Author Topic: A New Plan - (Ongoing site updates/status thread)  (Read 26902 times)

shavethewhales

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A New Plan - (Ongoing site updates/status thread)
« on: June 30, 2010, 12:19:20 AM »
Well, first off, it looks like I need to apologize again. Another round of "updates" remains half-finished, almost half a year after I began implementing them. The main site continues have tons of issues, and I can hardly keep up with updating it anymore.

Unfortunately my life has been too crazy and full of activity for me to keep up with my non-essential web projects, and it looks like that's not going to change anytime soon. Going forward, we need to do things differently so that the site can stay alive and be respectable enough to represent SDC.

My new plan for the site involves basically turning it into a wiki of SDC/HFEC info. Users will be able to add and edit pretty much any page on the site, contribute news and event info, and once again be able to share photos, reviews, and videos. Moderation and version control will of course be implemented heavily on some content, and some permissions will only be granted based on post count or special allowances.

What do you think, does this sound like a good idea, or should we just cut everything back to the forums?
« Last Edit: April 03, 2011, 11:10:23 PM by shavethewhales »

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #1 on: June 30, 2010, 12:34:55 AM »
I'm sorry you are overwhelmed.

I really think a static home page is great, especially for new visitors.  The current one looks fine.  I would like to see some history pages though, and maybe certain reliable members could have privileges to edit specific ride profiles, lost concepts, etc.  I would hate to let all of that information fade away.  News items could simply be relegated to the forums, so you wouldn't need to have links to constantly changing content there.

Obviously, the forum is up and successful, so it's probably more used, but some of us still refer to the main site from time to time.  
« Last Edit: June 30, 2010, 12:35:44 AM by History Buff »
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Twinsmom98

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #2 on: June 30, 2010, 06:18:00 AM »
I just have one question - we have a wiki in our office but we had to be invited to join so we could access the wiki.

Are they different types of wiki?  I am a computer novice in alot of ways.

shavethewhales

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #3 on: June 30, 2010, 05:37:58 PM »
Well, this would be more of a custom wiki-like set up, not really like any of the wikipedia-clones you see out there. I'd basically keep the site looking essentially the same, just with options for approved users to edit and submit content. I wouldn't remove the content we have now, but hopefully it would be expanded and improved upon.

betamike

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #4 on: June 30, 2010, 08:23:45 PM »
I have been involved with a wiki type site called Wikispaces and you have the ability to add content and create volumes but not sure it would get rid of the static page much. 


On the plus side, it would reduce the redundant posts (I've been guilty of this) but on the minus side, If it was more of a static page, it might lose some of the give and take conversation that makes this site very much like the park we all know and love.
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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #5 on: June 30, 2010, 11:19:09 PM »
I assume you would keep this forum the same and just add the links to and from the main site which would be the wiki.

And I would definitely contribute more to the wiki than I have to the current main site.  It would certainly be an easier format for those of us who don't get too deep into the more technical language of a website, and it would be less demanding on our esteemed host.
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Tony from Tulsa

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #6 on: July 05, 2010, 06:28:43 PM »
Having just stumbled across this site last weekend, I can say that it looks and works perfectly. I wouldn't change a thing! Great job!
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shavethewhales

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #7 on: August 12, 2010, 03:16:50 PM »
So I finally have time to start working on the site again, at least for a little while.

I think I might have asked this before, but what are everyone's thoughts on the current design? Does it need any changes? Does it load too slowly?

I've been considering taking this template: http://subdued.net/worn-template/ and modifying it to be centered and use a few SDC-oriented graphics. I feel like right now the site is overly graphic and terribly disorganized in how the graphics are used. Moving to a mute-er theme would make it easier to flip through the site, hold more content more easily, and load quicker.

I've also FINALLY started going through the site's content and fixing it up. I've started with the time line page. Geez, I can't believe how messed up some of it is. It's been ages since I've looked at some of it.   :-X

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #8 on: August 12, 2010, 04:22:16 PM »
Nice, I like the parchment look

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2010, 05:14:17 PM »
Yup, parchment look is fine. Let me know if you want to add any of my Flickr stuff to the "new and improved site," 'cause it's fine with me. Glad to share.
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joshblakebran

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2010, 09:21:16 PM »
I'm very happy with the way it looks and have never had issues getting it to load :)
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shavethewhales

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #11 on: August 17, 2010, 04:03:56 PM »
Making some progress. The new features are really going to be fun, you guys are really going to enjoy it and it will bring a whole new experience to the site.

As far as a new design goes, I banged out this over the weekend, kind of following that other template I refrenced. It's not done yet, but I think it looks a lot better and conveys the content a whole lot better than what we have now.  http://sdcfans.com/SDCF10/sdcf10_subpage.jpg 
This is only a subpage, by the way. The homepage will use the same header, but with the layout from the current edition of the site.
On each subpage there will also be links to edit the page or article being viewed, and a "tree view" of the wiki that you are viewing. The latest forum posts will fill up the box on the right.

There will be two "wiki" sections, one for all things SDC and another spanning HFEC, especially CC and WW. Maybe we can get some DW info going in there too.

I'm not sure what I'm going to do with the "Photo Galleries" section. I've thought about just making a page on the wiki where everyone links to their Flikr accounts with SDC photos. Uploading to the site might be more trouble than it's worth.

Finally, this edition of the site may include a couple of ads. I'm not going to fill the site up with annoying banners or anything, but I'm thinking a couple of small ads on the subpages under the forum box and one on the home page would help the site pay for itself somewhat. I'm not exactly hurting by keeping the site up at this point, but it is one more expense on my quickly draining pocketbook and this would take away one more problem for me in that area.

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #12 on: August 18, 2010, 08:31:06 AM »
That looks good.  I do not know how this new site will be set up but please make sure it will run on an I-Phone.. 
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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #13 on: September 06, 2010, 10:59:28 PM »
Just noticed that the front page has been updated with the new "autumn" picture! I have been waiting all year long for this season. I can’t wait! ;D
« Last Edit: September 06, 2010, 11:00:34 PM by Ozark BBQ »

shavethewhales

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Re: A New Plan
« Reply #14 on: September 06, 2010, 11:44:05 PM »
Yup, I finally got around to updating it. I completely missed the Gospel festival because I was so busy.

I haven't done much on the new version of the site yet either. After going through all the work of setting up the new template, I ended up deciding that I didn't like it and want to keep the current look of the site with a few changes.

Hopefully I'll be back to work on the site by the end of this week and can knock some of it out.