• JBWM
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  • Registered: 2015-10-16
  • Posts: 46

Topic: New JBonamassa.com Site

Hey all, Scott (JBWM) here!

After a long time of development, we’ve finally updated http://www.JBonamassa.com
I was hoping that Joe’s biggest fans could help us improve it even further.
I’m welcoming your thoughts, ideas and help, so post them here.
There’s some great new features on the site, here’s a few:

  • Automatic Ticket Links

• This is one of the most fan-forward things we’ve done. All websites can see your IP address, and from that know your location. We’re using it to see if you’re in a place where Joe is playing and popping up a link to get tickets automatically.
o We’ve seen, unsurprisingly so, from analytics that the vast majority of people that go to JBonamassa.com immediately click on the tour page and look for tickets, so we made the process much simpler.

  • Media Section

• There’s a discography page where you can choose any album and listen to samples of every single song. The only ones we’re missing are the releases on the “Projects” page, with BCC, Heart & RCFP… but we might put samples there too.
• There’s a VIDEOS page where you can see not only Joe’s top videos from YouTube, but you can filter by BonaJamTracks and watch every video guitar lesson right from that page. We’re still working on getting the download links in there wink

  • Joe’s Guitars

• In the ABOUT section, there’s a link to see all of Joe’s favorite guitars and gear from his personal collection “The Bona-seum” – he’s going to send us updates as he gets them so we can keep a running list of his favorites there for everyone to read about.

  • Fans Section

• There’s a page where you can upload your proudest Joe fan pictures and after approval, they’ll appear on the site. I’ve already seeded it with a bunch of pictures you guys sent in to BonamassaPictures@Gmail.com
• The official Bonamassa Blog is integrated right into the site. There’s some awesome reads on there all written by Brian R, who reads all day about music history and writes all night about great music and Joe.

  • Contact Joe

• We’ve simplified the way to contact us, and Joe, with the new form. Anything you want answered, put it there and we’ll get back to you quickly.

Check out the new site and tell us any bugs, thoughts, missing links, sections that were on the old site you don’t see on the new site… anything! And as always, thanks for being fans!
-Scott

  • From: Massachusetts, USA
  • Registered: 2014-04-12
  • Posts: 663

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

I'm not seeing the Fans Section, videos, media, Joes guitars, etc. Finding these should be easy, but ten minutes in, I still don't know how to get to these sections.

Play some cards & drink black coffee,
How I’d love to see you smile....
JBLP Std Goldtop
2015 R9 LP

3 Reply by RoadcaseBoy (edited by RoadcaseBoy 2016-08-20 15:02:21)

  • From: Seymour Duncan's Hometown, NJ
  • Registered: 2012-03-05
  • Posts: 2,309

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

Rusty wrote:

I'm not seeing the Fans Section, videos, media, Joes guitars, etc. Finding these should be easy, but ten minutes in, I still don't know how to get to these sections.

Hey Rusty ... you going back out to the MAIN home page (www.jbonamassa.com)? ... that's the newly designed page ... ur post made me try and locate them ... On the "Tab Bar" (is that what u call it? smile ) on the Main Site Home Page ...

ABOUT - has the Joe's Guitars tab
FANS - has the Fan photos tab (and the Forum page tab)
MEDIA - has the Videos tab

(Of Note ... clicking back to your last page or another tab ... u may see red dots on a full white page ...it's deciding whether to throw up the Tickets Ad Pop Up based on your location ... can be quite soothing big_smile ... but has hung up on the red dots / white page for me a few times ... so can become aggravating as well. mad )

"I was in Space for less than 2 weeks … and suddenly Jeaniene’s back … half the Band is off the gd wagon … we have comedians opening for us … and the nice kid that ran our website is now a kleptof’nmaniac.  Boy ... did you guys miss me!!"  Phil Valentine - Road Manager - Staton House Band

JBLP#251 (unaged) ... thank you Ron.
  • From: Massachusetts, USA
  • Registered: 2014-04-12
  • Posts: 663

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

RoadcaseBoy wrote:
Rusty wrote:

I'm not seeing the Fans Section, videos, media, Joes guitars, etc. Finding these should be easy, but ten minutes in, I still don't know how to get to these sections.

Hey Rusty ... you going back out to the MAIN home page (www.jbonamassa.com)? ... that's the newly designed page ... ur post made me try and locate them ... On the "Tab Bar" (is that what u call it? smile ) on the Main Site Home Page ...

