FIREFLYFANS.NET CENTRAL

How about a new fansite?

POSTED BY: HAKEN
UPDATED: Sunday, October 28, 2007 03:46
SHORT URL:
VIEWED: 11822
PAGE 1 of 1

Tuesday, October 2, 2007 10:00 PM

HAKEN

Likes to mess with stuffs.


This is kind of an open ended question. What features would you like to see in a new fansite? What feature should I complete first?


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 7:49 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.


This one isn't going away... right?


I love this place. The only way this design could be improved would be little things like having the names of who started the threads, and dividing the threads into pages to make loading easier. Other than that, I love the setup, and I don't consider those to be big issues. This site it my home


Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
A troll's hair is still pointy, even when it's wearing a hat.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 7:50 AM

JAKE7


This is a rather disconcerting question! Perhaps a little bit more info about what you mean?

I personally like the site as it is...

--------------
MAL: Everybody's makin' a fuss.
***********
"They just float out there, sending out raver breeding parties..."

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 7:54 AM

MAL4PREZ


I know there's been talk about making the BSR more searchable, like if the fics were sorted by subject and such that'd be awful nice.

I do love what we have Haken - I second the "keep this one" sentiment!

-----------------------------------------------
hmm-burble-blah, blah-blah-blah, take a left

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 7:57 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.


On the BSR, I'd like to see little thumbnails pop up of the fan art the way the quotes pop up for fic. Once your art falls off, people don't tend to find it unless they go to your profile.


Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
A troll's hair is still pointy, even when it's wearing a hat.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 8:26 AM

PDCHARLES

What happened? He see your face?


Quote:

Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
On the BSR, I'd like to see little thumbnails pop up of the fan art the way the quotes pop up for fic. Once your art falls off, people don't tend to find it unless they go to your profile.



Good idea, 'bout to mention that.

Also, I LOVE the black background. ...AND like the layout and simplicity of it now. I hate going to sites with tiny font and a thousand links/sections on the main page. Just the right amount now.

The things I see the most questions on over time are:

Avatars: There is a current solution to linking hosted images. Just peeps have to be pointed in the right direction. Not suggesting you host a billion images or anything.

Searching capability for entire site.

“View Visitors” link. Not sure of its original functionality. But, I can see cool stuff coming from that.

There was something mentioned a while back about a FanVid section. I do know YouTube is back on the infringement trail. Both of mine were just removed after survuing the initial hit.

Oh, and a caption game forum: J/K

Not sure if ur going for a backend re-vamp, if not, ignore this. It seems users with long usernames have trouble looking up certain items or the linkage to certain items is broken due to truncation. Guessing some "lookups" are done by string name and some by ID? (if it is an integrity nightmare changing it, I understand, more of heads up than anything)



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 8:31 AM

RIVERISMYGODDESS


Quote:

Originally posted by PhoenixRose:
dividing the threads into pages to make loading easier.


What the sexeh one said.

I love this place. :)



~jimi
Lt. Alexander - Chief Medic / XO Alpha Co. / Logistics Specialist - 76th IAB

-How we behave toward cats here below determines our status in heaven.
-It would be a waste of breath to tell a man who believes in guns that you've got something better.
-Kiss girls all you want to — it beats the hell out of card games.
-I've found out why people laugh. They laugh because it hurts so much… because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, October 3, 2007 8:44 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.


Quote:

Originally posted by pdcharles:
I LOVE the black background. ...AND like the layout and simplicity of it now. I hate going to sites with tiny font and a thousand links/sections on the main page. Just the right amount now.


Ditto. And I'll add that I like being able to get to any forum from any thread, and the 'since your last view' function is my favorite thing ever, and really the fluidity of the site is just awesome.
A search function would be good. There's been one made, I remember, it would just have to be linked/embedded.


Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
A troll's hair is still pointy, even when it's wearing a hat.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 6:15 AM

COSMICFUGITIVE


I wouldn't mind seeing a new selection of avatars as mentioned above. Plus, the ability to upload your own avatars using the same image upload function in the Blue Sun Room. It would cancel out the need to use href tags.

How about the ability to favourite thread topics or fan fic and fan art?

The site is fine as it stands though. It's easy to navigate. There are very little tweaks/improvements needed imho.

