EMTbravo

Members- As we continue to build a better EMTBravo.com, something that was made possible by our sponsorship program, we are VERY proud to launch a new photo managment system to display the photos that our members submit. Many of you have requested a better system for our photos. Although the display of the photos and layout will remain unaffected at this time..... This new photo management will allow us to: -Sort photos into categories, such as Incident Photos and Spy Shots -Sort photos by photographer -Sort photos by day, week, month, or year - SEARCH for specific photos -Recieve an email each time a new set of photos is posted* -Subscribe to an RSS feed of photos (*This featuresis currently not available, system is still in development) This system will be effective with all photos posted from this point on. This system also has great potential, and will allow me to pick some members to help me with the photo posting process in the future. Check it out at: http://www.emtbravophotos.com We hope you will like this new system, and hope it makes it easier for you to find and enjoy our photos. It's still in development, and feedback is welcomed.

Thanks. We're working to resolve that issue currently.. However, if you are not viewing the page using the whole browser window, then the site is not going to display correctly. The feature photo should be middle, top when you open the page. Is anyone else having this type of issue?

Thanks to everyone for the feeback, and keep it coming. I am continuing to build and fine tune the new main page and the EMTBravo.com structure. I am even growing to really like the new page as well, lol. As mentioned, there's still more I have in store for the page, so stay tuned and keep the feedback coming. Thanks again. -EMTBravo Email: EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com

This is a notice to all our sponsors. We recently redisgned our main page. As a result, the sponsor ads have been temporarily relocated on the main page. We are going to be reintergrating the sponsors ads into the main page and all EMTBravo sites according to the plan you signed up for. We expect this process to take a couple of weeks. All sponsors will be credited (sponsorship period extended) for this time. Please contact me with any questions, concerns, comments, or input EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com And for those interested, we have a limited amount of sponsorship oppurtunities still available. To the sponsors, thanks for your support of this site and hope EMTBravo members will show their support to you.

Some of you reported having difficulty accesing the EMTBravo. NET domain last night, and reported not being able to see the forums and seeing a placeholder page. I'm curious, to those having the problems, has it been resolved? We had issues with our DNS server, and where the EMTBravo.net name was pointing to on the internet- caused by me- and unfortunetly sometimes things like that take a while to "propagate", or for the changes to show up across the internet. So, hopefully this AM the problem has been resolved for all of you...please advise me if you had this issue and it since has been resolved. Thanks!

There's a really cool website that archives websites, www.archive.org . Here's what EMTBravo.com Version 1.0 looked like on April 14th, 2003. http://web.archive.org/web/20030402002955/...ttac1/Seth.html And Version 1.5 in January of 2004 http://web.archive.org/web/20040131080323/...w.emtbravo.com/ And in June of 2004 http://web.archive.org/web/20040630034845/...w.emtbravo.com/ And in Febuary of 2005 http://web.archive.org/web/20050209222611/...//emtbravo.com/ Here's everything it has archived: http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://emtbravo.com And of course, how it looked most recently before the change: http://www.emtbravo.com/oldindex.php (Unfrotunetly, it doesn't archive graphics or photos) The front page has sure come a long way! Hope this gives some of our new members some perspective and history of our main page.

The order forms can now be downloaded here. I apologize for the previous download error. http://www.emtbravo.lunarpages.com/Lobster.doc (Microsoft Word Format) -OR- http://www.emtbravo.lunarpages.com/Lobster.html (Web Format)

So, should we stick with this design and keep fine tuning and building on it, or should we switch back to the old page?

A lot of people are viewing and voting in the poll above....it doesn't take much to hit the add reply button and give your feedback too. This site is all of ours. The more members who give input, the better it can be. What do or don't you like? Should I switch it back to the old format that we all know and love?

Thanks. Spending the past two days straight working on this, and even forgetting to eat, I appreciate the positive feedback a ton. In addition to the looks, I also should mention this site is less dependant on graphics, and the code is a lot cleaner and modern, so it should load more quickly and smoothly. It also makes room for some other things I have planned for the site. As for the header, that is something I will work on in the future.

I won't be updating the old version (you can still view it at http://www.emtbravo.com/oldindex.php) However, if enough people DO NOT like the new redesign AND voice their opinion here, I will return to the old design. I hope that people will like this new redesign, and appreciate the input so far. PLEASE keep the feedback coming! This new version is still a work in progress. And, I know some people don't like change...some hated these forums when we changed from the old one, then grew to like this version....so give it a little time if you hate it as well, maybe it'll grow on you. This is a radically different EMTBravo.com then the one you've been visiting for the past 3 years, and even I need to adjust.

