SpudFiles

Hey just got an idea for a news type of setup on the main page.

Every once in a while there is a post on spudfiles that attracts a lot of new attention. Sometimes its a new design, sometimes its a helpful post that just got stickied.

I got the idea when looking at how many people have been using my Burst Disk Cartridge design here lately. Now im not saying my design is awesome by any means but it gave me the idea that maybe every once in a while some things deserve to be in the spotlight.

Now I know there are contests for this.. but the Home page rarely gets updated... I mean up until recently there was still a news item about right guard deodorant not working.. (really old news.)

So why not have a spotlight item.. not updated every week or even every month.. but just untill something new comes along. Something worth noting. Maybe even something that will attract more members.

Maybe it wouldnt have to be on the main page.. but perhaps a News page with cool and innovative news about spudding and designs.

good idea , I don't like how the front page doesnt get updated, and although the recent topics column is helpful it doesnt go far enough, on the front page i think there should also be links to stickys but catagorised in sections like where to start, but your idea is probably better as good cannons should get the attention they deserve

Omigosh. I hated unupdated pages. I used to go on an old prank site (started 2001), and the "egg" spotlight hadn't been changed in two years, while the writers of those "eggs" would get an unbelievable amount of points everyday from guests that wuold look at the site just once on the frontpage and vote on those "eggs".

You've got something here with the spotlight idea.

I like it :hello1:

Nice idea.Although it could be a pain for pcguy to watch everything for good posts.

I also agree it would be nice. It would add to the attractiveness of the site.

I agree, something like this would be nice. There are a lot of things I want for the new SpudFiles, it's just all about time. What most people don't realize is how much it takes to develop a dynamic website for a good number of users. There are so many little subsystems that have to be setup, checked, checked and checked again to ensure everything works together correctly and how I need it to. The current SpudFiles has over 100 different modifications installed (some prepacked, some custom), each and every one of them has to be compatible with the others and can not conflict with anything else. Some of these things I will no longer need for the upgrade to phpBB 3.0, but there are a number of other new things to be installed and tested. Not to mention the fact that once I build everything, I have to do a test conversion of SpudFiles to even ensure I can get everything converted over in a manner acceptable to my users. I do LOTS of testing.

End users will notice quickly when features are missing or things don't work quite right, and administrators such as myself will notice quickly when there is a setting or some code that could allow a security breech. When end users don't notice anything wrong and everything works great, then that just means a good amount of work has been put in by the administrator to ensure those things are working correctly.

I am only 1 person and it can be hard to keep up with things sometimes, however it is near impossible for others to help me since I know what is needed and how things must be done. This is why it takes very skilled people lots of communication to collaboratively work on large projects, someone has to know what is going on with everything then they designate certain people to work on certain features, then they ensure it all works together.

A thread full of ideas and discussion for the next SpudFiles would be acceptable. I know I have been talking about it for quite some time now, but the simple fact is I can not rush this project as a lot of the code I am using is still very new, some of it still in early beta. I do not mind using beta code, but it has to be code that has gone through amount of testing and versions. If I go and build SpudFiles with immature code, then that just opens up security holes and leaves functionality problems for me to waste time on trying to chase down, only to end up having to upgrade sections of the site later... and there is not always an easy upgrade path between beta versions of things.

I can assure you that things are getting close now, many of the modifications I have on my list have been finalized or are in late beta/release candidate stages. There is only a handful of things left that I feel are too immature to build into the new SpudFiles. I already have a good amount of work done for the new Theopia as well, since it is much simpler than SpudFiles however I am waiting on a few particular things before I can move on.

PCGUY wrote:IWhat most people don't realize is how much it takes to develop a dynamic website for a good number of users.

I am a Web Designer/Administrator. I completely understand.

Not asking for an immediate change.. but perhaps another subforum of Website Discussion called News/Spotlight. Only moderators could post and those posts would be the news on the front page. Its fairly simple to have the two most recent threads from a subforum to be shown on the main page.

I'd offer to help but I'm going back to school for my Associates Degree in IT Programming/Analyst and I will be quite busy.

Davidvaini wrote:

PCGUY wrote:IWhat most people don't realize is how much it takes to develop a dynamic website for a good number of users.

I am a Web Designer/Administrator. I completely understand.

Not asking for an immediate change.. but perhaps another subforum of Website Discussion called News/Spotlight. Only moderators could post and those posts would be the news on the front page. Its fairly simple to have the two most recent threads from a subforum to be shown on the main page.

I'd offer to help but I'm going back to school for my Associates Degree in IT Programming/Analyst and I will be quite busy.

That is my exact plan, as right now home page articles come from a hidden forum section. In fact, I could have moderators do this right now...

I know how busy it can be when going to school for a degree, I am doing the same thing as you plan to right now.

I'm kinda in the same boat as you guys, working and going to school. I'm currently studing 3 books at once and it's a lot to take in. I must say I like the idea.

This topic inspired me to make this:
http://www.spudfiles.com/spud_wiki/inde ... m_Stickies

Job well done PCGUY. I appreciate the amount of work you've done, this is a spectactular site.
It's a tough job maintaining a site with members and such, Especially when you're only one man.