RaginCajuns.com ... the offline fiasco of 2006-2007

Before I go on, I would like to say that my comments are only due to me wanting THE UTMOST BEST for my school.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

Just before the website was uploaded, the following suggestion was posted. Here's how the Cajuns are graded.

1. There are updates. This is one place where it succeeds. (A-) There are often four, five stories with pictures and they all rotate frequently without the need to click refresh. It usually gives a broad spectrum of the stories. Only reason it's an A- and not an A is because there's no way to find past stories. If someone's gone a week, there's no list of past stories based on timeliness.

---

I agree here, but sometimes I think that the picture quality is poor. For instance, a dark lit picture of the back of a player while he is at bat. Not very intriguing. Also, a few pictures look like they were taken on a camera phone. Not good enough for UL. Also, it appears there is room for 7 stories on the homepage, why are we only using 4 at a time? 7 is in no way too busy! It makes us look better!

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

2. There's just one sponsorship. The website needs to have little section (showcases, alumni updates, polls). Just think, if there's a student athlete showcase, finding a sponsor is easy, especially if the showcase emphasizes academics. Change it every week with a new athlete and focus on academics and helping old ladies across the street, and if packaged correctly, it wouldn't be difficult to find a company wanting to be associated with student athletes "doing the right thing," whatever that means. Even an alumni update would be great. Focus on what Jake Delhomme and Ike Tyler did this weekend in the NFL. Businesses would want to be associated with that. (D)

---

This is a great idea, maybe we could look to expand a little in the future after the basics are nailed down. As for sponsorships, I believe those will come with time as well.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

3. Fans can finally purchase clothing online, which is good. Unfortunately, there's not a large selection, which is bad. The Cajuns don't need a ridiculous amount of apparel (g-strings might sell well, but not having them doesn't really hurt), but they need a larger selection. Four t-shirts just isn't going to cut it. (C+)

---

I think this should grow more in the future, but I think it needs to happen sooner than later. Definately in time for football season. Also, WHY AREN'T THE NEW CONFERENCE CHAMP BASEBALL SHIRTS ONLINE???

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

4. There's a link to ticketmaster, but the renewal of season tickets should be done online and not through the mail the way it currently is. Again, tickets MUST be able to purchased online, especially since going to Cajundome is time consuming and the box office closes at 4:30, nearly 30 minutes before people get off work. Being able to print tickets at home would ease the process, too. (D+)

---

Absolutely, should be no other way. (Unless in addition to)

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

5. The website features FAQ, info for recruits, links to the NCAA, SBC, and LA-LAF website, but there's no place for fans, recruits, parents and coaches to enter data for recruits. There MUST be a portle where recruits can enter data, notify the coach and university of their interest in the university, and where the recruiting process can begin. There's info, but they're missing the important parts. (C-)

---

Could be done after the basics, again.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

6. Slightly difficult to do Spanish, but there's absolutely nothing there. Latinos are moving quickly to Lafayette and Louisiana, and only Texas has information and broadcast of games in Spanish. The Cajuns should make the step forward and become the second university. There's basically no competition. (F)

---

Not sure about this, I guess with the times the way they are it is something that could be considered. It sure it wouldn't hurt.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

7. There are games available online. Fans can view Bustles first win from 2002, but they can't see the game against Louisiana-Monroe in 2005 when the Cajuns won the Sun Belt -- ouch. There's no footage of the HUGE win over Houston. The Cajuns can view Robert Lee's first game, but they can't view any videos from the NCAA tournament teams (the two led by Evans, and the Lee led team full of Evans' players). Fans can watch the press conference for J Kelly Hall taking the team to the NCAA, but they can't see games from this year. In addition, there's no footage from Softball games, baseball games, track and field meets. Each sport, regardless of popularity, must have videos feature online for one reason: it lets athletes, current and future, know the university actually cares about Track and Field. Furthermore, it permits fans not in attendance and parents the ability to keep up with the sport. (C)

---

I guess this will now come as it happens, I'm not sure as to how much video was taken in the past or how much is available from the past.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

Overall, the website is an approvement from Athletic Network, but that isn't saying much. (C-)

Sadly, John Dugas has absolutely no help. Though this might be the genesis of all problems with the website (too much to do with little help), that doesn't mean it can't be overcome.


This summer is a great time to get prepared for a football season that looks like the third straight winning season, albeit at 6-6 again. The university and athletes deserve a word class website, one that is better than a d-1aa school.

---

John Dugas has done a great job, kudos, but he needs some help. There is no way we will be able to keep up with everything alone.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

At the moment, no one would know the Cajuns were a division one program.

---

Do not agree, I can think of plenty D1 sites that are of less quality than ours and are easliy identified as D1 programs.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by TillmansNumber1

And, if the Cajuns host a regional, which is likely, the first thing fans will do is google the Cajuns and see this website. This is the Cajuns big moment: Will the website and the university be ready?

The Cajuns weren't ready when they beat Houston in football (the website was down). All that changes when the appropriate updates are made. _

---

Agree. .~. We'll be ready.

Is down. We are seeing that stupid under construction screen again with it being directed to the athleticnetwork.com page in which the most recent information is from 3/21/07.

Not good considering this is the week leading up to the opening weekend of college football, with the very high possibility that some South Carolina fans will want to learn more about us. This looks pretty bad... :eek:

Try again, I had no problems logging on.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CajunCherokee

Is down. We are seeing that stupid under construction screen again with it being directed to the athleticnetwork.com page in which the most recent information is from 3/21/07.

