The Jalopy Journal & The H.A.M.B. – Version 7.0

I actually went back and counted. This is the seventh version of the website… And without question, this is the biggest redesign we have ever done. From a technical standpoint, it was a huge undertaking and one that took far longer than I had ever imagined. In the professional world, taking your site down for an entire week is akin to virtual suicide. But honestly, I’ve never been all that professional.

In any case, welcome to The Jalopy Journal & The H.A.M.B. – Version 7.0.

After a week of no sleep, lots of setbacks, and even more steps forward it sure is nice to have you back. You might notice that we have redecorated the joint quite a bit. I’m pretty proud of the clean, fresh, and new look. However, this revolution permeates far deeper than the skin. We’ve added a ton of new features to The H.A.M.B. and simplified a bunch of others. In the coming days I’ll go into each of these new features in a little more detail, but for now my sleepless and caffein saturated brain can only imagine a simple (and probably incomplete) list.

1. Image uploading. This was really one of the most focused on goals of the redesign. Our old system of file attachments was archaic and tended to piss off more than those it helped. Our new system is simple and stream lined. You should be able to upload images to threads (as well as your own galleries) with ease and without uttering a single curse word.

2. Instagram. This was a late development, but something I have been working on for over a year. If you use Instagram, you can now display your image feed on your H.A.M.B. profile as well as use your Instagram photos while posting threads or replies. Details here.

3. Tagging. Yes, user tagging has finally made it’s way to the H.A.M.B.. Details here.

4. Social Forums. We introduced social groups a few years ago as a way for people to host their own private forums. The feature was never very well planned out or executed, so we decided to rethink the entire idea. “Social Forums” will launch later this week… And don’t worry, if you hosted a social group on the old platform all of your threads and posts have been saved and will be imported into the new system.

5. Mobile. We still have the iPhone and Android Apps, but we really wanted to make the site more accessible from a mobile browser as well. This is another work in progress, but even so – it’s coming along nicely (despite how it might look now), but we have a lot more to accomplish.

7. Private Messaging. A completely new system that allows you to have group conversations, private conversations, attach files, etc… At first, this is going to seem overly complicated to a lot of you. Give it a chance – you will be glad you did.

8. Alerts. This was a big one. You can now be alerted anytime you are on the H.A.M.B. (or even by your mobile device) when someone tags you, quotes you, or adds content to anything you are following. You will learn to love this new feature – promise.

9…

There are literally hundreds of other small improvements and conveniences throughout the site. I think the best way to get to know them all is to just dive in and start participating. As with any change of this type, some of you are going to get frustrated. Hell, some of you are going to send me death threats. I’m cool with that. Just give the joint a chance. That’s all I ask…

Also, please keep in mind that there is bound to be bugs out there… I expect the site to be up and down all week until we get some of the major (but at this time still unknown) bugs out of the system. If you find a bug, please list it here. I will also list some of our known bugs on that thread.

That’s it… Well, there is one more thing. This past week has been tough – not only from a physical standpoint, but from a financial one as well. So much so, that I am going to do something I NEVER do:

If you find any joy at all on the H.A.M.B., please consider an Alliance membership. You can buy one here or here. I’d certainly appreciate the support.