ABOUT - has the Joe's Guitars tab
FANS - has the Fan photos tab (and the Forum page tab)
MEDIA - has the Videos tab

(Of Note ... clicking back to your last page or another tab ... u may see red dots on a full white page ...it's deciding whether to throw up the Tickets Ad Pop Up based on your location ... can be quite soothing big_smile ... but has hung up on the red dots / white page for me a few times ... so can become aggravating as well. mad )

Yes, I went back to the main page. The menu is doing nothing when I click on it. I don't think the page is loading correctly. There is no ABOUT, FANS, MEDIA showing at all

Play some cards & drink black coffee,
How I’d love to see you smile....
JBLP Std Goldtop
2015 R9 LP
  • From: Massachusetts
  • Registered: 2007-10-23
  • Posts: 1,929

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

Hi Scott - There are a few comments about this on the topic about the new forum look that were posted the other day.  My biggest concern is that the link to this place is hidden under the "fan" tab.  That happened a long time ago on the old website and eventually we got our "Forum" button back.  Very few people will spend anytime looking under those tabs.  Not good for this place.

Over all I like the new look.  I do feel the store placement is a bit much - would like to see some of the other featured sections nearer to the top.  I know Joe is a business but his advertising is so prevalent everywhere I go (yes cookies I know) that it gets to be a bit much sometimes.

Sandy

"There's a lot of people that are in so much of a hurry to be, I guess, to be famous or that they don't want to take the time to learn to play and do all that.They'd rather just knock it down off a computer and maybe get on a game show and get famous..That's fine if that's what you want to do.
"We're more old school than that. We like creating the sounds."  - Tom Petty

6 Reply by Ian916 (edited by Ian916 2016-08-20 18:31:43)

  • From: Sussex UK
  • Registered: 2009-07-12
  • Posts: 1,465

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

- it is very good, - well laid out, - I found the forum under fans section very easily, no problem from me there. - I work for a software company that serves the education sector so I am always reviewing things from an ease of use perspective btw.

It has a good mix of static information and opportunity to interact with the “contact” page and submission opportunity, - I hope that you guys can respond on these and feeling ignored is a negative experience. It is perhaps a bit too web1.0 and no enough web2.0 - perhaps could do with a bit more real time interaction but appreciate that this is not easy to man.

Only comment I have is about delay on loading page, it holds before returning all of the content in one burst - and when pressing the back button on my browser (safari) the site hung, - I had to reload.

Overall I love it, - but as I said for a new site/update it is dated with its limitation on immediate interaction/use generated content.

edit to add... - what the content is missing is something that is inspirational for youngsters, - I know there is the “keeping the blues alive” section, - but IMO Joe as an artist has a responsibility to engage and encourage youngsters, - a commercial organisation calls it corporate social responsibility. I have a concern that I have voiced elsewhere on this forum that Joe is going in a direction that only serves the rich and as such the older “baby boomer” generation. I think this wrong, - and the reason that I say that is that Joe inspired my son, as a result of being to see him play live in 2011, - not something that I could afford to do today, - so my wish would be to see a section of the website that is focused on this. - Information on his Epiphone signature guitars, maybe competitions or submissions section for kids to upload or link to their own content that Joe could respond to? A video interview that my son saw a long time ago was Joe talking about it being 80% effort and 20% talent. It may seem strange to those without children, but the little things are important to kids and they stay with them a long time.

My YouTube channel with plenty of my Joe's videos dating from 2009 inc his first Hammersmith Odeon ones:
http://www.youtube.com/ian916fun

Ian916's Website

  • From: Maryland
  • Registered: 2012-05-13
  • Posts: 2,790

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

I find that it takes a while to load as well. Once there it is fine, but given the attention span of people these days, if things don't load up quick they move on.  You might want to change the Australia tour to Fall not Spring. Could confuse some people. Other than that it looks good.

  • From: East Lancashire, UK
  • Registered: 2011-06-24
  • Posts: 3,019

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

Having had time to check out the site I can now say it is very good and agree with the comments made especially by Ian. A great step forward in most regards but I still think a forum button would be of benefit. It does seem to take a longer time to open, however from the UK that is a quite regular occurrence. A good selection of music and videos are present with a good number of backing tracks which will suit some members well. All in all good but I still don't like the red page for some reason.  big_smile

Come on the Blades (sorry Idolbone just had to borrow your line)
  • From: Massachusetts, USA
  • Registered: 2014-04-12
  • Posts: 663

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

Okay, today the page is loading correctly, I think. Now I'm getting the links at the top of the page that were not there yesterday. As long as its working correctly, I like the layout of the new site, its definitely a big improvement.

Play some cards & drink black coffee,
How I’d love to see you smile....
JBLP Std Goldtop
2015 R9 LP
  • jim m
  • jim m
  • BONAMETAL
  • Offline
  • From: Okie City, OK
  • Registered: 2006-04-24
  • Posts: 3,429

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

samjp4 wrote:

Hi Scott - There are a few comments about this on the topic about the new forum look that were posted the other day.  My biggest concern is that the link to this place is hidden under the "fan" tab.  That happened a long time ago on the old website and eventually we got our "Forum" button back.  Very few people will spend anytime looking under those tabs.  Not good for this place.

