Our.GOP.com Forum / Website / Suggestions

RNC website continues to lag behind the DNC

Nick — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 12:48:05 GMT

[size=3][font=Verdana]This website is difficult to navigate. It would be greatly served from a better navigation bar at the top. Maybe adding to the mere five menus currently on it would help to break it up a little bit and require less searching to find the topic of interest. Additionally, the lack of substantial information on this site is appalling. The "Issues" section is merely a paragraph about only a handful of topics that require you to scroll one by one through the issues via a difficult and slow loading process. According to this site's accomplishments page, Republicans have not accomplished anything since 2004. How embarrassing! The heroes and accomplishments pages both demonstrate the party's continued reliance on the past and unwillingness to move forward. If people wanted to get a history lesson on the party, then they need to go find an encyclopedia! This site's focus appears to be the past. Focus on the present and the future!! And, by the way, welcome to 2010, people use FACEBOOK for social networking, not some retro-1990's era garbage of a grassroots organization tool. "OurGOP" is a joke, and needs to be scrapped. WEBSITE STAFF: SWALLOW YOUR PRIDE, AND TAKE ONE GOOD LOOK AT THE DNC's SITE! It includes a homepage that is visually pleasing and not bogged down with text. A good look for our homepage could mimic the GOP.GOV site, another excellently designed site. The DNC also has easy to navigate blog pages! What a concept?! Then, they have a plethora of CURRENT information about their party and what their strategies and beliefs are. And a small area devoted to the history of the party. Key word SMALL! Their action center is focused on providing people with INFORMATION they need to do grassroots work, not trying to make their own social network. The interaction between members is focused, and dedicated to events, fundraising, petitions, etc. NOT pointless extras inundating the RNC's "ourGOP." It also has an easily located link to apply for internships and means to register to vote, which is absent from the RNC's site unless you search. These two things especially are important to reach out to young voters, such as myself. This is something the DNC has consistently out done the RNC at. There's an AGENDA which outlines specific goals and news about each topic! Their coalitions reach out to all members of their party, which apparently the RNC has no intentions of doing, which is also evident through the absence of (as far as I can tell) Spanish language version of the site. Both the GOP.GOV and DNC.ORG sites are better designed, and more action oriented than this site. PLEASE TAKE A LOOK AT THEM AND FIX THIS SITE! I don't mean to be discouraging, I know this site took a lot of work, I just want this party to have the best web presence possible as we continue into the most important election cycles in the history of this nation. Please take these suggestions to heart!From a dedicated young Republican,Nick Mizaurnrmizaur@gmail.comP.S. - Please contact me if you want more ideas or input! I truly want to help!P.P.S. - iPhone, Blackberry, and Droid apps need to be designed ASAP as well, or even just a mobile version of the site! Flash does not work on most phones rendering this site completely impossible to view from a cell phone![/font][/size]

FUND RAISING

Tom — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 10:56:51 GMT

I sent this to my Rep I am trying to get this to all Republican web masters.We as Republicans are loosing millions in campaign donations by not accepting PayPal for a payment type in donating to RNC funds. Many people don't like to use credit cards online and millions of people use PayPal to pay online. It would meet all the requirements for campaign laws. It gives the name and address of the payer. The names and addresses could be used for Republican databases as well.PLEASE contact the RNC and make sure this payment method is available on all Republican web sites.

Fund raising calls and account settings

Laurie Whitehead — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 09:09:24 GMT

I have refused to be a member of the RNC for years because of the fund raising tactics used. I would get a call, often when I'm busy. I agree to donate. Then I get a follow up thank you letter with another request for $$. Then I get another envelope the next week. Then I get another call. I get envelopes with polls, with big certificates, that look like overnight, and stamped as URGENT. [b]One, it is gimmicky and I feel like I'm treated like a fool.Two, I feel like you spend the little money I can afford to donate sending me more envelopes and paying fundraisers.[/b]My mother in GA right now won't answer any call that says Washington area because she knows it will be the RNC asking for $$. I actually did get lured back into donating when you offered the little stuffed animal elephants. They sit on my desk. [b]As a member who WANTS to support the party, I would like to donate, and feel like my money goes to candidates.[/b][b]So, I have two suggestions. One, why not have account settings on this website, where members can choose how they will be contacted for fundraising. I respond best to email. I see it when I want, choose to donate based on my finances and the info not pressure, AND I don't feel like you are wasting a lot of my money ASKING for money. You need a way to record how each member wants to be contacted. I looked here for Account Settings, hoping I could find settings for how I want to be contacted, but I didn't find any. It would be a good idea. Then you need to respect those settings and make sure no one who has signed up gets contacted any other way.Two, I really liked getting my RNC stuffed elephants. It would be nice to get offers for a t-shirt or bumper sticker, etc. with a pertinent political message. [/b]THANKS FOR LISTENING!

