upgrading rice bowl journals
July 19th, 2007I’m opening up this entry for feedback….
Is there even a need to upgrade RBJ to that level?
Well, I’d like to bring RBJ to at least Web 2.0 standards….
Basically, I’ve noticed that sites like RBJ aren’t as popular any more. And those big “social networking” sites are gaining in mass popularity, from Facebook to MySpace to Twitter and so on…
Well, I think in order for RBJ to “survive” and not just fall by the wayside, I’m going to have to do some serious coding in the next several months, starting in August and continuing on into the Fall.
What are some of the things I’d like to see on Rice Bowl Journals?
Okay, let’s see….
- First, I’ve always wanted to have the site open to “EVERYONE”, and I mean everyone. So, I think it would be great to have a general sign-up for anyone to “create an account” so that they can track their favorite sites better, bookmark those favorites, and just have more options that they wouldn’t have if they didn’t have an account.
- I’d like members to know who has viewed their profile, sort of like MyBlogLog, in which members can see the last 5 or more visitors. And maybe have a widget on their site that could also display the visitors.
- And I’d like the Member Profile to show more info. Like, currently it shows readership for that blog or journal, but I’d like to also include “admirers” or “followers” of that blog or journal, so that the member of that site can decide to add followers as friends. And basically, improve the whole Profile page and do more with it. Like adding a “Randomguru is… feeling spiffy right now” or something like that….
- I’d also like to improve on the registration process. Make it automatic and with email verification and approval. Right now I’m approving new members manually, something I’ve done since the very beginnings of this community site back in 2000! So, definitely improve on the login and registration process…
So, any ideas you’d like to share?
What changes would you like to see at Rice Bowl Journals? I’m all ears….
July 19th, 2007 at 11:55 am
Sounds like you will be very busy! And it also sounds like you are sitting on a goldmine! Yesterday I stumbled across a photographers/models site (modelmayhem.com) that is very similar to myspace.com but geared totally to that industry. Good luck! It will be great!
July 20th, 2007 at 6:03 am
The new changes sounds very exciting!!! : )
July 20th, 2007 at 8:55 am
i think you’re right in that the ’social networking’ aspect is becoming more important. i personally loved jaiku because it’s so quick and easy (and not bound to time zones), but it seems that’s not taking off. maybe the general preference goes to chat? might there be a way of having a chat room on the site that’s more easily accessible than the IRC one?
also, i was wondering if more people would like to be able to search for other members in their area. so far we can search by country of origin, but not country of residence. it could be fun to find out whether any members live in your city…
i love idea 2, it’s always nice to get some info on your readership. and 3 sounds like a sophisticated in-house version of bloglines…is that the idea? i like it anyway…
(i apologize if some of this doesn’t make sense. i’m far from a techie…^^)
July 20th, 2007 at 11:34 am
don’t worry about the techie considerations. any new features i feel should be very easy to understand by all, and intuitive. so that we don’t have to make a long FAQ page explaining all the features.
anyways, thanks for the input folks. any feedback will really help along the project to enhance RBJ even further.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:23 am
Hey Carlos, I am starting to look into Drupal.org for a CMS type engine, their site doesn’t work right now, but I’ll see what it’s all about…
July 31st, 2007 at 5:43 am
Pat: i remember Drupal. i’ll have to see what that’s about too.
July 31st, 2007 at 6:47 am
This link works http://spikesource.com/solutions/drupalcms.html