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Pyro Pete · 21st July 2009, 5:38 PM

Right after my annual whinge I am now crawling back out of my hole and blowing the dust off the PC.

First a quick update on what's been done since last year when the last site updates (some reviews) were done. I thought it worth posting this so people don't wrongly assume nothing has happened since 2008!

A new server has been sourced to host the "free UKFR". I have been through a couple of site redesigns in early 2009 and dropped them all because they look nice but are not useable and am going back to a simple, basic design. This will also help reduce bandwidth, speed loading and keep it all quick, but won't win any design awards or make you go wow. I'll be dropping the hard to read, headache inducing white text on black background and going to traditional black text on white.

I have almost finished copying the whole Features section over, that took some months as it is very big. It also needed some links repaired, missing video uploaded and finally all the old multipart ZIP files have been turned back into single video clips. (note, you cannot yet access any of this, as it is on a new server and not yet "open"). I still have one single feature left to move and then need to do some code that only allows video downloads for UK users as this is a good way of reducing costs and making sure content is accessed by those it is relevant too.

I don't really want to wait anymore until the whole site has been done before making it available because at this rate it will take years, so my new plan is to finish off the Features, then transplant the reviews over almost "as is" (ie. new layout and design but none of the planned new features like user uploads). Finally, the forum will move and then the free to access UKFR will be on-line based on the forum, features and review sections. I will link back to the old UKFR for the other stuff like safety guides, until they are completed.

As stated in another post I "hit the wall" with the site in the last few months but having had a long head scratch and ponder, no matter how I feel about the site I want to finish what I have started, ie. making UKFR free to access, and updated. It would be such a waste of time and money if I don't see it through.

I have in mind to make the forum the core part of the site (it already is really, but not pushed as such) and then decide on what to do about reviews at a later date. Most likely I will look to give someone else the lovely job of reviewing, or do so in partnership with someone (ie. they do all the work).

As much as I would like to, I cannot give any idea of timescales yet as I am not quite up to speed yet. I also don't really know how long the review section will take to move, as it has 1000+ html pages and tens of thousands of images scattered all over the site.

Couple of minor forum tweaks, for example I have moved St George 2008 to "old events".

On another note, during my break from UKFR I travelled the net frequenting some diverse forums from cars to beer making. It was interesting to see how many big sites are almost "just" a forum. Also how many do seem to have cliques, fights, quiet spells and an alarming number of established members "resigning" due to conflicts with other members. So it's encouraging to know that in the great scheme of things the UKFR forum seems quite normal.

21st July 2009, 5:38 PM	#1 (permalink)
Pyro Pete UKFR Editor Join Date: Jan 1999 Location: Ipswich, UK Posts: 7,619	Latest news Right after my annual whinge I am now crawling back out of my hole and blowing the dust off the PC. First a quick update on what's been done since last year when the last site updates (some reviews) were done. I thought it worth posting this so people don't wrongly assume nothing has happened since 2008! A new server has been sourced to host the "free UKFR". I have been through a couple of site redesigns in early 2009 and dropped them all because they look nice but are not useable and am going back to a simple, basic design. This will also help reduce bandwidth, speed loading and keep it all quick, but won't win any design awards or make you go wow. I'll be dropping the hard to read, headache inducing white text on black background and going to traditional black text on white. I have almost finished copying the whole Features section over, that took some months as it is very big. It also needed some links repaired, missing video uploaded and finally all the old multipart ZIP files have been turned back into single video clips. (note, you cannot yet access any of this, as it is on a new server and not yet "open"). I still have one single feature left to move and then need to do some code that only allows video downloads for UK users as this is a good way of reducing costs and making sure content is accessed by those it is relevant too. I don't really want to wait anymore until the whole site has been done before making it available because at this rate it will take years, so my new plan is to finish off the Features, then transplant the reviews over almost "as is" (ie. new layout and design but none of the planned new features like user uploads). Finally, the forum will move and then the free to access UKFR will be on-line based on the forum, features and review sections. I will link back to the old UKFR for the other stuff like safety guides, until they are completed. As stated in another post I "hit the wall" with the site in the last few months but having had a long head scratch and ponder, no matter how I feel about the site I want to finish what I have started, ie. making UKFR free to access, and updated. It would be such a waste of time and money if I don't see it through. I have in mind to make the forum the core part of the site (it already is really, but not pushed as such) and then decide on what to do about reviews at a later date. Most likely I will look to give someone else the lovely job of reviewing, or do so in partnership with someone (ie. they do all the work). As much as I would like to, I cannot give any idea of timescales yet as I am not quite up to speed yet. I also don't really know how long the review section will take to move, as it has 1000+ html pages and tens of thousands of images scattered all over the site. Couple of minor forum tweaks, for example I have moved St George 2008 to "old events". On another note, during my break from UKFR I travelled the net frequenting some diverse forums from cars to beer making. It was interesting to see how many big sites are almost "just" a forum. Also how many do seem to have cliques, fights, quiet spells and an alarming number of established members "resigning" due to conflicts with other members. So it's encouraging to know that in the great scheme of things the UKFR forum seems quite normal.