We need apps!

Jenn Grover — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:32:25 GMT

I love that we are starting to play catch-up from a technology standpoint. One of the keys to engaging the next generation is to connect with them in their sphere, which today is the mobile phone app marketplace. It is imperative that the apps be interactive, graphically appealing, and work well. Some ideas for the apps include:-Connect to GOP social media sites (Twitter, FB, etc)-Carry live streams of GOP events, speeches, etc...(maybe connect to ustream for this?)-Carry contact information for elected officials (like the Congress Console app on Android)-Use the handset's GPS to connect the user with their local GOP-Connect with the GOP.com forums-Make it easy to Tweet or text GOP relates news stories to friends-Polls, where the GOP collects feedback.-An idea button-allows user to send an idea directly to the GOP (like the iBurgh app on Android) [b]and[/b] make sure the user gets a response.-GOP/Patriotic themes for mobile devices-GOP action alert, similar to Weatherbug alerts...make sure to use wisely!-Mid term election countdown widgetAt any rate if these types of apps are not already in development, we are already way behind. these need to be in place for mid-term elections. It would be nice if you offered an app that could be used by local committees on election day to help report voter turnout and other election day communications.

IdeaScale

Jzyehoshua — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 18:28:06 GMT

You could even use this system to decide which ideas are most supported by the community:http://www.ideascale.com/To see this in action, here is it in use at a fantasy baseball website:http://simdynasty.ideascale.com/It's even free, too.

Republican Forum

KarlS — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 18:28:32 GMT

I suggest that several people in these forums go start a Libertarian website and have your own forums.I am sick and tired of trying to discuss anything with Republicans and get interupted with a bunch of Ron Paulisms and Austrian economics. These Libertarians have totally taken over this website and I am a little shocked that moderators are not controlling things better.I just went to another topic were people were discussing presidential candidates and Brent Parker bursts in and starts badmouthing the candidate like he is some type of political gestapo.Enough already.And how many topics are Libertarians going to start when every one of them ends up with the same mantra.

Please Help Us

GOPAdmin_JeremiahM — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 21:18:32 GMT

If I could, I would like to ask a favor of you all as dedicated forum-goers. Although we have 24/7 moderation of these forums, some vulgar, offensive, and spam posts sometimes slip through the cracks, and we do not have a chance to delete them right away. So, in case you do not know, there is a nifty feature on every post that allows you to "Report" it to us. This is the quickest way to get these posts moderated. Also, there is an option on every topic to allow you to rate the discussion. Please take the time to use this option, as it will allow us to see which discussions are important to you, and which ones you see as annoying spam. Last, please give us suggestions in this forum to help us improve this newly implemented site. It is greatly appreciated! Feel free to contact me or any of the other Admins personally via messages.

State Groups

Dana Watts — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:36:21 GMT

Things you could include on the State Groups pages:- State GOP site link- State Twitter feed (similar to the ones we have on our profiles...if they have one)- A link to the State's Facebook link to Become a Fan:Wow:

I would like you to add a notification service

jwilson — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 03:29:08 GMT

I think it would be a great feature if the website could have a configuration to notify me by email if someone sent me a message or a friend request.

Mobile Platform

Jenn Grover — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 00:36:25 GMT

We need mobile apps! :)

Stop with this "New GOP" nonsense

George Washington — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 17:51:57 GMT

You want to know why this website has been such a complete failure? It's because conservatives aren't looking for a "New GOP". We want the Grand Old Party back. You're not going to get "progressives" to switch parties. You're not going to get the media to start loving you. This website, and this whole marketing campaign are like trying to sell tampons to men. There's already a "progressive" party out there - the Democrats. How about trying to get back to the conservatives you lost touch with from Bush to McCain? I'm not going to vote for the Republicans just because they're "less bad".Give us something to be excited about. Give us some hope that we might be able to turn back from the insane globalist communist path we're heading down. Give us a reason to think that our children will have freedom and prosperity. Then you'll get the reaction you're looking for.

There should be a job posting forum

Jeff Miklos — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 09:52:00 GMT

I think this website should havee a feature where Republican oriented jobs are listed so people who want to get involved know where to go. I finished my master in public policy and I have found prescious few resources for conservatives looking to enter the world of policy and politics.

Gathering place of republican vids and clips

bparker — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 13:10:56 GMT

Hey Friendly Admin...what about a moderator run forum or section on the website where you guys collect all the youtube clips, clips from c-span, news outlets...whatever and put them all in one spot so we can keep tabs an what our republican leaders are up to on a daily basis. The only thing I would ask is that you don't pick and choose what republicans you show...put them all up.