Not good considering this is the week leading up to the opening weekend of college football, with the very high possibility that some South Carolina fans will want to learn more about us. This looks pretty bad... :eek:

---

I got in, no problems.

Z

Still showing the old info for me. I even Google'd "ragin cajuns" and clicked on it from there. Same deal.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CajunCherokee

_ Still showing the old info for me. I even Google'd "ragin cajuns" and clicked on it from there. Same deal. _

---

That happened to me last week, i just refreshed the screen and it worked. If you get in, or even if you can't, i would send an e-mail to the UL Administrator to inform them of the problem, and/or send an e-mail to XOS.

Are you trying to access it from a link? Or from typing it in the address bar? There could be something wrong with the link you are using.

Wierd. I was trying to access it from FireFox (which I have done many, many times in the past) and it wouldn't work. But it works fine in IE. :???:

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CajunCherokee

_ Wierd. I was trying to access it from FireFox (which I have done many, many times in the past) and it wouldn't work. But it works fine in IE. :???: _

---

I sent the administrator's an e-mail to let them knwo there was an issue. You might want to do the same to tell them about your troubles with FireFox. When i had the problem last week, i wasn't on FireFox, so there might be some underlying issue here.

It might be due to all the McNeese fans getting on the site to vote for the game against them as "our" biggest game of the year. Even their internet connections are polluted.

I let them know about it.

I just noticed that the multimedia section of RaginCajuns.com no longer has historical video/audio archives that used to be on the site. Does anyone know why it was removed?

Is it just me or has anyone noticed www.ragincajuns.com is less informative than a year ago? I can't put my finger on it it seems like there is a lot of little stuff missing.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by NCAA or BUST

_ Is it just me or has anyone noticed www.ragincajuns.com is less informative than a year ago? I can't put my finger on it it seems like there is a lot of little stuff missing. _

---

You mean like a bunch of unnecessary "@Lafayettes"?

Not again. I went to the school site this morning. It wouldd not let me enter the school site. It let me shop but not get to where I wanted to go. Now you send me a direct link? HELP

I am only wishing but I would like to know the sport, the gender and the result from the headline. These are the headlines inthe last 36 hours:

<li> Cajuns Get Back in the Win Column
<li> Cajuns Start Outdoor Season on a Good Note
<li> Cajuns even ASU series
<li> Cajuns Drop Finale, Series In Extras
<li> Cajuns Continue Winning Ways
<li> Cajuns Clinch First Win of Season
<li> Cajun Field to Host Southern, Big 12's K-State
<li> A-State Ace Handles Cajuns
<li> Golden Eagles Fly by Cajuns 4-3
<li> Cajuns Set to Serve Up Two Home Matches

Very confusing, and Softball wasn't even playing.

I know it is impossible but 2 out of 3 would be nice.

jmo

Well, not many of the news sources are really good with title, which is all the more important now with RSS.

So you drop your RSS list, and you see things like:
Mayor Pitches New Tax District (which city?? for what?)
Red Stick Puts on Pink
School Board Overhauls (which school board? what are they overhauling?)
Domestic Abuse
Site at Center of National Debate (NIRC??)
Divided over Dollars

I hate to say it, but the only news source that's any good at this is the Times Picyanose. They give you a good, long RSS list (the DA & MA often list only 10 titles) and the titles are usually self-explanatory.

Yeah, unfortunately that's about the ONLY thing da TP is good at.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CajunFun

Well, not many of the news sources are really good with title, which is all the more important now with RSS.

So you drop your RSS list, and you see things like:
Mayor Pitches New Tax District (which city?? for what?)
Red Stick Puts on Pink
School Board Overhauls (which school board? what are they overhauling?)
Domestic Abuse
Site at Center of National Debate (NIRC??)
Divided over Dollars

I hate to say it, but the only news source that's any good at this is the Times Picyanose. They give you a good, long RSS list (the DA & MA often list only 10 titles) and the titles are usually self-explanatory.

---

igeaux.mobi

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Turbine

_ I am only wishing but I would like to know the sport, the gender and the result from the headline. These are the headlines inthe last 36 hours:

<li> Cajuns Get Back in the Win Column
<li> Cajuns Start Outdoor Season on a Good Note
<li> Cajuns even ASU series
<li> Cajuns Drop Finale, Series In Extras
<li> Cajuns Continue Winning Ways
<li> Cajuns Clinch First Win of Season
<li> Cajun Field to Host Southern, Big 12's K-State
<li> A-State Ace Handles Cajuns
<li> Golden Eagles Fly by Cajuns 4-3
<li> Cajuns Set to Serve Up Two Home Matches

Very confusing, and Softball wasn't even playing.

I know it is impossible but 2 out of 3 would be nice.

jmo _

---

Doesn't it usually say "Cajuns" when referring to men and "Lady Cajuns" when reffering to women? Thought it's always been like that. If your not sure, it usually become clear with the first or second sentence of the article.

I think it's ridiculous that Parrott comes in and does a great job at the DA and it still gets bashed. If I were him I would move on. His work may be better appreciated by another town/school. Most people here constantly bash the paper and he's done a great job of making the paper more pro UL.

I must admit that the DA coverage has gotten leaps and bounds better than it used to be. (Thanks Parrott). I got the Sunday edition and they had a whole page dedicated to UL football needs and players and schedule and such. I am pleased with the turnaround for sure.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by CajunCanaille

I think it's ridiculous that Parrott comes in and does a great job at the DA and it still gets bashed. If I were him I would move on.

---

Josh never entered my mind because we have been told on this board in the past (by DA writers) that they don't make their own headlines.

So I considered it a small request.