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Website upgrade coming soon!

Started by fireboat
37 replies 19 likes 0 followers Last activity: 10 years ago
#38

Website upgrade coming soon!

Having dabbled with building websites, many many moons ago, I can appreciate the work that goes into projects like this. We're blessed to have someone with the talents and energy you have Stephen looking after us.

Excellent work, well done and thank you.
#37

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Stephen

I like the idea of the progress bar but, on the other hand the way the Website emblem progresses in a circular motion is just right.
I also like the LIKES area that you've added, very good.

Ed👍
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
#36

Website upgrade coming soon!

My fault Ed. I was tinkering with displaying a load progress bar for navigating between pages. But my tinkering broke everything until I noticed! 😜 all back to normal now 😊 Thanks! Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by figtree7nts
#35

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Stephen

I just wanted to report, something strange happening on the website.
I logged in and everything I clicked on the website would reply:

Page could not be loaded.. (TypeError: Unable to get property 'open' of undefined or null reference

Not sure what that was but the website seams to be working again. I logged in and out a few times. I don't know if it was on my side or the website.
Just thought I would report it, just in case...

Ed
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
Liked by fireboat
#34

Website upgrade coming soon!

I usually just lurk since i have been too busy to spend time over the holidays but I would like to thank you for doing all the hard work for your upgrades I know what a pain that can be been there done that. but again thank you i really like learning from this site being so new to boats and all

Joe
#33

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Stephen

Thank You so much for bring back the Ships Horn. I use it to let me know when someone has stopped by the website.
I'm hoping that theirs is know problems after implementing the ships horn sound. if there is it's understandable if you take it off.
Also if their is a degradation in the website performance it would be advisable to disable it.

I'm really going to have to do my best, to make a donation to the website in the near future! 👍

Regards,

Ed
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
#32

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Stephen.
OK, I now understand the emoji thing, I have just installed Firerfox and they appear in colour in that and I have also installed a plug-in into Chrome (my default browser) that also now shows the things properly.
Cheers.
😁👍👌🇬🇧🛳☢🍌...just having a play with some !!
Rob.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana"
#31

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi figtree,

I've just put the ships horns back! They used to use a flash plugin so I removed the feature to speed up the website and avoid all the warning messages browsers give about flash.

Now they're re-implemented using HTML5 which is much cleaner.

@robbob, pleased you like the site upgrade too! The world of emoji/emoticon/smileys is confusing. The website has replaced smileys with emojis now. Smileys were little pictures that replaced text characters, I did have control over how they look, but it becomes messy as many people use smart phones and you get a mix of smileys and emojis. Emoji are actual characters, like letters. The problem is though, they're displayed in a whole range of different ways. An emoji in Firefox will look different in internet Explorer, different again in Gmail, different again on an Android phone, different again on an Apple device. it is a pitty there was no alignment by companies!

It does save downloading many little graphic files though and it helps the website speed. Also.... there are hundreds of emoji's to choose from. The website has a handful of common ones to pick from, but it's not limited really.

All donations gratefully received. Unfortunately no big company pays me to keep the site afloat! I just know a lot of people enjoy it and I take some personal pride in having built it up to where it is today. it's all hand coded, no bought packages, I don't think any off the shelf package would give the same experience!

Thanks for all the positive feedback everyone 😊

Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by RNinMunich and Mallory
#30

Website upgrade coming soon!

Yes I fully agree with you robbob, the website is a credit to you, regarding the upgrade I think all active members should donate at least a fiver lets see the January donation list number grow from its present miserable 2! well into the twenties and even thirties, show your appreciation, and a happy new year to all.👍😊
Liked by robbob
#29

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Fireboat

I just wanted to ask, what ever happened to the ships horns.
when ever any body stops by you here the ships Horn?
Will it ever come back? I myself liked it a lot!
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
#28

