New Infield Parking Forum Screen Shots
Hi my name is Mike and I am a lame blogger. It has been 36 days since my last blog post (only 22 if you count comment replies :-). Sorry for the long delay. The development schedule, the holidays and a family emergency have kept me from the blog. I hope that everyone enjoyed the holidays and is psyched about 2009. I know I am.
The development team is completing the new forum functionality. In today’s post, I want to share with you some screen shots and descriptions of how the new forums will work. Over the course of the next week, I will do the same with the Groups, Profiles and multi-media sections.
The Forums have been the heart and soul of Infield Parking since launch. So, we spent a good deal of time synthesizing your comments and building the functionality for them.
The New Forum is broken down into 5 basic Categories with forums and sub-forums.
The community managers will be able to add forums and sub-forums as they are needed.
Some other exciting features include a new search and sort feature. Yes, you can actually search for threads.., and get back meaningful results. The sort will allow you to limit your view to see only posts by your listed friends or by all IP users.
There will be a WYSIWYG editor for adding text styles to your posts. By popular demand, the edit button is back. You will be able to upload media (photo, graphic, video or audio) directly to your post, rather than having to link to it from another source. The media will also be added to your gallery when it is uploaded. In the “forum post” image above, you will also see a media quick view that gives you a way to scan all media uploaded to a post.
Let us know what you think.
And thanks for your patience.
-Mike
Infield Parking Team
January 20th, 2009 at 17:51
Dude: Who are you and where have you been the past 2 years????????
(said with a large grin)
Looking good….Are we gonna be in time to test this forum thing for the 500???
AndiLee
January 20th, 2009 at 19:43
@Andilee0388 - we are working on the testing plan now. I will let you know when we start testing the new platform.
January 20th, 2009 at 19:45
what about our infield parking spaces? will they be the same?
January 20th, 2009 at 19:49
The design looks sweet.
If there is a closed Beta test or anything, email me and I can participate. Otherwise, looking good…
January 20th, 2009 at 19:50
@jeff wecker - the designs are not complete. I will share them when they are, probably late next week.
January 20th, 2009 at 19:54
@Kyle Thanks. We will do a beta test. I will do a post about it when we are ready to sign people up.
January 20th, 2009 at 23:15
ok,thanks. I sure hope friends lists won’t be lost,and can be transferred.
looking forward to the changes!!!
January 21st, 2009 at 00:19
The community managers who will they be ,will it be those who have made groups on here .
January 21st, 2009 at 00:28
@katjr101o Ooh this is an excellent question. I will most likely dedicate an entire post to community management, but here is the short version.
The main forums will be moderated by Infield Parking staff, as well some citizen moderators who are appointed by the IP staff to help (this will happen over time, after launch). The groups will be administered by the user who creates the group and designees of the creator (his/her friends who want to help).
I hope that answers your question.
January 21st, 2009 at 05:25
Mike, I have a question. Is this a brand new site? What I mean is, is it separate from IP? For example, IP part deux? Is it going to be the same moderators as before or totally different? Is there going to be better moderation than there is now? If so, how are guys going to deal with the trouble makers on the site?
Thanks for the updates, I was wondering if there were going to be anymore coming.
January 21st, 2009 at 06:07
Will we be seeing the moderate moderation? The ” if you hear/see it on tv, it’s acceptable here”? And how will the ip staff choose the citizen moderators?
January 21st, 2009 at 08:42
Well it all looks very nice.
I will wait until I have a chance to work with it before I go all ga ga. But it does [look] nice and easy on the eyes.
Keep up the good work. Hope we get to jump in the new pool soon.
I am willing to help out with any beta test.
Lee
January 21st, 2009 at 09:46
It’s looking good and promising! As a proud member of IP, I would be glad to beta test if you ask! Seriously, what you are proposing is what we have all been asking for, Thank you!
January 21st, 2009 at 09:46
@Missy The technology Infield Parking is built on will be brand new. It will also have a new design.
The moderation of the site will also be upgraded. We will work out the detail of the moderation plan and make a special post about it.
January 21st, 2009 at 10:56
WoooooHooooo!!!! I am right there with you Andi!! Ready for a new style and hopefully the Good Times will return!!! NO more hamsters!!!
January 21st, 2009 at 12:40
In response to some of the replies from members….
This citizen moderation could be a Godsend or a nightmare.
On one hand, it would be great to see members moderate so that they will have the opportunity to see how whiny everyone is, and see how difficult it is to be “fair” and “moderate” in moderation. On the other hand, it would be a nightmare in that discipline would be handled by those that have vendetta’s or personal animosities against others. Moderate moderation would be the key, and sounds all simple, but what is moderate to one person is drastic to another.
What some claim as a moderation problem is simply the fact that moderation exists. What some others deem as a moderation problem is not the fact that it exists, but that it isn’t done exactly the way they would do it.
What some deem a troublemaker to others is simply a person with an opinion that is different than their’s. It’s a slippery, and steep, slope.
The measure you use to judge (moderate) others is the measure that will be used against you. Members cry for fair and consistent moderation, until they or their friend is subjected to it, then it becomes unfair or uncalled for.
Moderation should include action against vulgarity, the abuse of members, and discussions related to violations of the law. Nothing else needs moderation. The “bashing” of drivers should not be moderated. Drivers are stars and by being such have opened themselves to criticism.
