Hi all,

I'm hoping for feedback on a website I've developed:

SmarterFishingCharters.com.au - Regional Fishing Charter Availability Alerts and more

It's not the prettiest site as I've concentrated on the functionality. I'm hoping to improve the CSS/JS/HTML over time - so far I've used vi to manually edit code. Feedback on look and feel, functionality and potential improvements are all welcome.

What's the site do?

SmarterFishingCharters.com.au is a free online service offering anglers fishing charter availability alerts in their favourite locations in Australia. We assist individuals and groups interested in sharing, organising and booking fishing charter trips. The site also offers fishing charter owners/operators a smarter way to fill seats and promote availability for free.

We have active fishing charters in many regions including QLD Brisbane, Moreton Bay, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast, Noosa, Rainbow Beach, Bundaberg, Town of Seventeen Seventy (1770), Gladstone, Mackay, Townsville, NT Darwin, NSW South West Rocks, Merimbula, SA Port Hughes, Cowell, WA Albany, Busselton, TAS Hobart and growing by the day. More than 270 fishing charter trips have been promoted so far.

Feedback is appreciated!

Thanks Gary
SmarterFishingCharters.com.au - Regional Fishing Charter Availability Alerts and more

Hi Gary

Great concept and now what you should do is add diving to it

I just took a look and found a couple of things that may be ambiguous and may help sales

Special: 1 person $200.00, 2 people $220.00, 3 people $270.00, 4 people $360.00
Trip Date: March 24, 2011 Seats Available: 5

Can you tell me what this means?

I am assuming the boat can take 5 people as it says Seats available 5 but it may also mean that it could take 10 but 5 are already sold

One person $220 seems clear and does 2 people $220 mean it only costs $20 more to take a second person?

When I look at it I think (and it has given me a genuine thought of booking and taking staff out so this is why I am asking) 4 people $360 for the day and seats available 5 - so if 5 is the capacity how much to just rent the whole boat for the day because if I am taking 4 out of 5 seats I don't want a stranger taking up the 5th

Not sure if your system allows for spaces to be removed for the available list automatically like and accommodation booking service but it would be worth looking at - I know someone who has written one for hotels / motels that could possibly be adapted

If you click on the image at the top it opens a new Tab which I believe is unnecessary

Cheers
Angus

Greetings,

In general I find the site easy to use as Angus said the top images which pop out I find that annoying and unnecessary. Also I notice when I operate the Drop down box "Operating Region" freezes up in IE however perfectly fine in chrome.

Hi Angus,

Thanks so much for your valuable feedback. I spoke to the operator involved. He's agreed to change the details to:

Full day Moreton Bay fishing charter - departing Redland Bay. Special $90.00pp. Minimum charge 3 people. Tours can be customised to suit your needs.
Maximum Seats: 4 Departure Time: 6:30 am Hours Duration: 8

For more information about this charter click here. BTW he's a good operator and I'm sure you'll enjoy a day out with him.

I will make changes to ensure the maximum seats vs available seats is obvious. I'll also correct the new tab issue - thanks.

You point on decrementing availability raises something I've agonised over. The majority of charter boat bookings are by groups for the entire boat - hence decrementing availability would be pointless. In the hotel space, that's like booking all available rooms for a night, which rarely happens.

For the minority of charters that allow shared/mixed charters, decrementing availability would be handy. I've decided to only cater for the group bookings at this stage.

Thanks
Gary

Hi Kimberley,

I'm looking to use Ajax (match as you type) to stop loading so many regions in the Operator Region combo box. I need to keep my IE users happy too

Thanks
Gary