Web Site Suggestions

[Wobbly]

Ok, things are stabalising a bit ... got the chat a bit more integrated with the look + feel of the new site, but its still an external program so you need to create your own id and its not integrated into the rest of the portal (ie. so you cant see people in chat that are logged into the forum etc). I'm actively looking for something better, but until then....

SO, how about some suggestions for the rest of the site ... what are you missing, what would you find really useful? Use this sticky to capture stuff that comes to mind and I'll keep the to-do list here in this sticky up to date as I'm looking into things......

oOo

To-Do List

Integrate chat into the site better
Incorporate some gallery content into the main body of the site ie. featured pic, random pic, etc
Integrate 'latest thread' into main page as a teaser...

[Wobbly]

btw, don't forget about the downloads section that's been added recently (where you can add your own downloads to be included in the library) and the calendar functionality that also lets you make your own submission. There's also a news submission page as well incase you get any good goss, and i've added firefox to the stats in case you use that :up:

And notice the cool new little icon next to the address bar above and which should be next to your bookmark as well :D

[Flash]

Some red mate that's all I can some up with red. :lol:

[Muzzard]

Icon, bookmark, address bar?...Mmmmm...
And Neil, how can we change our avatars, and can they be dynamic? I would like to swap over now and again to the stuntlife avatar I use...

[Wobbly]

Good question about avatars, since a lot of you boring lot seem to be without them ;) :lol:

Just click on the profile button (near the top of the page) and that'll take you to a page that has all your own info on it which you can change (name, address, email, posting options, etc etc). Scroll to the bottom and there's a section on avatars which will let you either:

Link to an avatar already stored somewhere by just entering the www address
Upload an avatar already stored somewhere by just entering the www address
Upload an avatar (max size 100x100 & 20kb) you've got stored on your PC already
Click on the 'gallery' button to browse the avatars that i've sweater over a hot stove to resize and stick up on the site :D Hopefully amongs that lot you can show off your creative sides :laughing_sign:

[Flash]

Just a suggestion, do you think it is worth while putting a subject up on the main forum page for new people to list there bikes and or put photo's up. Might get some of these new people talking. Possibly organise some give aways (hand grips bar pads etc). I know this would be hard but it might be worth talking to some people to "sponsor" us maybe.
It may also help bring the popularity to this sport in this country sooner or later it will boom here just like the States and just like Europe.

[Wobbly]

Good suggestions both of them Ash ... the first one is an easy one to rectify, the second one might take a bit more doing but can well be looked at 8)

[Flash]

I just want to take this time to say I think you done a shit hot job giving up your time and I hope at some point I'll be able to be useful as well.
:up: :up: :up: :up: :up: :up: :prayer: :prayer: :prayer: :supz: :supz: :supz:

[Wobbly]

No worries matey, just happy to help the cause 8)

Best payback will be generating good levels of interest at Calder!!

[Wobbly]

Hey guys ... I'm spendling a little time here and there working on a few changes for the web site ... a while back I stuck the forum threads block and most recent gallery image on the left ... then a few days back I changed the forum posting bit to go straight to displaying your post rather than going to the useless in between screen (ala vbulletin style) ...

I've got a few more things in mind, such as providing a quick-reply area down the bottom of the thread viewing page (again, ripped from vbulletin) and changing the forum thread list to a scrolly of some of the post text, and maybe replacing the chat with an IRC based one hosted through a java app.

So anyway, just to let you know what's happening ... yell out if something or some change isnt working for you or you think its making things harder, or if you've got other suggestions for improvement as well :up:

[scozzie]

I dinae think the Lithium crystals can take it Captain :lol: :lol: :lol:

I, like Ash, reckon you've both done a brilliant job. Thanks. :D

[Wobbly]

Orrite, i've been getting pissed off at all the pages where big URL text (typically from ebay links) keeps on blowing out the screen size making everything hard to read. So I fucked around a bit with the regexp substitution part of the bbcode module where it turns regular http type links into clickable hrefs and put in a little function call to crop out the visible part of the text string to keep it nice and small.

