to revisit later? Add it to your favourites to bookmark it. We’ll also notify you if the price or status changes.

 

Saved Alerts

Looking for something specific? Save your search to receive alert notifications when matching ads are posted.

 

Improved Rating System

We’ve moved to a simple star rating system and built-in prompts to kick off the feedback process between seller and buyer.

 

Chat

Easily communicate with buyers and sellers on any device with context of the item being discussed.

 

Improved category structure & filtering

We've grouped bikes and components more sensibly while allowing more filtering options.

 

For example, within Dual-suspension Mountain bikes there are now filters for riding style, e.g. Marathon/XC, Trail/Enduro or Downhill, Frame material and year model.

 

The improved filters will take time to have a real impact as their usefulness depends on the data supplied in adverts which is missing on imported ads.

 

How does it affect me?

Log in

You will need to login to the Classifieds and Forums separately, however your account details (username and password) will remain the same. We aim to better integrate this in the near future when the forum platform is updated.

 

Advert data

All your advert data (current and past) has been migrated to the new system and you’ll be able to login with your usual Bike Hub account details. Please check your ads and we'd suggest updating your Communication Preferences (Email and Phone number display on ads).

 

Ratings & Feedback

Your trader ratings will also be migrated to the star rating system (Negative rating = 1 star, Neutral rating = 3 stars, Positive rating = 5 stars).

 

Private Messages

All your PMs are still available on your forum profile, however new messages on Classified ads will be facilitated by the new Chat feature. 

 

Both PMs and Chat can be accessed via the user menu in the respective sections (click your avatar in the top right of the menu).

 

Forum content

All forum data (posts, topics, etc.) remains on the old platform

 

 

Any questions, feedback or issues?

Post in the comments or contact us via support@bikehub.co.za 

 

Alternatively, hit the Contact Support link in the footer.

 

Looks good....well done

[Matt]

Thanks for elaborating a bit. Seems I’m an outlier in terms of how I use the site.

 

Do agree you should be lead by the majority in terms of what the site looks like and against that background the chances make sense.

There's a definite balancing act for us to play. The way each Hubber uses with the site is unique and we can't ignore that. 

 

Although the forums make up a smaller percentage of activity, it's still a meaningful number (in the millions of monthly page views). We see the forums as a key part of the business and in time you'll see it gain greater prominence, but some of that is dependant on an update to the forum platform.  

[X-Man]

Quite honestly.... The new format / layout not working for me.

 

Bring back the old!

[Matt]

Quite honestly.... The new format / layout not working for me.

 

Bring back the old!

We are seeing some issues with advert and image display in certain browsers which will not be helping your experience at present.

 

Can you share some detail on specific areas or features which aren't working for you?

[DIPSLICK]

some of the pics on the ads are cut in half for maybe 40% of the pics i`ve looked at not all, i like the new look easier finding what I`m looking for,,,,,with the exception of too many riders ride Med size