Over all I like the new look.  I do feel the store placement is a bit much - would like to see some of the other featured sections nearer to the top.  I know Joe is a business but his advertising is so prevalent everywhere I go (yes cookies I know) that it gets to be a bit much sometimes.

Sandy

+ 1

jim m's Website

  • jim m
  • jim m
  • BONAMETAL
  • Offline
  • From: Okie City, OK
  • Registered: 2006-04-24
  • Posts: 3,429

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

nmagcorn wrote:

I find that it takes a while to load as well. Once there it is fine, but given the attention span of people these days, if things don't load up quick they move on.  You might want to change the Australia tour to Fall not Spring. Could confuse some people. Other than that it looks good.

It is Spring in Australia. wink

jim m's Website

  • From: Maryland
  • Registered: 2012-05-13
  • Posts: 2,790

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

jim m wrote:
nmagcorn wrote:

I find that it takes a while to load as well. Once there it is fine, but given the attention span of people these days, if things don't load up quick they move on.  You might want to change the Australia tour to Fall not Spring. Could confuse some people. Other than that it looks good.

It is Spring in Australia. wink

Ha ha! Yeah you're right! Wow, now that is just messing with my mind, lol

  • JBWM
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  • Registered: 2015-10-16
  • Posts: 46

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

Thanks for all the comments guys... really.

I actually removed the "SPRING" from the Aus/NZ dates as it is confusing as hell and we don't go there so many times a year that it's necessary to include. USA on the other hand, is!

We definitely know about the loading times. It's tricky, but improvable. In all web design, you have to get something 100% functional before you optimize it, or when you make changes you'll have to re-optimize. Now that everyone is getting settled on the functionality of the site we can start improving load times and mobile experience. It will continuously get better over time.

Having merch stuff on the page is (obviously) a business decision, but it's easily justified by the stats. The homepage is made up of things that were the top traffic pages from our old site. First and foremost, Tour Dates. But after that, merch. That's *honestly* the second most popular thing people wanted to click on when they went to our old site. Here's one good example: Joe's intermissions are very short, and there's always a mega line at the merch table during the few minutes, and it is guaranteed that not everyone will get to grab a shirt at the show... so they head to the site to get one. It happens so often that it was an easy decision to put an integrated store right there on the homepage. You'll notice that we're not showing merch on any other pages other than the homepage. Once people find the link they're looking for, it's up to them. They clicked on Tour Dates, we only show the tour dates. They clicked on discography, there's nothing but big buttons with each album, etc. We've spent a lot of time trying to honestly give fans what they want.

Keep these suggestions coming guys, we're counting on you to help fans like you get the best experience!

  • From: Sussex UK
  • Registered: 2009-07-12
  • Posts: 1,465

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

- perhaps look at the Red Hot Chili Peppers community website? http://redhotchilipeppers.com

They have promo codes.

My YouTube channel with plenty of my Joe's videos dating from 2009 inc his first Hammersmith Odeon ones:
http://www.youtube.com/ian916fun

Ian916's Website

  • From: Benicia, Ca.
  • Registered: 2006-05-08
  • Posts: 5,828

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

nmagcorn wrote:

I find that it takes a while to load as well. Once there it is fine, but given the attention span of people these days, if things don't load up quick they move on.  You might want to change the Australia tour to Fall not Spring. Could confuse some people. Other than that it looks good.

I know what you mean about attenti........LOOK a squirrel!!!

What is success? Is it do yo' own thang, or is it to join the rest?   -Allen Toussaint
  • From: Benicia, Ca.
  • Registered: 2006-05-08
  • Posts: 5,828

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

Found a fast track to get here, jbonamassa.com/forum. Put me right through. This new website is a pain in the amp!

                                                                                      J Dawg

What is success? Is it do yo' own thang, or is it to join the rest?   -Allen Toussaint
  • From: Wisconsin
  • Registered: 2011-04-03
  • Posts: 593

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

It seems I can only access this new web site through my Kindle or work computer. I cannot get it to work on my laptop. I’ve tried Chrome and IE. I can get to the home page with no problem but when I click on anything else it spins endlessly. And I don’t mean a few seconds. It never stops. Any suggestions?

LIVE MUSIC IS BEST

18 Reply by JJ

  • JJ
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  • Registered: 2014-02-10
  • Posts: 132

Re: New JBonamassa.com Site

BarbieD wrote:

It seems I can only access this new web site through my Kindle or work computer. I cannot get it to work on my laptop. I’ve tried Chrome and IE. I can get to the home page with no problem but when I click on anything else it spins endlessly. And I don’t mean a few seconds. It never stops. Any suggestions?

Firefox works well for me.