---

[IMG] [/IMG]

[IMG] [/IMG]

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 7:22 AM

SHINY


Give the mods more POWER!!! Buwahahahaha!!!

Actually, a couple things I've heard requested are an automated way to upload your own custom avatar, and preserving the original filenames when saving/downloading images from the BSR (instead of them all ending up as something like "0A6F1CA753EBA5B1A09779B757CD42C4.jpg"

And bring back the real-time browncoat visitor counter at the top! (unless it causes the site to crash again...then maybe don't) ;)

---

I don't need a gorram back-spaceship driver!!!

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 7:38 AM

PHOENIXROSE

You think you know--what's to come, what you are. You haven't even begun.


Quote:

Originally posted by CosmicFugitive:
I wouldn't mind seeing a new selection of avatars as mentioned above. Plus, the ability to upload your own avatars using the same image upload function in the Blue Sun Room. It would cancel out the need to use href tags.


I have no problem using tags and photobucket.


Human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.
A troll's hair is still pointy, even when it's wearing a hat.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 10:18 AM

FOLLOWMAL



Hi Haken, it's good to see you!

First off this boat is my home and as always I thank you for it. The site is awesome in oh so many ways just the way it is!

My only request would be what I have been requesting for awhile, and that would be a place to direct newbies so they can get greeted and oriented.

I'm excited to see what you're gonna do with the place!

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org


http://www.completehero.com


http://amazon.com/Serenity-Collectors-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B000Q9IZ5C

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 10:43 AM

WYTCHCROFT


again: love this site - don't wanna see it go!

agree with all the comments above - except... how do you tell a 'newbie' (wags finger) from a de-lurker??

also - um, the spooky clock on the home page -
that stopped a year ago...:)

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 11:36 AM

11THHOUR


Quote:

Originally posted by Haken:
This is kind of an open ended question. What features would you like to see in a new fansite? What feature should I complete first?



I'm just going to go ahead and assume that this is a question regarding an additional fansite, and not a replacement for this one.

Perhaps it could help the brainstorming process to first come up with the main goals of the site. There have been so many websites for the 'Verse, it'd be good to create one that had some different offerings than could be found on other sites.

11th Hour

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 12:25 PM

RAHLMACLAREN

"Damn yokels, can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns on it." - Jayne Cobb


I forth that, PhoenixRose!

Haken, this is the greatest Firefly/Serenity site in the 'Verse; the shiniest Browncoat beacon in the black. DO NOT CHANGE A THING! Okay, maybe some of the things stated above.

Never change the black background. It's perfect. It's simple non-flashy, fast to load(compared to other forum sites(especially noticable with dialup)), and is very easy on the eyes. Makes us feel like we're in the black.

The pages for threads idea was a good one.

Also, the poll on the home page should be changed sometimes. Maybe every month or so.

The Browncoat counter stopped a long time ago, when the site had some kind of server problem IIRC, and the number was erased. Since it was meant to count the Browncoats from when the site was first started, it might seem odd to start it in 2007(but, maybe better late than never).

And looking at that clock sometimes is kinda creepy.

--------------------------------------------------
Find here the Serenity you seek.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 12:48 PM

RIVERFLAN


DO NOT CHANGE THE BACKGROUND!!! Please! It's perfect.

Could we get some more emoticons? Like maybe a crying one, a laughing one, stuff like that?

I would say to let us favoritize threads so we don't have to upload them in our "favorites"

And I'll also add maybe to change the poll once a week, or have three at once for a month or so.

And to organize the Blue Sun Room a little more: like Pre-Serenity, Post-Serenity, and Pre-Firefly; Jaylee, Rayne, Silee; stuff like that.

And to maybe give the art their own section in the Blue Sun Room, so it doesn't get lost among the fanfic, and people who like art can find it more easily?

And you should work on first on whatever you feel like.

That's all I have to say; and sorry about bombarding you with requests.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My favorite quotes:



NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 1:04 PM

RAHLMACLAREN

"Damn yokels, can't even tell a transport ship ain't got no guns on it." - Jayne Cobb


Quote:

Originally posted by RiverFlan:
And I'll also add maybe to change the poll once a week, or have three at once for a month or so.



Ya know, it's been so long since I've even looked at the poll, that I had forgotten it's called WEEKLY POLL.

