Nice site. but very flawed. Here's some advice.

[Superrpgman]

Hi there.

Just found out about this site 2 hours or so ago. It seems like it has a lot of great mods, but it's got some serious layout issues, all of which I imagine could be fixed quite easily.

If it's ok, I'd like to give anyone has some sort of power on this site to hear out my constructive criticism.

For one, how about being able to sort mods by their user ratings? The amount of times a mod has been downloaded is nice and all, but that only tells you how many people have checked out the mod, not how many actually like it. I'd rather not click on every mod just to see its rating.

Another thing is the fact that you can only search for mods by typing in names. This one seriously perplexes me. Why wouldn't you have and advanced search option? I can't think of another website which is all about mods for a really popular series in the last year or 2 that doesn't have advanced search option?

And finally, here's my biggest issue with the site. You really don't have enough categories for mods. Take GTAIV for example. Shouldn't pedestrians be its own category? Or if it absolutely HAS to be in the the same category, maybe you could make a sub category options for different types of mods.

Anyways, they're just some suggestions that I think would make mods on this site a lot easier to sort through.

Thank you for your time.

[ZCAB]

Thread moved to Feedback forum.

[rappo]

Thanks for the input! I created the mod database so I'll add my notes to your suggestions...

Originally Posted by Superrpgman

For one, how about being able to sort mods by their user ratings? The amount of times a mod has been downloaded is nice and all, but that only tells you how many people have checked out the mod, not how many actually like it. I'd rather not click on every mod just to see its rating.

I implemented this feature on our GTA IV portal, GTA4-Mods.com. The dream is that one day our entire mod database will be available on a site like that one but it's a long process.

Originally Posted by Superrpgman

Another thing is the fact that you can only search for mods by typing in names. This one seriously perplexes me. Why wouldn't you have and advanced search option? I can't think of another website which is all about mods for a really popular series in the last year or 2 that doesn't have advanced search option?

What advanced options do you suggest? The search box is more of a "smart search" that checks mod names, author names, and mod descriptions. It puts the items with the most matches at the top. Do you mean an advanced search that lets you specifically type out a mod name, an author name, and all that separately?

Originally Posted by Superrpgman

And finally, here's my biggest issue with the site. You really don't have enough categories for mods. Take GTAIV for example. Shouldn't pedestrians be its own category? Or if it absolutely HAS to be in the the same category, maybe you could make a sub category options for different types of mods.

This was a conscious effort on our part. I really hate it when there are so many subcategories on mod sites. Maybe we're on the opposite extreme with too FEW categories, but I'd rather have that than too many. I may take your suggestion into consideration though, I could see a few more subcategories like maps and car textures being useful. I just hate it when a site has subcategories for every make of car, it's so annoying to find a vehicle that way That's what the search is for!

[Superrpgman]

Originally Posted by rappo

Thanks for the input! I created the mod database so I'll add my notes to your suggestions...

What advanced options do you suggest? The search box is more of a "smart search" that checks mod names, author names, and mod descriptions. It puts the items with the most matches at the top. Do you mean an advanced search that lets you specifically type out a mod name, an author name, and all that separately?

Like I said, just something with a lot of options, such as the ability to only see results where the mod has been updated before or after a certain date, and, to only see certain types of results.

Originally Posted by rappo

This was a conscious effort on our part. I really hate it when there are so many subcategories on mod sites. Maybe we're on the opposite extreme with too FEW categories, but I'd rather have that than too many. I may take your suggestion into consideration though, I could see a few more subcategories like maps and car textures being useful. I just hate it when a site has subcategories for every make of car, it's so annoying to find a vehicle that way That's what the search is for!

Yeah, I can understand TOO many subcategories and all, but like I said, some types of mods deserve their own subcategory, such as pedestrians. And the thing is, you can have subcategories still show up in the main category, right? I would at the very least think that this would be possible.

I'll go into much more detail later when I have time. Kinda focused on several different things right now.

[MakaveliTh3Don]

i agree

[josemlopes]

Originally Posted by rappo

This was a conscious effort on our part. I really hate it when there are so many subcategories on mod sites. Maybe we're on the opposite extreme with too FEW categories, but I'd rather have that than too many. I may take your suggestion into consideration though, I could see a few more subcategories like maps and car textures being useful. I just hate it when a site has subcategories for every make of car, it's so annoying to find a vehicle that way That's what the search is for!

Well, how about having filters? For example, the cars, you can have all the filters off so you would see every kind of car, but if you checked the "Crazy" filter ( those fun but unrealistic vehicles like an ufo or some shit) category you wouldnt see those kind of vehicles being easier to narrow down the search. The uploader would have to tick the categories that the mod would fit. I think it is better then just having different pages for different kind of mods.

You could leave the Main categories (script, texture, vehicles, weapons, etc) in a different section in the filter, and then have another section with the more detailed categories (Realistic, Crazy, Fix, Overpowered, Balanced, Reference (like something from another game), etc).

And if even needed if certain filters are chosen (like vehicles-realistic) there could pop-up another section of filters with the brands of the cars, just in case some one really wants a Ford

If I wanted an unrealistic super weapon I would leave "Weapons", "Overpowered" and "Crazy" category unchecked.

Just some ideas

[merkedca]

yeah this is a good site, but considering new people cant comment on car mods, i've downloaded so many mods here, but i've never registered untill today. i uploaded my first car mod "nissan skyline er34 4 door" and i cant reply to my comments to tell them thanks for the feed and what not.
Other then that it's all good.

[rappo]

@josemlopes: thanks for the suggestions, I'll keep it in mind when I'm ready to revamp the site.

@merkedca: try now, you should be able to.

[Compeast]

@rappo, please help me too. I have tried anything to contact an admin like you. PMing wasn't an option, somehow I just can't.
I made a whole topic to inform you, but somehow it does not appear. I made it in the ''Feedback'' section.
My issue is I can not send PMs and comment on mods. Sorry I had to inform you about this in this noobish way, but I ran out of options. Sorry again, hope you could help me.

Ontopic; I must agree with this. Seems like a great site, but needs to be better viewable.

[rappo]

Private messaging isn't enabled until you make at least one post on the forums. This is to ensure that spammers (and believe me we have a lot of them) can't send private messages to our users.

Your post in the Feedback section wasn't appearing because it was waiting in a queue for administrator approval. You were unlucky and used some keyword that is flagged for spammers

Anyway, we'll continue the discussion about your access in your thread: http://www.gtagaming.com/forums/showthread.php?t=132822