Joined: May 22, 2003 Posts: 23944 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 4:58 am Post subject: Xbox-Hq Upgrades Coming Soon! +post your ideas
Hi members,
This little news story is just to let you all know what is going to be happening in the next few weeks or so.. (Planned for: 1st JULY 2004)
Basically, the site was hacked about 5 days back and we really need to upgrade the entire backend for security purposes. This upgrade will take sometime due to the large amounts of custom coding like the webgames sections, xbox live section, vip sections and also the downloads which now exceed 2gb.. So you may find the site is offline for a very short time while the upgrade is in progress.
I have just recently upgraded the sites capacity for future growth.. I expect it to use this space in the next 12 months after looking at some growth reports the site is really world class. Lots to offer and a huge selection of files, tutorials and members to help you.
ANY MODERATOR OR ADMINISTRATOR WHO WOULD LIKE A XBOX-HQ.COM EMAIL ADDRESS PLEASE CONTACT ME!!!
NEW VIP SCRIPTS TO BE LAUNCHED:
Here's the new VIP Scripts that will soon come into effect.. Im coding these features now so if you want to add any other features to the website now is a good time.
VIP Submit Support Ticket Section:
- Vip members will be able to lodge a support ticket that is only viewable to xbox-hq ADMINISTRATORS that will be replying to your questions.
- Each member can then have a log of all their problems in a secured area.
- This will make sure all VIP members direct questions are answered and then tickets can be closed.
The forum is working great but a more direct approach for newbies would work nicely
VIP Xbox Torrent Links Section:
- All VIP's will be able to submit new bittorrent links or report a broken link etc..
- Many forums are starting to have these sections but i think our VIP's would love this feature.
Hope your enjoying the site too..
Ive got that much to say but i think i had better stop here.. The site is getting huge guys and gals and very time consuming let me tell ya's. Im still enjoying it though and always will i think!
STICKERS AND T-SHIRTS AVAILABLE SOON!:
Realmccloy and asmunch are working on XBOX-HQ Stickers, T-shirts and other cool stuff.. Once again if you have ideas or can help just make a post in this topic. _________________ HQ Network:
www.xbox-hq.com | www.xboxone-hq.com | www.360-hq.com | www.c64-hq.com
Last edited by forahobby on Sat Aug 14, 2004 3:53 pm; edited 1 time in total
DJB Administrator
Joined: May 23, 2003 Posts: 4031 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 5:44 am Post subject:
Yea I'll support these new ideas.
The ticket system is somewhat very business-like and unusal for a site like this, but I'll be interested to see how it works out of theory.
The Torrent section I can start whenever you want. I can grab good torrents aswell as seeding some files myself (for yous that don't know, seeding basically means being a host for data on Bit Torrent). Structure it like this:
Bit Torrent Links - Apps
Bit Torrent Links - Games
Bit Torrent Links - Movies
Bit Torrent Links - Music
These 4 main sections should be enough.
The Stickers / T-Shirts are an awsome idea, dare I say I'll want some of this merchandise when it's made.
One other suggestion is something that Realmccloy has mentioned to me in posts. Why not start up a section with ACL data for games (for resizing purposes)? It would basically work as a post per game, similar to the bit torrent links...
Anyways tell me what you think, but I'm pretty sure you'll agree with this
asmunch V.I.P. Lifetime Xbox Version: 1.1 & 1.3 Modded: Xecuter2
Joined: Apr 01, 2004 Posts: 199 Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 12:23 pm Post subject:
Hey like all the ideas.
Got one that I would like to see added if you can.
How about the ability to add pic directly on the site not through a different source
a lot of people sure would like to show off there modding skills.
It will also help in Writing tutorials.
As for the T-shirts if any one has any suggestions please feel free to PM me with your ideas
Got a few but more will help.
Xbox-Hq forever
Later
Asmunch _________________ Xbox 1.1 & 1.3
4977
X2.3
Maxtor 120Gb HDD
DJB Administrator
Joined: May 23, 2003 Posts: 4031 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Wed Jun 02, 2004 1:04 pm Post subject:
Hm, that's not a bad idea but it would probably be pretty tricky to actually implement.
In theory I can see how it can possibly be done though:
User writes tutorial, and there is a section with 5 or so upload spots, each tutorial is numbered automatically for the directory structure on the webserver.(ie: 00001, 00002... BUT only for tutorials which require pictures, that way there won't be any gaps in the numbers) Maybe a link to popup a window with let's say 15-20 upload spots it 5 isn't enough.
Now, the background of it:
New BBCode tags (ie: [pic1] all the way to [pic15] or [pic20]) could be inserted into the tutorial where the pics are supposed to go, the number of the pic will match the upload spot (i.e. picture 1 goes in upload spot 1).
I can't guarentee how soon this update could be implemented (or if this idea will even get done), as it depends on how much time Forahobby has, and how complex the upgrade will be...
