New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

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New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
I bought a new book today on websites, and it strongly encouraged installing Sumome as a social media sharing tool as well as a way to track usage, views, etc.  So, I did and you'll now see a new menu on the left.

Supposedly that is going to allow people to share individual pages that they find which they think their friends will want to see.  We shall see.

Anyway, I wanted you to know where the menu came from.  
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Hmmmm, I just realized that there is a facebook/twitter/pinterest popup that comes up on most, if not all, images on the site now.  Not sure I like that, but you tell me your thoughts, please.

The effort with this is to get more people aware of the site.  But, we need to be happy with what it foists off on us, the regular users.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Vic Roma
Could you move the social media banner to the bottom of the/each page so it’s out of the way, yet still available to anyone who uses those services?

I predominately use my phone to access your site as I am rarely at a desk, and with the already limited screen real estate, I’d rather read more of the useful content that everyone here creates, than the larger-than-necessary reminder that I need to socialize my media consumption.

Here’s what I see on my phone:


That said, could you also reduce the banner’s size? Clean-looking as it is, I find although these sorts of third-part services give you something for free, they don’t integrate too well with what exists.
1984 Bronco 351 Holley Sniper EFI, 3 Speed Ford Auto.
1986 Bronco 302 EFI, AOD, Eddie Bauer, with 3G alternator.
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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Vic - I agree with you about the size and the larger-than-necessary menu.  But I'm not sure I understand when you asked if I could "move the social media banner to the bottom of the/each page so it’s out of the way" since it is at the bottom of your page.  Perhaps it is because it isn't "out of the way"?

However, I think the issue you are raising is that it is a floating menu that isn't actually part of the page.  And, I think I agree with you.  It is too large and too invasive.

I believe there's an easy way for me to put it in the header or footer of every page on the site, much like it is at the top of any of our forum pages.  Would that be better?

As I've started looking at the Sumo reports I'm seeing that the web page reports are just repackaged from elsewhere, like Google Analytics, so I really don't need them.  However, it does have reports on social media usage/links/likes that might help me.  But, I may be able to get that elsewhere.

So, let's let this run for a day or two while I poke around and find out how to put menus on that are less discrete and out of the way.

Thanks for the feedback.  I hope others will provide input as well.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

reamer
In reply to this post by Vic Roma
I particularly don't care for it,, We hear over and over about if You can see it/use it, THEY can see you and what your doing.
I know lots of stuff say they are secure, but its after years of usage someone finds out "things and no so secure"

Smart Refrigerators and smart TV's listening to you, seeing you, Your laptop sending unwanted ads of items related to a search you did... ect

Sooo much stuff that can get out of hand.....

Just paranoid me.....
1986 F-150 Flareside 4x4, 351, 4-v, ZF5 speed. AC, Cruise, Tilt, Slider, Digital clock, Radio, Lariat seat, Pwr doors/locks
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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

grumpin
I don't care for those links being there, never liked them, probably never will.

As Reamer said, I don't care for all the interconnection.

I'm a small town guy, if I want the big city, I'll drive there!

This is not meant to be negative or a complaint, just my opinion.
Dane
1986 F250HD SC XLT Lariat 4x4 460 C6-Sold
1992 Bronco XLT 4x4 351W E4OD
1998 GMC Sierra SLE K1500 350 4L60E
Arizona
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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Two sets of responses.  First, to the "small-town" folks (), I'm not a big fan of Facebook.  However, if we are trying to help the masses of Ford enthusiasts, and especially our Bullnosed brothers, we need to let them know that the information they'll need to support their trucks resides on here.  So, I've been pointing many Facebookers here to answer their questions.  (In fact, I just did to help a guy asking electrical questions.)  And, I've seen the number of people using the site grow significantly after doing so, meaning that it works.

But, we are missing a key ingredient towards them telling their friends about the treasure-trove of information we have here - the ability to "share" or "like" what they find.  Therein lies the need for some form of buttons to let them do just that.  And that's why I was interested in getting some sort of buttons on the site.

Now, to Vic's concerns about the size and location of the Sumo buttons, I've now made them as small as I possibly can.  And, I've changed how they display when on a mobile device.  So, please see if that helped.

Also, I added a Facebook share button to the footer which goes on every page.  I think it is too difficult to see way down there to be very helpful.  And, it is only Facebook, although I can probably find buttons for Pinterest and Twitter if we decide that this approach is better.  Also, I can probably move them either just above or just below the featured-truck picture if that would be better.