Let me know if this fixes the problem for people - I've currently got it set to clip anything > 80 characters down to 80 characters so it should be able to word wrap it around without making you scroll around. I can change this easily enough so let me know if it works for you :)

Here's an example of what would have been a really long URL (try clicking on it ;) ) but has been made nice. And yes I know vbull and later mods of phpbb do the same, but I can't be arsed going through the upgrade process nor actually paying money for site software :lol:

http://www.thisissomereallylongstupendouswebsitelinkwithl ots.com/offunkyshitinit/thatshouldgetclippedoutnicely/arse.html

[dicky]

I just drink beer and wonder why I get an error message when I click on your link.
It doesn't work!
What sort of expert are you?

dicky.

[SMC690]

Yeah, the long arsed url's like some of the links I have posted have been bugging me too with having to scroll over to read them. :)
Thank's for cutting them. ;)

If you need a regular IRC server that is always up to link the chat client to let me know. :)

The site is excellent Neil, thanks for all the hard work you put into it.

[Flash]

Ahh shucks :oops:

[Flash]

Yeah but I do second that as well! Thanks for the time. :)

[Wobbly]

So as another little detail improvement I added in the 'go advanced' button to this here quick reply thingo in case you get part way through typing a message and then decide you want to see the smileys etc or preview your post first. I also swapped around the submit & reply buttons on the regular posting page just to confuse the crap out of people :lol2:

Any other little detail type improvements or features from other forums you use that you wish were included in this site? I'm just hacking up the templates and PHP code so I can do quite a bit, the biggest constraint being the time it takes me to work something out being balanced with the desire from people for specific features...

[PropertyofMuzz]

As the wife of an obsessed motarder, I can pass on not only his but also my thanks Neil for doing such a fantastic job.
Murray was so disappointed when the racing class he had seriously planned to compete in became an exhibition race only and not worthy of following through because of the cost involved, there was a round of racing we had already booked for in Tasmania.
After the racing collapsed again in 2004, he decided to wait until there was heaps more bikes to go racing again, and registered his bike to ride to work.
When he fell off his bike and broke his back he taught himself the computer and decided to start a Yahoo group and met Neil.
Together they have built this into something that I didnt think would be so interesting for so many people.
Very well done Neil, and you are Murrays saving grace when it comes to electronic things, he always says, 'I'll ask Neil, he will know".

[Wobbly]

Guys, I've just disabled off-site avatars due to some complaints about the amount of bandwidth they take up. There's still a bunch of people out on dialup, so let's keep the majority of the site dialup-friendly :up:

Edit: I'm also removing some of the standard avatars from the gallery that take up more than the maximum 20kb amount to be consistent...

[Wobbly]

So do we like the new front page?

[dicky]

There is a front page?
I only ever come in through the back door, never seen the front.
What's it like?

dicky.
<mmm... orange...>

[kroosn]

ha yeah nice to see a change, it looks good kind of doesnt fit in with the rest of the page but still a big improvement


Kroosn

[Muzzard]

I reckon its cool.
Rome wasn't built in a day, but the front page probably was, but with a few ales to help fade the pictures as a draft :lol:
Look forward to the next edition...

[shane]

good job mate very eye catching

[Wobbly]

Also added a new cover story :)

[shane]

Also added a new cover story :)
thanks neil that was very nice of you sir :D :D :D :D :D

[Wobbly]

Okay, as a few of you have already noticed ;) i've added in a Shout Box module - you can see this best from the new scrolly block that has appeared on the left hand side of the screen on top of the latest gallery pic block. Its a pretty simple real-ish time chatty thing, so go your hardest. I can make it bigger (longer) and contain more post history if you'd like, but I'd like to hear whether people have any problems with it or if it slows down the site at all etc as its a bit hard for me to tell since i'm running off a dsl2 connection :)

It only loads messages when the page is refreshed, so best way to use it is just to browse around the site like normal checking it now and then, rather than using it like a true real-time chat utility (ala irc etc)...

