So, just a heads up for you folks that are die hard mech monkeys like the rest of us here at MechSpecs, Over the coming weeks we have some website changes coming. We are looking at hiring a professional designer to develop a whole new layout for MechSpecs.com; a professional clean one with proper branding and style! It would allow us to have a lot of the site functions that the MWO site does including things like rotating featurettes and articles and blah blah blah. After that is done I will need to find a professional developer to take the design the designer made and implement it lol This will cost around a couple hundred dollars. So, if you want to see changes like this happen then please feel free to donate. I have thus far kept this website free of paid membership stuff and free of advertisements in an attempt to provide a "a site FOR fans BY fans". Many of you have stepped up and donated a little here or there, or a lot in one or two cases, and that has kept the site going! Which is awesome! Thank you very much! I donate my time but you guys donate your hard earned cash and in today's economy I know what that means! Is there good news? Of course there is! Have I ever let you down yet? MechSpecs.com was renewed for another year so our host and bandwidth and all that are all taken care of. Yay! What does a new site mean in terms of the forums and login etc? Right now? Nothing. I may be able to keep the existing forums running the way they are; complete with all the posts, plugins and logins etc. HOWEVER if I do opt to switch to SMF (a free program very similar to what we are using now) I can import the data via a import tool so nothing will be lost. Also, I learned from the last database crash we had. I backup the database regularly! Even if shit goes south I have a complete backup as of Friday evening. What about the front-end site platform? What will that be like? Most likely a Wordpress system. I have used WordPress before on other non-commercial projects and it is very easy to use and has some great display options that things like this forum and it's CMS don't provide. The trick will be integrating WordPress with the forum software we use now so that the logins are the same and all that. It's called a bridge. Tricky stuff but not impossible. Basically it will provide a graphical interface to what is otherwise meat and potatoes right now. You will have flashy stuff like rotating featured article banners, links to everything you could think of with our partnered sites and our social meta (MechSpecsTV, Facebook, Twitter, blah blah blah). What made you decide to make these changes? The forums are easy peasy and simple? Simply put? I got a look at the NGNG redesign and I'm quite envious. Not to mention I believe that MechSpecs is capable of doing so much more for this MWO-centric community that likes to min/max and pimp their rides. As an example, I recently did a video for MechSpecsTV that showcased how Artemis works and showed the practical applications for SRMs, what ranges were optimal etc. etc. etc. I believe more articles on things like that would benefit the community and allow you guys to use your creative juices to make even BETTER killing machines on the field! Also, rumor has it that PGI is working on an API system for MechLab/MechBuild stuff. I don't know any details about this project, or whether it is still on the drawing board or not, and I felt that making MechSpecs the best home for something like that as possible would allow a centralized location for people, for ALL people, to come and post and discuss etc. The simple clean spartan look isn't for everyone so it's time to kick it up a notch; BAM! How can I help? If you are serious about helping; I am now looking around for more people who are die hard fans, have the time and ability to help out around here; whether it be Moderator duties or content creation etc. etc. Currently it is just Tuku and I and he keeps an eye on the forums (and is converting all the old build sheets to Smurfy style) and I work on content creation, conversions, website redesigns, community questions via PM, and a bagillion other things! I think that pretty much covers stuff! If you have questions? Fire away!
I really hope that the changes won't make it impossible for me to use this site from work....if so, oh well.:sad: In the long run though, I am all for change and a growing community. I love the Spartan Look we have right now but I don't think I'm the norm. People will love a flashier style, cool images and links to other cool sites. If you need any help I am available for at least a couple of hours every day; often eight hours per day from work...so long as connection issues don't arise. Maybe if we step up and help, you'll have time to do some drops with Zero, the other fella's and I. Mythweaver.
All these changes look good Michael but this is a hobby!!!!! You shouldn't be spending money on something that doesn't really make you any money. At least not THAT much! Still, it would look amazing!!! Sniper are you offering your companies services to try and bill Michael or are you saying "Hey, we can hook you up and add to our porfolio"
This morning we just crossed the 50% mark of our goal for the designer. Good job to those that are participating! It's appreciated.
We have secured a site designer and an artist. The project will over run original estimates by $100.00 (logo redesign cost) but that's negligible and actually a good deal. Plus folks have donated and we are roughly 50% of the way to our goal! We are just waiting on a PHP developer to help us put it all together. We are in talks with one of our very own members for that so stay tuned. Don't wait. Donate today.
