2014 CoasterCrazy Changes - Your Input Is Truly Needed!

[Oscar]

(FAQ Located At Bottom of This Post )

Howdy folks!

Thanks for being awesome supporters of CoasterCrazy. We don't sit well with everyone but we do the best we can with what we have. If we don't sit well with you, I apologize and hope you let me know what it is that we can do to change your opinion about it.

Moving on! This thread is here to seek your input on what you think the website needs changing on. We've secured a coder and are in the hunt for a designer. Change will happen and now that this is coming down to the wire, I really need your input on what you want the site to be so that you are here more often.

Alright, the cards are on the table. Hit us with everything you have. I have a deadline to meet to submit the SOW and work will start ASAP. If you know a god web designer that can work with our coder to put things together let me know.

Thanks and Happy New Year!

-Oscar

With that said, I will most likely removing certain sections to the site such as park meets, trivia albums and videos (more on the last 2 in just a second).

The home page will be changed. News has always been the focal point to it but it is obvious from the forum that news isn't the focus of the site. So to change that, the focus will be brought back to the tracks and news off to the site. After all, tracks are posted more often than news are. The image that follows is a rough mock of what we feel the home page should be like:



Now, from the select few that I has discussed this with. There is still disagreement on what the top 3 boxes should be. Some have suggested get rid of them altogether. Either way, this is just a mock and this post is here to gather input on what you think it should be. Please offer detail on what the home page should be like and if possible, provide graphic mockup of such changes like the one posted above.

Back to section on removing albums and videos. Taking a look at rcdb and their potato changes done to the site recently, we feel we can do a much better job. Even with their changes, they have lacked to add the most important factor we feel their site needs to truly be epic. The following image is potato as well and definitely needs changing but we figured why not just do our own park database. The following picture is quite potato as well since it was done I'd say over a year ago in a meet with coolbeans325 but nevertheless, it did get the marbles rolling:



That would be like the theme park page and the same layout can be used for individual coasters. The video could use custom youtube parameters that I am very fond of and you've seen used throughout the site here. The pictures below the video would be a carousel and when clicked, would open up enlarged in a lightbox. Users will also be able to comment and social share the page and thumbs up/down the park/ride. So far that's what I have for that. I truly need your input on that.

Even more potato is the home page for the park database. So potato I don't want to show you but hell, why not right? Here's the ultra potato picture:



Seeing it now I see it desperate needs your input and your mockups. So please hammer it down on us and suggest to us what the home page to the park database should be like. The park database will be of coastercrazy so when I say home page, think of the page like when you click track exchange in the menu or when you click videos. That's what I refer to.

We've also done mock ups in the track details page but it isn't much different than what we have now and after browsing around. I am in the middle of drawing up a mock up of what I think would be a very good improvement

FAQ

Q: Will the tracks be deleted as it has been suggested?
A: No, I've been assured that they will be imported into the redesign.

The new homepage looks great!

I like the fact that your returning to Sim as the core but I do like the new part as a side part. Yes I do like the new layout. I'm not at a good with websites but I think someone will come up and help.

Great new layout!
I like yo gave much importance to the exchange section!!!

[coolbeans326]

Time to mash some potatoes

I wonder if there can be some unlockable rewards or achievements for rating X amount of tracks or keeping above a certain rate ratio without actually forcing people to rate a certain percentage of downloads like NLE.
I have, for a time, wondered about the extra, seemingly unused sections that looked to be gathering dust.
Also, whenever No Limits 2 comes out, I wonder what you're planning for the rating system on that, particularly in cases where people submit a park with multiple coasters.

[TTD03]

Will we Premium and above users still be able to customize the home page like we can now?

I don't love the top 3 boxes on the home page too much. If we were able to customize our home pages like we can now, and we were able to make those go away, then I would be ok with it.
I would love to be able to make the recent forum posts come up first on top and or be able to pick topics from the forum that we could sticky to our homepage for fast access to our favorite topics.
But since NL2 is out soon, there will probably be more track coming out so I probably would want that near the top as well.

Also, will there be a mobile version of the site that we could toggle on and off?

My two cents...I really don't see why this site needs its own park database. RCDB exists for a reason. There's no reason to replicate what they've been working on for years. There's coaster-count.com if you want to search parks by a world map. I just personally view this site as a simulation community, not an all-encompassing roller coaster one-stop shop. I dunno, but that's just how I feel. Others could very well want the park database and never have to visit another site.

