R/C Art

My Feedback: (38)

My biggest complaint is the time it takes each page to load. It is just too slow sometimes and hangs up waiting for the Master Aircrew propeller to start swinging or some other advertising to fully load. There isn't the following on the various threads - the users are going to other forums (for whatever reasons?) and the participation has shrunk to the point that it isn't as much fun as it used to be.

I like the Market Place for buying and selling, but it isn't as user friendly as it was before the big change over. It does however, seem to be getting better. I certainly like buying here.

All in all, it is still one of my "Go To" places on the internet.

GSXR1000

My Feedback: (7)

I would allow editing the Topic Heading Box, not just the post body... and I would allow post deletion; but cap it at 6 deletes allowed per month.

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Perhaps just a fluke, but this has been coming up all morning:


The connection has timed out

The server at www.rcuniverse.com is taking too long to respond.

The site could be temporarily unavailable or too busy. Try again in a few moments.
If you are unable to load any pages, check your computer’s network connection.
If your computer or network is protected by a firewall or proxy, make sure that Firefox is permitted to access the Web.

Different browsers, different systems. Happens at least once or twice a month. I always go to "is this site down" to double check to confirm it's not just me. I don't have this issue with any other site. I presume there is some way to track this kind of activity and pinpoint what causes it to happen.

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

Dude,,I wish I had a nickel for every time I got this

LJE4357

My Feedback: (74)

I have never seen that one.

IFLYBVM2

My Feedback: (360)

Search is horrible, picture uploading is iffy at best nowadays, and for God's sake-once you get it fixed QUIT CHANGING IT....
As modelers, we don't need 'new and improved' every time we log on. 9 times out of 10, the new and improved sucks. Fix it, and leave it be.
Thanks-Mike Oberst
OH Yeah-The site is not very mobile friendly-you must fix this, as that is how most people are wanting to use the site now.

SwampFlier-RCU

I second Jenny's opinion!
couldn't have written better myself
reduce the categories and reduce the advertising.

i3dm

My Feedback: (51)

I would allow users to block other (harassing) users from replying to their threads.

This is a very useful option in most large forums

porcia83

My Feedback: (8)

Another thought. The site obviously sustains itself via ads, so it's not a big deal to see them as the "price" of utilizing the site at no real cost, not a big problem there. Perhaps a monthly/annual fee can be charged to block ads when signing in, or giving members the chance to opt out of them for a fee?

i8tweety

My Feedback: (11)

It is time to reduce the number of forums and sub-forums in certain areas. For example, everything in the car forums is too segmented. They really need to be consolidated to get back to the basic categories. With the low traffic flow in most of them, posts are not being viewed, let alone responded to. As a member (though I haven't been on very much for some time now - and when I do I experience significant frustration with performance issues, lag times between screens, etc), the fewer unnecessary subforums to have to go into looking for new posts and questions, the better. I suspect all our members would prefer going into a few forums that actually have 50+ new posts per day rather than 20+ subforums with 1-5 posts. Low post counts make the forum look like it is dying a slow death and users will (and have) move on to more entertaining sites with lots of new stuff to read and disagree with, and post as such.

Imex-Erik

OK so here is what I would like as a not only a vendor but as a personal user (I also have a personal account besides my work account)....
-Remove the ads from the opening poster. This is the absolute worst thing about RCU. You actually insert ads in our first post and if you are a vendor it can appear that I am supporting the random Google ad the next member sees.
-Add an option to remove ads. I understand how ads work but I still hate seeing them. Let me pay a few bucks to bypass them or I'll just block them. With more and more people using ad blockers of some sort or another I'm sure you would make more money with a direct model.
-Fix the login issues. IDK what is up with RCU (although it has gotten better in the last 2-3 months) but I just couldnt stay logged in for a while. If you left the site for a few hours your had to login again.
-Make RCU more mobile friendly. Without Firefox on Android RCU is almost unusable. With almost 40% of our site's traffic being mobile/tablet based I'm surprised the RCU layout is so bad. It is difficult to upload remotely either without requesting the desktop version of the site first. I actually wait until I get home from shows to post pictures due to the difficulty and time it takes versus other sites.
-I would also make sure emails get answered, especially from people and vendors that actually pay for memberships! I have had at least 2-3 emails go unanswered and now I just assume no one cares. I know all my emails on RCG get answered asap and that is just my personal account. Yes I know emails aren't fun (I read 50+ daily easy) but it has to be done.
-I would also be a lot nicer to vendors that come to see you at your HQ. We tried to stop in last year after RCX and you wanted nothing to do with us nor did you want to talk to us so we quit advertising with you guys.
-I would put a harder focus on making appearances at RC Shows. I think I have only seen RCU at a show once actively walking around talking to people, RCG I see everywhere at shows.
-I would also place a sticky inside the forums where vendors can post new items without looking like ads. I would love a sticky on the RC Tank forums for vendors, not just outside on the main forum directory. This way all of us tank vendors could just update or post in that sticky when we have something new to say and it can be seen in the forum it is relevant for instead of leaving that forum to search for something new when you might not know it is new.
-I second everyone on the forum reductions.... we sure have a TON of forums and most can be filtered down. Don't forget the odd guys though! The RC Tank section has over 21k threads and over 274k posts just by itself

Ram-bro

My Feedback: (101)

Generally i like RCU. It is the best site going for general rc. Where i seem to have problems is in the market place. I get notifications on items that are already sold. I dont get notifications on new items. I had issues with the adds popping up in the threads. Some of the threads should be combined or elimnuated. Builders should be broken down by kit manufacturer.

1QwkSport2.5r

The search function has been a problem for a long time. It needs to work better.