Forum Organization

Jzyehoshua — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:26:08 GMT

Right now, there are very surprisingly more posters registered than there are posts. That means a lot of people are registering but not finding any opportunity to post in a way that they want to. My guess is the forums may either:a) Not be comprehensive in covering all areas they want to, orb) Not be located in ways that it's clear where to post.For example, I still do not understand why the topics "Second Amendment", "Faith and Values", and "Foreign Policy" are all in the General Discussion category rather than Republican Issues. Even 2010 and 2012 don't seem to fit in the General Discussion category. More like a category of their own on political thoughts or something dealing specifically with politics. General Discussion should probably have topics dealing with life and society such as Introductions, Computers, etc.Just some example forums showing what you probably want to make the categories look like:-[url=http://www.politicsforum.org/forum/][b][u]PoliticsForum.org[/u][/b][/url] - Notice the clear and distinct groupings within categories. One serves as a sort of introduction area. Another for news and polls. Then one for geographical discussion, community building. Then below that political issues are shown. Below that is an area for discussion of political ideologies. Humanities, blogs, and off-topic (including such topics as sports) help round out the categories, along with a section for administrative announcements. All in all a very well organized and categorized forum, although may have been overkill a little with too many topics. - [url=http://www.politicalcrossfire.com/forum/index.php][u][b]Political Crossfire[/b][/u][/url] - Probably an even better setup, since you will notice it uses Subforums to make the main page less messy. Rather than listing everything, it uses a nice design to show the subforums within the forums. Again, has clear distinctive categories. Also has categories for general, culture, geographical (international politics), and administrative, but divides the political discussion instead by one for political parties and one for everything else.- [url=http://www.uspoliticsonline.com/indexf.php][b][u]U.S. Politics Online[/u][/b][/url] - This is a pretty typical forum setup. It has a top category for introductions and administrative announcements, the category below that is for current events, and then categories are based in order by what they think the forum is most meant to provide discussion for. Thus the next 2 deal with politics (one on arenas and one on issues) and then at the bottom are the ones which are more general dealing with issues not the forum's main scopes (society and then general).Mainly I wanted you to see the need for good categorization and comprehensiveness in both categories and forums. It is better to make a lot of forums for all subjects and then use subforums to keep things from getting too messy, as Political Crossfire did. This will involve more people in the discussions as they will see immediately there are areas designed for them to talk about what interested them enough to come to the site, and be able to see what the discussion is on at the moment.

Forum Posting Problems

Sandy Stillwell — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:38:41 GMT

First I couldn't "SEE" where the option was to post a new topic. It blended in with the background so well that it was just about invisible for me. I went to the message from the Administrator and posted there by accident - well, sorta by accident, because I couldn't find any where else to post.Anyway, I found the link to post a new topic ... that really needs to be fixed.Here were my other suggestions:1) When I tried to view bio in the admin post hoping to find his email address, every time I clicked on admin name above the photo, I was bounced out of the site into Google? Not sure where to post suggestions but I have a couple,2) this text editor is awful, do you have the option to use tinymice or something else? I had to finally resort to hand coding my message to a group.2) Is there a way to add a feature to groups for twitter. I already set up a twitter account for theConservative Senior Citizens group last night and have over 300 subscribers this morning. It would be nice for groups to all have access to post items of interest using the same twitter account.3) I also find this site extremely slow, makes me feel like I'm on dial up again. Is that an issue you are aware of or working on?Sandy

New feature

dejavu — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 02:49:50 GMT

Many of the other forums that i am on allow for you to post inline youtube videos using 2 different IF code shortcuts and you should add them to make adding videos easier[Youtube][/Youtube] for standard videos[Hdyt][/Hdyt] for Hi def widescreen youtube

Links not clearly discernible as such.

Henry Mencken — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 08:53:53 GMT

I cite my assertions with fair frequency, and I just noticed that when I use a hyperlink it appears just the same as plain text. That could easily be confusing, I think it would be an improvement to have links either show as underlined or a different color from the rest of the text, just something to differentiate the links.

Redundant threads.

Henry Mencken — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:25:26 GMT

There are a handful of those kick-so-and-so-out-of-the-party threads, a bunch of threads asking for lower taxes and lower spending, a bunch of threads asking for the fed to dismantle the DOE and the IRS and all that. Just a bunch of redundant threads. Seems like new threads on existing topics should be locked or deleted or whatever you people do until either the old thread completely dies off or gets locked itself for whatever reason.

We need a 2nd Amendment Forum

Tony Litwin — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 15:01:35 GMT

For those of us who support the 2nd Amendment.

Elections forum

N.G. — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:24:27 GMT

There needs to be a forum specifically for discussing elections, such as with one sub-forum for posts related to the 2010 elections (Congressional, gubernatorial or other) and another sub-forum related to the 2012 presidential election.

Faith and Values Forum

GLHolmes — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:04:24 GMT

I believe that it is very important for there to be either a general Faith and Values forum or else individual forums for issues such as abortion, gay marriage, etc.

