Thug iad sùil air an làraich ùr bhon t-sealladh fhiosrachadh theicneòlas:
'The much-trailed site has alot to recommend it. It loads quickly, it has a modish contemporary feel, taking advantage of technologies like AJAX in useful and intuitive ways. The interface is bright, usable and above all is as competently realised as you would expect for the budget. All good.
We liked the switch over between English, Simple Gaelic and Gaelic at the top of the page. It is seamless, well thought-out and even when non-gaelic speakers/readers stray into Gaelic content, easy to untangle. Navigationally then, good. (There is a reservation here, and we’re not sure how it would play out, but there may be a problem with search engine indexing on the site. Unless they have really nailed this, they may end up confusing Google and the likes with code which carries all three languages – not something we’d recommend really, especially as without traffic the site will die and this potential error may choke it off at the source.)
The content is not as comprehensive as we would have expected though for the money – but then we do hear there’s a news service on the way. We found sections like Genealogy really disappointing. Not only is the content restricted to a single page, there are links to other sites right off the section head (Thought given to Page Rank anybody?). No contextual news, no deeper analyses. This is true of all the content areas. To be fair though this is a site in beta, and work is evidently still continuing. Maybe there’ll be more added to these content sections and soon.'
A bharrachd air sin thog forargyll a' chèist a tha seo:
'Why didn’t BnG develop partnerships with the big beasts of the internet? The likes of Facebook, Bebo, Google, Flickr, YouTube, Wikipedia – why not get their extant services to do the heavy-lifting, leaving only issues of language in-house?'
Gheibhear an t-artaigil slàn an seo:
http://forargyll.com/2009/02/mygaelicco ... a-million/
.
mygaelic.com: beachd teicneòlach le forargyll.com
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GunChleoc
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Tha mi toilichte cluinntinn gu bheil am frithealaiche luath gu leòr agus 's ann an seann choimpiutair agamsa a tha slaodach. Tha e glè chudromach gu bheil làrach mar sin ag obrachadh gu luath air neo nach tèid duine sam bith ann.
Oileanach chànan chuthachail
Na dealbhan agam
Na dealbhan agam
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Gràisg
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Beachdan air an duilleig ud a' togail puingean intinneach. Saoilidh mi gur e rud math gu bheil deasbad tighinn às a' ghnothaich.
naidheachdair Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Thanks for the heads-up on this–I’ve also managed to get my first name as my username!
This is probably more my problem than the site’s, but at home I have a computer that’s almost as old as the footprints of Chaluim Chille. On there, the AJAX components of the site, particularly that semi-transparent language selector div that’s stuck at the top of the page, make the site very slow to use. It’d be nice to have a simpler version for older computers.
I’d agree that sign-up was easy enough, although it did have one of those dreaded “email confirmations”. And the focus of the default map, on the North and West of Scotland, was slightly disconcerting on a site that’s supposed to be raising the profile of the language outside its traditional heartland. Although I’d readily concede that 150 miles south of the border, I’m hardly in the core target audience for a Gaelic social networking website. The “simple Gaelic” is a nice touch, meaning I’m not forced to use the site in English because my Gaelic level isn’t good enough for the normal written language yet. It’s a feature that the Ning platform wouldn’t have been able to accommodate.
The biggest issue is: what do I do now? As an outsider looking in, I’m faced with a page telling me I’ve got no friends (!), a few links to some interesting but fairly shallow information, and not very much else. At this stage in the site’s development, it might be worth opening up the list of users and having a bit of open discussion going on to create some initial content and start to build up the social graph, rather than forcing people to search for friends they don’t know yet.
All in all, a good effort, but part of me just can’t see it reaching that critical mass of users needed to start the snowball effect.
Charles Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I suspect opening up the list of users will have all sorts of privacy implications BnG and the developers don’t want to engage with – although had they said, “Everyone signing up for the beta will be able to see everyone else”, it might have worked quite well. On Facebook when you sign up you get links to your online email accounts, like hotmal or gmail. This is really what I meant about the possible synergies which BnG have missed. To get critical mass myGaelic needs integrations like this to become a natural, desirable hub for the Gaelic-speakers. That “What Do I Do Now?” question is the website’s killer … Let’s hope they release a news section soon.
naidheachdair Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
It’s interesting to note that they’ve got themselves a sponsored competition on Real Radio, a very well listened-to pop music station covering the central belt. Perhaps a chunk of the £250,000 is being spent on marketing. But might it not have been prudent to get the site out of beta before plugging it on one of Scotland’s biggest radio stations?