[Wobbly]

Ok, any problems with the new site format & hosting, please report in this thread...

[Wobbly]

Is anyone having a problem where the graphics on the site don't cache for very long and re-load themselves each time you go back to the site?

[Muzzard]

I haven't noticed it Neil.

[tambi]

I've noticed the problem you mentioned about the graphics neil

[Wobbly]

If you do try clearing your cache in your browser and see if the problem persists. May be a problem with cache control on the http headers though.

[tambi]

How do I clear my cache :oops:

[Daws]

In Internet Explorer clear cache by... tools / internet options / General tab / Temporary internet files / "Delete files" button

Firefox... Tools / Options / Cache tab / "Clear Cache now" button

Well done on the site Neil, your hard work is appreciated.

[tambi]

Thanks Supa4 :)
+1 kudos to Neil

[Sibbo]

Neil, can you chage the site to bold the little note that lets you know you have a new PM or have a little signal next to it. Cos its hard to see at the moment when a new PM comes in.

Thanks heaps.

[Wobbly]

Yeah, I'm trying to work out how to get my little spinning envelope widget somewhere ... I'm thinking maybe a little box that sits up above the main menu to draw attention to it....

[Sibbo]

Yeah, spot on.

[Wobbly]

Ask and yea shall receive ;)

Btw, for anyone that's interested the web site currently has a problem with mail - basically it aint sending any for the majority of cases. So anyone with friends wondering why they haven't got their registration email or people that are expecting thread subscription emails and aren't getting them, that's why :?

No eta on getting it fixed yet, but all the mails are backing up and should get shot out once the problem is resolved...

[Muzzard]

Thats PM's you mean as well Neil?
I wondered why I hadn't got a few fellas have sent :roll:
Maybe because of the changeover.
They were sent last weekend.

[Wobbly]

PMs are still working fine, so shouldn't be any problems there. Its possible something got lost in the transition last weekend, easiest way is to check your outbox and sentbox in the PM screen... but people won't get the usual email for a PM telling them to log into the site if they have that turned on...

[Wobbly]

Just a quick note, we now how full automated backups - hoorah :) Under the old host I had to do them by hand and it was a bit of a hit & miss affair, and didn't work well when I was away of course. But now with our new server and ssh access I now have automated cron jobs to backup all the filesystem contents (including the gallery) on a monthly basis, and all the database content (basically the contents of the forums) on a weekly basis, and have set up corresponding jobs on my local network to automate downloading all the backups.

I'm keeping current and previous backups of each on the server, as well as a virtual server backup to help minimise the time required to reinstate (rebuild) the server from scratch if it was lost. I've also of course now got the backups downloaded locally and burn these off on to DVD on a fairly regular basis. You can only do so much to guard against hacking, and history has shown that probably the best defence is a good backup strategy, and that at least we have...

[Wobbly]

And if you're wondering how big all this stuff is getting now, the database backup (which is basically just text) is about 18mb worth of data (geez you blokes talk a lot of crap :lol2:) and the filesystem backup (which is mainly made up of the gallery album binaries in terms of size - all the php stuff is small by comparison) is about 1.5GB :shock:

[JB]

Suggestion for VSMR.net

Another forum (you know which one I mean), has introduced "The Garage". Not a bad addition which lets you list your bike(s) and modifications plus details of where you bought what and how much for ($$ is a load of crap no need to go on about how much one has to spend on bikes).

Also allows rating of bikes and a few other niceties. Check it out, might be a worthy addition.

Could be an efficient replacement for "post a pic of your bike"

[Sibbo]

I got a CBR250RR and its sooo fast, etc. Hmm....what a good idea...

Sorry, it would be a good idea on here, cos there are smart people who's words I actually value.

[JB]

I got a CBR250RR and its sooo fast, etc...