Thoughts?  Input?  PLEASE!  This isn't a done-deal.  So I need help, meaning your opinions.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Frank Wyatt
I think it's fine like it was/is now. I don't really have much of an opinion either way as it seems to be out of MY way. I occasionally use facebook to contact family members and look through the market place and don't know anything about using them buttons. So as they are, they are there for those who would find them useful and for those like me that don't use them, they seem unobtrusive and easily ignored.
1981 F 150 Custom 300 ci with a fully rebuilt 1968 240 head Carter YFA T-18 3.25 9" rear 2WD
dual gas tanks
1990 Lincoln Town Car 5.0 AOD
Home town Mc Kenzie, TN
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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

grumpin
In reply to this post by Gary Lewis
It's a lot better smaller IMO.
Dane
1986 F250HD SC XLT Lariat 4x4 460 C6-Sold
1992 Bronco XLT 4x4 351W E4OD
1998 GMC Sierra SLE K1500 350 4L60E
Arizona
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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Ok guys, we are making progress on the buttons.  Thanks for the feedback.

And, we are apparently being "found".  The buttons were on the forum pages previously, so I can't tell any change there.  But, they've only been on the rest of the web site about 24 hours and some of the pages are showing that they've been shared.  Here are some examples of pages with shares:

Bullnose FAQ's: 44
Calibration Info & Part #'s: 43
Electrical/Alternators: 59
Engines/385 Series: 38
Interchange/Air Conditioning: 17
Specifications/Towing: 2
TSB's/TSB Index: 29
Year-To-Year Differences: 18

That, oddly enough, is 250 shares we wouldn't have had w/o those buttons.  And that's just in 24 hours and a few of the pages I checked.  
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Steve83
Banned User
In reply to this post by reamer
reamer wrote
Smart Refrigerators and smart TV's listening to you, seeing you, Your laptop sending unwanted ads of items related to a search you did... ect
I'm not paranoid - just ANNOYED  that they can detect what we're talking about & Googling to present ads to us, but they can't detect when I post "I HATE SOCIAL MEDIA" and not show themselves on any of my devices.

If it would take you (Gary) more than a few seconds, IGNORE THIS: but if it's easy for you to set up, I'd like to be able to go in my profile/settings (whatever) & uncheck "show social media buttons".  I'll never use them whether I can see them or not, but it's no big deal if I do see them.

When I want to encourage someone to visit this site, I post or e-mail a clickable link (and I have done that many times).
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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Rembrant
In reply to this post by Gary Lewis
Gary Lewis wrote
That, oddly enough, is 250 shares we wouldn't have had w/o those buttons.  And that's just in 24 hours and a few of the pages I checked.  
Gary,

Just to play devil's advocate here, according to some of the stuff I have been reading and listening to lately, one should consider at least 50% (and probably more) of likes and shares to be done by bots, and not real people. I have no idea if that is true or not, but it is quickly becoming the defacto standard (ugly truth). The number could be 90%...it really is kind of unknown.

Now, in the case of sharing and liking a forum like this, with no product advertising involved, I would like to think that the activity would be more real than fake, but that's just my 2 cents worth on the topic.

I'm neutral on the share buttons. I won't be using them, but I don't dislike them in any way. I am on Facebook, almost entirely just to follow a half a dozen Ford/Bullnose groups, but my social activity on there is minimal.

I see you sharing and linking info on the FB pages Gary, and that seems to be a BIG driver of new Garagemahal traffic....at least that is my perception.
1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Steve - I'll look, again, but I don't see any user-configurable settings for the buttons.  Sorry.

As for them not detecting "I HATE SOCIAL MEDIA", they can.  But just don't care to do so.  Everything we type on this forum will eventually be "findable" via a Google/Bing/Duckduckgo/etc search.  So even w/o the buttons we are wide open.  However, we do not have advertising and my pledge is that we won't.  It costs me a bit annually to have the site, the URL, the tools, etc.  But it isn't that much and it is my hobby.  And my wife and kids know that it is my wish that the site remain, and that it remain w/o adverts.

Cory - That's an awful thought.  

So, let's see what changes there have been in the "shares" overnight, with the second #, the one in bold, being this morning's:

Bullnose FAQ's: 44  44
Calibration Info & Part #'s: 43  43
Electrical/Alternators: 59  59
Engines/385 Series: 38  38
Interchange/Air Conditioning: 17  24
Specifications/Towing: 2  2
TSB's/TSB Index: 29  29
Year-To-Year Differences: 18  18

So, the only change was Interchange/Air Conditioning.  That suggests that maybe what we are seeing is from people, but maybe that's wishful thinking.

