I'm currently working to drasticly overhaul the case section of the site. This should be done hopefully before the end of the week. As I go I'll post some updates on the progress and look to get some feedback from you guys.
The first as of this moment I have it setup to show your histor cases (the system in place currently), and the new cases. Each "New Case" will have the option to Upgrade. Upgrading will bring you're current case into the new system. All vote stats will be preserved, so it won't effect rank or anything like that. The upgrade option i think is a great option because it lets people transition at their own pace, plus it'll prevent some down time. On the case vote page, you'll be presented slightly differently. It'll preserve the same order as before, with one exception. As incentive to move you're cases over, it'll show all the upgraded and new cases before any of the previous cases. It's not a huge incentive, but it's something. Hopefully the new functionality i'm adding will be incentive enough, lol.
I'm planning to really ajax it up so you shouldn't ever have to refresh the page to see any of your changes to effect. This is a little tricky for image uploads but i think i have that one figured out as well.
As for the bennefits and improvements....
Instead of viewing a default image with a description and the thumbs below it, it'll be more blog style. You'll have the case Description, with current topics below it. To make things even better, I'm going to tie it into the forum, so you can get to the case discussion from two different directions. Some of the blog style is so that you can link worklogs and other discussion directly to the case.
Lastly I plan to change the style so that you can view an album for the case. I've set it up initially for just one default album per case, but this is something relativly easy to change down the road to make it have multiple albums that you can create and destroy per case.
The last plan I'm going to do that I'm going to call on you guys for since you have the true creativity behind the site is, durring the upgrade, if the default image does not exist, and no other images exist for the case, I'm going to want to create a "Coming Soon" image. If you guys feel inspired and want to make me a "Coming Soon" image, I'd love it :) it'd have to have a 4:3 image sizing, I can handle the specifics after that.
So what do you guys think as of this moment? Right now I have the upgrade optin just about finished, so if you have any ideas for it, this is 100% the time to get them in. If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
as soon as this is functional i am going to rip apart my threads about my pc and the upcoming case build and re align everything more orderly =] cant wait.
**safety note**
try not to think of the price of the part your cutting in half.
ABUSIV3, thats an interesting idea you just gave me. I think before I make the system live, I'll add a feature to grab past threads to attach to the case.
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
I had a bit of a set back, while I had planned on this being up to the point that I could thoroughly trial it and let some members trial it, I instead found out that my web host had to restore some tape backups on my server and that I should avoid any work to the site. It's all been resolved and luckily I was uneffected.
This just goes along with paying for shared hosting. it's unfortunate but we don't have the demand on our servers yet for dedicated. lol although once we do, that will really kick ass.
So as of this moment, I've coded the ability to convert a case over to the new system. I'm now going to work on the photo gallery, as thats the other major area. Once thats done, I'll be working on the blog style design. after those two phases I'll open this up to some members to test out the functionality. Once the functionality gets the green light I'll jazz it all up because right now it looks ass ugly, lol, but design is usually the last step I take in designing sites, so this is all planned.
Hopefully this weekend some time I can open it up. Then I'll say maybe another week to complete tweeks and aesthetics, and I'll open it to the public :)
any volunteers for the first trial? Also, theres no risk in losing your case if the upgrade process doesn't work out. I've currently got it coded to upgrade a case without destroying the old one (since it's still the testing phase )
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
any volunteers for the new system? I'm working on it currently and should have a functional (although not that pretty looking) demo ready by late tonight/tomorrow morning.
I had to take a break since I needed to check my database layout and lucky me, 1and1 is doing updates or whatever and I can't login, lol.
the first 3-5 people to opt in can check it out. Though I will need that they have a case in the case vote system or one they can add.
I'm looking for feedback on the overall effect it carries, and suggestions/reccomendations/complaints about the usability and navigation of it all.
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
so far its pretty sweet. i see we are still in development stages, but already i am able to post the pics so, massive improvement! missed you guys, had to move out of nowhere.... illegal evictions suck ass, but i will win in court. anyway, im back up and running, hope i didnt miss anything drastic. anyone want to talk about modding psps?
**safety note**
try not to think of the price of the part your cutting in half.
so, anyone up for demo'ing this new system out? It's very preliminary and still needs a fair amount of styling, but i'd love to get some reactions on it
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
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