CD-Media Progress

[Brandon Martus]

CD-Media? What's CD-Media?

I have this discussion via PM or IM all the time:

random user: hey, how do i search the white papers?
me: you can't yet. i have to rewrite it to do so.
random user: hey, how do i search for an image?
me: you can't yet. i have to rewrite the image gallery to do so.

So now, imagine this: the 'Picture Galleries' and the 'White Papers' link up top move around, both at opposite ends of your browser window. Facing each other, they both take off at 47 pixels per second. Nobody chickens out -- ka-boom. Introducing: CD-Media.

Photo Gallery. Searchable. Taggable. Noteable. Favorites. Discussion on the image detail and in the 'Extra Discussion' thread. A 'Who Am I' management screen -- giving you the ability to change your picture whenever you want, etc.

White Papers. Searchable. Taggable. Favorites. Discussion on the white paper detail and in the 'Extra Discussion' thread. Multiple Attachments per white paper.

You can watch my custom status for a very rough and ambiguous status. What will it look like? Click below for a sneak preview, which may or may not totally change. It's a picture of the 'everything' tags page. More popular tags are larger than less popular tags, etc. This screenshot should give you a tiny idea of some of the features and how they're broken apart.



When can you use it? I'm aiming for the end of July, but probably more realistically in August.

Will the old gallery & white papers still work? No, all data will be migrated to the new system. The old links will work, but redirect to the image/paper in the new system.

What about all the old images .. they aren't tagged. How will they get tagged? I know you guys are bored in the off-season .. now you won't be.

What's this 'tag' thing you keep mentioning? Flickr, technorati, and a bunch of other new(ish) sites are all using tags. Basically its one or more keywords (or small phrases) that classfiy something. For Flickr, images; for technorati, links.

So, there -- I am doing stuff, see?

*edit* you can watch things happen to CD-Media now.

[Bharat Nain]

Once again, the man is upto something amazing. All this sounds amazing Brandon. Keep going.

[Mike]

Heh, woot =D

If you need any help on the programming aspect of it, I'd love to help. I'm advanced in OOP PHP.

[Ryan M.]

Originally Posted by Brandon Martus

What's this 'tag' thing you keep mentioning?[/b] Flickr, technorati, and a bunch of other new(ish) sites are all using tags. Basically its one or more keywords (or small phrases) that classfiy something. For Flickr, images; for technorati, links.

And Gmail, don't forget Gmail. The tags are the same concepts as labels, correct?

[Brandon Martus]

Originally Posted by Ryan M.

And Gmail, don't forget Gmail. The tags are the same concepts as labels, correct?

Yes, same as labels. I was tempted to not use the Categories anymore, but I figured we'd have a repeat of the Fixed-Width Fiasco of '05, and I would get burned at the stake, or something.

Speaking of GMail, we'll also be using Ajax like Google uses on GMail, Google Maps. Flickr uses it. It's the new thing. I just tested out something quick, and was successful. This is going to really cool.

[Mike]

Originally Posted by Brandon Martus

we'll also be using Ajax

I'd reaaally like to see this when it's done =D now

[Cory]

Brandon is my hero

I've been wishing for searchable image galleries forever. Can't wait until this comes out.

Awesome work, Brandon!

[Mike Schroeder]

I don't think Brandon is actually doing this, I think he has CD-47 Bot and Archiver locked in a closet doing all this while he has fun :-p


just kidding this is going to be awesome Brandon

[SoftwareBug2.0]

It would be cool if it's possible to see a live version throughout its development.

[Brandon Martus]

Originally Posted by SoftwareBug2.0

It would be cool if it's possible to see a live version throughout its development.

I suppose that could be allowable. Now you'll get to see my sloppy development techniques. I just ask that you don't IM, PM, or reply here with "hey, this is broke" or any suggestions until after I ask. Chances are I know about the problem or haven't finished it yet. Once I'm ready, I'll ask for your suggestions to improve it. I want to get it mostly working, first.

Tonight, I've been working with Ajax for the first time. I'm using it to show the White Papers in the lists (it will eventually do the pagination & sorting without a page reload). The CSS is pretty messed up, so .. enjoy.

http://www.chiefdelphi.com/media/

[Elgin Clock]

So.. will the tags work harmoniously with the custom captions for each image?

Like.. if I submit a pic with the word tetra in it, can I then search for pictures with the word tetra in the captions?

[Brandon Martus]

You'll be able to search the titles and descriptions in addition to just browsing via tags. You'd have to tag the picture with 'tetra' for it to show on the 'tetra' tag page.

The cool thing about tags: On a white paper about transmissions, one of the tags it has is 'transmission'. We could then provide a link to possible related pictures (like, those tagged with 'transmission'). Or CD-Swap items tagged with 'transmission' (what? tags on CD-Swap?). Or Spotlight items tagged with 'transmission' (what? tags in the spotlight system?).

[Billfred]

One side question: How are we supposed to keep track if you lost count?

(This is going to be leet. Or something like that. I can't wait.)

[Brandon Martus]

Originally Posted by Billfred

One side question: How are we supposed to keep track if you lost count?

It was late, and it's hard to count the lines in all the little templates.

Since I've opened up the page for you all to look at, my custom status may just indicate which part I'm working on (or just worked on) so you can see what's changed.

[JohnBoucher]

This is way cool. We all appreciate what you're doing.

Does this mean I don't have to change my screen name to Random User??