What is RadioReference Doing Right?

[blantonl]

Folks, this is a feel good thread for the 150+ admins, moderators, and management team, regarding how we are hopefully doing things positive for the community.

What is this team doing right?

[fmon]

Run for President Lindsay and take the 150+ as staff and cabinet. Ya got my vote.
All kidding aside...this site is phenomenal. Tell your folks we appreciate every thing they are doing.

[milf]

One thing I have to say... Good open communications between admin/mod staff keeping things from going too nuts! And i think Obama needs Lindsay as head of a new dept... The United States Department of Telecommunications Transparency, and Monitoring! I think we could handle it.... (No More Secrets would be our motto since X Files stole The Truth Is Out There)

[ka3jjz]

I mentioned this in the newsletter - AFAIK we have the single largest wiki devoted to the hobby of radio (and even a little in the TV world) on the planet. Period. No ifs, ands or buts. Let's see someone keep a handle on over 1200 articles on multiple subjects. In fact I dare them to try (HI) 73 Mike

[ILMRadioMan]

No arrogance like other sites.

Trying to make this place as user-friendly as possible.

[Bubba1661]

I Know This Is The Best Site I've Belong To. I Would Be Lost Without It. Thanks Lindsay And Staff.

[hawk51]

I have only recently (a week or so) been reading forums in regards to scanning. From what I see, this will be my home for info as long as I carry this hobby.

One big reason is the level of professionalism. I havent read any posts bashing other members for their opinion. That is something in other forums I see a lot. My first passion is custom building my own quad. I learned most of what I know on a forum like this, except the topic is based on quads.

A ton of bashing goes on with that clientel, its not cool.

[Dawn_Adams]

This is a terrific site. There's always something going on, and I look forward to reading many of the forums on here. You guys and gals are doing a bang up job on here. Things are well organized and easy to find. There are plenty of people to give good advice and help others. Keep up the great work!

[BuiltonAsus]

I must agree with everything that has been said here. I must say that open communication, professionalism, and a continual drive to make things better set this forum apart. On many occasions site suggestions were taken into consideration and implemented within a few days. This is unheard of from the stand point of just a forum member. A member's voice is definitely heard on these forums and respected.

Another item to note is the sure number of professionals in the field, including developers, testers, engineers, and sellers that frequent this board and really provide a direct line to all of us enthusiasts that wouldn't happen in any other capacity. Anyone can have a forum board, but few provide such service.

Thank you for running such a top notch site that hundreds of members rely on on a daily basis.

[NeFire242]

Yes it echo the other's statements, very good site, easy to use, and I really like the fact you run across a wide variety of people from just people who own a single scanner, to those actually in radio maintenance, not to mention the fact you get a chance to actually speak to the site owner and everyone is easy to get a hold of. Keep up the excellent work you all do.

[smason]

Originally Posted by blantonl

What is this team doing right?

Wow, where to start...

Overall:
This site's very existance is a huge plus. Sure there are websites here and there that have a bit to do with scanning, and some model-specific sites, but this site has it all, in a well-organized layout.

The forums:

There are a lot of forums, something for everyone. And good suggestions seem to get implemented quickly. Being internet forums, there's bound to be friction between posters, and disagreement. The Moderators do a good job of keeping things civil, and while I've seen some threads get a tad overboard, I think a bit too little moderation is better than too much, and the RR mods do a darned good job. I love the idea of the "no tolerance" new user forum, that was a good addition.

The Databases:
What more could you ask for, easy to find, and direct downloadable via scanner software, what a huge plus!

Revenue generation:
Obviously it costs to host the site, and provide the required bandwidth, the few ads are unobtrusive, and actually useful, and the premium subscription cost is very reasonable for what the functionality you get.

I've been scanning monitoring since 1973ish, and kind of left the hobby for a while in 2000.
When I came back, I needed the trunking info for our local traffic here in town. I found out that our local police (I once though unmonitorable) were now easily monitored with the latest digital scanners.
Forum posts, and the database made transitioning to the new technology really easy.

Whew, didn't mean to write a novel.

[smason]

Originally Posted by smason

Whew, didn't mean to write a novel.

Oh crap, I forgot the WIKI...

I often dislike wikis, as many are hard to navigate, and have stale links, and bad search engines.

RR's wiki seems pretty good. I haven't used it much, but when I have I've found what I needed easily.