Speaking of which, I’d love the site to branch out into audio. Down here, I have limited access to the spoken language. I can go online and pick up Radio nan Gaidheal, but I find the vocab used quite difficult and the station itself a little insular. A weekly podcast of fifteen minutes or so, produced in simple Gaelic with the occasional English explanation would go down a treat. It could even be sent out for use on the numerous community radio stations around Scotland–a freebie Gaelic learners’ programme for the stations and much-needed publicity for mygaelic.com.
They’ve made some effort at interoperability; there’s an option to load your contacts from Gmail, but not from other, more widely-used sites. The one they most desperately need is Facebook, but I’m not sure if their policies allow the exporting of friends data. (Although I personally find Facebook insufferable, it’s where the critical mass of people is.)
naidheachdair Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 9:43 am
Thanks for the heads-up on this–I’ve also managed to get my first name as my username!
This is probably more my problem than the site’s, but at home I have a computer that’s almost as old as the footprints of Chaluim Chille. On there, the AJAX components of the site, particularly that semi-transparent language selector div that’s stuck at the top of the page, make the site very slow to use. It’d be nice to have a simpler version for older computers.
I’d agree that sign-up was easy enough, although it did have one of those dreaded “email confirmations”. And the focus of the default map, on the North and West of Scotland, was slightly disconcerting on a site that’s supposed to be raising the profile of the language outside its traditional heartland. Although I’d readily concede that 150 miles south of the border, I’m hardly in the core target audience for a Gaelic social networking website. The “simple Gaelic” is a nice touch, meaning I’m not forced to use the site in English because my Gaelic level isn’t good enough for the normal written language yet. It’s a feature that the Ning platform wouldn’t have been able to accommodate.
The biggest issue is: what do I do now? As an outsider looking in, I’m faced with a page telling me I’ve got no friends (!), a few links to some interesting but fairly shallow information, and not very much else. At this stage in the site’s development, it might be worth opening up the list of users and having a bit of open discussion going on to create some initial content and start to build up the social graph, rather than forcing people to search for friends they don’t know yet.
All in all, a good effort, but part of me just can’t see it reaching that critical mass of users needed to start the snowball effect.
Charles Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 11:57 am
I suspect opening up the list of users will have all sorts of privacy implications BnG and the developers don’t want to engage with – although had they said, “Everyone signing up for the beta will be able to see everyone else”, it might have worked quite well. On Facebook when you sign up you get links to your online email accounts, like hotmal or gmail. This is really what I meant about the possible synergies which BnG have missed. To get critical mass myGaelic needs integrations like this to become a natural, desirable hub for the Gaelic-speakers. That “What Do I Do Now?” question is the website’s killer … Let’s hope they release a news section soon.
naidheachdair Says:
February 4th, 2009 at 12:36 pm
It’s interesting to note that they’ve got themselves a sponsored competition on Real Radio, a very well listened-to pop music station covering the central belt. Perhaps a chunk of the £250,000 is being spent on marketing. But might it not have been prudent to get the site out of beta before plugging it on one of Scotland’s biggest radio stations?
Speaking of which, I’d love the site to branch out into audio. Down here, I have limited access to the spoken language. I can go online and pick up Radio nan Gaidheal, but I find the vocab used quite difficult and the station itself a little insular. A weekly podcast of fifteen minutes or so, produced in simple Gaelic with the occasional English explanation would go down a treat. It could even be sent out for use on the numerous community radio stations around Scotland–a freebie Gaelic learners’ programme for the stations and much-needed publicity for mygaelic.com.
They’ve made some effort at interoperability; there’s an option to load your contacts from Gmail, but not from other, more widely-used sites. The one they most desperately need is Facebook, but I’m not sure if their policies allow the exporting of friends data. (Although I personally find Facebook insufferable, it’s where the critical mass of people is.)
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Seonaidh
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Oh, I say! Jolly bad show, what? No courses listed in jolly old Nova Scotia? Methinks it may possibly have something to do with the fact that it is not a "free-booter" facebook type thingie, but one tied financially to a quango with specific responsibility for Gaelic in Scotland.
In other words, probably the only way you'd get info about a Gaelic course outwith Scotland on the site is if the body running it were prepared to pay for an advert.
In other words, probably the only way you'd get info about a Gaelic course outwith Scotland on the site is if the body running it were prepared to pay for an advert.
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GunChleoc
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Why don't you just write them and suggest a couple of links to add to that page?
I am swapping messages with one of the staff at the moment to get rid of the bugs that bother me, and he's very friendly and working at lightning speed. They seem to be quite accessible. Why don't you try the same for content? Complaining about it here won't get anything done, so if you're unhappy, tell them so they can do something about it. If nothing happens then, feel free to kick their butts to kingdom come
Eadar dà sgeul: I decided to write an e-mail to the Bòrd last Saturday with a couple of hints and presto pronto, look at who our newest member is. If you want something of somebody, just talk to them and they might surprise you in quite a pleasant way
So an dà
agamsa 
You are free to keep venting your frustrations over here as well of course, I'm just saying...