For those of you missing the old site, or just want to compare, it is still available: http://www.emtbravo.com/oldindex.php

Members- I have spent basically the last 2 days redesigning the main page of EMTBravo.com based on feedback recieved from members. There are still some bugs to be worked out (and I would appreciate you reporting any you find), but the page is now live. You can see it by visiting EMTbravo.com This is our most drastic change of the EMTBravo.com main page since inception in 2003. With all the new content being added to EMTBravo.com, the old page was becoming cluttered, and straying away from our vision of a clean, simple, and easy to navigate page. We hope you find this new page easier cleaner and easier to navigate. Note this browser has only been tested in Microsoft Internet Explorer and Firefox. If you are having problems viewing using any other browser, please let me know which browser you are using and what type of problem you are having. PLEASE, let us know what you think about this new page! And please note, the work is not complete. We are launching it now to hear your feedback so we can tweak it to make it even better. Thanks to all who submitted input that led to these changes. If enough members don't like this new page design, I will bring back the old format. -EMTBravo

This forum section, formerly known as the "Fire And Rescue Operations" forum, has been renamed. It is now the "Firefighting" forum. It is is for the discussion and sharing of information of EVERYTHING related to firefighting and rescue. To note, the description of what each forum is about is found directly below the forum title on the forum index page. This can be helpful when decided where to start a new topic. Please choose the correct forum as per the decriptions when creating your new topic. As always, any input, questions, comments, or concerns are welcomed, either on this thread or via email, EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com

Right now, the Cars, Trucks, Trains, Buses, Boats, And Planes forum is named exactly as such, because we couldn't think of a name that would better describe what the forum was about and be concise. Can you suggest a better name for consideration? Please post on this thread. -EMTBravo

Welcome to EMTBravo Network's New Cars, Trucks, Trains, Buses, Boats, And Planes Forum. This forum is meant for all NON emergency services related discussion of: -Cars -Trucks -Trains -Buses -Boats -Planes We have noticed there are many enthusiasts of one or more of the above on this forum, and have determined that a dedicated forum for this purpose would be of interest to many other members as well. Help us name this new forum (if we decide to). Click to view that thread. Cars, Trucks, Trains, Buses, Boats, And Planes As always, input is always welcomed, either on this thread or via email, at EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com We hope you enjoy, learn, and share in this new forum section.

Thanks to all for the continued input. I've decided that I am going to completly rebuild the infastructure of EMTBravo.com over the winter. EMTBravo.com will transform into a portal to bring togehter all our content, as well as some new features. Although the appearance of the page isn't going to change vastly, there will be some coding changes to make the page load easier, some navigational items added to make the site easier to browse through, changes to make the content more organized, and some other changes to make the site easier to operate and update. Please also note we have a limited amount of advertisers and advertising space. Advertisments, which represents sponsorship of the sites, will never overtake or be the majority of the site. So, stay tuned as we continue to develop EMTBravo.com. Remember, input is always wanted and appreciated. EMTBravo@EMTBravo.com

Thanks for the advice on how to take criticism, and believe me, I fully expect it when posting a thread like this. This is how it's been anytime I've asked for input during the past 3 years this forums been in operation. I don't like to make input email only to avoid criticism, because then I lose members playing off other members ideas and an open discussion. What bothers me is some of the thing not apparent on this thread, like the people who complain about the ads, yet when the donation program was up to avoid ads, that person contributed nothing. Or the people who complain about lack of or not enough photos, yet never submit any or any quality usable photos. Also, some other comments I get via PM irk me, and I want to make sure my message is clear to all members, despite the fact I may come across as annoyed at times. I spend hours upon hours working on this site as mentioned, in fact I'm on the beach in Oregon as I type this. I just need to vent a little every now and then, that's all. There's a lot more that goes on with this site then meets the eye. I get a ton of positive feedback, along with a ton of criticism, and the fact people are so passionate about this site does say something. I'm going to ALWAYS ask for input, and always interact with my members, because this is a site driven for and by the members. Again, let's get back on topic and I want to hear how I can work on making EMTBravo.com an even better portal to the local emergency services world. I have a ton in store for this site, look for a cleaner and easier to navigate EMTBravo.com coming soon, and many new features. So, stay tuned and thanks to everybody for their input and support, and please keep it coming so I can perfectly tune it with everyones wants and needs.

Thanks to ALS and others for the positive input. It's much appreciated and what keeps me motivated. After checking my PM box: It's quite discouraging to hear some of the things I have heard here and via PM. I spend many hours working on the site, and it annoys me that some people have PM'd or posted the site is going to crap.....yet the numbers of visitors keep going up. I try to design this site around what the members want, which is the purpose of this thread. Compared to other sites (Firehouse.com, 1st Responder, etc) I don't at all feel this site is cluttered, difficult to use, or "too much". I am trying to figure out a way to make the increasing amount of diverse content I am trying to provide easier to navigate. This site is very simple to use, and some of the things people want or demand is just due to laziness or selfishness (take aways the ads, etc) I really don't feel it's that difficult or cumbersome a site to use. So, To other members, please continue the ideas and input on how the NAVIGATION and LAYOUT of EMTBravo.com can be improved upon. I am taking in all of them and considering every one when continuing to develop the site into a PORTAL SITE for all of the content I am looking to bring together. P.S. I would really like to hear SOME OF THE THINGS PEOPLE LIKE about the main page of EMTBravo.com too.

