Welcome to the new NewBeetle.org

[jcroft]

As you know, we migrated to a new forum system about a month ago, and this was the first step in a process of totally re-vamping NewBeetle.org. Now, we bring you the next step: a new homepage (and related pages -- About, Contact, etc.), a few new tools, and an infrastructure for quickly building new pages and tools that should allow us to release new features early and often.

The New NewBeetle.org Homepage

A few highlights of the new homepage design:

• Rotating photos incorporating member submissions. Thanks to a totally great tool built by CrazyJames, we can now allow you to easily submit pictures for the homepage (see the left hand bar, "Submit homepage photo"). When viewing the homepage, you can click next, previous, and random buttons to view more images.
• New private message indicator: the new homepage will let you know if you have new messages.
• RSS feeds for many sections. If you're a feed-reader, you should love this!
• NewBeetle.org Stats: found on the left-hand column, this page includes some fun stats on NewBeetle.org activity.
• Your referrals: Shows you the members you have referred to NewBeetle.org. The driving force for this page was "tagging." Now you can see which of your tagees has joined, and give them a personal welcome!
• Your reputation: Available to member sponsors, this page lets you see details about your reputation, including every person that has ever left you rep and what they've said.
• Reputation you have given: Similar to "Your reputation," only this let you refer back to times you have given reputation to others.

And all of this is really only the beginning. We've already started on some other tools, including the Member Map that was brought up in a thread just the other day. Also near the top of the priority list is a host of new products in the NewBeetle.org store, and a news display page that will let you read the latest news in a blog-like format. We've designed the new version of the site to be nimble and flexible so that we can quickly incorporate as many new ideas as possible.

Thanks to all of the moderators for their help in testing the site, and special thanks to James and Ron for their assistance with the coding!

Enjoy!

[CrazyJames]

I gotta say, I love the new look, very swank!

[jcroft]

Originally Posted by CrazyJames

I gotta say, I love the new look, very swank!

And who better to comment on what's "swank" and what's not than you?!

[pdoel]

Looks awesome!

[jackfrost]

rock on love it

[r0nd3L]

I agree, very nice simple and clean looking web site. You are really great designers, or designer (Sorry guys, I'm not familiar with you yet ).

I do some web design and PHP coding as well, but I don't think mine close to yours. Here is my site/portfolio: http://www.manizone.com/ . Haven't been updated for a while, though...

[Growler]

Looking Good Guys,

one question.. did the size format of the new homepage photo change? will we need to resubmit our photos to get them in the rotation? I miss my Eeyore Photo and I need to add a good Growler shot

[CrazyJames]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

Looking Good Guys,

one question.. did the size format of the new homepage photo change? will we need to resubmit our photos to get them in the rotation? I miss my Eeyore Photo and I need to add a good Growler shot

Yes the size format has changed to 550x250px. This can also be found on the submit guidelines: http://www.newbeetle.org/apps/submit-photo/

James

[scarabY2k]

I'm diggin the new layout. It's more user friendly. And cool looking too.

[jcroft]

Originally Posted by Eeyore

Looking Good Guys,

one question.. did the size format of the new homepage photo change? will we need to resubmit our photos to get them in the rotation? I miss my Eeyore Photo and I need to add a good Growler shot

The size did change, but only very slightly. I considered manually adding all of the existing homepage photos from before, but decided against it since some of them are from folks who aren't even members anymore (Russ, Amber). So -- I'm afraid you'll have to resubmit. But I also miss all those photos, so I hope all of you will do so!

[yodabug]

For all the hard work you do. But I am a little confused by the new main screen. It seems to ask me to log in. Seems to accept my login. But afterwards it still says I am not logged in and ask me to log in. But if I look in the upper left hand corner it does say "WELCOME" and my screen name.

[jcroft]

Originally Posted by yodabug

For all the hard work you do. But I am a little confused by the new main screen. It seems to ask me to log in. Seems to accept my login. But afterwards it still says I am not logged in and ask me to log in. But if I look in the upper left hand corner it does say "WELCOME" and my screen name.

Hmm, that does seem strange. If it says "Welcome, yodabug" then you are definitely logged in. Where is it saying that you are not logged it? Does it still have a log in username/password box on the left?

The way it SHOULD work...

If you are logged in, it will say "Welcome, xxxxx." There will be no "Register" link on the left hand side. Instead, you'll have "Messages" and "Live Chat." Also, if you are logged in, you will see a "Your Account" menu in the lower part of the left-hand side.

Can you give me a little more details of what you're seeing? Maybe even take a screenshot?

I'll do my best to figure it out!

Thanks,

Jeff

[Don_n_Herbie]

Maybe its just me but once I am on the forums page I cant find a link to take me back to the home page

[jcroft]

Originally Posted by Don_n_Herbie

Maybe its just me but once I am on the forums page I cant find a link to take me back to the home page

There is one at the bottom of the page, but you're right, this is something that needs to be improved. I'll get to it.

[Porkchop]

Woohoo! It looks great.

What about car/owner names? Should be put that on the image ourselves I guess? (and is there a specific format for that... font size, certain corner, etc...)

[jcroft]

Originally Posted by Porkchop

Woohoo! It looks great.

What about car/owner names? Should be put that on the image ourselves I guess? (and is there a specific format for that... font size, certain corner, etc...)

All of the photo submission guidelines are listed on the submission page. Putting any text on your photo will disqualify it.

Instead, please use the description field in the submission form for your car description (including name, if you have one). Your name (as the submitter) is automatically pulled in. You're logged in, so we know who you are. No need to enter it.

[Dede]

I like it....it has a very clean look to it and I really like the Referrals are setup for new members. Great job guys!!!

[callisto9]

looks AWESOME! wow. so cool! if anyone doesn't have photo editing software and would like a picture of their NB resized for homepage submission, PM me and i'll be more than happy to resize / crop for you.

thanks jeff! looks great!

edit: i can't click on the "next", "previous" or "random photo" buttons and have them work. is this because i am using firefox as my browser?

[CrazyJames]

Originally Posted by callisto9

looks AWESOME! wow. so cool! if anyone doesn't have photo editing software and would like a picture of their NB resized for homepage submission, PM me and i'll be more than happy to resize / crop for you.

thanks jeff! looks great!

edit: i can't click on the "next", "previous" or "random photo" buttons and have them work. is this because i am using firefox as my browser?

We have found that there is a bug in the current release of firefox, try clicking the upper portion of the image and it should work.

[jcroft]

Originally Posted by CrazyJames

We have found that there is a bug in the current release of firefox, try clicking the upper portion of the image and it should work.

Yep, what James said. Firefox 1.5 beta fixes the fix, but in 1.0.x, the lower half of the icons won't click. I am still trying to find a workaround. If I can figure it out, I'll implement it. Until then, either:

1. Upgrade to 1.5 beta
2. Click the top part of the icons.

Jeff