Web site update - suggestions and input?

[T-Bag]

As far as I'm concerned the main page only needs logos of each of the officially supported games fairly prominently (clickable to a link to our server ip addresses), maybe split into FPS, WoW, Racing etc, and then a description on the style we play games. No need for in-game screen shots, if they have the game they know what it looks like.

Then a list of the days the games are played and when they're likely to be busy.

Rather than forum posts if there was an indicator when a server is in use, or an "event" indicator when someone starts a game that could be uwseful, but probably too indepth as 90% of us won't see it as we go straight to the forum.

[Jamoe]

I remembered reading some stuff about vBulletin that you might find interesting.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/10/30/vbulletin_defends_forum_bans/

http://www.macvicar.net/blog/2009/12/funemployment-part-1-becoming-unemployed.html

Since the other UK-based senior developers and I left the code quality has dropped somewhat, there are over 1000 open bugs filed, on a normal day this time last year it would be around 10. Internet Brands have also increased prices, changed the licensing model and shelved the project tools product. A lot has changed in a short period of time and I'm not sure if it was for the best.

Worth knowing

[Doorman]

One man's view on vB4 HERE Not a happy bunny.

[TeaLeaf]

To be fair, the change from vB3 to vB4 is not just an upgrade, it's a total re-write with a massively changed feature set, so I would absolutely expect some people to be vehemently upset, about either their change in pricing structure, the number of bugs or just the fact that it is new.  

Is it fair to blog about the bug count and compare the bug count on a totally new & expanded platform that at that point had just gone Beta with the bug count on an established release code on the older, smaller feature set vB3?  Some might say that's just a slightly rose-tinted comparison from an ex-employee who also claims to have detailed knowledge of the drop of in quality control on the vB4 code even though he left the company 6 months previously and has no access to the code they have subsequently written.  Six months is a long time to be out of the loop in the software game.

I think I recall similar upset when CS:CZ came out.  'Never!' was the war cry some uttered, yet they are happily continuing to play CS through various iterations and would now not look back.

I'm not arguing that Jelsoft may not have got some things wrong, but I think it would help to take a broader view than just the comments of a few individuals.  The Jelsoft forums have a broad spectrum of posts, some are simple bug reports, some started a campaign about the change in pricing structure before the product was even in Beta, some have found some horrible bugs on their particular forum, but that's why vB4 is not live on this site.  

Jelsoft have a big subscriber base and are trying to make the move from a relatively basic vB3 to a totally re-written vB4 with a massively expanded feature set.  I'm sure that along the way they will err and we'll find bugs, but that's why we're planning to bring up a test site first.  Reading into the RC you'll see two planned updates to the vB4 code are planned for this month with another in February.  Yes they might have rushed to Gold before being ready, but the progress they have made is measurable and continuous, so we'll bring the test site up and test it to see if it does what we want it to do before subjecting it to our members.  The feature set of vB4 implies it will give us the control and functions that we want for our website and that's what we are looking forward to in the long term.

[Jabbs]

All valid points there TL.

My two pence worth is this:

When something NEW comes out, I tend not to be in the group of people who automatically go out and buy the latest and greatest, usually because I'm not flush with cash but also because I prefer to 'see how things go' before I buy.

Perhaps we should have a similar approach to vB4?  How long has it been out (if it's even released yet)?  If not, then can we wait longer for the bigger and better v4 before we buy?

[TeaLeaf]

In short no, unless you wanted to pay twice a smuch for it.

[Jabbs]

In short no, unless you wanted to pay twice a smuch for it.

Why would we pay more twice as much by waiting?  Is the upgrade a deal which can only happen within a period of time?

[TeaLeaf]

Yes it's an offer which doubles in price if you do not upgrade within a specified period.

[Jabbs]

Permission to say "Ah Crap!" But thanks, that explains a lot!

[Doorman]

What will it do that isn't being, or can't be done with the existing software? Serious question.

[smilodon]

Basically offer us a full featured community site that includes a forum rather than a forum that offers some limited community features.

Life will be so  much easier if we can keep our online activities within one consolidated piece of software. Even simple things like allowing members to add, remove, update etc content based on the same permission structure we use for the forum will be really useful.

The alternative is to start using completely separate software which we will have to start learning from scratch and which we will have to try to either link seamlessly with the forum or export the entire forum into a new application!

VB4 may or may not fulfill our requirements, I hope very much that it does. As I've mentioned those requirement may be no more than a redesign and sorting of information into more appropriate locations or a whole host of new features and functions. That's basically up to us and what we as a community want to both create and consume. We keep VB4 up to date as it is, so this update could be a very timely occurrence. The test site will let everyone see what we can do and whether the new version is what we want.

[TeaLeaf]

It also removes the need for us to renew licences for some additional plugins we use on our current forum, which saves some money.

[Benny]

I'll be the only one, but I'd like the front page to look like....

http://osc.template-help.com/drupal_26398/

others here....just for inspiration.
http://www.templatemonster.com/category/games/

[lionheart]

Im always a little scared to click on Benny links but these are safe.

[Jabbs]

I'll be the only one, but I'd like the front page to look like....

http://osc.template-help.com/drupal_26398/

others here....just for inspiration.
http://www.templatemonster.com/category/games/

You're not the only one Nice and simple with big areas to click on.  Translating those big areas on that site to ours would equal our main games WoW, COD4 L4D etc