ANNOUNCEMENT An Update - The Latest Site News 8/1

[Ian]

Just wanted to touch base with everyone here as I've been spending the last few months putting a lot of work into the site, which has turned out to be a bigger undertaking than I expected. Some of you might have noticed that the site now has a new front page, along with an updated design to the blog. Those were the first couple of things I wanted to get out of the way prior to starting on the forum.

Redoing the board has been the tougher part of this process. The new version of the software was done in a completely different format and framework, which was a challenge. It required me to have to take quite a bit of time to re-immerse myself in some of the updated coding changes to try and break things down to be able to modify and re-code the pieces I had put in place. I had things down pretty well with the current version but this has been discontinued and isn't supported any longer, which is why we're going to have to make the change and upgrade. There are no more patches, etc. So now I've had to suck it up and get it done.

The new board is coming along well and I'm developing a few features, including the ability for you to pin your own threads (the new version of the software also allows you to be able to bookmark threads). There will also be some changes on mobile so you can toggle the twitter feed on your phone, do more advanced searches, get in-season sortable stats, etc. I realized there were some things that are available on desktop that you can't do on mobile, so I'm also trying to address them for this new version.

There are also some additional things I've been working on, but I'll announce those once it's done. I've taken into account everything in the suggestion thread, so I'm excited to share all of that with you guys once it's done and I've tested everything. I am streamlining a lot of the existing stuff and will be removing some of it. So it will be cleaner with less clutter.

But man...this part of things has been a massive undertaking and I wanted to at least let everyone know that behind the scenes, I'm still working on this. Social media has changed that landscape and all of the software is pretty boring compared to years ago. It stinks, because as you know, I've always tried to push the limits to make this place as fun and as useful as possible. Fortunately, after finally clearing a couple of coding hurdles that had me at a standstill, I'm finally in the home stretch of things and I think we'll probably be making the change next weekend, probably late Friday night.

Needless to say, we're getting there. Given where we are right now, hopefully we'll have a full season to take our minds off of things and that obviously remains to be seen. Like many, I have my doubts, but we'll see how it goes.

In the meantime, hope everyone is doing well and I appreciate your patience and your support.

 

[NJPatsfan26]

Thanks Ian for all you do!

 

[italian pat patriot]

Grandissimo IAN

 

[Ian]

Also, I'll be fixing some of the dumb things, such as some of the color scheme issues. For example, there are some areas where there's a dark color inside another dark color, light colors on light colors, links will be easier to distinguish, etc.

A lot of that has been a mess due to the default settings here but the new version isolates things more, which allows me to target and fix them. There have been some annoying things here that have been bugging me and I'm sure many of you for a while. But those should be taken care of in the new version.

 

[raduray]

One of the things I like to do after games is lurk on opposing team's forum site (schadenfreude, you know) and I've got to say, this site puts them all to shame. Thanks for doing this for us.

 

[Chevy]

If it's a little better than the day before, then you're doing well. And, you sir, have been doing far better than just "well".

I wish I had some screenshots from 10+ years ago - just so folks can see the genesis of PatsFans.com.

 

[Ian]

One of the things I like to do after games is lurk on opposing team's forum site (schadenfreude, you know) and I've got to say, this site puts them all to shame. Thanks for doing this for us.

It's tough - there used to be some really good ones and it was fun seeing some the new things people would come up with, which sparked some ideas here over the years. It's even more disappointing to see many of them going away. I mean, I get it. It is difficult and if I didn't have an interest in coding or programming, etc., this would be much harder. But it's not like it was in the late 90s...certainly not many of us left.

 

[Ian]

If it's a little better than the day before, then you're doing well. And, you sir, have been doing far better than just "well".

I wish I had some screenshots from 10+ years ago - just so folks can see the genesis of PatsFans.com.

LOL, I pulled out some old ones a while ago and was showing one of the guys. I'll have to dig them back out and post them on here one of these days. Things have certainly changed since the early days

 

[bruinator]

Thx for all the time and effort you place in this forum with all the coding and what not. It is greatly appreciated by me. Your work on here makes this the best football site on the net, by far.

 

[Ian]

And for those wondering, the reactions will be larger so that people like @Tony2046 and myself who have big fingers, it will be a little easier to not hit the wrong ones

 

[PatsFanSince74]

Thanks for all your work Ian!
It's much appreciated.

 

[PatsFanInVa]

Ian is the Jimmy Carter of online homes! (Not political, metaphorical, as in "Jimmy Carter! Build me a house!" - Homer Simpson.)

 

[BTTA]

@Ian, you sound exhausted in the OP. Hope you get some summer vaca.

 

[Ian]

@Ian, you sound exhausted in the OP. Hope you get some summer vaca.

Thanks. Honestly, I'm a little tired, primarily because I'm obviously not like I was in my 20s-30s and learning code is a little more challenging. A couple of roadblocks I hit left me at a standstill for almost a week each and that was incredibly frustrating. I don't like going to bed without having solved something, so doing it multiple nights in a row was irritating.

It's funny, you go from feeling pretty good about yourself to feeling like an idiot when you can't figure something out. It's definitely nice when you finally have that "Aha" moment. Those used to happen a little quicker when I was younger. It unfortunately just takes a little longer now

 

[bruinator]

Thanks. Honestly, I'm a little tired, primarily because I'm obviously not like I was in my 20s-30s and learning code is a little more challenging. A couple of roadblocks I hit left me at a standstill for almost a week each and that was incredibly frustrating. I don't like going to bed without having solved something, so doing it multiple nights in a row was irritating.

It's funny, you go from feeling pretty good about yourself to feeling like an idiot when you can't figure something out. It's definitely nice when you finally have that "Aha" moment. Those used to happen a little quicker when I was younger. It unfortunately just takes a little longer now

I know the feeling quite well and know where u r coming from.

 

[Ian]

I know the feeling quite well and know where u r coming from.

I'm whining, but it really is fun. It's just a lot more enjoyable coming up with stuff and putting it all together instead of having to keep stopping because I didn't quite have a grasp on what I was looking at. But I see the benefit and I'll also probably incorporate it into some of the things I do on the site moving forward.

But between the stuff I'm adding and the inherent features of the software, there are going to be some nice upgrades that should make things much better. I'm just looking forward to hopefully getting it all completed and then getting it up and running.

 

[Bill Lee]

We are lucky and thankful you have this particular passion, @Ian. Keep up the great work! In this quarantine era I find myself with time to follow some passions. They're really not mainstream, but they are things I know I want to know more about. In the end we only get one trip on this earth so we should take advantage of any opportunity to pursue the things that tickle our curiosity, and see where they take us.

 

[Triumph]

How long does it take to redo a website?

I want my money back.

 

[Quest4SevenHomie]

Cool. Can we please re-do 2020 now? Not even the same without Brady at helm

 

[Brewskies]

LOL, I pulled out some old ones a while ago and was showing one of the guys. I'll have to dig them back out and post them on here one of these days. Things have certainly changed since the early days

All for the better Ian, thank you for all your efforts, we enjoy the rewards.