THE FUTURE OF RAVETALK

[PaulX]

(Edit: the most critical parts of updating have been done, most of the cosmetic stuff and remaining bells and whistles are being done bit by bit - this thread is now about the plans for the future of the site)

Just giving a little advance warning that I'll be updating the board software today.

I aim to keep the downtime as short as possible, although I'm likely to do things in stages. I'll deactivate the board before doing the backups, so it's safe to post before then without the risk of your post being lost. I will then do the updates and come back online with a standard version of the board without any of the bells and whistles that make it Ravetalk. I'll add those later on - hopefully today but it may drag on over the week if I don't finish it today.

Keep an eye on the home page for announcements if the board disappears completely (i.e. 404 messages etc).


PLUS A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT THE FUTURE OF RAVETALK...

Once everything is done and broken bits are finished, djdoublezero will join us as a technical admin and start working with me on some really cool stuff for the whole website. I'm having a radical rethink of the entire website - nothing is ruled in or out at the moment but there's a few themes that I'm looking at:

Technology - increased 'interconnectedness', both within the website and externally (e.g. being able to log in from Facebook, posting "likes" etc)
Structure - let's face it, all those forums and subforums are a labyrinth at the moment. It really needs a complete rethink and some input from you regulars will be appreciated.
Music Policy - I want to broaden this to more accurately reflect the term "rave". Jungle and gabber are very much part of the modern rave scene but there is more to "rave" than that. What I'm really aiming for with this site is the attitude of James's closing party at this year's BFW - a fantastic mash-up of the old and new, very inclusive with the emphasis on having fun rather than genre snobbery and being 'too cool for school'.

[PaulX]

OK, that's Phase One sorted! Will now have a celebratory Brothers Strawberry Pear Cider.

Most of what has been done so far is bug fixes, security updates and other under-the-bonnet stuff. Trust me, these things were long overdue!

Please report any missing avatars or other weird stuff going on. I know the masthead, menu bar and various bits and pieces are missing. At the moment, you are viewing an almost bog standard phpBB installation and all the various Ravetalk bells and whistles are currently being restored bit by bit. By the way, please note that by popular demand we now have a QUICK REPLY button!

I should be able to do most of the rest of the work while keeping the board 'live', so please feel free to post your thoughts on THE FUTURE OF RAVETALK, as mentioned above.


EDIT: Calling it a night now, the cosmetic stuff will have to wait. The priority was to leave you all with a fully functional board, which has been done.

[Dave Skywalker]

This is all looking meatily epic, I have to say. Nice one man!!

[PaulX]

This is all looking meatily epic, I have to say. Nice one man!!

Thanks, Dave.

I definitely won't have time to do the cosmetic stuff tonight as I've just got in and I have another early start in the morning. Same is likely for the following day but I'm sure people will cope. At least nothing major is broken, as far as I can see.

[SoloStrike]

Cheers for putting the effort in. A lot of this stuff doesn't sound very glamourous, but we all apprieciate it

[BassBin Terrorizer]

have you made the page file sizes smaller? because it's loading up proper fast on my phones internet

[PaulX]

have you made the page file sizes smaller? because it's loading up proper fast on my phones internet

I've noticed that things are snappier, although I think it's a combination of factors:

There's a fair amount of fresh, optimised code in the new php pages to start with.
I've cut down on a few things that were increasing server load.
I've reduced the number of posts per page from 25 to 10.
I think our hosting company may possibly have done something to speed up the server as well.

I'll be having another early night tonight, so the cosmetic changes (and the "latest posts" box) will have to wait for now. Thanks for your patience on this, everyone. Remember you can use the View active topics link near the top of the index page in the meantime.

Oh, I've also fixed the bug where people kept being redirected to the index page when they logged in. You should now be returned to where you started when you logged in.

Some input on the following would be appreciated:

PLUS A FEW IMPORTANT NOTES ABOUT THE FUTURE OF RAVETALK...

Once everything is done and broken bits are finished, djdoublezero will join us as a technical admin and start working with me on some really cool stuff for the whole website. I'm having a radical rethink of the entire website - nothing is ruled in or out at the moment but there's a few themes that I'm looking at:

Technology - increased 'interconnectedness', both within the website and externally (e.g. being able to log in from Facebook, posting "likes" etc)
Structure - let's face it, all those forums and subforums are a labyrinth at the moment. It really needs a complete rethink and some input from you regulars will be appreciated.
Music Policy - I want to broaden this to more accurately reflect the term "rave". Jungle and gabber are very much part of the modern rave scene but there is more to "rave" than that. What I'm really aiming for with this site is the attitude of James's closing party at this year's BFW - a fantastic mash-up of the old and new, very inclusive with the emphasis on having fun rather than genre snobbery and being 'too cool for school'.

[PaulX]

OK, Ravetalk as you knew and loved it is pretty much back now. There's still a few minor tweaks to go but it's pretty much done.

From now on, Fraser (djdoublezero) and I will be collaborating on the next version of Ravetalk. Expect lots of cool stuff soon.

As I said in the post above, your input on the future of Ravetalk would be appreciated.

[djdoublezero]

Hello

Fraz aka double-zero

[Calla]

Music Policy - I want to broaden this to more accurately reflect the term "rave". Jungle and gabber are very much part of the modern rave scene but there is more to "rave" than that. What I'm really aiming for with this site is the attitude of James's closing party at this year's BFW - a fantastic mash-up of the old and new, very inclusive with the emphasis on having fun rather than genre snobbery and being 'too cool for school'.

Or perhaps a bit of Scottish Clubland:

Video from : www.youtube.com