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Stephen.
Congratulations on your successful upgrade of the site, I have just submitted a couple of build blog updates and I'ts a so nice not to have to go back in to correct the punctuation and odd capitalisations, and it's really great that I can post more than four pictures now 😊.
On minor niggle... the smileys or emoticons, whatever the are called, seem to have lost their appealing characteristics and look a bit dull compared to their previous incarnations 😡.
Curiously, they look better and in colour on my 'phone using the mobile app but just grey 'ghost' outlines on my PC....spooky !.
Despite that I'm quite impressed and grateful for your efforts, and I have to say that it's now very deserving of another donation to the fund, I'm sure many would agree 😉.
A Happy New Year to all.
Robbob.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana"
Liked by allenrod
#27

Website upgrade coming soon!

Well done. Thought it was OK before, but this is a vast improvement
#26

Website upgrade coming soon!

Stephen,

Thank You! for you hard work, Brilliant comes to mind!
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
#25

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi figtree, that error has now been fixed. it was the result of a new security check which was added 🤓

Thanks for pointing it out 👍 you'll now be able to edit posts again 😉

Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by figtree7nts
#24

Website upgrade coming soon!

I think I've found a problem with the website.
When trying to do a correction after having made a post the website says- Please look at the photo it's a screen shot of the Error.
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
#22

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Alan, you should now see a [Close Panel] button at the top of the active users list. This will hide it from view 👍 thanks for the feedback! 😊 Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
#21

Website upgrade coming soon!

Nice Stephen, very nice, just a little niggle from me, I cant find a cross to close down the active users list, not a big problem but as I view at 125 % the screen gets a bit crowded.

Alan
Liked by onetenor
#20

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi,
You can sit back with your favourite bottle. Well done sir
Regards Dave.
#19

Website upgrade coming soon!

Superb job on the upgrade, looks very good
Etherow Model Boat Club
#18

Website upgrade coming soon!

Sincere Thanks, Great job on the Upgrade!
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
#17

Website upgrade coming soon!

We're back!

So after a tonne of work, most of it behind the scenes, a lot of trouble with server security certificates and not much Christmas break...... I'm proud to announce, we're now updated!!! 👍

The software is no longer 10 years old and comes in line with modern web standards. Hopefully the last major overhaul for a while!

I wish you all a Happy New Year and a great 2017 for Model Boating! ⛵️

Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by figtree7nts
#16

Website upgrade coming soon!

Good luck with the upgrades, hope to see you back online Monday

Mark
Etherow Model Boat Club
#15

Website upgrade coming soon!

Good luck, a big thanks and I hope you have a happy, prosperous and healthy new year, take care
#14

Website upgrade coming soon!

Just a reminder to everyone. The website will be offline tomorrow!

I'm aiming to get it back online in its upgraded format as quickly as possible, but I suspect this will take some hours.

If it's not online by the end of the day, then something bad has happened! Let's hope not! 👍

Thanks,
Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by cenbeth
#13

Website upgrade coming soon!

6, 16, 26, who cares the down time, you are doing this for our sakes, good luck with the button pushing!!!

Mark
Etherow Model Boat Club
Liked by onetenor
#11

Website upgrade coming soon!

It'll be offline Sunday morning from around 8am, then back online mid-afternoon. if things don't go as planned it's possible it'll remain down until later in the evening on Sunday.

So anything from 6 hours to 16 hours. I'll do my best 👍

Thanks,
Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by onetenor
#10

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Fireboat

Will you be making an anousement as to what time you'll be taking the site offline? also how long will the site be offline? do you have an estimation of time?

Ed

PS.

Good luck on the transition... 👍
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
Liked by onetenor
#9

Website upgrade coming soon!

Progress update. The new website is now 95% ready for launch, a few final tweaks will be needed, but otherwise it's ready to go. The mobile app however, is only 50% ready, visually it's working, but functionally not there yet. I'll be continuing to work on the final parts for the next few days, with the aim to launch everything on Sunday the 1st! it's been a busy Christmas break for me, this website update has consumed many hours, but hopefully it'll all be worth it 😊

The website will be down for a few hours on Sunday while I copy everything across.

