Resort Ratings - new format ???

[Noelle]

I've enjoyed some of the recent enhancements to the TUG site - good job on the Resort Reviews in particular. I don't usually complain, but this time I have to give my strong opinion:

I hadn't looked at Resort Ratings in a while and clicked on the link tonight. After about 15 minutes trying to locate a resort in St. John, US Virgin Islands, I gave up.

These lists of timeshares (no matter how the entries are sorted) are extraordinarily difficult to use. They may be organized at the very top level of the search you are attempting, but within each 'alphabet selection list', the information access is not user-friendly at all.

It looks like a lot of thought went into the database design in order to determine what data was necessary, but the design of the categorization and selection process is unuseable

Please look at the useability of this section of the TUG site - it has valuable information if one can only get to it with a reasonable amount of effort.... Noelle

PS - Please don't mess with succcess - leave the Classified Ads section as is - it works very well.

 

[Keitht]

Noelle,

I got to the Virgin Islands with about 3 clicks from the TUG Review Databases link at the top of the page. Which resort were you looking for and what problems did you experience. It's only be getting feedback from members that any problems can be addressed.

 

[KristinB]

Noelle,

When you looked for a specific resort, is this what you did? I looked for Sunset Ridge Villas in St. John through the ratings interface. I selected the link that says "Sort Alphabetically" then selected the letter S, then scrolled down until I came to Sunset Ridge Villas.

If you're looking for a particular country, the reviews interface is probably quicker. The default sort order is now by last review date, so if you're looking for a specific resort, just select the column header above the resort names, and it will sort alphabetically. If a resort has a rating but no review page, the resort will be listed without its name being linked. I selected the link that says St. John, which gave me both resorts.

I did notice something odd, though. St. John has its own link apart from the Virgin Islands -- that should be fixed. I'll mention it to the developer.

 

[Bill4728]

I also like the new interface.

But I do have a concern, When you sort by location, the resorts in the US, Canada and Mexico all are grouped together as North America. I think that it would be alot more useful if the were sorted by state or atleast country. Please, does anyone, not know, that Canada is in North America?

 

[Bill4728]

Thank you to whom ever corrected the RID to Silver Crown.

 

[CaliDave]

I think the classified ad section is the worst part of Tug.
I typically won't advertise on Tug because of it.

It's a pain to find what you're searching for. It's easy for bots to get your email address and add you to the Nigerian Spam list.

I've emailed Bill several times, never hear back from him.

 

[KristinB]

When you sort by location, the resorts in the US, Canada and Mexico all are grouped together as North America. I think that it would be alot more useful if the were sorted by state or atleast country. Please, does anyone, not know, that Canada is in North America?

Bill,

Please understand that this is now a database-driven site -- no longer static web pages manually updated by the volunteer reps.

In order to properly sort the records, each resort must be identified fully by region, country, and state. So the fact that everyone should know that Canada is part of North America is immaterial -- that's the region that it falls within, and therefore that is what is displayed when you sort by region.

You also have the option to sort by country and sort by state within the ratings interface. That's what's so great about the new system. Everyone gets to choose how they want to view the information.

I hope this helps!

 

[Noelle]

Details on my search in the Resorts Ratings database

Hi Keitht and KristenB,

I'm giving you the info you asked for because I know you need it to understand where things might not be working according to plan. This is NOT ongoing additional whining and complaining - I love you guys who work so hard to make the TUG user experience productive, pleasant and easy.

Today I repeated my search (originally tried on 1/14) in the Resort Ratings - I had been looking for a timeshare on St. John, USVI and did not remember its name (turned out to be Sunset Ridge Villas) so first I search by Region (I tried Caribbean, US Virgin Islands, Virgin Islands) - then I tried by Country (US, US Virgin Islands, Virgin Islands) - did not find the resort. I didn't try by state because that is primarily a US term applying to the 50 states. I didn't know the name so didn't look there. So, I was not able to find the resort I was looking for and would have recognized the name when I saw it.

I then got a little wiser and searched the Resort Reviews - really liked the breakdown of Regions, with countries, territories, etc. listed very crisply under the regions. It was very easy to find Virgin Islands and then to see the list of resorts and ratings on one page ... I LIKED that. If I had looked under Resort Reviews first I would never have experienced the frustration of the Report Ratings section.

Perhaps the Report Ratings difficulties I had were a combination of inconsistent tagging (e.g. use of North America or Caribbean inconsistently to designate islands in the Caribbean region) and some very long lists in the results which were difficult to sort through. Same types of inconsistency with VI, Virgin Islands, U S Virgin Islands, USA variations for the state and country name. In addition, the descriptions for Tradewinds Cruise Club (British Virgin Islands)doesn't have a reference to Tortola.

