Offline
I've removed the "third party" website visit counter from the very bottom of AlgonquinAdventures.com's front page. I had placed it there many years ago to provide an indication of how many people were visiting the website. While the Google Artificial Intelligences have been lauding the website with comments like " .. is widely considered an essential and highly useful resource for anyone planning a backcountry trip to Algonquin Provincial Park. It has served as a central hub for the park's community for decades." .. the counts registering on the "Bravenet" 3rd party counter have been steadily slipping lower over the past years.
It appears that these "inserted" counters are increasingly being negated by web-browsers and browser extensions that treat them the same as 3rd party "ads" and "tracking devices". It was no wonder that the counter was providing decreasing "counts"!
In pursuit of an accurate alternative, I was advised to burrow into my website's management features for its own internal "tracker". "Easyhosting" has been joined into "Go Daddy", and now provides daily statistics which count how often the website are recorded heading out from it's own server. No third party is involved in collecting these stats!
Rather than the twenty or thirty daily visits being recently tallied by the 3rd party counter, the website server is typically recording between 125 and 200 visits per day.
It is very easy for me to access these stats and equally easy to share them by way of a simple "screen capture" .. the first of which, I've provided below and linked to at the bottom of the website's front page. I anticipate updating these on a monthly basis.
I must confess that these higher visit counts are providing me with definite incentive to keep going with the website. As for the forum, I'd like to hear from you all as to how I/we might make it more useful and responsive? 
Offline
I'm inviting feedback from forum and website users. While the website gets between 100 and 200 daily visits, the forum use has recently dropped way dow. Trip-log submissions have also dropped way down. A pay-model website has all but taken over campsite reporting. "Where In Algonquin" has been adopted by another website's Facebook account.
I am exploring my options as we head into 2027. I want to make an informed decision regarding my online presence by the end of the first quarter of 2027.
So, if anyone can share insights, information or suggestions about the future of the website and/or forum, please either do so here or email me at canoe@algonquinadventures.com .
Thread StarterOffline
WIthout having access to visitor statistics for MyCCR, the traffic there seems to have really dried up too. Timing wise it kind of feels to me that it is coincides with increased AI responses in places like Google. That may have also impacted ordered search results.
Of course, the reason for a drop in traffic doesn't necessarily have any impact on deciding "what's next?"
I still don't see Facebook groups as a replacement for trip reports or trip planning info but I also recognize that any discussion forum needs a baseline level of activity to keep it alive. If you have the traffic, folks see it as a worthwhile place to post and ask questions, if it doesn't look like its active the folks move on to somewhere that looks to be active.
Offline
Entirely your call, Barry. Traffic feels exceedingly slow on the forum...and not merely a 'seasonal' slip.
Offline
Bring back John Connolly. 
since 2004Offline
EGB wrote:
Bring back John Connolly.
And Sweede
Offline
Barry - First off, thanks so much for this website. I look regularly to see what is up, and unfortunately I have noticed a decline in new posts.
For my part, I enjoy reading trip reports. That's always helped me with my planning, as well as the portage/campsite inventory.
I tend to write pretty long trip reports, probably a bit longer than anybody cares to read...., and I throw in a bunch of photos when doing so. I can't tell you if it is on my end, the tools of this site, or elsewhere, but for the past several years I've had an awful time getting photos uploaded here. I'm careful about the size of the photos, it is just sometimes the function doesn't want to get the job done. I'm a few trip reports "behind" now as a result.
Not sure what else to recommend. There are lots of topics and threads. I wouldn't mind seeing an "introduce yourself" thread for new users or people who'd like to share how they got started tripping. Sub threads like scariest Algonquin event experienced, funniest, most adventurous trip, etc. Kind of like 20 questions I guess. Maybe a section on meals. The site is up against Youtube where trip reports can be watched, as well as other websites. So I guess the question is what can this site add, subtract, or show differently that another site can't and I'm not sure I have great answers to that, but I'll give it some thought, because I really do enjoy this site and in particular the incredibly helpful people I've encountered here.
Offline
Hi Dave. Sometimes a "Photo Storage" service limits where stored images can be "sent to". For example, I can't load an image on to the website server and then post it's URL into the forum via the little "two mountain-red sun icon". The website server simply won't allow it to download! I'm forced to use my personal Smugmug account, which is designed expressly to allow selective downloading and insertion of images from its servers.
You always have the option of sending me the text of a trip-log plus accompanying image files via email. I can then "HTML" the text, along with inserted images.
is a recent example. I will then feature it on the website's front page. A trip-log author can then start a forum discussion regarding it. In turn, I'll add a link to that discussion from the front page's mention.
Your suggestion of an "Introduce Yourself" sub-forum has me interested for sure.
And, in the "Equipment, Fitness, Skills and Ethics section of the forum, the Skills forum has the sub-forum "Campsite Cooking" ..
Thread Starter
1 of 1