New Site, Coming Soon
First of all…
Let me say a thank you to everyone that participated in the survey, We had over 2000 responses to the survey each requesting several differnt features, and every single response was read, I can assure you!
The results…
Before we go any further, let me just explain, I’m not going to detail every possible answer that was given as it would take up so much space on here that I would just never get done, and you would all get bored. So we shall summarise
Site layout -
Almost everyone said the top banner was too big. As a result in the middle of the survey I changed it to the smaller one that you all see now.
80% of people complained about not enough colour on the site, similarly not enough text in some places
97% of people found the site layout easy to navigate
74% of people were first time visitors, and wanted an easier contact system than just an email address
88% of people said they wanted something that looked a little flashier, as the current site is a bit drab
Features -
98% of respondants said they wanted a blog feature as well as the site updates
76% were happy with the piclens flash gallery
28% wanted a mailing list, BUT strangley 88% of people would subscribe if there was one
232 people requested the ability to make comments
This is just a summary of the responses, but it covers the core details and the responses everyone wanted.
Changes…
As a result of the respondants, I’ve been developing a trial site on the backend which has undergone extensive development and testing, and a huge amount of work has gone in to try and give the right mix of features. I would like to thank Andrew Kennett and Sean Nicholls for their involvment in the design and code of the new site. Sean Nicholls is a professional developer who specialises in many different code languages, and is an expert on PHP. Andrew Kennett is a long time webmaster and designer, and has worked with me on getting to grips with wordpress, and the new systems suggesting new features and plugins to make the site more efficiant. Both have consulted with me over the design of the site. Additionally I would like to thank the community at FSIRC for their extensive and ongoing help with SQL. In the last few weeks, I have managed to learn almost a years worth of knowledge in SQL.
The New Site Will have the following features
- Blog Section – Due to huge demand, my personal blogs will now be integrated with the rest of the site
- RSS Updates – Given the mixed response about mailing lists, it seems to be the best way to give people subscriptions options without mailing lists
- Comments – The new site features comments with advanced spam protection, though it is my discretion weather I turn these on or not
- Live Link To Twitter – Given the huge revolution that is twitter, it’s all linked in on here
- Mobile Updates – I plan to do with this new site, what I wanted to do with this one all along. Constant, regular updates. Originally the
process made this complicated, but I’ve managed to link in with my iPhone to allow for fast, regular updates on the go.
- Gallery – The gallery system remains unchanged in the respect that it uses piclens, however I have made it vastly easier to update, and created a single page instead of having to drill down. It makes it easier for me to add huge numbers of galleries if I so choose.
- Archive & Search Methods – The new WordPress system allows for a new archive and search system, allowing you to find just about anything
- Dedicated MOBILE site version – Due to popular demand the website will be available in a DEDICATED mobile version compatible with iPhone, Android & Blackberry platforms. It’s also available on other phones capable of viewing normal webpages.
There are a huge number of additional changes over on the site both for users and admins, however I think you will all be pleased. This has undergone extensive testing, and is being made as fast as it can possible be, and as complete as it can possibly be.
Althought I don’t plan on using it, I’ve also added support for advertising, just in case things start to go that way. It’s “Ready” in the sense of we can place banner adverts etc up if needed. There is a chance of a sponsership and partnership in return for some obligations on my behalf.
There have also been huge requests for downloadable content. Currently the site has the support for it, but I am working on some issues at the moment regardining the licence I am using, so it IS in the works, but just not quite ready for release.
So what happens now….
Over the next few days I will be setting the system up and getting ready to move it over, this includes one last build of the galleries, a few feature and design tweaks and the like. I will of course be filling it up so it is not compltley empty. Currently I feel we are 90% of the way ready for it to be released to the public.
In the next few days I will announce a data and time of the changeover. The site will be unavailable at that time, and will also be unavailable for a period of one hour before and afterwards. I will choose a time based on minimal site traffic history. You as users do not need to do ANYTHING. All you need to do is logon.
There will of course be an email address to report bugs to, but hopefully, you won’t need it.
Phew! I know that was a long post, but I hope you all had a chance to read it, and to get ready for the upcoming site!.
Thanks!
