down time

[Administrator]

Everything crashed this morning. There was some corruption in the "who's chatting" table it seems. I will attempt to clear that up this weekend... until then, the "who's chatting" functionality is disabled.

We are also implementing some appearance changes that might cause me to shut the site down for a (hopefully) short time this weekend.

[Administrator]

We are also implementing some appearance changes that might cause me to shut the site down for a (hopefully) short time this weekend.

State of the Station Address :pimp:

Ok whoever's been on in the past hour or two... you probably noticed the site changes I have been hinting about... This was in the works for a week or so, and an idea I had been kicking around for months... that is having live updated NHL standings on the site... These standings will be updated automatically each morning in the vicinity of 9 AM US Eastern Time. I hope you enjoy it. It's available in a condensed version on the home page... and a full verision in the top right of the nav bar.

The home page verison addresses several requests/suggestions that I have received on a fairly regular basis from really the beginning... that the team-by-team section is too long, it makes the home page too long, and teams were not grouped by division. A lot of people didn't like that. And I wasn't crazy about it either, but didn't come to what I felt was an acceptable solution until now (seeking input from the mod team as well).

This "standings view" solves all of that, it's nice and compact, groups by conference and division, and even gives you standings and scoring stats as an added bonus... each day the teams will appear in order of their updated standings. But even if you don't like it, you can still switch back to "normal view" which will be the same...(except I re-named the Anaheim forum and moved it to the top. If it confused Max Power... then it obviously confuses even the sharpest of minds. :) Problem solved)

There are a few more "fine tuning" improvements on this that I'd like to pursue.

1) in "standings view" - show the "Last Post" info (as shown in the normal view's "Last Post" column) by mousing over the team link. I'd also like to indicate if there are new posts somehow. I think a bit of tinkering can do the trick.

2) Obviously the forum and category order has been switched up noticably, to get the NHL stuff up to the top. This IMO is not a huge issue because forum categories are collaspible (negating the need to scroll very far). Howver I realize that some people may wish to order the categories to their own preference... therefor I will look into a custom preference hack that allows members to control this on their own.

Definitely no guarantees on the 2 above points... but I'd like to implement them if it's easy enough to do.

Lastly, In discussion with the mods and some members, I realize I have been so caught up in the details of this site that I have done very little in terms of site promotion. So after I complete the latest round of tinkering (which includes a few other items not mentioned here) I plan on shifting my energies to site promotion in the coming months.

That's it, if you have any suggestions, Please send a PM to Mel (http://www.hockeystation.com/private.php?do=newpm&u=2) He's online much more often than I am. :)

[Madferret]

Looks fantastic Mel, nice idea / touch with the standings!

[KB in Kelowna]

I like these changes, just adds so much to the site, and draws peope to thier team and hockey talk.

[slapshot™]

These new changes...

What a scream.....lookin' good!

http://www.wordfiles.info/Scream-thumbs-up-lg.gif

[scorpionn]

Wow!

All I can say is I love this new theme... its awesome.

The only downside is that you don't know if there are any new posts in the team forums.

[BURY]

I love the new appearance. Blue's much better than red :)

[Mel]

Wow!

All I can say is I love this new theme... its awesome.

The only downside is that you don't know if there are any new posts in the team forums.

Thanks, I see the downside of that too. I'm going to try and fix that in soon. :)

I love the new appearance. Blue's much better than red
I did change the default view to blue... however you could always choose your own skin any time from the drop down menu at the bottom left of every page. (or in your profile).

@ all the other comments, thanks a lot! I'm glad you like it. My main focus for the next few weeks (month?) is going to be keep improving the actual site... and then after that I'm going to give that a rest and concentrate on promoting the site (which I have admitedly neglected).

Again feedback is welcome, I probably can't do everything everyone wants.. but I'll always listen.

[MadDevil]

I like the new setup, especially with the standings integrated into the forums. It would be nice to see when the last post in that forum was, but I see you're already working on that. Overall, good job rearranging things though.:thumb:

[Max Power]

Site changes are great Mel
I do have a few questions
Is it easy to add for example the GP column in the team forums section or is this a static template you?re working from?
Unless I'm blind how can you tell when a new thread has been posted in one of the team forums from the outside?

[Mel]

Site changes are great Mel
I do have a few questions
Thank you :)
Is it easy to add for example the GP column in the team forums section or is this a static template you?re working from?
Yes it's easy... no template, this is all custom code populated by live data. However, space is limited. The problem is the page needs to be readable at 800x600 resolution... so we're pretty much maxed out (no pun intended) on the home page columns. It might appear there's plenty of room if you have a larger resolution, but I have to consider those who don't - I'd prefer the page still looks OK to them as well.
Unless I'm blind how can you tell when a new thread has been posted in one of the team forums from the outside?
Nope you're not blind, I am going to work on this. Hopefully soon, I'll enhance the standings view to be a little more informative regarding recent activity. Not sure if I can make it as good as the normal view, but it will still be better than it is now.