--------------------------------------------------
Find here the Serenity you seek.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 3:01 PM

WILLIAMJAMESW


I'd like to be able to sort views in the BSR according to number of views, rating, or possibly number of comments. There are many great stories and artwork in there that could be difficult to find if you didn't catch them when they were first posted.

Being able to subscribe to threads might be a good addition.

As far as the site design goes; it is great the way it is, loads quick, easy on the eyes.



I could stand to hear a little more.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 10:17 PM

HAKEN

Likes to mess with stuffs.


Quote:

Originally posted by 11thHour:
I'm just going to go ahead and assume that this is a question regarding an additional fansite, and not a replacement for this one.



You're right. This is a new website. I would like to take the idea of a community site like FFF.NET and expand it to cover series/movies that members of the FFF.NET community are interested in.

As an example, I really enjoyed season I of "Torchwood" and wished there was a place like FFF.NET to go to and discuss with others about the series, admire some fanart, and read a few fanfics.

I suppose I could build a "Torchwood" fansite, but I didn't want to put a lot of work into building a new site then see the series get axed soon after. We all know that sort of thing never happens, right? ;)

Perhaps the goal then is to build a site that's for the community rather than a series. Series come and series go, but the community remains. A fansite for fans rather than a fansite for a series.

What do you think?


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Thursday, October 4, 2007 10:52 PM

HAKEN

Likes to mess with stuffs.


Shiny, you'll like this.

Home of new site:

http://www.shinyuniverse.net


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, October 5, 2007 12:08 AM

11THHOUR


Quote:

Originally posted by Haken:
Shiny, you'll like this.

Home of new site:

http://www.shinyuniverse.net




Ooooooooo... you have my curiosity raised...

Want to see more... when?

And I like your concept of a site for fans, rather than just for a specific show. I'll be putting my thinking cap on and offer some ideas shortly.

11th

P.S.
LOVE that Cezanne font... I bought it too.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, October 5, 2007 1:39 AM

ECGORDON

There's no place I can be since I found Serenity.


I'm in, Haken. What you have done with FF.net is remarkable, and I can't help but assume your next endeavor will be as well. I spend more time here than I do at my own site, and now you have me waiting with bated breath. It's all shiny.

While Firefly is still my favorite series ever, I have been a fan of SF and Fantasy tv, movies and books for almost as long as I can remember. I watched the original Twilight Zone and Outer Limits when they first aired ( yes, I'm old, what of it? ), cut my teeth on Heinlein, Norton and Asimov, and love the tremendous flights of speculation from the great SF films. It'll be great having one location to congregate with like-minded fans.




wo men ren ran zai fei xing.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, October 5, 2007 6:20 AM

TPAGE


Quote:

Originally posted by mal4prez:
I know there's been talk about making the BSR more searchable, ...



Concerning searchability, a neat trick is just use Google. Type "site:fireflyfans.net" followed by a space and what you are searching for. Google then does the work for you. Mind you, it is not a perfect solution but it works.

--- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---

And if someday on some little piss-ant moon/My hand is a little too slow, or my aim a little bit off/At least I’ll go down fighting, not lying abed surrounded by quacks - "Sir Warrick" by Geezer

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, October 5, 2007 6:46 AM

FOLLOWMAL


Quote:

Originally posted by Haken:
Perhaps the goal then is to build a site that's for the community rather than a series. Series come and series go, but the community remains. A fansite for fans rather than a fansite for a series.

What do you think?



Sorry I missed that this is what you were talking about the first go round.
I think it's an excellent idea!

I've been a scifi fan since I was 8 and although Firefly is my favorite show, there are many others I love including Torchwood.

I expect the new site would become home rather quickly if my experience here at FFF.net is anything to go on.

Quote:

Originally posted by Haken:

Shiny, you'll like this.

Home of new site:

http://www.shinyuniverse.net



Well, all I can say is shiny!



http://www.kidsneedtoread.org


http://www.completehero.com


http://amazon.com/Serenity-Collectors-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B000Q9IZ5C

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Friday, October 5, 2007 9:07 AM

FOLLOWMAL



I guess the frequent outages here ( they're small and quick and then it's back! ) are you playing with the site, Haken?

