Essex Bikers Homepage

[2E]

Why can we not link from the forum to the homepage..:reading

i know nobody really looks, but i was looking under useful info as google sent me to it the other day.:grin2

Heres a couple of problems with it:

The links under useful info send you back to www.essexbikers.co.uk (http://www.essexbikers.co.uk) and not to the website they say.

www.partsearch.co.uk (http://www.partsearch.co.uk) no longer exists.

www.ukbiker.net (http://www.ukbiker.net) seems to be for Suzukis only so id change the description ;).. not a great site by the looks of it either ;)

Just a few minor problems Dan... sorry to be a pain ;)

[Dan]

No, you are not being a pain - i've been complaining for years that the site looks crap - i'm a techie, not a web designer... i cant design for **** ;)

Thing is, i've never found anyone who is willing to contribute any time to re vamp it. A mate of mine is probably the best web designer i've ever met and he keeps promising to do it but never does.

The main website still gets thousands of hits a month, especially the Italian TZR stuff.

Anyway, crawl through the old threads and you will see loads of my desperate posts, begging for a web designer... ive tried!

With a bit of dedication, this site can go even further than it has already. I mean you lot are great, an admin couldnt want for better - you made and still make the site what it is, but commercially it could do so much more. The WSB and BSB promotors contact me every year to offer free tickets in place of advertising and I just dont have the time to sort everything out. If it wasnt for the dedication of the mods, this site would never be where it is now.

Anyway, if anyone has any ideas or has the time and skills to re vamp the site then im all ears. I'm also not adverse to having the whole site as content pages via the forum... vB is the dogs danglies - we've bought it so why not use it to its full potential.

Dan.

[Tark]

Dedication of the Mods...

I like that part. lol.

[Gixxer-TeZ]

If you give me ftp access and admin status I'll have a play with the content for you Dan.
There are loads can be done to cutomise the site. The little icons that donate if there is a new post or not can be customised,(see a charity site I do http://www.ryan-holmes-charity.co.uk The forum post notifications are little bikes that match the main bike picture in the logo.) The whole stylesheet can be modified to change the overall look of the site if required,(that site above was blue for example and I altered the stylesheet to their requirments) the content can be wrapped into VB, the site banner can be revamped to cover the whole width at the top of the page while any advertising can be moved anywhere including it's own page or tied into the forum home page next to each room (ie; each sponser can sponsor their own room as such.) or you could simply do a rotating banner that changes on each page load/refresh.

The extra links for content pages can be added into the navbar along with User CP, FAQ, Members list etc etc etc.

The possibilities are endless

[DoodleBug]

Dan, I promised a flash intro about a million years ago, things got busy, sorry.

I will try to make time, and have a chat with a few work mates about it.

[Gixxer-TeZ]

Dan, I promised a flash intro about a million years ago, things got busy, sorry.

I will try to make time, and have a chat with a few work mates about it.



TBH Karl I can do a flash into but they slow the site down for those on lesser connections. Much better to have a bandwidth friendly site overall for the good of page loading speed. I think the main issue Dan had when I last spoke to him for the overall layout of the site and getting all the links working and content up to date which is the old raw coding etc.

[The Guvnor]

Dan, I promised a flash intro about a million years ago, things got busy, sorry.

I will try to make time, and have a chat with a few work mates about it.


You promise a lot of things dont you !:rolleyes: :grin2

[DoodleBug]

Feck! Soz Guv. At least the bugger all I have given you is free!

[Gixxer-TeZ]

At least the bugger all I have given you is free!


That sounds like my sort of deal :grin2

[Dan]

I could set up a Beta area if you want, dump the db as it is now and the site and you can have a play?

Let me see what I can sort out.

Are you a Unix admin/user? I could set you up an SSH account on koko to make your life easier as well if you want.

Dan.

[DoodleBug]

Perhaps an area where a few of us can chuck ideas about and leave messages? Not open to general viewing.

[Gixxer-TeZ]

I could set up a Beta area if you want, dump the db as it is now and the site and you can have a play?

Let me see what I can sort out.

Are you a Unix admin/user? I could set you up an SSH account on koko to make your life easier as well if you want.

Dan.

Just a straight ftp Dan and I'll drop everything on to my server and play with it there if poss. I can set up a sub-domain and extra MySql DB to carry the files.
I don't need (or want for that matter) to play with it live, so saving it from it's current location in full and reloading it would be safer and easier.