[a4l]

Looks good. I like the standings view of the teams. I didn't notice the colour change as my default has been blue for a long time.

[THE HACK]

The site looks FANTASTIC!!!:)

This must have taken alot of time so good work,I love it!

Cheers

[PDO]

Hack took the words out of my mouth; stellar job (once again) Mel.

[Canadian26]

It looks good. But is there anyway to stop it from automtically going into standings view on its own? The site gets spreads out like wider on my computer, everytime it goes into standings view.

[Mel]

It looks good. But is there anyway to stop it from automtically going into standings view on its own? The site gets spreads out like wider on my computer, everytime it goes into standings view.

If you accept cookies, then just click on "normal view" and that's what you'll always get. If you don't accept cookies... then I'm afraid there's no way at this time for the site to remember your preference.

C26, If you have the time, please PM me with your details... browser, version, text size (if not default), screen resolution... and even most helpful would be a screen shot of the "site spread out wider" that you don't like. Maybe there's something I can do to fix it... but I need more details about the problem first.

To the rest, thank you, I'm glad you like it. Standings view is going to be improved I guarantee... but it may take a little while, depending on how much free time I have.

[Rusty]

I love it!

As has been mentioned the only thing I miss is the change of the font to bold when a sub forum has activity in it.

[capebretoncanadien]

nice job margarine clot

[Administrator]

ok that seems to have gone smoothly...

Now icons indicate if there are new posts in each forum in standings view.

The latest post info can be seen by putting your mouse pointer over the link to the forum.

- note: there seems to be an issue with the silver skin stretching too wide... I will try to solve that, in the mean time... if that's a problem use a different skin or stick to normal view - Mel

[KB in Kelowna]

The latest post info can be seen by putting your mouse pointer over the link to the forum.



neat trick Margerine Man :thumb:

[Administrator]

Taking away the silver skin till I can figure out what the problem is. It will be back.

[slapshot™]

I plan on shifting my energies to site promotion in the coming months.

http://www.fotosearch.com/comp/PHD/PHD589/AA034614.jpg

Running on empty?

A Google search for hockey forum or hockey discussion accomplishes nothing as far as finding hockey station dot com. Where's this influx of new posters I've been hearing all about?

[Mel]

Since you asked, Earlier this month I received a major and unexpected promotion at my job, and as a result I've had virtually no time to devote to this site, or many other aspects of my life.

So yes, you could say I'm running on empty these days. But I do the best I can.

If that's not good enough for you slappy - then I recommend you click on whatever comes up in google, and go there instead of here.

[Newfie John]

Don't worry about it. I'd call you an idiot if you did otherwise Mel. It just harder for some people to appreciate how hard this work can be to get done, and annoying. I've had my own site before, never again. The fact that you're paying for this makes me frown more upon people who go to websites and leach off of it, and then complain.

Excuse the rant.

[a4l]

Congratulations Mel. Is there a way that other members can help to promote this site? Some of us are willing to help in any way we can.

[slapshot™]

Since you asked, Earlier this month I received a major and unexpected promotion at my job, and as a result I've had virtually no time to devote to this site, or many other aspects of my life.

So yes, you could say I'm running on empty these days. But I do the best I can.

Congrats and understandable

If that's not good enough for you slappy - then I recommend you click on whatever comes up in google, and go there instead of here.

I never indicated that your efforts weren't making the grade. What do you want - a gold star? I think someone needs to relax. Comments like yours sure don't make anyone want to stick around here.

BTW, don't bother removing this post - this is the FEEDBACK section - and feedback you have.

Have a good day.

[Newfie John]

Congratulations Mel. Is there a way that other members can help to promote this site? Some of us are willing to help in any way we can.

There's an idea, and feedback worth noting. Any help I can lend Mel, no problem.

[Mel]

There's an idea, and feedback worth noting. Any help I can lend Mel, no problem.
Thanks John, a4l and everyone else for your support. :)

I think the mod team is going to brainstorm on how to give a kick to the new member registration and get more quality members posting here... and hopefully some current willing members can help out, once we get a plan in place.

I'm sorry but I simply haven't had any free time lately to even mod this place, let alone promote it. I kindly thank KB, PDO and Tea-bag for still checking in on a regular basis. (Mike and Rusty have not had the time to come on much lately - but real life sometimes gets in the way of internet forums, as it has for me lately).

Have a great and safe New Year everybody. :thumb: