Blog homeIn the UK we have a weekly web show (on the BBC) called Click. This week they featured a new travel itinerary sharing website - ItineraryShare. I have added it to the list of itinerary sharing websites I have already featured on this blog (long list, competitive sector)
You can find out more about the TV programme on the BBC website or read the full script of what was said on the BBC World News site
If you are interested to discuss why a UK TV show was following an Australian travel website on a trip to New York then the discussion over on the AcidLabs blog is worth reading….. Looking in all the wrong places
Anyway, the premise of the show was that the website proprietor (Graham Steele) (who the BBC called a Web 2.0 wannabe webmaster - no clichés here!) was looking for advice as to what to add to his site (Itinerary Share)
Advice ranged from:
- Add the ability to plug into Facebook, MySpace and other social networks (yes)
- Remove the tag cloud from the homepage as it is considered passé (er….. I rather like it - keep it)
- Add various plugins to enhance the functionality - like Liveworld (I wouldn’t)
Most of this blog has been about what I would do with a website…….. so lets turn this around - what would you do with Itinerary Share?
I am not convinced the plugin route would be very useful and I think Graham was given bad advice on the show. However the advice came from plugin salesmen at a trade show….. what else do salesmen do but say that they are the answer to everyone’s problems!
What have I got against plugins?
Plugins can be great when you are a “traditional” website looking to get to a solution very quickly or at low cost. However, if you are a web service (such as an itinerary sharing site) I think you are just going to have to build most of it yourself - rather than rely on plugins - otherwise you will struggle to build any differentiators required to achieve a serious company value (I am assuming this is Graham’s goal, it may not be, in which case plugins could be great)
(You can build off APIs and server hosted components that are pre-built, just not web end plugins except for maps perhaps))
So what would you change on the Itinerary Share website? Am I right about plug-ins?
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I have been talking to the IT / CTO of our site and we will get involved in the discussion soon. I agree with Alex about keeping the tag cloud. Simple, but it is actually cool and is practical, so I guess it doesn’t matter that it is potentially ‘overused’.
Cheers Alex and chat soon
Hi Graham,
Thanks for your note. I am disappointed that other readers haven’t chimed in with ideas.
Perhaps they don’t want to give you too many hints!
:)
Alex
Hey Alex. Hope you are well. We are working hard to improve our photo sharing capabilities. Not sure which way we will go with that, stay tuned. And video integration will happen in the coming months. There will be room for ‘novice’ or home style videos, and there will be a space for HD quality, semi-professionals to upload ’short’ movies from their travels, accompanied by text itineraries. And, we are keeping the cloud! But, very excited about the video potential, just have to work on it, so that it doesn’t end up being inundated with loads of rubbish.
Graham,
Ok - no one has bitten….. however, I may do a fuller review of your site if you add to the list on this page
http://www.tourcms.com/blog/2008/10/17/anyone-want-me-to-review-their-website-3/
Thanks. Alex
Hey Alex. Hope things are well for you over there?? It is hotting up here in the tropical wilds of the Northern Territory of Australia. Just to let you know that we are working hard to upgrade our site to include all of the key social net sites and the ability for our members to bring in their contacts through their respective mail accounts. I am looking at adding a few key ‘groups’ to the site - sailing, snow boarding, skiing etc… Maybe even one for plane spotting?? As a fun, bloggy style chat… I am looking forward to your review, as I am seeing so many more travel sites that I wonder is there any room for anymore?? Or, is the ’space’ big enough to handle it? Cheers mate, Graham Steele