- This topic has 29 replies, 6 voices, and was last updated 8 years, 4 months ago by
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I have created a module for my own use that replaces the “For technical support or genealogy questions, please contact xxxx” link in the footer of each page.
Instead it adds a “Contact” menu item in the main menus, and removes the footer links. The “Contact” page it links to has exactly the same information as the existing pop-up messaging form, including an automatic subject line if triggered from an indi page.
If you have separate contacts for technical and genealogy support two separate message forms are displayed, one for each.
Attached are screenshots of a couple of versions of the page.
I mention this to ask if it is a module anyone would be interested in using, and if it’s worth including it in the standard installation download.
Nigel
My personal kiwitrees site is www.our-families.info -
Can it be used as a sub-menu rather than main menu, e.g. under my “about” menu? I fear the main menu bar already needs a wider monitor than I currently have!
Paul
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Can it be used as a sub-menu rather than main menu, e.g. under my “about” menu?
Interesting question. Technically it would be possible to make it a sub-menu of a standard menu item, but not of a custom one. Perhaps one day a system like WordPress that allows you to put any menu in any position might be possible, but certainly not any time soon. But to my mind it defeats the point, which for me at least was to make it a more “normal” and obvious place for visitors to find a contact page. I would find hiding it as a sub-menu less useful than the current footer links.
Have you wondered if your menu bar has things in it that no one uses? For me that includes Reports and the Clippings cart for a start. I see you have neither for visitors, but perhaps you have a lot more for members? I wonder about Search too. I seem to find anything I want with just the header search box. I havnt removed that one yet, but I might.
Nigel
My personal kiwitrees site is www.our-families.info -
Hi Nigel,
Before responding to this, I thought I would check out a random selection of my my most-frequently used sites – News sites, major retailers, genealogy sites, history sites etc., – to see how they handled contacts – and I was interested to see that almost without exception they placed Contacts at the bottom!
I suppose this is because, arguably, most websites aim to meet the user’s needs without recourse to contact, for which they are not really staffed up. I’m not sure whether we are really any different in this respect. I think the Kiwitrees function set is sufficiently rich that direct contact with us should really be exceptional and moving it up to the main menu could imply an elevation in its status to that of a major function of the site??
So although my initial reaction was that what you have produced is a cleaner, neater way of handling it, my sampling – although admittedly unscientific – seems to indicate that the average Internet user must be used to looking for Contact details at the bottom, so I’m not sure that change would really gain anything for my site and personally I think I would be happier to leave things the way they are.
Ron in France Website: https://clan-davies.kiwitrees.net/ kiwitrees 3.3.11; PHP 8.0.14
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Ron, thanks. That’s useful feedback.
For me personally the comparison with other sites comes down to considering the purpose of a web site. But that can vary enormously.
For me, getting people to contact me about the data I have in my tree is a, if not the, major function of my site. It is how my user base and hence the tree itself has grown. Hence my interest in elevating it to the main menu.
But others have have other reasons for their sites, such as sharing their research with family, making random contact less important.
So it certainly makes sense to ensure a change like this is an option, not a requirement.
But the
excel useexercise has also made me think about another issue; that of kiwitrees’ use of pop-ups for a lot of input. Is that a good thing, or would new pages for editing etc., as this contact page is, a better way to go? Or are there other alternatives? Thinking especially about possible benefits on smaller devices.Nigel
My personal kiwitrees site is www.our-families.info -
I agree with Ron’s observations and can also understand your argument for the main menu option.
A matter of style?. But before we fork off onto the use of edit pop-ups, I’d like to stay on the footer information topic.
When I look at my footer it has:contact info
Powered by info
a horizontal line
some copyright stuff
some disclaimer stuff
some logo
some last updated info
some white spaceAll below the horizontal line is in the “custom javasctipt” module, where I also have Google Analytics code. The “Powered by” should be coded in core script where you see fit, but I might consider moving the contact info into “custom javascript” and word it more friendly like “If you have any questions or comments please contact …”. I feel the division between technical and genealogical can be offputting. Most of my contacts have just been “Hey, great site, I’m the xth descendent of Joe Bloggs, do you want more info”.
Paul
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I might consider moving the contact info into “custom javascript” and word it more friendly like “If you have any questions or comments please contact …”.
Some suggestions:
- Moving the contact links can most easily be done by a simple mod to footer.php in the theme files.
- Changing the text can be achieved with custom text.
- Custom JavaScript can be used to place content anywhere, not necessarily just in the footer. If you look at the FAQ page on it you will see an example that places content in the header
Nigel
My personal kiwitrees site is www.our-families.info -
Nigel:
Because of the nature of my sites, even casual visitors pretty much arrive by invitation and know how to contact me. I can see, however, one benefit of the contacts being moved to a menu item. I would think that people discovering and using that location for the contacts would be likely to be more serious about making contact. The rest wouldn’t bother.
One issue, the growing number of possible menu items available is going to become a bit much for phone and tablet users. While that is a physical hardware issue, even a PC user might be overwhelmed by the choices. Some of the menu items may have to be consolidated/stacked. I am not a big fan of that but it may have to be done. I prefer simplicity and do not like opening a menu just to find another one. Reminds me of really bad telephone systems.
Roy
Roy
Apache 2.4.27 PHP 7.19 MariaDB 10.2.8
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{I prefer simplicity and do not like opening a menu just to find another one.}
Yes … and I do not like opening a menu just to find only one option.
Paul
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… and I do not like opening a menu just to find only one option.
I agree. But does “opening a menu” just mean clicking on it, or does it include ‘hover’ over it?
Nigel
My personal kiwitrees site is www.our-families.info
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