@onetenor, live chat was once part of this website, but it was removed again for a few reasons. By nature they're temporary, if knowledge is shared within them, they're lost in time. They also can't be moderated and are unfortunately prone to misuse.

Another update from an early announcement too; I have done lots of work on response posts, so I'm pleased to say, it'll be possible to include as many photos/files as you wish in responses too! Also, all posts will be modifiable, attachments included, and can be deleted as well.

You'll see all changes when the website goes live on Sunday. I'm still hoping for a seamless transition. Let's see!

Thanks everyone for your support.

Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by onetenor
#8

Website upgrade coming soon!

What about a live chat area ?
#7

Website upgrade coming soon!

Hi Edward,

So far I haven't made any progress on the apps, but I'll do my best to implement as many of the features mentioned into the apps too.

In general they'll be less feature rich than the full website, but this is the same for any mobile app as they're generally designed for smaller screens.

They will use a secure connection and updated server version just like the website and in a few areas I'll be tidying up the code. I know there are problems with notifications, also with uploading photos in new posts. Everything will see an overhaul.

Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by cenbeth
#6

Website upgrade coming soon!

Those proposals look really good. Will they be OK on the iPad app?

Edward
#5

Website upgrade coming soon!

Yep, more than 4 pictures will be allowed... and files too, so if you want to include PDF's, word documents, PowerPoint files, CAD drawings, ZIP files etc, it'll all be uploadable.

Pesky punctuation problems will be fixed too, along with a lot of currently unsupported special characters.

I don't want to promise too much yet, but I'd like to allow uploads in response posts as well. Let's see on that one mind 😊

Hoping for a seamless upgrade. it's likely I'll shut the site down for a short while when the actual upgrade happens. For now I'm working on a duplicate copy (which I can break without causing any harm 😀 )

Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin
Liked by RNinMunich and cenbeth
#4

Website upgrade coming soon!

Good work Stephen.
I'm looking forward to being able to post more than 4 pictures in the build blogs if that's possible. And also that pesky punctuation problem might be fixed too ? 👍
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana"
Liked by fireboat
#3

Website upgrade coming soon!

Can't wait to see the difference in the site, hoping it's a seamless upgrade! what a task at hand...
"Fair winds calm Seas"
73
Liked by fireboat
#2

Website upgrade coming soon!

Sounds like the site will be set for many years to come

Mark
Etherow Model Boat Club
#1

Website upgrade coming soon!

Thought I'd give you all a teaser announcement 😊

The website is long overdue a heafty upgrade from its current format, including lots of behind the scenes updates to the server. I'd like to get this done over the Xmas hols, and so far things are progressing well but I'll hold out on a launch date as it's still an awful lot of work.

In summary;
- The whole website is moving to https and will use secure connections throughout, including the apps. So all traffic will be encrypted including usernames, passwords, stored cookies, everything.

- No more flash plugins required. Flash is currently used in a couple of areas and will be replaced with HTML5 which is much cleaner, lightweight and in line with future standards.

- Upload limits will be gone. You'll be able to upload as many files and photos as you like per post, along with this, a new media viewing interface has been crafted. I say media, as files are also acceptable everywhere, not just in the forum area.

- Full Emoji support. Smileys will be replaced with emoji's, this is especially important for the mobile apps where smartphone entry typically can include emoji.

- New posting interface across the website. Creating new posts will be cleaner and standardised across the website.

- Profile pages will be updated, again, with a much cleaner design, focus on member rankings, recent posts and harbour boats.

- Retina support, mainly for people viewing on macs, iphones, ipads - many graphics have been updated and will show in their full resolution glory.

- Goodbye to the legacy server version. This isn't something anyone will notice, but to upgrade all the server code to more compatible modern standards is the majority of the upgrade work.

Thanks to everyone for your continued support in keeping this website going! 👍

Stephen
We may not be able to control the wind 🍃 but we can always adjust our sails ⛵ - MBW Admin

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