[CR]VeloBase.com February Update

(Example: Framebuilders)

From: "Jon Fischer" <cuda2k@hotmail.com>
To: CLASSIC RENDEZVOUS <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
Date: Mon, 18 Feb 2008 11:13:51 -0600
Subject: [CR]VeloBase.com February Update

VeloBase.com February Semi-Monthly Update! (Classic Rendezvous Preview, the email to velobase users won't be going out till Tuesday most likely)First major update announcement of the new year. If you have been keeping track o f the announcements on the website some of this will likely look familiar. First for a couple of stats. Velobase.com now has over 350 users, and over 1550 bicycle components in the database. Beyond that there are now almost 1 50 head badges, 90 vintage tools, 40+ frame parts, and 67 catalog scans. Th e site has been receiving somewhere between 1400 and 2000 page views from s omewhere around 200+ individuals per day. This is in no small part thanks t o the contributions of many of those 350 members. Some of the most recent a dditions to the Component Database include Weinmann 610 single pivot brakes , Ideale 41 Sports saddle, Stronglight Model 57 Piste crank set and a First Gen. Shimano Dura-Ace (Black version) shifters (and other parts). Some of the newest head badges include J.R.J. (early name for Bob Jackson built fra mes), a Bridgestone Grand-Velo head badge and a JOCO brand (Dutch) badge. N ew frame part additions include a bottom bracket and fork crown from Georg Fischer and other parts from Campagnolo, Columbus and Reynolds.In addition to many new items in the databases, there have been a lot of new features, pages, and elements to the website that I have been busy working on over th e last couple of months. Some improve navigation around the website, others improve or increase the search functions, while others are an addition to the add / edit screens. Below is a list of the more major additions to the website since the last major update. There are many other more minor change s that can be reviewed in the News & Announcements section of the site.1) T he second page of the Standard Search is finally completed! Yes, the site h as been up for over six months and the second half of one of the primary fo rms of search was never completed. I knew that this hadn't been finished, b ut just never really got around to finishing it, instead working on other p rojects around the website. One reason was I thought that very few people w ere using the standard search. However I was informed by a number of users this was not the case when I tried to remove it from the left side navigati on. This prompted me to not only putting it back in the search list, but fi nishing the second page's operation. Another case of user's input helping s hape the development of the website.2) The new Year Range fields have been added to the Component Database. These fields have allowed me to add a Year s Produced to the Quick Search screen. These Year Range fields have input f ilters that prevent any character other than a number put into the exact ye ar section. A little touch to make things easier for users. Right now the Y ear Range Search will only work if you select one decade, but I will hopefu lly have this error fixed later this week. I also went through every one of the existing components and updated it to convert the old year information to the new format. There are still lots of components that never had a yea r range value, which is one area that I could really use some help in over the next couple of months.3) Auto Complete drop downs for the Name, Group a nd new Model search text fields on the Quick Search page. Start typing in t he brand name, group name, or model name that you are searching for and a l ist of valid values in the system appear that you can choose from (or just continue typing in exactly the search phrase you want). Additionally I have made it where you can search for multiple groups or model numbers by separ ating the values by ';'.4) Most Wanted Updates List. Just like the name sug gests, there are a lot of updates and missing data in the Velobase.com data base and here is a place to see what needs what information added. If you w ant to help improve the information on VeloBase.com, this is a very good pl ace to start. You can filter what information, what categories, etc etc you want to see the list for. By default it shows the top 25 components that a re missing Date Range or Flagged for Incorrect Information. See the list he re: http://velobase.com/ComponentMostWanted.aspx5) Component Search options have been collected and put in a Menu on the left hand side navigation mas t. Instead of each type of search listed, they are all under "Component Sea rch" which shows each option when you hover over. This puts more of the fea tures of VeloBase.com on the screen in that left hand navigation area. I fe lt that many of the features of the site were not getting noticed by visito rs because the links to them were not visible on the screen unless you real ly scrolled down quite a ways. This fixes that problem, to an extent. Likew ise, I have gathered all of the options that were across the top of the Vie w Single Component page (Edit, Photo Manager, Add Variation, etc) and put i t under a drop down menu to reduce the clutter at the top of that page.6) R SS Feeds. There are currently 4 RSS Feeds for Velobase.com. Recent Componen ts, Recent Head Badges & Frame Parts, If you're a techie and knows what RSS is, you'll know what this is about. Else, check out the link on this page for the wiki info on this technology. http://velobase.com/FeedList.aspxTher e are a few things that I have planned or bugs that need to be fixed. I am currently going through some minor surgery to remove some moles as a preven tive measure to prevent a recurrence of skin cancer which is cutting into n ot only my cycling time, but also the time I have to work on the website. I 've noticed some issues with adding / editing year information for Componen ts, and that the Quick Search year check boxes will cause an error if you s elect more than one of them. Both of these issues should hopefully be fixed in the near future. As always I am open to user suggestions, feedback and ideas. If you have any questions or problems with the site, feel free to co ntact me through the velobase email address or my CR List email. Jon Fischer Dallas, TXVeloBase.com

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