Reworking the website



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Should the 59plymouth.net content be moved into the Forum?

I think this is a great idea. Why didn't you do it a long time ago?
10
100%
I could care less. I never look at this website anyway 8^)
0
No votes
I think it's dumb. Why don't you get off your lazy butt and make more webpages?
0
No votes
 
Total votes: 10

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Faulkner
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Reworking the website

Post by Faulkner »

In an older post, I said:
Dan wrote:I'm starting to get the hang of this JAlbum software! the tricky part is weaving subfolders into folders, and integrating the new format into the old format... (*sigh*) all it takes is time. Now, if only someone would put Faulkner back together in time for Carlisle (hint, hint, Matthew ), I'll just keep plugging away at it...
Yeah, well, we all know how that's been working out. I've got gobs of folks to add to the Showcase, movies to put into Ephemera, lots and lots and lots...

But, I have an idea: The Forum itself has some pretty cool features, I've found out. What if I port the Showcase, Ephemera, and other content to the Forum itself? It's possible to lock certain forums, so only administrators or moderators can add content (and I can get some help); and it's possible to have a subforum hierarchy so that I could mimic, e.g., the Showcase:

Showcase -> Sport Fury -> Ron Keij -> Jukebox Fair Spring 2030

It's also possible to move the order of posts around, e.g., when a new member in the showcase needs to be placed in alphabetical order between two others.

If folks have no major objections to the older website going away, with all of the content moved into the Forum -- I'm going to experiment with this functionality and recruit helpers. What do you think?

Hey! Let's take a poll!

..and in other news, I'm looking at establishing a connection between email and the Forum, for those folks who like to simply stick to email (and they are out there!). There's a mail-to-forum gateway for the older Forum software, I'm seeing what it would take to get it ported to the new. Stay tuned...

Dan
"If it's new, Plymouth's got it!"
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Denver 59 Fin Convert
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Denver 59 Fin Convert »

tempting to choose B and C for grins...... :D


John Q.
John Quinn
Arvada, Colo
(NW suburb of Denver)

"Chrysler Corporation-Extra Care in Engineering"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56963213@N ... 457983491/
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Faulkner
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Faulkner »

Well, I'm finally getting around to dealing with this. I've found some great "Mods" for the board - including Facebook and Skype plugins, as well as a PhotoAlbum and lots of other goodies - but I realize the code for the website has been "dragged along the way" from previous versions, and has diverged from the standard distribution. So I'm busily comparing the differences between what's on our Forum, and what's the latest phpBB release - and doncha know, we've been hacked again! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: The reason it's been taking the main webpage a long time to load, is that it contained thousands of references to websites for "deals on Microsoft software" and the like. All transparent to users - but, available to search engines that crawl the web. OK - I've replaced that; but now I've got to search the database for worms as well, and purge any vestiges of hacks, before I can return to the standard code, before I can add any "Mods", before I can port the content from the website to the Forum, before...

(*sigh*). A webmaster's work, is never done...

Dan
"If it's new, Plymouth's got it!"
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savvy59
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by savvy59 »

Dan,

I certainly appreciate your efforts and time spent - all for our recreation.
I don't visit the Forward Look site often but noticed they asked for donations and mentioned a figure like $250 a month to keep the site running!
That figure does not include the hours you spend keeping us free from hackers and constantly upgrading the site

You have never solicited a dime from all of us that I remember.

I think it is time you tell us the real cost involved and let us make voluntary donations.

When I have asked, you tell me that you enjoy doing this and that you were not looking for a payback from members.

Perhaps you have received donations and in that case I feel like an idiot! :oops:

Your endless hours of keeping this site up and running is a huge donation and you should not be expected to pay by yourself!

Of course this is in my honest opinion and others may disagree. Notice I did not say mandatory just voluntary donations.

Curt
There's Nothing Finer Than My '59er!
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Faulkner
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Faulkner »

Thank you for your kind words, Curt. The difference between our website and The Forward Look's boils down to a difference in philosophy - Dave manages the website from ground up, from servers to operating systems to bulletin board software to internet service provider - all out of his house. It offers him dedicated bandwidth for all of his users, and full control - but at a cost (to which I and others subscribe).

I take the lazy man's approach - I want someone else to manage all of the back end stuff, while all I do is manage the website software. The expense is phenomenally small, because of the economies of scale - the "ISP" (Internet Service Provider) hosts many websites on their server farms - so I've never had the expense that Dave has, and never had the need to ask for subscriptions. My recompense, is in the friendships and camaraderie the website has fostered. In that, I have been repaid many times over.

But "lazy man" is the operative word! I belatedly realize, that the phpBB Forum software can readily support many of the things I formerly had to craft custom webpages to do. Now I'm finally getting my act together, and once I work out some wrinkles I will be recruiting others (primarily, Ron) to help with the updates and maintenance. There's some cleanup and preparation to do - but, get ready: There's going to be a "sea change" in the Forum, coming very soon.

