Maintenance & upgrade

[thomas]

Later tonight (when most of our European visitors will be fast asleep) I will close japanreference.com for about two hours in order to upgrade the web site. I will redirect all traffic to the forum.

Wish me luck.

 

[jeisan]

break a leg!

 

[deborah gormley]

my timeing is as usual on the spot,(up to date and without questioning!!) lolol, I do hope all went well!!

 

[thomas]

Thanks guys, it's 4.30 am here and I'm contemplating if it's worth sleeping at all, lol.

Update accomplished

http://www.japanreference.com

Basic functionality is given, I still have to work on a few minor tweaks and the design. Later, later...

 

[Microage97]

Thomas,

Man oh Man! please put the old design back. I really don't like the new one.

Dave

 

[Twisted]

I think it's a bit late for a remark like that, Dave...

 

[thomas]

Dave, I appreciate your feedback. During the past few days I have received a couple of similar reactions, but I know at least one person who intends to use our current (orange) design which - by the way - didn't reflect colours traditionally associated with Japan.



Anyhow, focusing on functionality and usability, I do prefer a minimalistic approach to web design. The actual change (and the admin's pride, lol) is our new backend, a faster and much more expandable directory. I am still far from finishing, I have a few busy days ahead, but I'm always glad to hear your opinion. Thanks again.

 

[jeisan]

hey thomas, are you going to change the forums format and colors as well?

 

[thomas]

That's the plan. Gallery and forum will be changed next week, because both scripts also need to be upgraded.

 

[Microage97]

Ok I can see you point and I do somewhat agree. I do like the old side pannel that displayed the last 8 or so new links, Can we see that return?

Dave

 

[jeisan]

i do like these graphics though... i can change the colors to red and white, maybe put a pre WWII japanse flag in the banner and write japan forum in caligraphy would be nice and done pretty easily.

 

[thomas]

@ Dave: I will definitely include the last 5 links added. The index page is still pretty "raw" and boring, I'm planning to add a few more graphics and colours if creativity strikes me again.

@ jeisan: I tried to do that, but wasn't happy about the results. Also, the new header logo is 1,8 kB in size, less than a third of the logo here at the forum. Size matters after all, lol.

 

[Microage97]

Thanks Thomas! I want you to know that I do stop here everyday to see what's new. I really do appreciate the hard work you put into this site. Thanks a lot!!!!

Dave

 

[thomas]

Hi Dave, I really appreciate your support!

Btw, I already added the "Last 5 links" to our index page.

 

[Microage97]

Caught it! Well I think it is a handy feature so we can see what is new. I know that it also doesn't help with people digging around in the already added links.

Now if we could get Japanese companies to relax their "BA degree" thing to hiring people, I would be a lot happier!


Dave

 

[thomas]

Hold it, there's another requirement I would like them to drop: being a "English native speaker".

 

[deborah gormley]

Thomas, keep up the great work all is fine and dandy and much more exccessible(spell?)
This comes from an individual with no tech back-ground or knowledge!! so from my point of view,, "this suits me fine", hahaha,,,

 

[jeisan]

es gibt keine deutschschulen in japan?

 

[thomas]

@ Debs, thanks, I am glad you like it (or at least you can live with it, lol).

@ jeisan

Hehe, being Austrian, they probably wouldn't accept me as German native speaker.

Just kidding.

 

[jeisan]

lmao thomas ya never know .
hey, have you thought about adding a spell checker to the post reply in the forum when you update it?

 

[thomas]

vBulletin is shipped without spellchecker. It's possible to integrate third-party scripts, but ay ain't no shure iff its woth it...

 

[jeisan]

damn i gues i ll accuatally have to pay atenshun to my typoing :\ ... im too po' ta pay attentoin