NANO Contest Page is officially OPEN

[asfullax]

quick link:
http://www.nmoceankeepers.com/nano

Hey all,

Well, there is a long story associated with the reason the site was not completed last Friday, but I will spare you the details.

The site is UP, and running finally. I have decided to go with a UN-SECURE method for uploading pictures and blog posts because we are all adults right??? if there are problems / violations in the future, contestants will be disciplined and possibly removed from the contest, so just DON'T do it.

Photos and blogs can be uploaded / entered but cannot be removed except by myself. This is by design, so make sure you upload what you mean to upload. Any non-relevant images will be removed.

Hmmm, what else???

Oh yeah, Emoticons on the blog DO work, common ones found here will work fine. The image updates work in two stages, so while you are uploading, if your child / computer closes your session, don't worry. Your uploads will be saved until you hit FINISH, which then they will be moved over to your private photo album.

Anyway, here are some of the features of the site:
Dynamic 2 stage upload process
Working memory retention
Automatic Upload resizing
Automatic gallery generation
real-time thumbnail generation
File name conversion to assure date / time consistency
Private / non-accessible simple blog file structure
blah, blah, blah

let me tell you a few things though. The main reason the site took longer then anticipated is because I was under the assumption that I could use some pre-made scripts. This is NOT the case, I wound up spending >60 hours programming the back end. What am I getting at? There WILL be bugs!!! I can promise that. I am a good programmer, but I would call this "alpha" stage. BUT it is functional so just use it as it was intended.

Any issues can be sent to me here or through e-mail (ctb (at) softhome (d0t) net)

If your name is NOT on the entrants list, just click the SIGNUP link and enter in your info.

As usuall, if you need instant help, let me know @ 505-550-9631
Alex

 

[leena]

thank you for the site Alex - and thank you Israel for posting the earlier link.

 

[asfullax]

Hey all. Well the first wave of bugs have been reported and most have been fixed. Here is a quick list:

1. Pictures become out of order after uploading
the picture ordering issue has been fixed. I had an "m" instead of a "i"

2. Images larger then a few megs fail to upload correctly:
The large image issue I MAY not be able to fix because that is a limitation of the hosting company. still working on it though.

3. It would be nice to have text associated with each picture:
The text / picture thing is currently being worked on. I have an idea for a "Roll Over" text box that appears that displays the text the user typed in when uploading.


New Features / unreported fixes
1. I have added an "Updated" image that shows up by user names that have added a picture or blog entry within the last 24 hours.

2. I also fixed the upload page, apparently it was hard coded from development, I forgot to change that SO the list of files / filenames will show up on the left hand box and the pictures on the right when uploading.

3. I also added the ability to upload .tiff, .gif, and a few other file types and have them automatically converted to JPG. So, just about any picture can be added and the system will do the rest.

!!!!! KNOWN BUGS !!!!!
1. There is an issue with uploading animated gifs where the image is exploded into each frame BUT the filename is not converted so you end up with a bunch of invalid files. I MAY not fix this because there shouldent be a true need for animated gifs.

2. Blogs allow users to enter in blank entries. I will be resolving this over the weekend.

!!!!! Planned Features !!!!!
I am currently working on a VIDEO upload section for each contestant that will accept .mpg, .avi and .wmv

Thanks for the feedback!

 

[asfullax]

Update:

Some more bugs / features have been brought up:

!!!!! KNOWN BUGS !!!!!
1. There is an issue with uploading animated gifs where the image is exploded into each frame BUT the filename is not converted so you end up with a bunch of invalid files. I MAY not fix this because there shouldent be a true need for animated gifs.

2. Blogs allow users to enter in blank entries. I will be resolving this over the weekend.

3. Anytime a " or a ' is entered in the text, the emoticon filter is inputing a \. Not sure why, but I will look at this on sunday.