Stay tuned! And, thanks for your support.

Dan
"If it's new, Plymouth's got it!"
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Ron Keij
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Ron Keij »

Dan,

I am ready to do anything I can understand :roll: This weekend I will start organizing the stuff i copied last July and it will be ready to be published when you sorted out things. I do want to take some time off in November if you don't mind, but after my trip I will post some pictures of Dick Koch and my admiring his cars 8)

Everybody who wants to do something back for Dan should keep posting and sending in pictures! I will make sure everybody will get his own showcase and I promiss to be at least TWSSW (the world's second slowest webmaster)

Ron
Cars are to be Enjoyed, not Admired...
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Denver 59 Fin Convert »

Hip Hip Horray!! For both Dan and Ron for their current and future efforts to make this site even better then it is.

All of us appreciate yours and all the moderators efforts in running a great site to be a part of. We have a great group of people who love their 59's (especially the Belvedere models! He! he!...) OK all models of Plymouth 59's!


John Q.
John Quinn
Arvada, Colo
(NW suburb of Denver)

"Chrysler Corporation-Extra Care in Engineering"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56963213@N ... 457983491/
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savvy59
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by savvy59 »

Dan. Ron, John and Others,

Now I have the rest of the story...
Count me in as a helper.

Thanks,
Curt
There's Nothing Finer Than My '59er!
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rogerh
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by rogerh »

I studied French in high school, and Italian in college, and married an IT manager, but I have NO idea what you are talking about! It is the wave of the future, so I should sign up for some classes... :?
Last edited by rogerh on Sun Sep 12, 2010 10:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Faulkner
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Faulkner »

Key to the reorganization of the website - hopefully, moved into the Forum - will be the management of "Gallery" albums, subalbums, etc. I've started to play with this in a test forum I've set up - but so far, it's not for the feint of heart. I've got to boil it down to something more simple for the membership to use, if I'm to get out of the website publishing business, and leave it up to the users themselves...

Stay tuned. Just to let you know, I'm still plugging away at it - the website is purged of malware, I'm looking to add more capabilities soon.

Dan
"If it's new, Plymouth's got it!"
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Denver 59 Fin Convert »

Any chance a chat room could re-appear with this newer version? I do use it (chat room) on the FL site to get answers right away.

John Q.
John Quinn
Arvada, Colo
(NW suburb of Denver)

"Chrysler Corporation-Extra Care in Engineering"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56963213@N ... 457983491/
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Faulkner
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Faulkner »

Yup - FlashChat is coming. Right now, I'm working on integrating a gallery style attachment (ideal for showcase, ephemera, etc.). Here's a sneak peak:

http://www.mcweton.net/farmerforum/view ... p=202#p202

Click on any image and check out the "Highslide" popup - let me know what you think about the navigation, and the cool thumbslide viewer to the left.

It's buggy, though - portrait mode images shouldn't occupy the same space as landscape mode. And there are multimedia integration issues. Also: I'd like to modify this version to produce a thumbnail gallery where the thumbs are "inline" - that way, I can control the placement of thumbs. Unless you upload exactly the order you want, in reverse order - you can't rearrange the thumbs (add in the middle, or change the order). That's cumbersome.

I'm still plugging away at it though - and I've got an excellent converter to flv now, so I'm going to stop posting wmv's. flv is native to Highslide, and a bunch of other players.

Enough geekspeak! Yes - Chat is coming, as is a Skype launcher, and other cool stuff. I have to walk before I can run though...

Stay tuned!

Dan
"If it's new, Plymouth's got it!"
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Denver 59 Fin Convert »

Thank goodness for the 2nd from last sentence. :ugeek:

I do like the ability to re-arrange the thumbnails. I have all my pictures out of date order on Picassa and have to figure that out on how to do that in the correct time order.

John Q.
John Quinn
Arvada, Colo
(NW suburb of Denver)

"Chrysler Corporation-Extra Care in Engineering"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56963213@N ... 457983491/
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Denver 59 Fin Convert »

I checked it out your link and I like, I never got past the 2nd picture though ....Yowser! 8)

John Q.
John Quinn
Arvada, Colo
(NW suburb of Denver)

"Chrysler Corporation-Extra Care in Engineering"
http://www.flickr.com/photos/56963213@N ... 457983491/
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Faulkner
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Re: Reworking the website

Post by Faulkner »

I really am trying to lay the groundwork for moving website content into the forum. I've got to work out certain things, though...

[Warning: Geek Alert]

http://www.phpbb.com/community/viewtopi ... #p12869761

Dan
"If it's new, Plymouth's got it!"
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