[Gixxer-TeZ]

Sorry.half asleep.
A beta area would be ok as long as I have access to all files so I can see the CSS and site structure because any links would have to be tied into the themes stylesheet along the top navbar etc

[Tark]

Wow! Lots of Geek talk in here! I got lost After FTP..

Anyone want to build me a site too?

[Gixxer-TeZ]

You could even link to the current Db as that won't / shouldn't need touching. If it does I could PM you for assistance on that part.

[Dan]

Hiya,

I've set up the beta area - http://beta.essexbikers.com for those who want to have a nose at any progress.

I'm going to replicate the forum setup in the next few mins and ive PM'd you with the login details. Its on its own mysql DB but yeah good idea, when you have had a play with it and are ready to test it, I can link it to the main DB and we can see how it looks and works.

Anyone who has a moment, lob some test posts on the new beta site - doesnt matter what you say. Wait until the forums have been created tho, gonna do them now.

Cheers,
Dan.

[ZX600E]

I have a bit of experiense with HTML, Javascipt, CSS and a bit of XHTML plus graphics & video design so im allways willing to lend a hand if its needed.



Heres some graphics work that i have done
http://file033a.bebo.com/0/large/2007/05/16/01/6008381a4392029313b627282211l.jpg

http://file011a.bebo.com/14/large/2007/08/02/02/6008381a5157861920l.jpg

http://file014a.bebo.com/6/large/2006/07/27/15/6008381a1487265542b126091046l.jpg

http://file011a.bebo.com/13/large/2007/08/22/20/6008381a5351807995l.jpg


LMFAO


And this is a website i been building over the last few days its very basic at the moment only just started adding the javascript

http://www.southeastbrothers.co.nr/ (http://www.southeastbrothers.co.nr/)

[Dan]

I still need someone to take over the design of the site - All the hosting and server-side stuff I can take care of, but we really need someone to come along and make the entire site look all spangley.

[ZX600E]

well if you make a list of everything you want on it ill throw one togethere and if you like it we can build on it????

[Dan]

Thats just it... i have no clue what it should contain other than whats here already.

Really I need someone to come along who wants to take total ownership of the site design and i'll make everything work around it

[2E]

Thats just it... i have no clue what it should contain other than whats here already.

Really I need someone to come along who wants to take total ownership of the site design and i'll make everything work around it

Ive been away bored out my skull in tunisia for two weeks so reflected on this whilst out there... i had a idea...:rockon

Here is my idea.. ive seen this on other sites and been personally impressed..:grin2

A flash homepage, bearing in mind most of us get linked to the forum straight away anyway, with helmet/tank cam videos being played in black & white or Sepia mode (easy to do) with occasional pictures like the kind steadyeddie made (full colour bike with b&w background), or even starting off like that and bursting into colour and sound with a awesome band, some great footage and finishing with a dramatic:

WELCOME TO

Essex Bikers

I've got a fair few ideas in my head... if someone can supply me with enough footage, and pictures, ill spend my spare time sorting it out for you.. up to you.:grin1

So if various members, the first that come to mind are Jaygates, stu600 and steadyeddie provide me with pictures & footage to be used in the video that would help, obviously if you have any footage let me know by pm or post it here.:reading

I want to focus more on the things we do here at essex bikers, point out that we are not a group of insane road maniacs set out to ruin the peace of local neighbourhood with our loud exhausts, unfriendly manner, and idiotic speeds.:grin2

Things like rideouts, trackdays, and bike examples (modifications, paintjobs etc) rather than wheelies, burnouts, and genuine tomfoolery that has become a motorcyclist typecast.

Yes there are many of us, myself included, who would like nothing more then to watch the latest footage from members on 'private' roads pulling insane stunts, but lets show the newbies footage like that AFTER they've joined the site eh? ;)

Saying that, any footage from excursions such as california superbike school are welcome and appreciated, all goes to help in making a superb entrance video to the site.:grin2

Your views please.

[Gixxer-TeZ]

Dan, Isn't there a hack to allow youtube clips (plus others) to be linked straight into posts via bbc code ?

I run a VB site. Maybe I'll have a look and maybe test a couple, then if it works you could add a video room amongst the forum like the pics etc.

Talking of pics, I use photoplog for VB which is pretty basic but does the job for those that can't be bothered with image hosting sites.

http://www.ryan-holmes-charity.co.uk/photoplog/

[Gixxer-TeZ]

There is a similar video hack on my other site aswell (not vb though) which works the same as the VB version.

Take a look at the link below and you'll see how it works.
You just copy and paste the youtube url link into the post before submitting the post and the hack does the rest for you.

http://www.wastedyouth.org.uk/index.php?topic=43.0