Does this new fansite replace FFF.net, incorporate FFF.net or is it in addition to FFF.net? Sorry, my curiosity got me.



http://amazon.com/Serenity-Collectors-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B000Q9IZ5C

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 7:08 AM

COZEN


Quote:

Originally posted by FollowMal:
Does this new fansite replace FFF.net, incorporate FFF.net or is it in addition to FFF.net?



Ah, this is the question that cuts to the nub of the jist. To the heart of the matter, as it were.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 11:14 AM

FOLLOWMAL


Quote:

Originally posted by cozen:
Ah, this is the question that cuts to the nub of the jist. To the heart of the matter, as it were.



Yeah... I was almost afraid to ask it, but my curiosity got the best of my good sense.



http://www.kidsneedtoread.org


http://www.completehero.com


http://amazon.com/Serenity-Collectors-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B000Q9IZ5C

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 11:39 AM

NCBROWNCOAT


I like to know too if Shinyuniverse is a replacement for fff.net.

There are only a few tweaks I'd do here, pages with topics listed on the first page.

In the BSR, separate the art and fic and make the fic searchable by title and author.

http://fireflyfaninnc.livejournal.com/









NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 1:17 PM

BROWNCOAT2007


Ohhhhh YES!!! I'm most definately in the "keep this one" category... but I would love to see the BSR have a search or something

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 3:20 PM

11THHOUR


Quote:

Originally posted by cozen:
Quote:

Originally posted by FollowMal:
Does this new fansite replace FFF.net, incorporate FFF.net or is it in addition to FFF.net?



Ah, this is the question that cuts to the nub of the jist. To the heart of the matter, as it were.



This question has already been asked and answered by Haken upthread:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=5&t=30835#545864

This thread concerns a new, additional, fansite, and not a replacement. FFF.net lives on...

11th Hour

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 3:59 PM

SIGMANUNKI


Thread paging. Not only would this be not terribly difficult to implement, it'd save you a fair chunk of bandwidth costs and as such increase responsiveness of the site.

Implement a search. I did one a while back while was just a couple lines of HTML. But, even though response was... good, you still didn't do the copy paste. I handed it over to the News of the 'Verse people because experience told me that you wouldn't even respond to the request never-mind do it.

\begin{edit}
There is at least one critical security problem on this site you really really need to address. I've mentioned it elsewhere as well, but again no response. If you want problem and a solution, let me know.
\end{edit}

Fix the bugs that you have yet to address. I've sent a couple bug reports since I signed on here and not a peep from you. Hell, as far as I know, the comments on blogs still can't have 's, etc in them because what is shown is the raw img tag. What this says to me is that it's different code to generate the same content (bad programmer, bad ).

On the info page you say, "If you're interested in becoming a part of our team. Let me know." Yet, when I (and everyone else that's posted on this issue) has sent an offer, again, not a peep. If you're interested in getting help, respond. If you're not, then take that bit down. I would not (nor others I imagine) have a problem with a "no thanks", but silence is rather rude.

I'd also suggest using technologies that volunteers are more likely to know, and are actually stable such as PHP, Perl, Python, Apache, lighttpd, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc and unlike IIS, Access, etc. Btw, all the former runs on Windows as well. But again, Windows isn't exactly a low overhead OS not to mention rather insecure.

When I still had hope that you meant what you said about wanting help, and noticing the instability and performance problems here, I did think up a couple different ways to build a new back-end for the site. They are not of the "all or nothing" kind. Each one can be partially implemented and there is at least one idea that I hope that you'd consider.

But, I'm not going to spend my time posting it if you're not interested. If you are interested PM me and I'll post it. I say PM me, because I've turned off notifications when someone responds to me.

----
I am on The List. We are The Forsaken and we aim to burn!
"We don't fear the reaper"

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 4:50 PM

FOLLOWMAL


Quote:

Originally posted by 11thHour:
Quote:

Originally posted by cozen:
Quote:

Originally posted by FollowMal:
Does this new fansite replace FFF.net, incorporate FFF.net or is it in addition to FFF.net?



Ah, this is the question that cuts to the nub of the jist. To the heart of the matter, as it were.



This question has already been asked and answered by Haken upthread:

http://www.fireflyfans.net/thread.asp?b=5&t=30835#545864

This thread concerns a new, additional, fansite, and not a replacement. FFF.net lives on...

