***** web sites!

[Dave2002]

Why does everyone "have" to use the web these days? Why do those providing information have to do it in just about the most inefficient ways possible?

I have just been trying to find out what's on at a couple of venues - well known - in February.
I wanted to check out a calendar of classical music events for both the Barbican and the RFH as I had a recollection that there
was a concert I wanted to go to.

The RFH web site is appalling. The Barbican one is slightly better.

I used to get the monthly brochures mailed out to me - a long while ago. It would not be beyond the wit of man to have those documents available as PDF files, which I could very easily scan and ascertain what I might/might not want to go to.

Messing around with web sites, filters, and sites which forget the last thing one put in is just too much.

No wonder people are (seemingly) not so interested in going to concerts any more.

[mangerton]

Oh yes. I share your pain. I have just been searching (and I do know what to ask for) for single flights tomorrow from Amsterdam to Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen.


To begin with all I got was details of return flights in February to Amsterdam from Dundee or Glasgow. Some replies even offered accommodation.

[french frank]

I used to get the monthly brochures mailed out to me - a long while ago. It would not be beyond the wit of man to have those documents available as PDF files, which I could very easily scan and ascertain what I might/might not want to go to.

Have they discontinued them? I get mailings from Wigmore, Kings Place and St George's now.

[teamsaint]

D2K+2

both of the sites you mention are a triumph of style (?) over substance.
Really dreadful.
I think it is deliberate.

[Petrushka]

I complained on here a while ago about the truly terrible website devoted to The Rest is Noise Festival at the South Bank. It was a navigational nightmare when all I wanted to know was if there were any decent concerts to attend. It's better in some ways to go on the websites of the orchestras themselves which are more user-friendly. I still get printed brochures from the Barbican

If the policy of having impenetrable websites is deliberate then it's a rum way of going about things.

[teamsaint]

I complained on here a while ago about the truly terrible website devoted to The Rest is Noise Festival at the South Bank. It was a navigational nightmare when all I wanted to know was if there were any decent concerts to attend. It's better in some ways to go on the websites of the orchestras themselves which are more user-friendly. I still get printed brochures from the Barbican

If the policy of having impenetrable websites is deliberate then it's a rum way of going about things.

Inexcusable in any case, Pet.
I actually think that some people must miss concerts that they might like to go to, due to the navigation problems.

[Beef Oven!]

Inexcusable in any case, Pet.
I actually think that some people must miss concerts that they might like to go to, due to the navigation problems.

I've missed quite a few things due to navigational problems.

[MrGongGong]

I've missed quite a few things due to navigational problems.

I know how you feel
I got lost searching for another bottle of wine
maybe something to do with having had one already ?

[teamsaint]

I know how you feel
I got lost searching for another bottle of wine
maybe something to do with having had one already ?

Well that can happen in the dark, in a neighbours house.

I imagine.

[Dave2002]

Oh yes. I share your pain. I have just been searching (and I do know what to ask for) for single flights tomorrow from Amsterdam to Glasgow, Edinburgh or Aberdeen.


To begin with all I got was details of return flights in February to Amsterdam from Dundee or Glasgow. Some replies even offered accommodation.

Been there, done that, too, this week. Flights and trains to and from Scotland - e.g Inverness, Dundee. I just love it when you eventually get some information, and then want to make a slight change, such as a journey the day later or earlier, or a very slight change of destination - e.g Edinburgh vs Dundee, and the web sites forget all the details you've already typed in. The railway sites are not good, though the air travel sites are really bad. If one were trying to talk to a human the words "what part of I want to travel tomorrow don't you understand?" might emerge, when offered flights to Spain (Scotland?) in March.

The RFH site is spectacularly awful right now, with its filter based approach. Once one has homed in on a concert, and managed to actually find the details, it then appears to need resetting and takes one back just about to square one.

[Boilk]

Why does everyone "have" to use the web these days? Why do those providing information have to do it in just about the most inefficient ways possible?

A little unfair. Better to have web sites than not, giving the choice of whether to use them or not. And speaking of choices, both the RFH and Barbican have hardcopy schedules, with monthly mail-outs free to one's front door. And this will surely continue, as I suspect a fair percentage of takings are from the older (and generally wealthier) demographic known as 'silver surfers' as well as the non-internet literate.

When searching I usually enter a composer's name or work in the home page's search field, and usually get what I'm looking for within a couple of further clicks. Sometimes in Google, I just type composer name, venue, conductor and work and ...bingo! However, I do agree with the earlier poster that The Rest is Noise website was distinctly non-optimal in its design/navigation. What happens is that website designers sometimes veer towards arty-fartyness over pragmatism and functionality, in collusion with their clients.

Anyway, I'm wondering what the missing five-letter word is in Dave2002's cryptic thread title of ***** web sites!
I've come up with Silly web sites!

[David-G]

It's not that using the web is intrinsically difficult. But the South Bank web site is really terrible. I always dread having to tangle with it.

[Dave2002]

Anyway, I'm wondering what the missing five-letter word is in Dave2002's cryptic thread title of ***** web sites!
I've come up with Silly web sites!

The last of the *s is a Kleene star! Make of that what you will!

Maybe not. Not worth worrying about.

I didn't realise that the South Bank and the Barbican still do free mailouts. If so, then I must subscribe again ASAP.

Re web sites, the people who create these often don't have a clue. They don't put themselves in the mind of the reader. We once wanted to go to the Salisbury area, and we homed in on a few places to stay, including a hotel and a B and B. The hotel had a really "nice" web site, with pictures of rooms and the gardens. Sadly it missed out on a few important details, such as prices, so a phone call was needed to get the extra information. The B and B had, possibly by accident, simply a web page with the equivalent of one A4 sheet, including prices and a contact email. The only interaction required was an email to establish availability, as all the basic information was on the one page.

We stayed in the B and B.

[Nick Armstrong]

I've come up with Silly web sites!

[Stillhomewardbound]

I thought this was going to be a 'DODGY web sites' thread, the kind from which David Cameron wishes to shield our eyes. Oh, well. [Sighs]