Website Update

[roboz]

I have engaged a professional Web Developer/

Solutions Engineer, etc who's actually created toy websites

such as https://www.collectiondx.com/

 

We plan to work within  the invision framework

& have invision host which will add significant cost but

allows them to take over updates, patching, basic management etc 

 

The goal is to update to a more modern underpinning , improve to UI. 

add features, enhance the database 

all integrated under one platform

 

Possibly offer tiers of service say for auction  companies, vendors, services,

tie in a Merch Page with Alphadrome Branded unique products among other things. 

 

This is the initial goal.

 

Feel free to add any comments or suggestions. This is the time!

 

That is all, carry on! 

 

[steve]

Sounds good - thank you for keeping this special community going and growing!

[Andyman]

Anything we can do to help defray the cost?

[Morbius]

Sounds superb, Oz.  As I was signing in this evening I was curious to see if this beloved site had new bones to it, thankyou for keeping it alive and well!

[Roboto]

Fantastic news and Thank You!

[roboz]

On 11/8/2023 at 2:54 PM, Andyman said:

Anything we can do to help defray the cost?

The hope is to make it revenue neutral at minimum

but I'm waiting for the analysis to be completed.

The main goal is to make it secure, stabile, preserve the data

& future proof it. 

Hosting it though invision would likely help in some areas

Brian could chime in with his perspective 

 

 

 

[Andyman]

Thank you for putting some serious thought into this, Oz. 

[Brian..]

Hosting through Invision solves the problem of stability and security but at a cost to you, Oz. Putting adverts back on the site will easily cover your expenses.

 

The database, however, needs to be hosted somewhere. It isn't part of the Invision package. And you need other web pages to hold the thing together. They, too, need hosting. 

 

I always felt that the site needed new features to maintain interest, but many members just don't like change. It's an interesting challenge for you, Oz!

[Ultrarobotman]

Wow! Sounds complicated, way beyond me. Indeed, thank you very much Oz! 

[Alle]

Thanks for all efforts Oz! 

[robert]

Always open to change, improvements and keeping the community alive. Thanks Oz!

[Morbius]

On 11/14/2023 at 10:02 AM, Brian.. said:

Hosting through Invision solves the problem of stability and security but at a cost to you, Oz. Putting adverts back on the site will easily cover your expenses.

 

The database, however, needs to be hosted somewhere. It isn't part of the Invision package. And you need other web pages to hold the thing together. They, too, need hosting. 

 

I always felt that the site needed new features to maintain interest, but many members just don't like change. It's an interesting challenge for you, Oz!

Just like I have friends who only use a landline phone and no computers email or cell phones.  Others only use their cell for everything, others only a deskop (like me) and not so much the phone then a few who are competent in all forms mentioned.  Tough to keep everyone happy.

[Atomic Robot Bob]

As someone who used to do efficiency consulting and operational streamlining, change wasn't usually the problem for most; it was the type of change, the reasons for it and the way it's presented.  Too often engineers make radical changes just to make changes for no real reason (other than justify their existence, I suppose).

 

Tweaking, updating or improving technical issues or organization is a necessary thing sometimes and it's the price of keeping a forum alive and off of garbage like Facebook (the GEnie scroll monster of the 21st century).

 

A different forum I used to be on wanted to do a 'from the ground up' overhaul to focus on making the design and interface primarily smartphone user-friendly since everybody uses their phones for everything.   Anyone who didn't like it was called a "dinosaur/stuck in the past, etc" which caused a rift (obviously and rightly) and some older users dropped out.  They eventually decided to move to Facebook instead since it was free and "everybody is on Facebook", which caused another round of name-calling, another rift and the forum, as far as I know, died.

 

This site and forum are too valuable to let it die.  Valuable to us "more seasoned gastric emissions", let alone anyone new to the hobby.  Certain interests have a mostly older user/member base whose numbers, sadly, diminish as time passes.  Sites have to evolve, to some degree, to be appealing to "the youngs" so they just don't skip over it to try finding info on FB, Instagram, Nit-Wit or whatever the flavor-of-the-moment social media is.  It is tricky to keep a balance without alienating one group or other, but I don't think it's impossible.

[roboz]

FYI an update 

I talked to the guys at Invision and the plan includes free migration from your version to their version. There would be a 1500 one time fee to migrate your old coppermine gallery to the invision gallery, or we could do it manually.

 

As for me, I won't be able to take this project on until sometime in late february. I can assist with all setup, config, theming etc.

 

With so many unknowns, I would suggest I bill hourly, ($100/hr) my guess would about 5k total to get everything up and running, and then we can just work hourly post go-live as you need updates or whatever. LMK

[Brian..]

Hosting by Invision looks like a good idea to fix some of the glitches that have occurred recently. It will also future proof the site at a low cost. 

 

From what I've seen of Invision Gallery it may not work well as a database. You need to do a small scale test to see if it runs as you want before you pay thousands to transfer it. Coppermine Gallery is completely free so you can always keep it running in the background until you're happy with a new alternative.