What does the RNC leadership think?

Ron Wilson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:02:24 GMT

Set up a forum where the RNC Leadership can answer some of the questions that are posed through out all the forums. To the normal users these could be read only ... so the RNC point of view doesn't get lost with everyone elses.

Tie the site in better

Theodore Roosevelt — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 00:03:55 GMT

First of all, the site isn't very functional in either Chrome or Firefox. For instance, if I'm not logged in and attempt to respond to a forum post I'll be prompted to login. Fine. However, after I log in I'll be given an exception, even though if I go back to gop.com I'll be logged in. Also, logging into the forums apparently does not log you into the main site. That's... peculiar. And last, I was informed I had a PM and it took me several minutes to find it. Clicking on my own name sent me to my profile page as though I were not an outsider. It would be much more functional to send someone who does that to their personal profile page.

Suggestions for Republican Heroes

VenomTongue — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 01:22:42 GMT

Add whoever think should be added to the Republican heroes section.My suggestion, Earl Warren.While his liberal policies might have been a thorn in the side of less tolerant conservatives in 1960s, his contributions to civil rights and the protection of civil liberties for all Americans is trumpeted by the New Republican Party.The New Republican Party's renewed commitment civil rights and individual rights goes back to our oldest traditions from our forefathers like Abraham Lincoln and ... well I can't think of anyone else. And while sure many more notable Republicans like President Richard Nixon, thought he went to far and moved to repeal his decisions, I think that Earl Warren's contribution to the Party, and the Nation can't be overlooked.

Organization begins at the lowest level and works up...

James Lappin — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:39:36 GMT

Does the GOP have any plans on organizing the party and lowest-level activism a little better? Getting people to want to vote in the first place is quite the feat, but most people don't even know much about voting laws and even where to go to vote. Maybe if people KNEW these things, they would go vote? Hell, I don't even know where to go to vote. Empower people at the lowest level and things might get better for the GOP. Hell, we might even get back to conservatism?There are a lot of different conservative groups, how about ENDORSING these groups? Get an official rubber stamp or something and get out to these people? I hardly see this at all. Is the GOP TRYING to be invisible? Being organized is the first step in success.All in all, my point is that I don't think the pyramids were built from the top down.

The graphic on registration looks like a chinese flag

MyGOPPYs BowlStinks — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 13:53:55 GMT

The registration graphic at the top of the page is red with a red stars, and really resembles the old Chairman Mao propaganda pictures and such. Just an observation

Screen Resolution

Rob Bryant — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 23:13:05 GMT

Isn't the most widely used screen resolution 1024x768, or has that changed? I've been having problems with having to constantly scroll to the right to see everything, from blog posts, to profiles, to forum posts, etc. What resolution did this website get geared towards while developing it, and is it a possibility to look at setting up a 1024x768 setting?

I think we need a General Discussion catagory

Michael oxbigg — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:14:01 GMT

[b]Dont you think we need a General Discussion catagory in the forum ?? [/b]where do we put topics that dont fit the selected catagories ??

Group Creation (and a general tip)

FloridaFisher — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 08:48:44 GMT

One of the best ways to organize via social networking tools is the use of groups. While this website allows for group creation, it takes too long for a group to be created. What you should do is establish a review process for new groups, but allow them to be created instantly by users. That way, a user doesn't have to wait for days before he can start telling people about a group that they should join.I understand that you want to control the content of the website, but front-loading that so heavily is a site-killer in social networking. If more functionality and flexibility is not given to users, then this website will fall by the wayside, because while it has a lot of potential, its difficulty of use is a turn-off.

Just a thought

onewiseburdman — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 15:25:56 GMT

Just a thought but maybe you guys should get some true blog writers. Disclaim the heck out of them and say something along the lines that their opinion doesn't necessarily reflect those of the republican party. But at least instead of a forum you would have a few lead bloggers that could field alot of the repetative forums.

Add a list of all the blogs on this website

Win14theGOPper — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 18:00:31 GMT

There should be a page for the bloggers, with a comprehensive up to the minute list of blogs, as well as list of the professionals. Perhaps show the most recent several posts on the site (even if only in summary), which might encourage discussion and new readers. A general topic search on the page would allow anyone to see what different people are saying about the same issues. I think this would really help the website's functionality, and the union of participants. Currently each individual blog is tucked away somewhere, and it would be tedious to try to search for subjects or writers, besides the few shocased on the main page.

Where are the sub-forums to list any issues/problems with the new website?

Eric T — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:58:19 GMT

I have one big complaint to make about the color! The blood red color of this website is absolutely terrible. I have always remembered the Republican Party represented by blue and I think it would be better if you change it.

Also, I keep timing out when I try to login. I don't have any problems with other websites so it doesn't appear to be my internet connection.