Allow thread starters to open/close their own threads at their discretion. Too many times threads get heavily derailed and with limited moderation - it isn't controlled.

Get more moderators.

Speed er up the loading of the site. More often than I care to deal with I find the site loading very slowly or not at all - likely due to third party websites' (advertisers) content. I understand needing ads to pay the bills, but maybe change how or in what order what loads. The forum won't load if an ad site doesn't load.

Get more membership and motivate them to stay active. This place is almost a graveyard some days compared to RCG - and I don't like RCG!

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

Huum,, Last time I mentioned slow picture load speed the admin asked if I had "dial up", I thought it was just me, LOL, C'mon man,,no one has had dial up for 15 years, It's responses like that that make folks just give up thinking anyone really cares to fix anything http://www.rcuniverse.com/forum/foru...ing-speed.html

The First step to recovery is "admitting" you have a problem,, maybe this thread is that first step,, either that or they are just assessing whether or not to shut the whole thing down.

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

I have Satellite feed and it's fairly trouble free, it that helps?

larry@coyotenet

My Feedback: (21)

Make spell check and grammar check mandatory

Vettster

Glad your not running the show! There wouldn't be anyone left to read the forums.

To answer the OP's question.... This site needs a MUCH better search engine.

RICKSTUBBZ

Mostly, I am writing this post so that you will get another statistical number.
Since I am active within these threads, now you know I have seen the request to comment here.

Any problems I may have on this site, I have learned to live with and work around.

One thing I would like to see improved or expanded, would be a way for clubs to be more involved within the site.
Yes I know a club can be set up so to speak but I would like to see a club be able to have a "Home Page" if you will - and a forum page for just clubs then members of that club be able to post pictures and what not under the "club" page. Then again their is always "FB" but I don't mess with that.

One thing I like about RCU...
Even though some area's of RCU gets a character or two that type trash...
As a general rule, it seems to me this site has a lot less of that than the others I have visited.

I actually despise RCG for that reason. But maybe I have never found the right place there.

Generally I am pleased at/with RCU and it is my RC forum home..

aghost

My Feedback: (13)

In general I like RCU. Ads are intrusive, but that is part of the internet.


Now "If I ran RCU" I would:


1. Improve the search engine. Not sure how to do it, but I know other of search engines that are easier to use and find useful answers rather than just word hits.


2. In the Forum Heading ( the line that includes "Forum Tools Search Forum" ) add an option to "Mark this Forum Read". I know its in the Forum Tools, but I use that option all the time.


3. I like Jenny's post about reducing the number of Forums. At the same time I would add Warbirds to her list of Forums. So maybe reducing forums significantly may not be practical.


4. Add some moderators. RCU posters seem to do a fair job of policing themselves, but problems do occur.


5. Pay more attention to trouble tickets. I sent in a ticket a couple of years ago about a password problem. I got a standard email back but never heard from anyone. I can login with my password, but it will not accept that password to change an email address. Since I can still login I have not worried about it, but since you asked...


Brian

Mechanicaloverlord

Search has always been the worst of any forum I've used.

Page loading issues

Log in issues whether on pc or iOS,

iOS keyboard functionality has recently gone haywire for me, iOS 10 update I think. I can't use the grey "" arrow keys that move the cursor within the dialogue box. If I do the page immediately scrolls to the bottom and I can't type in the dialogue box. This also happens randomly when typing in the dialogue box even if I don't use those keys. Also at random the dialogue box won't allow me to type anymore. I have to hit "done" and then tap the dialogue box to continue typing making posting anything a pain. But I've always had weird little issues in the dialogue box with iOS and RCU, never a problem on other forums. For reference I never use mobile style with iOS, always full version.

RCU must be like the red headed step child of IB. Slap a shiny new facade on the old broken backend, add something new here and there and continue the slumlord style running of the site. I doubt this thread is anything more than them looking for a few tweaks they can do (well they probably want the unpaid mods to do) without actually investing anything. I don't know much about websites and the code that runs the site but whatever the site is running on stinks. I'm sure it would be a lot of work and cost a lot to transfer all the info on the site onto another platform but it needs to be done.

These and a variety of other issues (mostly general frustration with the population, lowered interest in RC, etc) led me to leave the site not too long ago which raises another gripe. I like the fact RCU has the option to deactivate my account, a feature not available on all forums. But deactivating that account only locked me out of it. Nowhere does it say that account is deactivated on the public side and in fact I received an email notification of a Private Message more than a week after I deactivated the account. If you deactivate your account it should say so on your public profile and all links for pm or email should be removed. Talk about a broken backend.

Edit: Just sent a PM to the account I deactivated months ago and cannot access and received an email confirmation for it. Unbelievable.

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

Mechanicaloverlor

With only 56 post how can you actually know what's going on with RCU, let-a-lone tell them how to improve it?

scale only 4 me

My Feedback: (158)

His opinion is just as valid as anyone else's.. did you miss the last paragraph??

1QwkSport2.5r

I wonder if the admins will even read this thread. I sometimes wonder if stuff like this is started just to get some traffic. I've been on RCU for a long time - seen the ups and downs of the big software/server "upgrade".... Still have problems with cookies and logging in from time to time, but it's gotten better as time has gone on, but it's still the same stuff. The activity on most of the board is just hanging on by a thread (no pun intended)..

LJE4357

My Feedback: (74)

The biggest issue I see. No body should have the ability to change anything that's written anywhere on the website, except for the original writer. OK to copy it, but no changes of any kind. And the name of the original writer goes with it, if it's copied.

Gizmo-RCU

My Feedback: (27)

Actually it did miss it, bad me!