Because a certain portion of fans find it offensive is no way to justify moderating an opinion of a driver. If a fan thinks a driver is a weeny, it is that fans right to state it and have a discussion about it. This is the only problem I see with moderation as it stands.
There is a certain lack of consistency that exists, but I will not pretend to understand the details of each individual situation where moderation was used. Just as mandatory sentencing is wrong in our nations judicial system, so it is wrong in the case of moderating a discussion board.
As the members call for consistency and compassion in moderation, the moderation staff should call for and expect understanding and support in their role.
You gotta give a little to get a little.
January 21st, 2009 at 14:17
Are the drivers going to interact with the members on the new site?
Great layout, by the way.
January 21st, 2009 at 14:29
What about the speed man, the speed?
Please tell me my IE will not time out and shut down waiting on my post to post.
Brian
January 21st, 2009 at 14:38
From what the screen shots lead one to belive, drivers are going to involve themselves in this website. Is this the case or just a case of salesmanship?
January 21st, 2009 at 14:40
@Dale Fan - The speed issue is directly related to the current platform which is why we are moving to a completely new platform. This was the main criteria for rebuilding the site. Now I can’t speak for your “IE”, but there should no longer be the performance issues of the past.
January 21st, 2009 at 14:55
@Dale Fan (2) Drivers and their teams have always had a relationship with IP. How much time they spend and what they do on the site has been solely up to them. The limitations of the current site, didn’t give them a lot of ways to reach out to users. Adding these features would be the second criteria we used when developing the new site. The drivers and users will have a lot more features that they can use to interact with each other. Specifically, some really cool mobile features for interacting with IP while on the move.
January 21st, 2009 at 15:58
Mike…… I am guessing we are all hopeful.
So much time, so many promises….
There is no question we all wish you luck.
I should have graduated 7th Grade by the time this
gets well established, maybe I will be allowed to
use big people language by then. Oh..!! BTW…
Have you ever seen Two and a Half Men…???
They get to use some words on that public program
that we are NOT allowed to use in here….. I watch it
just so I can learn…!!!
(Wry Smile Mike….. Thanks)
January 21st, 2009 at 16:20
Will the threads show up in order of most recent posts instead of start date?
January 21st, 2009 at 16:29
What happened to Heather Wilkin’s ad? I’m asking because she said she and her label were going to be involved somehow with the new site. Did she leave the site or something?
January 21st, 2009 at 18:13
As slow as things are right now you might not want to wait too much longer on the New Design, So we can get the word out asap.
January 21st, 2009 at 19:28
@Dale Jr. is the bestest ever.. As I recall, Heather’s ads where set to run until the end of 2008 because that was when the promotion they were doing ended. It is no reflection on her continuing with the site or not.
January 21st, 2009 at 19:29
@DCRacing1 - Believe me, the engineers are burning the midnight oil. The project manager just went out for another case of Red Bull and pound of espresso
January 21st, 2009 at 19:43
This is very refreshing to see someone answering all of our questions for a change. Very much appreciated.
Thank you Mike, I look forward to using the new setup.
Red Bull? LMAO!
January 21st, 2009 at 20:38
Well i will do the beta when it comes out .LET me know . Sound’s fun I love beta programs .
January 21st, 2009 at 23:42
If you do change the page layout, I feel IP owes it to sea-era to let her in on it seeing she is nearly the sole person for the way 90% of our pages look, and why they look as good as they do.
January 22nd, 2009 at 00:02
Hi Mike,
This all looks very cool. I cant wait to check out the beta version. Keep up the good work.
Jeannie
January 22nd, 2009 at 05:56
Mike! I can’t wait for this all to take place! It’s been a long time comin’. Thanks for the updates, and hope to here more great news soon!
January 22nd, 2009 at 09:44
I want to respond to High Octane Nate’s comment about Sea-era, I’m with you 100% on this, I use her stuff for my page, she’s awesome and is a lot of help and is always willing to give advice and support when members need help.
January 23rd, 2009 at 05:45
Is there going to be anything in the TOS about the strong use of sexual overtones by some members here? I see that some of their posts are getting deleted, so they must be saying something now that goes against the current TOS. Also about terms like “the Dumb”, etc.? There are other websites that these members could use to talk this way, don’t you think? Very degrading for this kind of talk on a Nascar site.
January 23rd, 2009 at 11:54
@Missy
Really? I mean in the end they are just words. You can also ignore post. That is what I see at many other forums. Its the ignore policy. You do not like something your read. You ignore it and move on to another post or thread. It has worked for me very well.
I hope it works for you too!
Lee
January 25th, 2009 at 04:12
It all sounds great so far. Hope ya’ll can get it ready in time for the 500. Oh, and what’s with the math problem requirement to submit a post here? Just curious.
January 25th, 2009 at 17:27
Missy, if you don’t like the language, then ignore or move to another thread, simple as that.
January 26th, 2009 at 19:16
Wow, Missy got more replies here than Mike did.
She must have struck some people’s nerves.
February 11th, 2009 at 07:16
What I am wondering…..is my page going to look like it did ALONG with my playlist?? I really hope I don’t lose anything, such as all of my song’s and I loved my page, so I hope it comes back up the same!! Do you have a time frame???? Like, in time for Dayton??
Thank’s!