Transition Update #3

[Steve Miller]

We are officially in the third week of transition and things are moving along quite nicely.
The new website will be, for all intents and purposes, complete by mid week, at which time we will concentrate fully on content population of items outside of the primary database, i.e. FAQ, original ST mailings, wiki, etc.

I offer mad props to Mark Blue who has put the most time into this effort. Also, the design and idea skills of Dan Robinson have been essential. Thank yous also go to Patrick Marsh for PDF parsing a gazillion copies of the Stormtrack periodical. Scott Bennett has been a huge help with domain and server-side fun and Jesse Risley continues to assist with text items. Skip Talbot has been concentrating on the podcast I'm sure many of you have tuned in to watch over the past four weeks.

My internal goal upon Tim's announcement was to have a new site ready to launch prior to NSCC and now I'm ready to make that official. At this time I see no reason why we will not launch prior to that event. I will save teasers for my next transition post but suffice it to say, you'll be happy.

At this time I would like to offer an opportunity for three ST members to join us at the new site for vetting purposes. This will require some evening time beginning late this week. Your job will be to go through the new website and provide feedback. In addition, we would like you to share your experience on the new site with the current ST forum. Please reply in this thread if you are interested in committing 2-3 hours total to this.

Have a great week,
Steve

 

[Shane Adams]

I'm in. Sounds fun. Extra words so I can post.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I'll do it if that's ok with everyone.

EDIT: I just want to stop and say thanks to everyone that has put hard work into making Stormtrack what it once was! Hopefully we can get some of the vets back as well as others that have left.

 

[Mike Tobin]

im in steve ill do what i can.

 

[Jeff Duda]

I visit the website every day anyway, so I might as well offer my assistance.

 

[Jeff Smith]

I would be glad too as well.

 

[Rodney Nonamaker]

I'd offer my time to assist all you who've built this amazing site I've only just started here, but have loved it...fb and twitter and phone calls to fellow chasers was my only release for weather chat. No one in Hays, who chases, that I click with...but ST has been a great, with the dedicated topics forum rather than random social media posts, and the chat is great fun.

Again, great site!

 

[Steve Miller]

Hey Rodney! Thanks for being a part of this. Enjoy using the site!

 

[Steve Miller]

Update: Thank you to everyone interested in testing the new site! The first three volunteers were selected: Shane, Jason & Mike. Should one of them be unable to participate, Jeff will be the alternate. Testers will gain access to the site this evening. Check your PM's guys.
Thanks,
Steve

 

[Jason Boggs]

Looking forward to it, and thanks for the opportunity Steve!!!

 

[Jason Boggs]

Update: Obviously I'm one of the beta testers for the new site, and I have to say that the new site freaking rocks!!! These guys behind the scenes have done a fabulous job working their tails off in getting this site going, and we are all working hard on making sure everything works. This site is ST on steroids!!! Grab your friends and get them to join!!!

 

[Shane Adams]

As another beta tester, I can confirm everything Jason says. The new site is going to be awesome, and has a lot of brand new bells, whistles, and toys all designed to improve user experience and connect storm chasers like never before. I'm stumbling around still learning how everything works, but it's been a great experience. Without giving too much away, I will just leave you with this: the "hashtag" feature is going to be (IMO) one of the coolest innovations.

 

[Jason Boggs]

I wished I could give Shane a thumbs up for his post because I agree with everything he says!

I'm also trying to get used to how everything works, but honestly, I have only found very minor issues that have been fixed right away. Again, the guys behind the scenes are doing a fabulous job. It will take a little time to get to know your way around, but when you do, you'll love it. I agree with Shane that the hashtag feature will be really cool.

The layout of the new site is very clean, and everything loads very fast for me. All in all it's a very big success!!!!

 

[Mark Blue]

Thank you gentlemen for the positive feedback. It confirms to me that all of the effort we've put into it hasn't been in vain. It's not perfect yet by any stretch, but given some time I think we can dial it in and tighten it up, so everyone can enjoy what you guys have seen over the last 24 hours or so. I'm very pleased with where we are now based on the above and can finally take a deep breath. There's still a lot of work left but I believe we'll eventually get there.

I have two words for everyone else: feature-rich!!

 

[Jason Boggs]

And thank you for your hard work Mark! It definitely hasn't been in vain!!!