I am swapping messages with one of the staff at the moment to get rid of the bugs that bother me, and he's very friendly and working at lightning speed. They seem to be quite accessible. Why don't you try the same for content? Complaining about it here won't get anything done, so if you're unhappy, tell them so they can do something about it. If nothing happens then, feel free to kick their butts to kingdom come
Eadar dà sgeul: I decided to write an e-mail to the Bòrd last Saturday with a couple of hints and presto pronto, look at who our newest member is. If you want something of somebody, just talk to them and they might surprise you in quite a pleasant way
So an dà
agamsa You are free to keep venting your frustrations over here as well of course, I'm just saying...
Oileanach chànan chuthachail
Na dealbhan agam
Na dealbhan agam
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~Sìle~
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Actually, there were courses listed outside of the UK, but none listed within the UK, but outside Scotland.Seonaidh wrote:No courses listed in jolly old Nova Scotia?
GunChleoc,
I couldn't find where to contact the owners of the site to ask for content to be included. I could only find a place where the members could write content.
Would you please contact me, via PM, with a link?
Many thanks
Sile
If you look bottom right, you will find a link saying 'Contact'. I have mailed quite a lot of suggestions, questions etc etc with little or no reaction.
You can also write to them by joining the MyGaelic User Support Group, though I gather answers are not forthcoming on content-related stuff (unless, as you say, you write it), and a limited amount on technical - in public, anyway.
I appreciate that they're likely to be inundated just now, but there are SO many bugs and lack of forethought and anticipation re content and user interface that I wonder what the money has gone on. It would have been better to have waited longer and got it a bit more usable first. There are so many good models out there.
This reminds me of Microsoft, pinnacle etc all wanting you to buy their latest programmes and then using you as a guinea-pig to trouble-shoot their teething-troubles for them. Sounds harsh, maybe, but having seen what a good job the existing volunteer-run forums do (and not just the Gaelic ones), I'm disappointed. OK, this is more ambitious, but it's been heavily funded and has taken a good while already.
I think I will go away for a few weeks and have another look later. It's all a bit frustrating at the moment.
I'm not arguing with the idea (for now, anyway
) but with the execution.
You can also write to them by joining the MyGaelic User Support Group, though I gather answers are not forthcoming on content-related stuff (unless, as you say, you write it), and a limited amount on technical - in public, anyway.
I appreciate that they're likely to be inundated just now, but there are SO many bugs and lack of forethought and anticipation re content and user interface that I wonder what the money has gone on. It would have been better to have waited longer and got it a bit more usable first. There are so many good models out there.
This reminds me of Microsoft, pinnacle etc all wanting you to buy their latest programmes and then using you as a guinea-pig to trouble-shoot their teething-troubles for them. Sounds harsh, maybe, but having seen what a good job the existing volunteer-run forums do (and not just the Gaelic ones), I'm disappointed. OK, this is more ambitious, but it's been heavily funded and has taken a good while already.
I think I will go away for a few weeks and have another look later. It's all a bit frustrating at the moment.
I'm not arguing with the idea (for now, anyway
) but with the execution.-
Gràisg
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Beachd agus moladh agamsa
’S ann anns an roinn ‘càirdean ’ a gheibhear an goireas as treasa ann am Facebook. A h-uile turas a bhios caraid ùr aig caraid dhut bidh fhios agad sa bhad agus a bharrachd air sin h-uile turas a nì cuideigin air do liosta chàirdean rudeigin bidh fhios agad sa bhad. Chan e eòlaiche a th’ annamsa ach saoilidh mi gur ann ma sin a tha lìn sòisealta ag obrachadh? Gun a h-uile càil a tha sin tha ceò air a’ mhonadh agus thusa air chall. Cuir sin a-steach moghàidhlig.com agus bhiodh a h-uile càil fada na b' fheàrr?
’S ann anns an roinn ‘càirdean ’ a gheibhear an goireas as treasa ann am Facebook. A h-uile turas a bhios caraid ùr aig caraid dhut bidh fhios agad sa bhad agus a bharrachd air sin h-uile turas a nì cuideigin air do liosta chàirdean rudeigin bidh fhios agad sa bhad. Chan e eòlaiche a th’ annamsa ach saoilidh mi gur ann ma sin a tha lìn sòisealta ag obrachadh? Gun a h-uile càil a tha sin tha ceò air a’ mhonadh agus thusa air chall. Cuir sin a-steach moghàidhlig.com agus bhiodh a h-uile càil fada na b' fheàrr?
Last edited by Gràisg on Tue Feb 10, 2009 6:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.