I like the NL community here because there are some legends here and it feels like home because I've been here ten years. I think most people, even the masters whom I've always loved, will get back into building when NL2 is released. I know I will; I haven't touched NL1 in months.

That said, I like the layout of the new homepage.

[TTD03]

^ Meant to also talk about the Database as well.
I don't think it's a great idea to invest time on.
As tiepilot said, RCDB has been working on their database for years and everyone goes there for their coaster info. Why replicate it here?

I think a new forum layout would be nice as the current one feels a bit dated.

I really would like something like the rctlounge's Spotlight and Sandbox. Those are brilliant.

[Mikey]

I have allocated in TPIs operating budget for 2014 enough funds to replace what we have now. It's about 80-90 hours development time at about 75 lines of code per day. About 75% of that budget is allocated to the developer, and 25% of that is allocated to the designer.

What is a big issue, is how do we handle ratings moving forward. Because with the re-design also comes a time to change them for the better.

[Oscar]

Originally posted by Mrcobra92

I think a new forum layout would be nice as the current one feels a bit dated.

we're edging towards phpbb. Other suggestions are welcomed.

[rcmaniac25]

Comments:

• Site expand to fill 16x9 screen and mobile (reactive...)


• Possibly have those 3 boxes be mod selected uploads and/or (if premium) some custom controls (such as the latest comment on their own ride, notifications on updates to a forum post we were watching, etc.)


• The coaster database: Cool idea. Visitors can view it but members can add their own pictures?


• Maybe have the ability to link a park/coaster review or something similar to the ride/park so from the forum you can easily access it and from the park/ride you can see what reviews people have of it


• As for forums: phpbb is fine, if you are willing to spend money, Lithium tends to be good in my opinion (though it's not PHP)

Update:
For forum software, I've been told: XenForo (yearly payment) and FluxBB (free, but GPL)

If I were you, I would get the basic site up (exchange, forums, news) and generate some more add and premium revenue, Then maybe think about the database. The database is a neat idea, but I think you should make sure you have the funds to finish the minimum first.

^ The term you're looking for is responsive design. There are plenty of correct and incorrect ways to do mobile, and many sites do it the incorrect way, mangling URL's around in horrible ways. What happens if a mobile user wants to link a Facebook photo to a desktop user? The desktop user gets the mobile site. Horrible.

I've worked a bit with responsive design via media queries, have gotten very comfortable with HTML and CSS, worked with a little AJAX, and know some about design and layout. Let me know if you still want any assistance.

Maybe you can add a function where there is a checkbox for rides for whether or not you have ridden them allowing for a coaster counting or ranking system.

The main page I think should still have the news at the top where those three boxes are, maybe have them able to scroll horizontally to show more updates. Like you can either hover the mouse over to the right and it would scroll or use a bar thing. That would condense that information in an elegant way I think.

[SauronHimself]

I'd like a dedicated mobile version, and also it would be nice to have a reputation system in the forums.

Lookin' good. A CC app for Andriod and IOS would be awesome, but I guess there isn't enough demand. At least for now. Let's see how Nl2 will change things. I bet it will fill this site with life again.

I'm really glad you guys are re-designing the site. I really like the look of that homepage draft. But I also think the whole coaster/park database isn't really needed, at least for now.

I do have a couple ideas to share. I really think the rating system needs to be changed. I've always liked the way they rate parks on New Element, that whole system is pretty neat. Even some type of quick public rating system where all you have to do is give the ride a quick percentage rating would really be nice. With something like that there would almost never be a ride/park with a rating of zero.

Another idea would be replacing the cool designs section with an accolade section for rides with high scores, maybe 80% or higher.

Originally posted by Oscar

Originally posted by Mrcobra92

I think a new forum layout would be nice as the current one feels a bit dated.

we're edging towards phpbb. Other suggestions are welcomed.

I like the look and functionality of SMF 2 much better to be honest, it looks more modern and inviting. [:D]

[rcmaniac25]

Originally posted by coasteragent99

^ The term you're looking for is responsive design.

Ah, yes. That's what it was.

*questions how he forgot that*

But, yea. URL mangling is terrible. It's surprising to see big-name sites screw that up.

SupraSix is right, they really had a neat rating system over there. Iused to be a member at new element, but I wasn't there in a long time.

[Mikey]

If we do a mobile site, it will likely just be a mobile skin for the forum. Since Nolimits does not run on phones yet, it's kinda pointless to develop a mobile site for that.

[rcmaniac25]

Mikey

While true, that's why responsive design is getting fairly popular. One site, many devices and screen sizes.