[MaxTracker]

Our TEXAS Admin's are kick'n butt! Wayne is still moving (faster than ever) misplaced threads. And the Database I think is in the BEST shape it's ever been in. The forums seem to be doing pretty well too. What more could you do? Maybe a Scan-Con every few years but other than that I have a Positive vote of Confidence in the Staff (paid and volunteer) of Radio Reference.com

What about a FREE Uniden Digital Scanner for the first 500 new Customers?

[tonsoffun]

Hello,

One thing that members do not see is the behind scenes of this website. When becoming a moderator and seeing what goes on was amazing. The amount of professionalism, dedication, organization, and communication is incredible. The staff here are very fun to work with.

Being part of this website is truly an honour, and a big thank you is in order to all management and staff here.

Take care
Ron

[gatorhater]

I'm very appreciative of the regular updates of my respective trunked systems that I follow. The posting of photos of your shack is a great idea, plus the regular scanner/radio related news is very important to me.
I would also add that I have learned so much more than I ever possible with our hobby. I would encourage everyone who has never donated to become a Premium Subscriber, please do so.

Thanks Lindsey and Thanks to all of our very knowledgeable moderators to make this site work for so many who visit on a regular basis.

[3mary2]

Lindsay this site is outstanding. For people like myself who are use to buying a book containing the frequencies needed, then switching to downloading to the computer into the scanner what a difference. Instead of surfing to find out answers to my weird questions, I come to RR and someone is always willing to point me in the right direction. I'm not really a computer wizard and this program allows me to go where I want for the needed info' on a whole lot of subjects. Your moderators have taken the time to assist users without a tongue lashing. Very few negative comments on this program. I personally love this program and am still learning the new and wonderful tools you and your staff provide.

[vabiro]

Hi,

I have been administering web sites for about 15 years (my first site was text based and the most popular browser was Lynx), and this has got to be one of the most well organised, well integrated, intuitive sites I have ever come across.

- Most sites seem to be completely incapable of creating a unified authentication system across CMS, Wiki, forums and customised content like the frequency databases. Your team has really done an outstanding job of creating a cohesive, and easy to use experience.

- So many sites just put up Wikis and web services interfaces and don't effectively use them and evolve them. Your team has done both.

- The structure of the forums is intuitive and well managed. Far too often people try to do too much in a single forum, or fragment each group so much that it looses a cohesiveness. For example, it is easy for a forum to loose activity and become stale if it is broken into too many sub-groups. You have struck the perfect balance between navigation, activity level, and relevance.

- Open standards. You seem to have focused on using the LAMP (Linux, Apache, MySQL, PHP) architecture. It is great to see this done so well.

- Engagement with the community: Although sites like this start out with the best of intentions and a lot of enthusiasm, they often fade a bit over time. Lindsay and team are all enthusiastic contributors to both the hobby and the site. This is really encouraging, and gives me hope for the future of the site.

- Balance of content vs. revenue: I realize how much expense and time is involved in producing something like this site, and that takes money to do. You seem to have really balanced the amount of advertising with the content. It does not intrude on the primary function of the site.

You guys do a great job and I never have any reservations renewing my premium membership each year. You provide such fantastic value to the community.

Keep up the Great work.

Victor

[triptolemus]

Sales.

You've done a great job showcasing value. As a hobbiest returning to scanning after abount 10 or 15 years, I thought I knew pretty much everything I needed to know. Boy, was I wrong.

Getting new users such as myself not only to stick around the site, but also to subscribe to RR and patronize the sponsors.is a great accomplishment. The DB and wiki contain a wealth of information, the user base is extremely knowledgeable, and the sponsor links are relevant and reputable.

Thanks!

[eorange]

The uptime and performance of the site, especially the Database, is outstanding.

The Wiki and the Database have evolved into THE defacto sources of information.

[gmclam]

There is virtually no limit as to frequencies that can be found here. That includes talkgroups, tones, codes and other associated elements. The database also has no boundaries as it covers the entire world (or at least there are places for everything to go).

This is a place people can go to with fairly sophisticated questions, or some rather dumb questions. Either way, usually, there is someone who can provide a good answer.

You do not have to be a paid member here to post; and the topics cover almost everything to do with radio (frequency). Often I'll read news here of an event long before it hits the wires or traditional news media.