June 28, 2004
My new goal: July 1st, 2004
My new goal is to have this site ready to officially re-open on July 1st, 2004. And even if it's not completely done, it doesn't matter. That's the date I'm going to start announcing this site officially at all the QB news resources across the Internet. I'm hoping that everything works out and the visitors start pouring in.
In the last week, I've made a ton of additions. The Downloads section, the QB FAQ, the Projects, the QB Philosophy section, some new headlines and even more have been added. Also, I went through a whole bunch of QBasic links archives on the Internet and put together perhaps the most complete collection of QBasic links available on the Internet right now. (There are over 400 on my list.) Of the 350 links in my old links section, I discovered that only 78 of them actually work. It's mostly because free web servers like Hypermart, Xoom, Angelfire, Geocities and Tripod have either deleted or deactivated all of the old and unupdated QB sites, and as a result, they're no longer available. It's sad to see so much valuable QB content disappearing from the Internet at such a fast rate. If you need any proof that the QB Community is shrinking, I think that's the best indication.
A few days ago, I spoke with WisdomDude (aka James Robert Osborne), who used to help me with this site quite a bit, and he gave me a lot of great suggestions on new and innovative sections I can add, including the QB Philosophy section and the Top Ten Programs (which you can see on the left). A big 'thank-you' to him for all of the advice!
Allrighty... I've still got a lot left to do, and this time is better spent adding content than writing news that nobody can read yet anyway!
Posted by Pete |
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June 21, 2004
Slow and steady wins the race
I've been working on this site regularly over the last week, and I have definitely made a LOT of progress. It's a slow process, but I'm getting the job done. My only weakness is--every time I finish a section, I come up with ten more ideas of how I can make this site even better. I'm working hard to make this site as automated and dynamic as possible, one bit at a time. When I'm finished, I should be able to leave for months at a time, and the site should still be able to update every day. That's the plan. Anyway, I'm not going to announce the reopening of this site until EVERYTHING is set up to be updated by the VISITORS. Maybe then this site will be able to return to its former glory.
While I'm working, I keep on checking out the old sites that I used to visit back in the day, when I was an obsessed QB webmaster. I'm seeing a lot of broken links...tons of 'em. The QB Community has definitely shrunk...or at least rearranged in the last few years. But I'm also seeing a whole ton of awesome new sites and programs. The games that are being made these days in QuickBasic blow my friggin' mind. When I first joined the QB Online Community, the only finished QB RPG was Konrad The Warrior, and the best games were things like Spinball, Groov Buggies and Monospace. Then better games started to come at a trickle...Wetspot II. Dark Ages I: The Continents. And then even better games came, like Shadow of Power and Super Stack. That's about the time I left the QB Community. Now I'm looking at games like Ghini Run and Ped Xing's Quest...it's crazy. I can't believe how much QB has changed in the past seven years. It really is amazing.
Anyway, I'm gonna keep working on the site now. I just thought I'd take a break and post some news. The reopening day should be coming soon. (As long as I can get these darn scripts to work right...GRRRRRRR!)
Posted by Pete |
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June 17, 2004
Two days of non-stop work later....
....and it's still far from being done. I've done a LOT of updating, and the site is really starting to feel "whole." Basically everything that doesn't require a lot of scripting and finnicky CGI / PHP stuff is done, (though there's still a bit more). I'm not going to go into detail, but I've completely redone a lot of sections, such as the Tutorials section (which is now quite impressive). I have also made a ton of new sections, and wrote a big long report on the History of this site. Check it out!
Right now, I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the File Reviews, and how the new reviews are going to work. All the old reviews are up right now, in their old format. But I'm looking into reformatting them so that they fit with the site and look all pretty. I'm wondering if I should do that via a CGI database or by hand. I'm leaning toward a CGI database, but that would mean I'd either have to write a script or find a suitable script. Also, I'm planning on making it so anyone can come and submit a new review at any time by filling out a form. I just have to figure out how that's going to work. Looking back on the old reviews format, I don't think I like it so much. It's kind of lame and really doesn't get to the essence of the programs. A lot of times, you can read one of these reviews and have no idea what the program is all about. That's not good.
Anyway, with each minute of work on the site, the closer it gets to the grand REOPENING. Hopefully I open the site back up in the next week or so. If I keep my mind on the goal, it will definitely happen.
Cheers!
Posted by Pete |
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June 15, 2004
I'm working on the site again!
Hey, I'm working on this site again. I'm hoping to get it finished and open it up to the public soon. A few months ago, someone stumbled across this site and posted about it over on the NeoBasic board--and a bunch of people found me out! I wrote a response to the visitors on the message board entitled "How's it going, guys?" Go ahead and read it...I'm sure it'll enlighten you.
Anyway, I'm planning to finish this website over the summer now. I know, I know, I keep on pushing it off. First I said January. Then I said May. It's already halfway though June and I haven't done anything. But don't worry, it's gonna get done. Promise!
Posted by Pete |
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