I'm really pleased with the changes that I made to the Where can I Fly? page, simplifying the "When" buttons made checking slope soaring days much easier. The new Weather Permitting Map has been really well received too, which is a relief after so much work went in to it.
Transmitter Straps
The transmitter straps I ordered arrived from china at the end of last week, so now I just need to sit down and plan how to distribute to people who are want to cheer lead for Weather Permitting.
Next Features
I had various replies to Friday's newsletter requesting features. People were particularly keen on being able to search for slopes other than their usual favourites, to allow them to find slopes whilst they're travelling, or to plan soaring trips.
I had a couple of features in mind that might be worth prioritising above the "Travelling Soarer", so I sent out an impromptu poll to find out what you all thought, and here are the results...
Embeddable Tool for Club Websites
19%
A small code snippet for clubs to insert into their website that will display a club specific version of the "Where can I fly?" page showing which of the club's slopes are suitable for slope soaring.
Perfect for showing your club slopes and helping new members get to grips with your slopes and their wind suitability.
Travelling Soarer
75%
Allows you to use the "Where can I fly" tool but for slopes near to their current location, rather than their favourite slopes.
Perfect for when you're on travelling with a plane and want to get a few flights in with the locals.
Intent
5%
Allow users to share where and when they're slope soaring so that you can quickly see where and when your mates are flying, and join them (or avoid them!).
Whilst I'm surprised about how low "Intent" placed, it wasn't a muliple choice poll, people had to choose their favourites, so I'm hopeful that there's still demand for it, as it's a feature I'm looking forward to using personally. Flying alone is nice once in a while, but I really enjoy socialising on the slope.
It's pretty clear that people see Weather Permitting as not just a tool for finding suitable slopes, but as a directory for planning where they can fly outside of their favourite slopes. In fact, we could well find that's what people view it as primarily, and the tool becomes a "nice to have". Time will tell. The mobs have spoken, so development has started on Travelling Soarer, I think I'll be a few days shy of getting it launched by Friday, so early next week is likely.