515 Crew

[DaVo]

Almost done setting up the structure of the archives and all the features still working on extactly how the forms and content will be published. It's not prefect and still needs a lot of work but here is a preview of what the listing page will look like http://archives.iowaunder.com/content/s ... l-passover. Now I just need to find an easy way of members of the site to do it. The rest of the site is not up so all there is at this point is that one page.

This is a complete rebuild of the site and it will take a while to transfer all the data and listings from the old site. The site has been upgraded from Drupal 5,x CSM to Drupal 6,6, I'm still messing around with the theme and logo. That will take a little more time.

The new archive will be switching from the wiki like format it was to a drupal book format. Like the name implies the structure is like a book with an outline of indexes and pages. There will be a form for each type of listing profile, so no more codes. You will be able to add embedded video, embedded audio, upload/add audio, edit text in a TinyMCE test box and upload 10 images and add them to the page all to one page. Also you will be able to use composite template to change the look of the page and give it collums or add audio, There is still a lot of work ahead.

Hopefully I'll have the membership set up with a basic profile tomorrow. It will allow one sign in for all three sites

1. Main site and future home of the social network - http://iowaunder.com
2. The Archive site - http://archives.iowaunder.com
3. The Active network/list(not sure what I'm going to call this yet). It will allow bands, promoters, venues, publications, etc... to list there. - http://active.iowaunder.com(I haven't done a thing here yet)

However this is what is up and working/testing and these are all on the profile form:

1. Text boxes using the WYSIWYG TinyMce text editor. So instead of using html and flitered html tags you simply push the icon button. At this point it includes bold, Itaclic, underline, Unordered and numbered lists, Outdent and Indent, undo and redo, link and unlink,, font color, horizonal line, cut, copy and paste, and the image assist feature. I'm working on adding a spell check but that is mainly for me.
2. Embedding video and audio from a number of sites like myspace and youtube,
3. Multiable upload of photos through a flash uploaded, It allows you to upload 10 images and then add captions in one step and create a image page for each, Also allows users to add images to a image gallery(still working on the image galleries and link. Through Image Assist it will allow to add photos and set size, align(placement) and link, This works by uploading the photo or choosing from images already on the site.
4. Composite theme for pages. This one I'm still working on but it will allow the users to create a page and then change the layout of the page's template. Including how many collums and where the parts of the profile will be placed. I'm not sure If I like the outcome yet and I'm still testing it against another feature options. I want to make it as uniform as possible and not turn into another myspace with slow loading pages.
5. Comment - I've changed this to allow non-users to add comments with approval from me.n
6. Audio - Upload audio and then edit the listing page and add it. I'm still working on this one. I would like to create a situation where when you are editing the listing profile you can simply upload there. Also I would like to find an easier way to create a play list.
7. Guitar tablatures - For those musicians out there that wish to add tablatures they will be able to. There will also be a text box for lyrics.
8. Freelinking - This will create a wiki like reaction to " and " tags. It will create a new page or you can link to existing pages.

I'm kind of on the fence on this one. Since the new site will be more media driven and with the exspansion of the archive opening to the world, I'm looking into expanding my hosting plan from the shared serve it is on now to a VSP. Which would increase the yearly cost of the site from about $65 to $400. I can't afford this and would need to either open the site to advertisig or start asking for donations. If someone is wiling to domate money or a server please contact me at davo@iowaunder.com.

[DaVo]

I'm not trying to diminish your efforts here, but realistically, you're not going to be getting enough traffic to push you beyond the limits of cheap shared hosting.

Think about your entire potential site demographic. The most you could really hope for would be ALL of the traffic that this site gets, plus maybe a handful of old guys who don't post here.

Even if you're running a full-fledged social networking app, if your plan gives you the databases and permissions to run it, you're fine. Your intermittent hits aren't even going to put a minute dent on your server's process load, and you're probably governed in such a way that wouldn't allow you to do so, anyway.

See you would think so but the fact is that I keep getting threats from my host provider that I'm using too much of their CPU/Processor and Memory resources and they have suspended the site in the past. As far as traffic goes you would be surprised, sure it is not at the level of facebook but even with the focus being limited at this point to Iowa and the area, it has high traffic days from time to time. Also the membership is not a bunch of "old guys who don't post here", the fact is that the age range is pretty broad as it is. With the expansion of the archive will only increase the traffic.

The thing is the last thing I want to do is mess with ads or a VSP. I would rather avoid it. At this point it is in the back of my head at best. I'm going to try to get by with what I have. Right now it's all about getting the thing more users friendly and cleaning up the navigation.

[tom2electricboogaloo]

damn, davo! you know more about total passover than i do.

i think once the word gets out, you'll have plenty o' traffic. a lot of good history there.

[DaVo]

I'm not trying to diminish your efforts here, but realistically, you're not going to be getting enough traffic to push you beyond the limits of cheap shared hosting.

Think about your entire potential site demographic. The most you could really hope for would be ALL of the traffic that this site gets, plus maybe a handful of old guys who don't post here.

Even if you're running a full-fledged social networking app, if your plan gives you the databases and permissions to run it, you're fine. Your intermittent hits aren't even going to put a minute dent on your server's process load, and you're probably governed in such a way that wouldn't allow you to do so, anyway.

See you would think so but the fact is that I keep getting threats from my host provider that I'm using too much of their CPU/Processor and Memory resources and they have suspended the site in the past. As far as traffic goes you would be surprised, sure it is not at the level of facebook but even with the focus being limited at this point to Iowa and the area, it has high traffic days from time to time. Also the membership is not a bunch of "old guys who don't post here", the fact is that the age range is pretty broad as it is. With the expansion of the archive will only increase the traffic.

The thing is the last thing I want to do is mess with ads or a VSP. I would rather avoid it. At this point it is in the back of my head at best. I'm going to try to get by with what I have. Right now it's all about getting the thing more users friendly and cleaning up the navigation.

Find a new host. Discount web hosts are a dime-a-dozen, and there are plenty who will be able to accommodate your site.

Yeah I'm looking into it. My year is up in the spring. So get this thing the way I want to and then see if there is a better option. The host takes a good talk and I'm well within bandwidth and disk space but the whole CPU/memory throw me for a loop. They were cheap but what is the point of having the storage and bandwidth if you can't have large downloads or scripts? To be honest, I think they are a reseller.

[DaVo]

damn, davo! you know more about total passover than i do.

i think once the word gets out, you'll have plenty o' traffic. a lot of good history there.

Can't take credit. It's a combination of their web page(not sure if it is still up or not), those that have edited it over the last couple of years and added to it and my memory. I do love the footage from the last shows. I hope in the future that I'll be able to get some of the footage I have from the PA show on to youtube and on the site. There has to be 10 hours of footage just from 97.

By the way, I've only tested it on my laptop in firefox. How is it looking for everyone else?