!!!!! Planned Features !!!!!
1. I am currently working on a VIDEO upload section for each contestant that will accept .mpg, .avi and .wmv

2. This is a great idea that was brought up, and something I completely overlooked while working on the back-end, "Have the contestant's name on the top of the page." Well, this is very easy to do manually, but I am going to program an automated system to match the rest of the application . I plan on using this application for future contests and journals SO it might take a few days, but this will be added very soon.


Keep them coming!

 

[israelnajar]

I think you need to rethink the password protection or at least make it clear that a person is to post into their own entrant section. That said what is to keep a malicious RC member or person that happens to stumble onto our page to post random entries onto an entrants page or upload inappropriate photos?

 

[asfullax]

Mostly, well, me.

I am checking the site every few hours and if anything becomes "ODD" it will be removed, the ip address will be traced (and yes, I can find anyone, thats part of what I do for a living lol) that member will be notified.

I can impliment a secure system, in fact, it is pretty much complete, but I wanted to simplify the system for the users. I will be including a "notification" of who's page the user is posting too soon, so users will be able to verify that they are posting it to the right section.

Again, if anything happens things will change, but if everybody behaves, I say lets just keep it simple.

Oh yeah, everything is backed up every night and the files are completly modifiable, so I can remove specific posts if needed and provide modification logs if needed.

 

[asfullax]

Update:

!!!!! KNOWN BUGS !!!!!
1a. FIXED: large file uploads (greater then 2 megs)were being ignored and not allowed. I have modified the back end compiler, and this should no longer be an issue as long as the file is under 10 megs and uploading does not take longer then 4 minutes. If this is still an issue, let me know and I will up it a little bit more

1b. There is an issue with uploading animated gifs where the image is exploded into each frame BUT the filename is not converted so you end up with a bunch of invalid files. I MAY not fix this because there shouldent be a true need for animated gifs.

2. Blogs allow users to enter in blank entries. I will be resolving this over the weekend.

3. Anytime a " or a ' is entered in the text, the emoticon filter is inputing a \. Not sure why, but I will look at this on sunday.

!!!!! Planned Features !!!!!
1. I am currently working on a VIDEO upload section for each contestant that will accept .mpg, .avi and .wmv

2. FIXED: I have added user name notification on all pages using some dynamic code so any future additions will not require any "manual" coding


Keep them coming!

 

[asfullax]

Update:

!!!!! KNOWN BUGS !!!!!
1b. There is an issue with uploading animated gifs where the image is exploded into each frame BUT the filename is not converted so you end up with a bunch of invalid files. I MAY not fix this because there shouldent be a true need for animated gifs.


2. FIXED: Blogs allow users to enter in blank entries. I will be resolving this over the weekend.
This has been resolved. You will receive an error message if you submit a blank entry


3. FIXED: Anytime a " or a ' is entered in the text, the emoticon filter is inputing a \. Not sure why, but I will look at this on sunday.
This annoying little bug has been fixed. I guess this is a common issue with the language I am using, although resolving it is not so common

!!!!! Planned Features !!!!!
1. I am currently working on a VIDEO upload section for each contestant that will accept .mpg, .avi and .wmv

Keep them coming!

 

[israelnajar]

Hurry with the video section already Alex!!! I have a video to upload. I guess I will just have to wait.

 

[israelnajar]

Why does it say that 'entrant' updated and then there are no updates to blog or photos?

 

[asfullax]

not sure, but its fixed now. I will look into the "Ghost" issue tomorrow.

 

[asfullax]

UPDATE:

I have locked down the photo upload section to only allow publishing if photos are uploaded. I have a feeling the site was being hit by a few spiders causing the file update field to be updated.

I also centralized the uploading to a single "Non-Hackable" format. this should increase security and increase the validity of IP address logging and eliminate IP Spoofing / Jumping.

Anyway,
I am still trying to setup a video upload section, but I have been spending some much needed time with my kiddos and my tank. so hopefully this next week I will have something going.