:lol:

[Wobbly]

I know that which you speak of ... TT has a similar thing but I thought it was only for vbulletin, but I didnt realise there was a generic phpbb one available. I might have to make some modifications to it to work under nuke but looks interesting...

[Wobbly]

Slight forum rearrangement, should hopefully make things a bit more organised, collapsed the mini's section and incorporated into a new special interest area and reactivated the streetfighters.

Also added in a new dedicated tipping forum for all you race fan/whores ;)

[Muzzard]

Theres only a handful of minis in here now anyway Neil most are on the other pocket and mini bike specific forums.
Streetfighters are more motard aligned and see more activity or interest generally.
Tipping Forum,
Does that mean everything is slanty?
Mmm, Slanty :shock: ...

[Wobbly]

Btw, I just added some new whiz bang code to scrunch up long URLs that are between the URL tags. I modified it before to do it for links you just type in, but it didn't work for the explicitly tagged ones. Anyway, won't go into detail, but it took a shed load of screwing around to get it to work, so if you see anything clitchy about the way it works let me know...

Typed without any URL tags...

http://www.a-short-url.com

http://www.a-much-longer-url-that-will-trigger-off-the-scrunching-thingo

Typed inside URL tags...

http://www.a-short-url.com

http://www.a-much-longer-url-that-will-trigger-off-the-scrunching-thingo

I didn't screw around with the url=blahblahblah function for URL tags so if you really want to type in rediculously long link descriptions you can if you want to. Personally I find scrolling left and right really annoying, hence the effort into fixing URLs from unintentionally doing that :)

[dr6502007]

HI Neil,

Some forums flag posts you have writen to, which i find usefull in checking to see if someone may have responded to a comment you might make.. is there a way this can be done or is it already done and I have missed it?

Some have like an enter icon (left facing arrow)

vBulletin forums have it not sure about others

[SMC690]

HI Neil,

Some forums flag posts you have writen to, which i find usefull in checking to see if someone may have responded to a comment you might make.. is there a way this can be done or is it already done and I have missed it?

Some have like an enter icon (left facing arrow)

vBulletin forums have it not sure about others

You can turn on email alerts here Steve so you get an email when a post you have posted in is replied to, that's if you don't mind the extra emails.

[Wobbly]

The move to new forum software later this year will provide the ability for ignore, subscription, etc. Until then we'll need to make do with what we've currently got.

[Muzzard]

And a section specific to financial members only ;)

[dr6502007]

HI Neil,

Some forums flag posts you have writen to, which i find usefull in checking to see if someone may have responded to a comment you might make.. is there a way this can be done or is it already done and I have missed it?

Some have like an enter icon (left facing arrow)

vBulletin forums have it not sure about others

You can turn on email alerts here Steve so you get an email when a post you have posted in is replied to, that's if you don't mind the extra emails.

Thanks Juz, I will do that.

Cheers

[dr6502007]

The move to new forum software later this year will provide the ability for ignore, subscription, etc. Until then we'll need to make do with what we've currently got.

Thanks mate, just a general question/suggestion, definitely not a criticism. Doing a great job mate :up:

[shane]

cheers Neil i am looking forward to it :-}}}

[dr6502007]

And a section specific to financial members only ;)

Hey Muzz, this is not yet an option is it? I know ppl can donate but paid up membership is still to come, yeah?

Cause I am keen if it is or when it does become an option :)

[Muzzard]

For sure Steve,
Most Welcome.
It will be a section to handle the Group Buys and these will be stepped up and canvassed heavily to include the trailers and helcams etc that were discussed in the other Group Buys thread,
Stand out track days at TT & whatever track we end up using as a home track to replace TT when it closes down soon,
Social events that are stand out and regular member orientated,
Like the Camping Weekend in the Hills here on the agenda again for later this summer,
Merchandise packs and e-newsletter subscription.