But, contrast what is now a count of 257 shares, and that just on the pages I've found, with this report from Sumo, which shows that in the two days those buttons have been on we've had 17 shares.  And you can see the pages shared down below, which doesn't correspond with what is shown on the pages themselves.  

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Cory - I forgot: Facebook sharing is a big driver for people finding the site, and this forum.  When I've shared some juicy/interesting info on the several FB pages I'm part of I've seen spikes in the traffic to the site.  So there's an interest and need in/for the documentation.  They just don't know it is there.

One of the FB pages had 25K members last summer, so I shudder to think what it has now.  And the others have lots of members as well.  So the audience is huge.  We just need to get the word out to help them help themselves.
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

grumpin
It's also nice having the little blue arrows under the links to hide it.

I should have said I was on a site that had a button to click, under the links, the links would auto hide and it seemed like every time I went to hit that button the links would pop up and send me to FB, twitter or whatever.

Can't remember which site, guess I haven't been back!
Dane
1986 F250HD SC XLT Lariat 4x4 460 C6-Sold
1992 Bronco XLT 4x4 351W E4OD
1998 GMC Sierra SLE K1500 350 4L60E
Arizona
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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Yes, the blue arrows are nice.

Time for an update, with this evening's data in bold:

Bullnose FAQ's: 44  44  44
Calibration Info & Part #'s: 43  43  43
Electrical/Alternators: 59  59  59
Engines/385 Series: 38  38  38
Interchange/Air Conditioning: 17  24  35
Specifications/Towing: 2  2  2
TSB's/TSB Index: 29  29  29
Year-To-Year Differences: 18  18  18

So, why is it that the Air Conditioning Interchange page is the only one of these that is counting up?  In fact, it and the Window Lift Motor Interchange pages are the only two interchange pages with any likes.  

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Steve83
Banned User
Gary Lewis wrote
Yes, the blue arrows are nice.
That's effectively what I was asking for.   But they don't seem to "remember" when I visit the site again that I turned them off.
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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Sorry, I didn't realize that's what you were looking for.  And probably didn't even know that feature existed at that point in time.

I've looked in the setup and can't find anything that tells Sumo to remember you such that turning them off keeps them off.  That's probably in the Pro version.  
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Gary Lewis
Administrator
Well, here we are 13 days after implementing the "share/like" buttons.  How are they working for y'all?  Hopefully they aren't too intrusive.

And, let's see how the numbers have changed in that time.  Here are the pages on which I was reporting, and the first number is what the count was the first day and the second number is today.  (Note that the count doesn't usually come up until I refresh a page, and I don't understand why that is.)

Bullnose FAQ's: 44  44
Calibration Info & Part #'s: 43  43
Electrical/Alternators: 59  59
Engines/385 Series: 38  38
Interchange/Air Conditioning: 17  37
Specifications/Towing: 2  2
TSB's/TSB Index: 29  29
Year-To-Year Differences: 18  18

Hmmm, only one page changed.  That seems strange.

But today I put up that '83 Bronco chase car.  And in the first 2 hours there were 29 likes/shares.  I don't know if it was from the Facebookers where I shared it, or you lot.  Did any of you "like" it by pushing a button?
Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

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Re: New Facebook, Pinterest, etc Menu

Ford F834
Administrator
Any update on this website function Gary? I don’t mind the banner at the bottom of the page so much, but the floating pop up that covers part of any image you “select” while scrolling and browsing is really annoying and smacks of spam. Is there a way to turn that off for individual images? I can see that people sharing links to whole pages of Garagemahal is a great way to get the word out, but the image pop up quite frankly sucks. If I need to see the part of the image that the pop up is covering, I usually scroll past the image, then creep back up to what I want to see... but not too far or the pop up comes back. Sometimes it goes away after a couple seconds but usually it doesn’t. Often I have to resort to saving the image to my phone and then view it in camera roll. Maybe this is just another phone glitch (social media buttons extra large relative to displayed image size?) but I’m going to go out on a limb here and say that most of the avid social media users are also on smartphones. This is a huge turn off to using the content because whatever you are looking at is constantly being blocked by the pop up...



I’m guessing that the program is a package deal, and you can’t just get the whole page menu at the bottom without the floating pop up... but if at all possible I would turn that part off. Or see if there is a different program for sharing maybe?
SHORT BED 4-DOOR DIESEL: 1986 F350 4x4 under construction-- 7.3 IDIT ZF5+GVOD

STRAIGHT SIX 4X4: 1981 F150 2wd to 4x4-- 300 I6 close ratio diesel T19, hydroboost brakes, Saginaw steering

BIG F: 1995 F-Superduty under construction— converting to 6.9L IDI diesel ZF5+DNE2
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