Mod Database Version 2 Thread

Ok this may come as a bit of a shock to you however I shall shortly commence creating Version 2 of the modDB which may as well be an entire recode. Firstly, don't expect to see anything soon, this shall just be a part time task that I will put 10~15 minutes into everyday so I suspect it shall not be unveiled until the conclusion of this year.

What will be different about the new version you ask? Pretty much everything, only with the basic underlying modDB structure underneth. The primary goal is to make this site more like a database. What I mean by that, is clear, clean and simple, yet shows all the details you want everytime.

I am presently contemplating making the design skinnable... it be great to do so, but I do not believe it is really essential. Instead i am going to strive to create an image independent design that looks funky thanks to some nice CSS work So yeah it'll be damn quick to download, and easy to follow. Here are all the major changes planned

• Entire code optimised / mySQL queries cleaned (take advantage of mySQL 4)
• New design with CSS focus rather than images
• Clean new color scheme (easier to read)
• New user permissions system, may mean end of the dots
• Uneeded data on pages removed (i.e. i'll get rid of tons of text no one reads)
• Plenty more, i shall add them as they come to mind.

Now, this means that changes to this site will be seldom if at all... I shall address the last remaining requests of features but unless something important comes up it shall be ignored (until version 2 anyhow).

Rest assured all my loyal forum posters, (yes you!) shall be the first to view and test it when it is able to be viewed.

Now the purpose of this thread, is to a). suggest things you would like to see in the new version and b). MORE IMPORTANTLY, suggest things you think the modDB presently does that a). you reckon can be done better, or b). are just usless and should go... I have a fair vision in my mind of what I am creating but all suggestions are welcome!

if u get rid of dots, can i keep mine to look cool?
j/k...
i like this site color, its distinctive, and really isnt that hard to read... putting in custom css could be kinda cool though, and would most likely not be terrifically hard to do...

most of the things that i think would be cool have already been suggested... random colours would be pimp, the in site irc room... file server... a server section, that shows members on (if possible) or just number of ppl... i dunno, some stuff like that

An aim which I reckon i will be able to easily achieve with this new site is

50% cut down in bandwidth useage
50% cut down in CPU usage
50% cut down in Ram usage
100% more user friendly / site

and I mean the site already is running pretty damn well, so yeah this new version should be awesome

I think the color scheme looks cool already, but if you are ready for a facelift then by all means go ahead. The things PF mentioned are cool, and using css would probably save a lot of little details and redundancies.

INtense! wrote:
50% cut down in bandwidth useage
50% cut down in CPU usage
50% cut down in Ram usage
100% more user friendly / site

I am very happy about those cut-downs, as alot of my bandwith seems to just disappear after forum posting. Were the hell did you learn CSS?!

CSS? Style sheets? They're not hard.

Yeh, but to make a site look good with them is hard! I borrowed a book from the library about them. And, yeh, I'm a learner.

The new version of the site will be 100% color customisable... therefore if you like the grays, well you shall be seeing a gray site! You may even like blue and white... there will be options

Oh and I am thinking of making it so that if you visit classic.moddb.com you would see the old design.. however some of the changes such as the user permission would mean that would not work, so unfortunatly that may not be an option

Oooh color options eh? Honestly INtense I don't see how this site could get any better, but if you want to tinker with it then by all means, tinker away!

The Gray colour sceme looks great as it is!

*me wants blue

and I will email my ideas

user selectable colour schemes eh? nice.

I wanna keep the dots , or maybe something like:

split extra functions into levels like present
you have 1 dot if no extra permissions
2 if you have any level 1 permissions
3 if you have any level 2 permissions
4 if you have access to everything

Dots are good, they allow you to see who's a Mod and whos not easily!

Assigned dots.
Like you could give me a dot for forum mod, a dot for news access, a dot for modification access and a dot for misc access.

Everyone else has no dots, why would a peon need a dot? Dots should be there to show power.

Changes Id like, well for starters the colour thing is wicked, but really I think you could just hax and fix bugs and add some other features and modDDB would become version 2 pretty easily.

A proper logo! Imagine a symbol, possibly mascot orientated that you could just instantly recognize something is modDB related, a font with words really doesnt count as a logo!

When ever I see the wrench, I think moddb.

I say instead of dots, you should get stars, like a star general...

nah, I still think you get extra dots based on what level of extra access you have...

But changable dots.
Like you could have a blue dot for forums, a red dot for mods but no yellow dot for news because its not your area :o

i do do news...

does do do make sense?

it all depends on if it's coded by section (news, forums, features, mods, users etc.) or if it's much more by actual action (auth news, write feature, ban user, edit user, edit posts, delete posts, award awards, add logos...)

azz0r wrote: But changable dots.
Like you could have a blue dot for forums, a red dot for mods but no yellow dot for news because its not your area :o

no, thats somewhat rediculous, I don't think that would be reasonable either :/ that would require a hell of alot of people

How about gold chains instead of dots?

I'm hesitant to leave my beloved gray scheme, but skinnability is cool.
I'm glad we're getting a new permissions system, this one doesn't work for me.

BaD-cOmPaNy wrote:

azz0r wrote: But changable dots.
Like you could have a blue dot for forums, a red dot for mods but no yellow dot for news because its not your area :o

no, thats somewhat rediculous, I don't think that would be reasonable either :/ that would require a hell of alot of people

Why is it? the colours wouldnt be that extreme but it means INtense could make SA a news and mod auther but not a forum mod or member editor, would make the site more areable and clean.

tbh I like the present system, you know exactly who can do what. The other benefit of the present system over the proposed one is, for example, any of the mod team can clear the news auth list instead of having to wait for a news admin to sort it.

True dat, but it would make more focus, like INtense could assign a list of 4 people for the forum, 3people for news, 5 people for modification. They could overlap. They both have ups and downs.