Check out new functionality that has been added to BIKEIOWA the first quarter of 2018
Our work is never done.
There is always something new we want to add, or some pages that we want to enhance to look and perform better. It is part of being a developer. BIKEIOWA is our canvas and the art that we create.
Our #1 priority is fresh content, but we are constantly making small changes to the site,but we've made some big improvements these last few months and wanted to catch you up.
Here are the changes that have been made in the first quarter of 2018. Many of these were made in late March, so check them out!
NEW FEATURES
- Created a Marketplace to showcase our Sponsors and the amenities they offer. For example, if you want to see all sponsors that offering lodging, just click on the "Lodging" filter. Same for "Brewery", "Restaurant", "Insurance" etc. Of course, you can still see the Sponsor list here too.
- Each Sponsor will link back to their detail page, or click on the Tags to see other related content
- Added a new menu item for Marketplace
With over 17 years of Iowa cycling data, we have went through great lengths to keep the data organized and searchable for Events, News, Features, Reviews, Blogs and more. The reciprocal nature of the data lends itself well between Trails, Cities and Content. All content uses one or more "Tags" to associate relevant keywords. This is KEY to finding information on BIKEIOWA.
- Our new Tag Cloud Screen shows all tags and the number of posts for each tag giving a popularity relevance by post.
- When you click on a tag, you'll be taken to a Tag Details page where you'll see all related content for a specific tag. There are 900+ tags. Example - "Bicycle Friendly" has 286 related posts. "Gravel" has 193 related posts and and "Police" has 205 related posts. Check them ALL out.
- Same Goes for City Tags - Example - "Des Moines" has 4,019 related posts and the "Iowa City" has 656 related posts.
- Same Goes for Trail Tags - Example - The "Clive Greenbelt Trail" has 273 related posts and the "High Trestle Trail" has 616 related posts.
- Same Goes for Portal Tags - Example - The "Recreation" portal has 4,390 related posts and the "Destination" Portal has 1,719 related posts.
- Added the 10 most Popular tags in the last 90 days to the footer of the website. Look at the bottom of each page to see them
- Added a new menu item for Tags
ENHANCEMENTS
- Added Related News posts to Events
- Switched sections for "Route" and "Links" for better screen usage
- Added Endless paging which makes it easier to view multiple pages of trails - especially on your phone.
- Enhanced Keyword search so you can search by a City, County or any descriptive keyword
- If only one trail is returned, we send you to that trail page versus making you click one more time
- Added Advanced Filters
- Filter by just "Cities with Trails"
- Filter by just "Cities with with a Bicycle Friendly Designation"
- Filter by just "Cities with BIKEIOWA sponsors"
- Filter by just "Cities with Trails"
- Results show links to each City as well as link to Trails
- Results show the Bicycle-Friendly Designation for a City if applicable
- Enhanced Keyword search so you can search by a Trail, County or any descriptive keyword
- Added Endless paging which makes it easier to view multiple pages of cities - especially on your phone.
- If only one city is returned, we send you to that trail page versus making you click one more time
City Detail
- Removed Trail List from map as the related trails are already listed
- New By City now sorting correctly
- Tagged each Sponsor for the City, Trail they reside by as well as Tags like "restaurant", "patio" etc. so it is easier to see the amenities each Sponsor offers
- Added "Date Posted" and "Number of Views" for each Review on the home page.
Bicycle Friendly
- This page takes you to the same spot as the Tag Portals. Some know the functionality as Clouds so we created this pointer too
Portals
FIXES
Events
- Fixed the reset button to clear out all the search criteria
- PDF documents will now open correctly
City Pages
- View Counter now working correctly
Trail Pages
- Comments now show correctly
Profiles
- Changed some validations to be more intuitive when signing up for or changing your profile information
Coming Soon/Sometime
- Edit a Trail
- Trail Conditions
- Google and ICS calendar export functionality
- Popular Trails
- Populate Cities
- Find a better way to show trail maps
As we state on some of the pages "We'd rather be biking than coding... There are only so many hours in the day." We are working on new functionality as time permits. Thanks for your patience.
Have feedback? ideas? - Let us know!