PAL Beta Launch

[Jeremy]

Fellow PAL members,

It is with great pleasure today that we are going to soft launch the main PAL website today. A few things though:

1. We realize that the main site is NOT 100% complete. We also realize there WILL be bugs and certain functions that don't work yet.

2. There is still heaps of content and reviews that need to be uploaded.

Of course I could have waited for the site to be 100% ready to go. However I think that takes away from the goal of PAL and what I want to accomplish. Just like the forums, I value everyone's advice, opinion, feedback, and suggestions for the main website. PAL is in existence to be a resource for the thousands of poker affiliates out there.

And as the founding 180+ members who joined in the last two weeks, I want all of you to be a part of shaping the main site if you wish.

Many of you know Mike (aka mikebrad). He is one of the best coders out there and the man behind the curtain at PAL if you will.

Him and I will be monitoring this forum closely and taking in all your advice and suggestions. We want to hear what you like, but more importantly what you don't like. We have a designer on board and other resources and capital to tap into.

Don't worry, we will not be offended by anything constructive you have to say. This is the entire point of rolling this out in beta for the next week.

Now, let's have some fun and build this out together.

[Mike]

As Jeremy said, there is still some work to be done on the site, especially in the styling department, but the majority of the features are there. As a founding member myself, I really look forward to each and every one of you tearing me apart.

If you don't like the way a feature functions, please let us know. If you can think of something that would be beneficial to you (and all of us) as affiliates, speak up. As Jeremy said, this is OUR community. Let's make the whole site awesome!

I thrive on constructive criticism so please, don't hold back!

Oh yeah, what do you all think of my new avatar?

[Steve]

Here it is guys! We hope you like the overall feel and look of the site. We will be working hard in the next few weeks to smooth out the edges and make this a place our members can call home. Please let me know you thoughts.

P.S. I had to change my avatar too...I couldn't be left out...LOL

[Jeremy]

The design, tables, and all that needs a lot of work. But no fears, we are on it.

[PokerNations]

I'm tempted to change my avatar to this:



He was the best part of Office Space! Aside from that, haven't had a chance to check out the site, lots of prep work for tomorrows Holiday. But I'll try to provide some constructive criticism in the next couple of days.

[Mike]

"have you seen my stapler?"

I had to go with Mike Bolton although Peter was very tempting.

As we've mentioned, we know the inner pages still need work. Obviously, pages designed like this will be modified to something much better.

The real features exist on review pages and the homepage. The goal is to keep these pages loaded with the most useful information to affiliates. For instance, on the homepage, there is a section that lists the most recent affiliate payments.

[Skinski]

So far I'm impressed with all the info. Very glad to be a member and have it all available to me.

[corpfan1]

Looking great Jeremy!

Anything we could contirbute for shameless backlinks - let us know!

corp

[PokerNations]

Ok, here is my constructive criticism:


NAVIGATION

There is a right-side navigation bar that duplicates selections in the top menu bar (i.e. unecessary)


CHAT WITH SPONSORED AM'S

On the main page it states:

NOTE: If the affiliate manager is not online, you can still contact them via PokerAffiliateListings.com

I don't know that this is as clear as it could be. I assume you mean they can be contacted via their threads or via PM within the forum?

AFFILIATE PROGRAM REVIEWS

I really like the layout/look of these pages. But I don't know that they qualify as a "review" of the programs. An "overview" certainly.

Is there more planned for these sections?

JEREMY'S BLOG & AFFILIATE UNIVERSITY

I'm assuming the duplicated PAL logo for all the blog posts will be replaced with more unique/identifying graphics? Otherwise it makes the posts kinda blend in together with one another, not stand out or grab your attention.


OVERALL

I really like how it's shaping up. The main page has a really nice flow and look to it. I'd probably toss in some sort of video section right below the Affiliate Life Radio, since that section is empty and doesn't match with the flow of the rest of the page where there isn't so much open space between content.

[Mike]

Cool, thanks for looking over the site. Most of the things you mentioned are on me and I can answer.

There is a right-side navigation bar that duplicates selections in the top menu bar (i.e. unecessary)

Those are just temporary links for now, other links will go there eventually.

I don't know that this is as clear as it could be. I assume you mean they can be contacted via their threads or via PM within the forum?

It's definitely not very clear, now that I think about it. I wrote that and sometimes I get way ahead of myself and don't get my point across. It definitely needs to be reworded. What I was basically trying to say was if the affiliate manager is not available for chat, you can still contact him/her via the chat module. Basically, an email is sent from the chat module to the a.m.

I really like the layout/look of these pages. But I don't know that they qualify as a "review" of the programs.

Thanks again. Layout/look was all we were really going for on these pages during this soft "beta" launch. There is more content planned for these pages.

I'm assuming the duplicated PAL logo for all the blog posts will be replaced with more unique/identifying graphics?

Yes, those are just placeholders.

since that section is empty and doesn't match with the flow of the rest of the page where there isn't so much open space between content

The thing about that is there are only 3 rooms ranked in the tags above. There will be more as the site develops over the next week.