This is a another complaint I hear often., no matter if I post 1 photo a day or 1000 photos a day. I don't want to get too of topic, since the question I asked was regarding site navigation, but I want to answer this. If you read another thread in this forum, as well as my comment in the initial post on this thread, you will see that I am ON VACATION (yet notice still can't escape worrying about the site). Therefore, you won't see any photos posted untill I get back this coming Sunday. This site is fueled by the members and my personal creatvity. I maintan this site during my personal free time, and post the best photos that I recieve with the amount of time I have to work with. If it's slow and I'm not getting a lot of GOOD/appropriate photos submitted, then you're not going to see new photos posted every day. If it's "busy" and I'm getting a lot of GOOD photos submitted, or I or a staff photographer has time to go out and get photos, then you'll see new photos posted often. I'm also working on a new features to get photos up faster, and delegating some work so the site gets updated more often. Again, I am working in a number of different ways to provide a variety of content for members/visitors to this site. One example is x635:The Blog, which was recently launched.l tThis site, which is an extension of some of the content on EMTBravo.com, is already recieving some impressive visitor tallies and feedback. ANother, FIreEMSAlpha.com, we are continuing to work on and build. As far as the trouble logging on to EMTBravo this AM, we are having difficulties with the feeds from NYCFire.net and FireEMSAlpha.com. When those sites are having difficulties, EMTBravo.com cannot get the feed and times out loading. We are working on that issue. As for the ads, I'm going to look into intergrating them better into the site to make them less obtrusive. Getting back to the point, site traffic continues to grow, so I must be doing something right (knock on wood). I have a ton of ideas in store, and a lot of diverse content that I am trying to provide, all indexed on a central "portal" page which I'm trying to make easier to navigate. The site is still true to my vision, easy to navigate and use. Thanks to all for the feedback.

I was hesitant to create this topic, because it seems I hear more complaints about EMTBravo.com then I do positive feedback, and it's quite discouraging. But I want to make the CONTENT easier to NAVIGATE, and want to hear CONSTRUCTIVE SUGGESTIONS/INPUT so that I can make it better for all members( I already have some ideas) That's why I created this thread. There's going to be some code and other changes, but no major changes to the appearance or script at this time. Once again, I am looking for input on how to make the main page of EMTBravo.com easier to navigate to all the increasing content we are providing. As for the ads, what am I supposed to do? I didn't want to advertise so I didnt comprimise the main page, but I needed funding, which wasn't coming in through donations. So now I'm hearing complaints about them, yet do you realize these ads are a neccessity, and keep EMTBravo online and FREE for you to use? So, I know many of you feel it is "cluttered", but what would make it seem less cluttered to you without comprimising promoting the content we are providing? Please explain this comment further. I don't understand how it's "way off the beaten path"?

We're looking to make changes to the main (front) page of EMTBravo.com to make it easier to navigate. We already have several ideas in mind, but before we implent the changes, we want to hear from you. When you visit EMTBravo.com, what are the most important things to you on the front page? How can we make it easier to navigate through all our sites and content? How can we present the main page better? Also to note, we are in the process of adding an easy to use site map for the novice EMTBravo visitor. Input from as many different users as possible on this topic will help us build an even better EMTBravo.com. Thanks!! -EMTBravo (NOTE: EMTBravo is on vacation until this Sunday, 10/15/06. All website updates and email replies will be delayed until then)

Members- Until Sunday, October 15th I will be on vacation in Oregon, with limited time or capability to update the websites. Please, continue to send in your photos and emails. They will be posted and/or answered when I return home and get settled NEXT Sunday. I will try and check my email periodically. The Deputy Admin's of this forum will be monitoring the forums and available to assist you with any issues regarding members, posts, or threads. I know some have already sent me emails expressing anger in my delays in posting recent fires and other photo submissions, but I hope the majority of the membership will understand and will be patient for a week while I enjoy a vacation mostly away from the computer. I promise, when I get back I have a ton of stuff planned for the websites and new photos will be posted. Hang in there, it'll be worth the wait. -EMTBravo

On vacation across the country in Oregon until next Sunday, will try and post sometime this week if possible....if not upon my return next week. Thanks and hope you understand....

We ask that those who post links to videos don't just post a link to the video, please also include a short description of the video and where it came from/credit. Please also make sure to use a descriptive topic title, such as "BlahBlah Truck 5 Raising Aerial Video" and NOT "Funny Firefighter Video" or "My Video" Thanks -EMTBravo