11th Hour



Thank you 11th Hour. I think I didn't read Haken's answer to you closely enough. I appreciate the clarification.

http://www.kidsneedtoread.org


http://www.completehero.com


http://amazon.com/Serenity-Collectors-Nathan-Fillion/dp/B000Q9IZ5C

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 7:05 PM

THATWEIRDGIRL


I'm interested.

It seems most of my nit-picks have been mentioned, but I'll think on it some more and see what I can come up with .

Oh! One I haven't seen much mention of is the need for more defined forums. Lots of us have started threads in the wrong area and bogged down that forum's readers. Failing this, more active moderators would be great. I know who they are and I know they're around, but most members don't know who to turn to when there's a conflict or misplaced post.

I think this is a great idea, Haken.

(I use Sigma's search)

---
Sometimes I lie awake at night, and I ask, "Where have I gone wrong?" Then a voice says to me, "This is going to take more than one night."
-- Charlie Brown

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 10:39 PM

HAKEN

Likes to mess with stuffs.


Originally posted by SigmaNunki:
Thread paging. Not only would this be not terribly difficult to implement, it'd save you a fair chunk of bandwidth costs and as such increase responsiveness of the site.

You're right. It's not that difficult. It's just a matter of finding the time and the urge to touch the ASP code again.

Implement a search.

I promise, I'll make the time to implement the Google Search.

There is at least one critical security problem on this site you really really need to address. I've mentioned it elsewhere as well, but again no response. If you want problem and a solution, let me know.

There's actually quite a few. Again, need to find time to work on it.

Fix the bugs that you have yet to address. I've sent a couple bug reports since I signed on here and not a peep from you. Hell, as far as I know, the comments on blogs still can't have 's, etc in them because what is shown is the raw img tag. What this says to me is that it's different code to generate the same content (bad programmer, bad ).

Ah, fixing the bugs. Here's my dilemma. Do I spend time patching old code for an old language or should I write new code in a current language? FFF.NET was built with MS ASP. I haven't written a single line of ASP code since .NET came out. All I program in now is C# and JavaScript for the AJAX stuff. FFF.NET 2.0 in .NET was on the drawing board for a long time, but in the end I just didn't have the time to work on it.

on the info page you say, "If you're interested in becoming a part of our team. Let me know." Yet, when I (and everyone else that's posted on this issue) has sent an offer, again, not a peep. If you're interested in getting help, respond. If you're not, then take that bit down. I would not (nor others I imagine) have a problem with a "no thanks", but silence is rather rude.

I apologize. I was not my intention ignore any of the offers. The "haken" mailbox is constantly being bombarded by loads of spam. A great many legitimate emails gets buried all the time in the my junk mail folder without me ever seeing them. I have responded in the past and there are mods on the site as well as a couple of other people that handles things on the back end when problem occurs. As you may have noticed, I'm not on here as often as I should, so these mods keep the site running smoothly.

I'd also suggest using technologies that volunteers are more likely to know, and are actually stable such as PHP, Perl, Python, Apache, lighttpd, MySQL, PostgreSQL, etc and unlike IIS, Access, etc. Btw, all the former runs on Windows as well. But again, Windows isn't exactly a low overhead OS not to mention rather insecure.

FFF.NET could have been built on LAMP, but since I had access to a MS-SQL server and it was superior to MySQL at the time, I just sort of went the M$ way.

When I still had hope that you meant what you said about wanting help, and noticing the instability and performance problems here, I did think up a couple different ways to build a new back-end for the site. They are not of the "all or nothing" kind. Each one can be partially implemented and there is at least one idea that I hope that you'd consider.

But, I'm not going to spend my time posting it if you're not interested. If you are interested PM me and I'll post it. I say PM me, because I've turned off notifications when someone responds to me.


It's not that I'm not interested. I always like talking shop whenever I have the time, but whenever this stuff comes with FFF.NET, I always ask myself whether it's worth the effort to keep writing new code in a language that's no longer being used for development. Not to mention for a website that lost its reason for being in existence in the first place--Firefly. Therefore, answer always come up "maybe, but not right now."

FFF.NET was built in a relatively short period of time from scratch. It's buggy, it's quirky in places, but it runs. So well, in fact, that it's still running after all these years with very little changes to the original code that was written in another era--we're now all about CSS, AJAX, Web 2.0, etc.. Bringing FFF.NET up to date would require some changes to the database, which I'm reluctant to do because of the possible chaos that would ensue when things get messed up and stops working. FYI, FFF.NET does not have a business layer.