TheModGod Xbox-Hq Legendary Xbox Version: 1.1 & 1.3 Modded: Xecuter2
Joined: Apr 18, 2004 Posts: 5303 Location: Greensburg PA
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 3:29 pm Post subject:
Sounds good DJB, but here's an extra thought. My first web business that I ever launched was for car dealers in Western Pennsylvania. It gave them the ability to upload images of their cars to be displayed. I didn't take in mind that 99% of these guys didn't know what they were doing. And, since it was 1997 obviously I didn't either...HA. What ended up happening is they were uploading images that were over 2 to 3 MB. It zapped my space in a hurry. I ended up writing a script to reject images over a certain size. That worked, but flooded me with calls because all they knew how to do was take the picture, put it onto floppy, and upload to their account.
Now, I still do websites for New Car Dealers all over the US and a lot of them opt to upload images of their used cars. My business partner who is a serious programmer wrote a script that actually not only resizes the image to fit into a prespecified dimension, but will compress the image if it's over a certain size allowing our clients to just snap, save, upload and go. In our case, I think limiting file size will be suffice
I would hate to see a large group of people submitting 3MB sized images that can easily be resized to about 50K. It's a shame that we coudn't just have our tutorial section be static where users sumbitted a folder with the html and images included, all linked up and read to roll. A script just names the folder and executes it's index page and viola, the whole thing is there when called upon. The downside is it would limit tutorial submission to only those with basic html skills. Asmunch and I both have talked about the need to upload images for tutorials and such, but the complications that it brings is staggering. _________________ Good Deals: Death@Hand, funkydopenloven, StaticMind, Slamscaper, PorscheXboxter
Bad Deals: None Yet
Pending Deals: Vanguard
DJB Administrator
Joined: May 23, 2003 Posts: 4031 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Thu Jun 03, 2004 10:40 pm Post subject:
Interesting...
Was talking to Forahobby about the tutorial section, he agrees that it should be updated, unfortunately my BBcode idea won't be possible, as it's only the forum that supports it.
I suppose we could have 2 ways of submitting tutorials:
1) Normal Text Tutorials: Any registered member can submit these
2) Image Tutorials: This is where the member needs to upload pics.
Now, trying to decide who can do image tutorials or not might be a bit more tricky, but here's a system that might work:
* They need to contact either myself, Forahobby, or any other selected Admin with some kind of HTML submission, just to show they have some HTML knowledge.
* Once the member has been checked out and seems capable enough, they will be put into a specific user group which will allow them access to writing tutorials including images. They will be sent a PM confirming this, aswell as the URL to use for their images.
* Some kind of upload script (or very tight web FTP access) will be required for the member to upload their pics. This part will more than likely have to be done by Forahobby (unless he wants to show me how it's done).
* Once pics are uploaded, the member can easily write the tutorial, inserting images where they need to go.
Forahobby,
If you read this tell me what you think of this system? Personally I'd probably go for the locked-down FTP access (just have their home folder as the root of their upload folder) as it would be more reliable for uploading pics.
Realmccloy + Asmunch,
Please tell me what you guys think also...
TheModGod Xbox-Hq Legendary Xbox Version: 1.1 & 1.3 Modded: Xecuter2
Joined: Apr 18, 2004 Posts: 5303 Location: Greensburg PA
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:01 am Post subject:
Yeah DJB, that sounds pretty good. If I had a better understanding how this site was set up, I probably could be more help. It's a lot easier to come up with a solution when you are starting from scratch, but when you have already gone a certain route adding things can be a real bugger.
With my current business, it took us 16 months to write the software. It was our first realease (we're about to release an upgrade). Basically, what we do is dial into a car dealers unix system via emulation software we purchased from their provider (Reynolds & Reynolds or ADP mostly). We have to use their software due to keymapping nightmares. We can then access their report generator and we set up reports giving us info such as new and used car sales, parts sales, collision center jobs, and service repair orders. After we run our reports and get the data we need, we just throw it up into the database that we created for the client. The dealership can then access an online interface and get a lot of info that they normally wouldn't have access to. They can see how many customers they have in which zip codes, activate or deactivate zip codes, model year restriction, and who is not coming back into the dealership. But the main thing our software does is improve customer relations by informing the dealer who bought a car and needs a thank you letter, or who may need just a welcome letter, or who needs a service reminder. It then creates word doc's with the letters and the dealer just prints them, folds them up, and jams them into a windowed envelope for mailing. Our software keeps track of the customers driving habits and can usually tell a customer that they are due for a service within 200 miles of that service. It's pretty slick.
About a year after we launched and already had clients in four states, people started requesting extra modules to handle extra tasks like attaching coupons to the service reminders. We originally wrote the script using PHP, Perl, Java, and MySQL. The current script is so convoluted we just can't do anything with it. It's a bugger to add something that you didn't plan for in the beginning! Our new release will be better because if we need to add somethng, we just create a new class and basically plug it in. Your idea sounds fine, I really couldn't see any other ways to go unless a brand new script is written and the tutorials are hosted in a different area. Then it would be easy to write a simple PHP script that would dynamically create the HTML to be displayed after the submission. We did a project like that for the Knights of Columbus that is very similar to what we could use here, but again, it was all from scratch and it didnt' have to be part of an existing script/site. _________________ Good Deals: Death@Hand, funkydopenloven, StaticMind, Slamscaper, PorscheXboxter
Bad Deals: None Yet
Pending Deals: Vanguard
asmunch V.I.P. Lifetime Xbox Version: 1.1 & 1.3 Modded: Xecuter2
Joined: Apr 01, 2004 Posts: 199 Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:13 am Post subject:
Hey DJB
It sound good to me but will say that I have to agree With realmccloy.