[Wobbly]

Okay, just an update for you fellas, i've now got a version of the forum running on a development machine using the new forum software (vbulletin) :D Next steps are getting the concept art out and starting work on a new web site style, integrating some of the new features and porting the gallery to a newer version of menalto :)

[Muzzard]

Thats not the website with the funky paisley print is it :lol:

[Wobbly]

Nope, bright pink with purple pokeadots :)

[MarkeeMark]

Nope, bright pink with purple pokeadots :)

That sounds purdy! mmmmm purdy!

[SMC690]

Do you think the transition to the new forum with be pretty smooth Neil or will I have to subscribe to fatchicksinpartyhats for a month? ;)

[jmcd]

Do you think the transition to the new forum with be pretty smooth Neil or will I have to subscribe to fatchicksinpartyhats for a month? ;)
I don't think a month would be enough time ! :shock:
What the E>T<A on the transition of a new site ?

[SM93]

more honda pictures & info

[Wobbly]

Will they let you have more than one parallel subscription though juz???

The site upgrade process went surprisingly well actually. There are a few things I have to do to get thing across because of small differences between phpnuke and phpbb standalone, but for the most part things seem ok. People might have to reset some info, like avatars, but there's a whole new profile section that includes personal galleries so is probably a good opportunity for people to revisit their personal profile as well.

The gallery upgrade may be a little more challenging, as I'd really like something more integrated with the forum. There are a lot of little additional things that need to be added to replicate stuff like the side bar to the left, but I kind of figure that we can concentrate on getting the basics upgraded first, and then add in the other features and more new stuff as we go :)

[Muzzard]

So is it running basically in the background on your laptop or the likes currently and working as per reasonably expected?

You know I dont have a wealth of knowledge in this field but are looking to learn ;)

[Wobbly]

Its running on a comp at home that is running a local web server and database etc. Took me quite a while to get the old sit up and running on this, but then the new site transition was fairly smooth. Its just the basics running though, and no skinning or anything that look nice, just the mechanics really...

[Muzzard]

OK I am with you so far then ;)
Love your work your IT-Ness :D

[MarkeeMark]

Good work Wobbly keep at it. Looking fwd to the new SupermotoAus site and forums!

[SMC690]

I have a suggestion.

A feedback section when you do a deal with someone, a bit like ebay.
Be it parts or bikes or anything for sale or wanted.

[Wobbly]

Just keeping things on thread...

The new software we've got has a load of new features, one of which is a reputation system - you can add or remove reputation points from people (with limits to how much/how often). This will be implemented so you can recognise people for their help, assistance or belligerence! :)

[SM93]

hahaha that will be fun

[albonator316]

x2 :lol:

[Muzzard]

hahaha that will be fun
Ah busted Jove
So it was you who gave me minus 14713 points ;)

I think the 'Donating Member' is also a good option given the 'suppliers' can within a minute know if they are shittin' or not,
Look on the site and see ;)
Its also a good way to 'sidestep a membership fee' as such
Just a bit more subtle, feed the bank account for more infrastructure upgrades and will catch on pretty bloody quick its the thing to do to obtain any discounts.

[nitronaf]

Just keeping things on thread...

The new software we've got has a load of new features, one of which is a reputation system - you can add or remove reputation points from people (with limits to how much/how often). This will be implemented so you can recognise people for their help, assistance or belligerence! :)
I think you should name the measurement AFR :D
some of the american forums call it gas
lol

[Upon-One]

im all up to make a donation to the forum,
its a good forum and one thats worth the donation..

you can have something like this: $5.00 = tight ass $10.00 = semi tight ass $20 = good member $50 = bill ya next year $100 = your a stud

just kiddin :)


Another site i'm on has levels like that, the top level is "Gold member" :lol:

[Wobbly]

Yeah, the contributor title is definitely on the list ... its near the top, not quite, but they're all waiting for a bit of free time to become available :)

[jmcd]

I have a suggestion.

A feedback section when you do a deal with someone, a bit like ebay.
Be it parts or bikes or anything for sale or wanted.

Like a rate this deal thread or rate this guy thread if you've had to deal with someone?