Anyway, rather than spending my efforts in bringing an old site up to date, I thought that perhaps I can build a new site that'll eventually bring FFF.NET's content into its fold. Hence, ShinyUniverse.

As I have said before, ShinyUniverse isn't for Firefly or Serenity. ShinyUniverse is for the FFF.NET community (which I am a part of) and what that community is interested in.

As an example, I like Torchwood, Journeyman, Bleach, Naruto Shippuden, Halo 3, skateboarding, carpentry, etc., but I don't want to go to ten different sites to talk about all that stuff. Why would I? There's a community right here on FFF.NET that might share some of the same interests I have. Unfortunately, because of many of FFF.NET's shortcomings, the site can't handle a larger scope.

My hope is that ShinyUnviverse can support a wider range of topics and is able to incorporate many of the Web 2.0 technologies out there like Flickr, YouTube, Twitter, and anything Google that we all use while at the same time provide our own API for members to use with their own site or software.

At least that's the dream.

In the meantime, I promise I'll at least fix some of the problems with FFF.NET.

All good?

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 6, 2007 11:13 PM

DESKTOPHIPPIE


Hey, any site that lets me yap on about Buffy, Angel, Heroes, Comics etc along with my Firefly obsession is fine by me

Best of luck developing the new site.




Even the littlest Joss chicks are absolutely kickass
Banners, Avatars, LJ Icons and other fun stuff at www.desktophippie.com

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, October 7, 2007 3:44 PM

MISSTRESSAHARA


So, as I understand this correctly, this new site will be a template in which FFF.net will eventually, slowly, be integrated into? Or that is it will eventually replace FFF.net, but slowly as you add things from this site onto the new one and eventually getting rid of FFF.net altogether, since everything here will be there? Or am I getting my signals crossed?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~Peter*Peter*Power>~re-peater~



HEROES IS MY CRACK!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, October 7, 2007 4:38 PM

FIREFLYPASSENGER


ETA: I have now read the whole thread. Great idea.

This one works great and we love it.

Being able to search for threads or art or fic would be great.

Otherwise I love it as is. Thank you Haken for all your hard work.

Now if you are talking in general as a fan site for some other fans then communication is key.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, October 7, 2007 7:40 PM

FIREFLYPASSENGER


Quote:


Perhaps the goal then is to build a site that's for the community rather than a series. Series come and series go, but the community remains. A fansite for fans rather than a fansite for a series.

What do you think?




Ooooo that is a very shiny idea. You are so smart, good thinking. I love Torchwood btw.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, October 7, 2007 7:44 PM

FIREFLYPASSENGER


Ooooo perfect. Great name.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, October 7, 2007 9:41 PM

HAKEN

Likes to mess with stuffs.


Quote:

Originally posted by Misstressahara:
So, as I understand this correctly, this new site will be a template in which FFF.net will eventually, slowly, be integrated into? Or that is it will eventually replace FFF.net, but slowly as you add things from this site onto the new one and eventually getting rid of FFF.net altogether, since everything here will be there? Or am I getting my signals crossed?



Not exactly. FFF.NET and ShinyUniverse will remain separate entities. However, ShinyUniverse will have access to FFF.NET BSR's contents.

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 20, 2007 8:45 AM

WYTCHCROFT


and how's it coming along haken???

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 20, 2007 10:51 AM

MYCROFT2


I think ShinyUniverse sounds like a great idea, Haken.

One of the primary things the new site needs is the ability to delegate.

Fireflyfans.net is an excellent template for having different content areas. (e.g. news items, message board, blue sun room, etc.)

In terms of specific features, a "All time greatest fan art or fan fic" would be good. So would a search feature.


NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 20, 2007 6:07 PM

DEEPLYKIDDING


Love the idea, Haken. And also love FFF.net!

I'm with most everyone above on their suggestions (as well as the things they like & want to keep).

I especially would love to see a searchable or sortable BSR to make things easier to find. Also, allowing the author to indicate if a story is complete. It is so frustrating to invest time in a story, and also really be enjoying it, only to have the author abandon it before the end.