With the pic size is going to be a big issue went around to some other sites and checked the size of some of there pics and he is right alot of them are just huge 2 to 4 MB. if everyone put pics that size it would eat up the site extra space fast so we need to have a limiting file size on any pic.
other wise sounds good to me
Later _________________ Xbox 1.1 & 1.3
4977
X2.3
Maxtor 120Gb HDD
DJB Administrator
Joined: May 23, 2003 Posts: 4031 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:25 am Post subject:
if we use FTP to transfer the images we might be able to set a filesize limit, depending on what setup the server has locally...
asmunch V.I.P. Lifetime Xbox Version: 1.1 & 1.3 Modded: Xecuter2
Joined: Apr 01, 2004 Posts: 199 Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posted: Fri Jun 04, 2004 1:30 am Post subject:
Hey that sounds good to me but if that dont work.
Let them submit it and then we resize it to the size that fits the site the best.
How does that sound.
Later _________________ Xbox 1.1 & 1.3
4977
X2.3
Maxtor 120Gb HDD
DJB Administrator
Joined: May 23, 2003 Posts: 4031 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Sat Jun 05, 2004 3:50 am Post subject:
Yea sounds good, as tutorials go through an approving phase anyways...
asmunch V.I.P. Lifetime Xbox Version: 1.1 & 1.3 Modded: Xecuter2
Joined: Apr 01, 2004 Posts: 199 Location: Wisconsin, USA
Posted: Fri Jun 11, 2004 5:33 am Post subject:
Hey got another idea how hard would it be for the site
To have its own type of chat system like (ICQ)
So that way admin and moderators can keep in touch a
little easier. Or for all vips
Just another idea.
Later
asmunch _________________ Xbox 1.1 & 1.3
4977
X2.3
Maxtor 120Gb HDD
forahobby Administrator
Joined: May 22, 2003 Posts: 23944 Location: NSW, Australia
Posted: Sat Jun 12, 2004 3:43 pm Post subject:
Quote:
Hey got another idea how hard would it be for the site
To have its own type of chat system like (ICQ)
Yup, that ones been in the back of my head now for ages.. I need some help with this one.. I can code c++ and vb (visual basic) no probs so if someone could help..
Maybe there is already free source code of a chat script already out there..? Have a look on sourceforge.net etc guys.
I have already started work on the admin.exe file for all admin desktops.
It has a direct link to the database and you can administer the site.
At the moment it currently only supports:
Looking up members and changing their status (VIP/NON VIP etc)
Add News Stories Directly from your desktop.exe file (really nice and fast).
Eventually i want to code an intergrated admin/vip member .exe file for everyone to enjoy... IF ANYONE CAN HELP PLEASE JUST POST or contact me!
l8r guys and great suggestion asmunch..
PROGRESS ON THE UPDATES:
Bit Torrent Section Completed (now testing live)
VIP Support Ticket Section 80% Completed (now testing live)
COMING NEXT:
XBOX Gallery - To show of your modded xboxes etc and manage your cool xbox pics..
I have tonnes to do guys in the background so give me a yell if ya need me.. Ill be here somewhere..
Joined: Jun 21, 2004 Posts: 111 Location: San Francisco California
Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2004 6:37 am Post subject:
Hello There. As For The Forum Upgrades, I Really Think To Make Things Easier For The New Users You Might Want To CHange The Time Zone Input. Maybe Have A Way To Select Where You Are From And It Will Automatically Set The Time For You. I Myself Am New Here And My First Few Posts Said It Was Hours Ahead. It Took Me A Few Tries To Get It Right But I Got It. It Might Distract Others From Posting A Comment If A User Chose A Wrong Time And All. Thats Just My Opinion. Thanks For Listening. Hope All Goes Well With The New Upgrades And Keep Up The Good Work.
NVous
RyBack Xbox-HQ Enthusiast Xbox Version: 1.1 & 1.3 Modded: Xecuter2
Joined: May 30, 2004 Posts: 34 Location: Indiana (IU)
Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2004 4:08 pm Post subject:
I would like to see a more mac friendly web site.
The site loads kind of slow and some images don't look right they are getting cut off.
I'm at a university on a lan connection so it should load just fine, it's the same at home.
i would like to to see mac tools for xbox on the site for downloads. I can give as much info as i can to help.
I no there might not be that many mac user, but there are more than you think. That need these type of tools and help there's no just one place for us to get support.
Mac Os X in a UNIX's based Os and there are alot of developer tools out there.
I'm a graphic designer, so i am not a programmer or i would help.
so if anybody can design tools that would be great. like a app that the x2 programmer can use on the mac. if there are mac questions maybe i can help. pm or email me
anyway just a thought!
thanks for all the hard work you guy love the site.
-Ryback+ _________________ -RyBack
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Hey like all the ideas.
Later
Hey DJB
