Website - UK Trail Centres

nonnac85

Quite a while ago now I put a link on here to my trail centres website:
MTB Trail Time
(The link is also in my signature).

Anyway...because of the rain :-( I have had some time to work on the site again so now it has info for places in Wales as well as updated location maps.

I have also made it so you can look for places that have specific types of riding e.g. narrow down search to places that have XC, Downhill, Freeride etc.

The site is also more "linked up" so you dont need to go back to the homepage all the time.

Feel free to tell me any thoughts / suggestions / broken links you may want to mention.
Cheers

mhuk

The first link doesn't work: http://mtbtrailtime.googlepages.com/homeurl

:?

nonnac85

Should be working now - i didnt do the hyperlink quite right - DOH!

nonnac85

UPDATE:
All the XC lists are now complete and cross-linked to other parts of the site.

You can now choose from Green, Blue, Red, Black, Novice/Easy, Advanced/Epics and Unclassified/Sponsored routes rather than only green and blue routes.

MTB Trail Time
Click link above then go to Riding Styles > XC / Singletrack

Mat_G

Great idea for a website 8)

If everyone inputted to this so many people will benifit

mellex

Great website.

I've already but this to good use and sent the link out to few people.

'Good work fella!'

nonnac85

If anyone has any more info they want put on the site please let me know. I dont know how / if its possible with googlepages to let people add their own contributions so feel free to let me know here or by PM if I have missed any trail centres off. If you could send me a link to any mising trail centres websites and i'll add them.
Cheers

'Good work fella!'

Thanks :-) :-)
(p.s. Im a fella-ess!!! )

nonnac85

UPDATE:
Nearest train stations and map information now updated for ALL trail centres on my website MTB Trail Time
Also info about Penmachno (Wales) now added.

topo

There is already similar sites which cover the whole spectrum from XC. freeride and DH.
No disrespect to you though for taking your time and making this but they also have an easier to work with layout.

nonnac85

what sites are you thinking of?
like moredirt?

The Northern Monkey

thats superb...110% thumbs up from me....i've been searching high and low to find a good site with trail locations on....now in my fav's

Cheers,
Ben

topo

moredrit for one yes, but a quick search on google found me this http://www.trailcentre.co.uk/
and many more similar as well.

thers also extremesportsmap but thats not trail centres though.

But again websites can be a pain to organize so not putting down your efforts just saying thats its been done and is already out there.

EDIT: for the above post

nonnac85

Thanks for the support BigBenJ

Topo...what part(s) of my layout did you not like?

topo

Your layout works, im just saying there are better functioning ones out there.
They are more interactive and you want to have more images on your homepage and throughout which relate to what you are talking about. Say a nice landscape image of one of the trail centers at the top. Because at the moment it looks like a stock template.
People like rollover effects and other things which help them interact with the site. You want the homepage to be inviting to new comers, if they see a barrage of writing then it will turn most people off straight away. You want a quick and sharp to attract peoples attention. You also want to stand out from other similar websites if you want to attract the visitors in.

The Northern Monkey

trailcenter.co.uk is far too fussy. the set up you have going on Trail Time is much more simplistic and easy to use.

the only thing i would say, would be to add the county of the trail center on the trail center page..

for example:- Grizedale (and north face trail) - Cumbria

or

group them by area...North, west, east etc etc so that it is easy to find trails within the same region

either way i've already found 2 more trails i never knew of near my uni thanks to your site 8)

nonnac85

Because at the moment it looks like a stock template.

Thats all that googlepages lets you use although I have editted it a little. Having not built a website before i used the free software that google made and because of that it has limited options.

People like rollover effects

Again not sure if you can / how to do this using google labs software.

if they see a barrage of writing then it will turn most people off straight away.

This will hopefully change as I develop the site.

As i have said previously, all suggestions welcome. Im still undecided whether to buy a "proper" web development package - none came on my computer.
If so a lot of the things like rollovers should be possible and when i get to grips with the software there will be more interactive options. Im going to see how popular it is first and if people are returning or not then i will know whether its worth maintaining and paying for hosting somewhere.

topo

Just giving some advice and feedback on your current site. Ive made a few and maintain my own at the moment.
And all the things you see on sites like moredirt with the interactive map can all be replicated for free

nonnac85

I will see what I can do about grouping centres by region - thanks for the suggestion BigBenJ

The Northern Monkey

no worries

robertpb

Hi,

I clicked on the Epping Forest rides, main routes came up with error so did trail review, other sites came up with not found.

Train maps, Chingford is the closest station this is where the Epping Forest MTB ride from.
The arrow on this map points to where Epping town is the forest starts where Chingford is you can see on the hybrid the green area that goes north from here, it's west of the M11 and south of the M25.

nonnac85

For some reason I cant get it to show Chingford on the map - i think its because (by road) google says its 7 miles away whereas others are less than that.

Thanks for the heads-up r.e. broken links. They should be fixed now as i have re-directed them to different sites.

bells0

Can't believe there is nothing in the West Yorkshire area [though having the dales is wicked, would like something set out that doesnt involve getting stuck in bogs!]

benjd

Nonnac,

Don't worry about the design for now, or if it looks like a "stock template". Content is key for now.

A little heads up:
http://mtbtrailtime.googlepages.com/coedybrenin
That is a picture from Cwm Carn, not Coed Yr Brenin.

Cheers

nonnac85

That is a picture from Cwm Carn, not Coed Yr Brenin.

Sorted - thanks benjd

nonnac85

You can now view the trail centre locations using satnav

For England only

or for all of the UK


(thank to M. Yallop who converted the files for me).

JxL

I found a slight mistake on grizledale postcode:

http://mtbtrailtime.googlepages.com/grizedale

Its not "LA22 OQJ", but LA22 0QJ

(Not letter "o" but number "0")

nonnac85

Thanks - should be a number "0" now.

nonnac85

Resurrecting an old thread...

Today I have changed the design of my website (some tweaks still to be made but you get the idea). I have also started updating and checking all the links / info.

I also want to add accommodation suggestions along the lines of b+b / camp sites near by the trail centres.
Any recommendations much appreciated (as well as any other suggestions / info for my site)

My site...MTB Trail Time

Thanks

weescott

Hi,

The externall links for trail reviews should show that they are external links. They should show "opens a new browser window" or similar. People are being guided away from your site as it is. The "review" link for the Lecht isn't a review. It's a small bit of news and tells you nothing about the trail.

Perhaps have your own review section and external sites review sections clearlly defined?

To get rid of that stupid non secure site warning that pops up, move this image to your own hosting:

<link rel="apple-touch-icon" href="https://ssl.gstatic.com/sites/p/ed2824/system/app/images/apple-touch-icon.png&quot; type="image/png" />

pat mcgucken

nothing more constructive to say really other than I like the site, its mint. Its really good the way everything cross references with the different categories and such like. And in my opinion as a punter and not a web designer its far better to look at and easier to use than that trailcenter.co.uk site. The only thing I would say is that I noticed that a couple of the reviews are no longer available, I guess they were on private sites or blogs that are no longer in use. Maybe you should contact the reviewers when you decide to use them and ask if you can copy the review and host it directly on your site. That way they will be there for as long as you want them.
Good work though, apart from anything else I have just learnt that they do chair uplifts at the Lecht!

F@RRR

the dark background (that petroleum bluey/green colour) and black text made it very difficult to read for my eyes, other than that a very useful reference site