If you need more info, please let me know.

To all of the other Tug contributors to this thread, please keep the good ideas and your comments coming - I welcome your input.
Noelle

 

[Keitht]

Thanks Noelle,

I certainly didn't consider your comments to be whining at all. I actually found it informative that an American member would find the Virgin Islands being referenced as a US state as confusing as I did. I'm in the UK.
I may get my wrist slapped for saying so, but I firmly believe that 'system testing' only really works once you get 'normal users' on it. I have an IT background so understand the general testing procedures. It is very easy to get into a mindset where what seems obvious to others is not in the least obvious when you are up to your neck in **** and alligators.
Please keep the thoughts, ideas and yes - complaints coming. If you don't say you're not happy and explain why, nothing will get sorted.

 

[KristinB]

Noelle,

Yes, please continue to inform us of these problems.

The developer that Bill hired to create the new system originally imported all of the resort info from RCI & II in an automated manner. So I suspect that at least part of the problem is the difference in listings between the two companies.

I'd like to ask that anyone noticing such inconsistencies e-mail the rep responsible for that area. That would probably be the most efficient way to deal with these issues.

 

[funtime]

Eagle Point Resort in Vail has no links

I know that Eagle Point had reviews in the old section yet it does not even have a link in the new section. I am hoping that this can be corrected. Also, how can we link to the old review pages which I like a lot since a lot of tuggers contributed their pictures in that section.

 

[funtime]

Rationale for sort by most recent review

I am curious about the decision to sort the resorts by the last review entered. I would think that most folks -- including me -- would rather have the primary sort alphabetical.

 

[JeffV]

All it takes is one click and they are sorted however you wish.

I am curious about the decision to sort the resorts by the last review entered. I would think that most folks -- including me -- would rather have the primary sort alphabetical.

 

[KristinB]

Well, the original sort order was alpha, but the developer changed it after some other members requested the most recent reviews first.

In any case, as Jeff points out, it only takes one click to change it.

 

[funtime]

Where exactly does one click to change to alpha?

Could you please tell me exactly where one clicks to change the reviews to an alpha sort? Thanks

 

[JeffV]

Click on the heading of any column and it will sort the entire list based on that column.

Could you please tell me exactly where one clicks to change the reviews to an alpha sort? Thanks

 

[Keitht]

Clarification of sorting options

Could you please tell me exactly where one clicks to change the reviews to an alpha sort? Thanks

You cannot sort if you access the database via the Resort Ratings link. To sort you have to access using Resort Reviews. Within Resort Reviews, clicking on any of the headings will sort based on that field. You can sort alphabetically; bring all the GC to the top of the list; Points Resorts to the top of the list etc.

 

[KristinB]

I didn't realize that there wasn't a column sort order option in the ratings interface. I've posted a suggestion for the developer to allow different sort options or change back to alpha (but just for ratings, not reviews).

 

[Keitht]

I didn't realize that there wasn't a column sort order option in the ratings interface. I've posted a suggestion for the developer to allow different sort options or change back to alpha (but just for ratings, not reviews).

I haven't asked the question, but I don't understand why there isn't any option to sort in the Review Ratings.

 

[northwoodsgal]

All it takes is one click and they are sorted however you wish.

I, too, had no idea this could be done. I spent some time online yesterday and found having the resorts not listed alphabetically very inconvenient. It's nice to be able to change the order, but it would be nicer if it was just alphabetical in the first place. Just my two cents.

 

[funtime]

if it is just one click to sort why not alphabetical

I would have assumed that most tuggers use these reviews in an alphabetical sort mode but a few knowledgable tuggers also check them frequently and like to see new reviews first. It would seem that the alpha sort as the primary sort would help the majority of tuggers and those fewer that like to see the newest reviews would not have any problem doing a click to sort by date entered. The way it is set now, those least familiar with the reviews -- e.g. new tuggers, those that check once a year etc. have the challenge of finding out how to do it. They may give up rather than check the bulletin board and then search TUG BBS section -- no that is not it -- the search TUG general section to find out the secret to having them sort alphabetically.

 

[Keitht]

This is only a guess as to the reason for the current sort order, but there was a request for the Newest Reviews to have a default sort order of newest at the top. It may be that the default sort order affects all views within the database.
I do know that work is ongoing with the database to make it even more user friendly. So it is entirely possible that things will change again over time.