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[shavethewhales]

I'm starting a new updates thread since the last one was so old and convoluted.

Been a lot more busy the past few weeks than I expected to be (as usual), what with a summer class I ended up needing to take, vacation, work, etc. However, things are settling down for a few weeks before I head back to uni again, so I'll be trying to force myself to get some major work done on the site again.

Tonight I'm throwing the final touches on the somewhat re-vamped user features and pulling them out of "beta". Tomorrow or the next day I'll finally open the HFEC wiki and get some pages started on DW and WW. Then over the course of the next few weeks I'll be adding and editing content and preparing yet another new site template that I hope to have installed before I start class in three weeks. I'm not re-writing much of the site's actual code this time, just changing the layout and graphics to make the site cleaner and to present all of our content better. I want something that shows off our features such as photo sharing and the wiki. Speaking of the wiki, I need to spend some time fixing that up as well.

If you have an itch to write some content or make some edits, let me know.

[Ozark Outlaw]

It's good to hear about the site updates.

This place just gets better, and better each day. With such a busy life, and school schedule you do an incredible job of keeping the wheels spinning.

The vast information on this website is incredible, and changing things up to highlight the features would really be a great help.

Keep up the good work!

[shavethewhales]

Got another couple of bugs fixed with the photo feature, but right now I'm having problems with handling large file sizes. If you try uploading a photo over about 2MB on any of the 'regular' forms the site ends up timing out even though I've set all our memory and script-run-time settings to very high levels. I'll probably have to re-write some of it again somehow...

I also fixed some of the pagination issues in the photo gallery section. You can now browse through pages of photos again.

Haven't gotten a chance to work on any new content yet, hope to get started in the next few days.

[Ozark Outlaw]

Sounds awesome shave, and thanks for the updates!

It’s good to hear of the many facets of progress. I look forward to more enhancements down the road.

[shavethewhales]

The photo sharing feature will be down for most of the rest of today as I'm re-building part of it.

The new design is coming along, albeit slowly. It'll definitely be much more open, faster, and easier to navigate. I don't know that I'll be able to get it done before I start class again though, so it might end up being a few weeks.

I still need to get started on the new content sections, but I just don't have the time at the moment.

[okiebluegrass]

You're doing a great job shave. Keep up the good work 

[thelarsonsix]

I'm sure it's a big job, but what's involved in creating a mobile compatible site? When reading the forums from my Blackberry I don't see pics, and most of the features don't work, I'm mainly only reading the text. It may be cockpit error as well, I know there's things it will do that I haven't the slightest idea how to use. I'm not asking you to do this, just thought you might know what's different about mobile sites. Thanks again for all you do.

[shavethewhales]

^Eventually I'll have to try to make a mobile version of the site, but it's not on my list yet. I don't have a smartphone myself yet, so I haven't even really looked into it much, but I know it will take a good bit of work.

There's not much I can do with the forums though, they run on a third party system that I thought worked with smartphones. Some of the photos from other sites that have been posted on here might not work because of something with the Blackberry system.

[shavethewhales]

Update -

I'm currently in the middle of the first semester of my third year as a Civil Engineering student, and to say I'm short on time these days would be a pretty big understatement. My classwork is taking until the early hours of the morning each night to get enough done, I'm heavily involved with two engineering groups on campus who are both busy with a lot of things right now, and I've been working on getting an internship for next summer.

So I'm not doing a lot with the site right now. I didn't have time to write an article when Wild Eagle was announced, I haven't had time to get the banners rotating again and to add new upcoming events, and the new pages I started over a month ago are still empty. Also the photo sharing feature is still pretty much a hot mess at the moment.

I hope to be able to put some more time into the again soon, but we'll have to see what happens as things go along. I'll try to get the home banner and events updated tomorrow, and maybe I can pick up where I left off with the photo feature and wiki pages by the weekend.

The updated layout I was working on probably won't happen until after Christmas.

[sanddunerider]

Shave,  Do what you can.....Take care of your personal responsibilities first::::

We know you have your hands full
We know your doing your best to update
We appreciate your effort
We like this site.   
We will use it as is, and enjoy it

And dont worry, if anybody complains, we will hog tie them to the front of the train, and let the Bolen brothers handle 'em!!!

THANK YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!             KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

[MissinTheGreenTrams]

you have done a great job! we all love the site regardless!!!

[DollarCityBoy]

Thanks for all your hard work! I like the site as it currently is, and am very happy.
Just don't get all 'facebook' on us with any major changes ok? haha 

[Ozark Outlaw]

You have already done the hard part of creating this website, and getting it going. Now, like a freshly planted seed, you can sit back, tend to other responsibilities, and let it grow on its own.

We don't need new fancy bells, and whistles to make this website great. Just having a place that we can all come together as a SDCFans.com family is more than enough.

[shavethewhales]

Been a long time since the last update, but as I said in the last update I was very busy all last semester and had to really fight for the last two months to save my GPA. I basically didn't sleep the last 3 weeks of school.

Anyway, now I have some free time again and I'm using at least some of it to work on the site. Today I've wrestling with the cleaned up layout I want to implement soon. I'm not a design guy, and vintage/grunge designs are probably the hardest to get right so this is a real challenge. However, I'm optimistic that when it gets done it will be much easier to actually see and use the range of features that are available on the main site. The old wiki, review, and photo features will be fixed up when the new layout moves live.

I'm also planning to work on the main site content again soon. I hope to update the ride pages and get some content in about the other HFEC properties including Dollywood.

Finally, I'm going to try to keep our news feed updated more often. I'll have some kind of year-in-review article up soon, and eventually I'll add a feature where users can send in links to SDC stories so I can put them up there.

[shavethewhales]

Got a couple of new stories written up on the main site. Working on getting some of the upcoming events for 2012 set up now. Hope to get the new home page design done tomorrow.