Another feature that I would appreciate is if the message boards included a path or link of its location within each message. Sometimes when I read messages I go through them so quickly I am not sure which category I am in, and cannot find it easily later on. As an example, check out the boards at www.mnfirefly.com. The path is hyperlinked near the top to the category header and to the main menu. nice feature.

Otherwise, great job on FFF.net & good luck w/the new site! Looking forward to it!

I'd rather be a smartass than a dumbass...

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Saturday, October 20, 2007 7:10 PM

MACBAKER


I like the idea of a general genre' fan site, but I also think a Torchwood site designed similar to this one would be great too. The UK sites aren't that good!

It looks like Torchwood will get at least one more season, but we all know BBC programing is more iffy from season to season (or "series" to "series" as they call their seasons), so why not include all of the Doctor Who universe's series, in one fansite?

Currently, there are three Doctor Who based shows:
1. Doctor Who. (obviously)
2. Torchwood. A more adult oriented show, with an X-files feel.
3. The Sarah Jane Adventures. A show for a younger audience, with former Doctor Who companion (and fan favorite) Sarah Jane, and her "tween" age sidekicks. One, an alien posing as her son, and the other, (literally) the girl next door.

There is also an animated series, based on Doctor Who's robotic pet, K-9, in the works.

Seems like Russel T. Davies is Great Britian's version of Joss! Was that sacrilege to say that?

I'd given some thought to movin' off the edge -- not an ideal location -- thinkin' a place in the middle.

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, October 21, 2007 8:41 AM

FREELANCERTEX


I agree with the first few posters (didn't read everyone's post, very long thread). I like this site as is :-\ just gettin' used to this place.

__________________________
Have you ever wondered why in a dream you can touch a falling sky?
Or fly to the heavens that watch over you?

"I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I soar."

A man is least himself when he speaks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will show you his true self.

You can't take the sky from me...

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Wednesday, October 24, 2007 1:19 PM

STEAMER


The only thing I'd like to see is longer post history. Right now it's limited to a user's what, last 7 or 8 posts? Be nice if that could be extended a bit. Might help to cut down on repetitive threads and make the server's life easier.

Haken, I'm sure this has already occurred to you, but - how about moving Buffyverse, Angelus Arcanum and Other Science Fiction Series over to SU? Just a thought.





When River has
Some lousy days
Simon needs his
Secret phrase
FIREFLY

Captain of the New England Browncoats

NOTIFY: Y   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

Sunday, October 28, 2007 3:46 AM

LEADB


Suggestion: Find a way to limit the net size of signature blocks. Something sane, like 600 x 400 'netted out'; or some other block size sanity check. It is real distracting to see a one line comment with a page and a half siggy following it.

Also it would be nice to be able to post tables without the forum 'compressing' spaces and using a mono-space format. Often sites use
[code] [/code] but [table] [/table] works for me (other than folks might think you mean 'real table'). I just want something that respects spaces, tabs and uses a mono-space font.

====
Please vote for Firefly hourly: http://richlabonte.net/tvvote/index.html

Consider $5/year to support FFF: http://s1.amazon.com/exec/varzea/pay/T39WWCGS4JYCV4

NOTIFY: N   |  REPLY  |  REPLY WITH QUOTE  |  TOP  |  HOME  

YOUR OPTIONS

NEW POSTS TODAY

USERPOST DATE

OTHER TOPICS

DISCUSSIONS
Flaw in the poll for President on home page here.
Tue, November 5, 2024 04:26 - 4 posts
Made in Taiwan
Wed, September 18, 2024 04:03 - 18 posts
Pallette of fonts?
Thu, April 21, 2022 22:56 - 2 posts
Getting thrown off whenever I try to post
Sat, December 18, 2021 14:58 - 10 posts
Shiny Universe Updates on Twitter
Thu, September 2, 2021 13:07 - 8 posts
PIRATENEWS Why?
Sun, January 14, 2018 01:57 - 63 posts
Site back up
Tue, September 5, 2017 23:04 - 1 posts
Site just got back up.
Thu, June 15, 2017 18:39 - 3 posts
malware threat here?
Mon, March 21, 2016 13:09 - 11 posts
Is anyone else having trouble updating their sigantures?
Mon, November 16, 2015 01:12 - 16 posts
Time for new software.
Fri, June 26, 2015 10:04 - 5 posts
Missing link
Thu, February 6, 2014 12:53 - 2 posts

FFF.NET SOCIAL