Website Updates (again!)

[Caffrey]

Hey all,

I know it's been a while since I've touched the Easy39th website and it's been messy and severely outdated, filled with old pictures, dead links, and what-not. Plus, that little fiasco with the CHG website that I got myself into sort of tossed me over the wall and I didn't want anything to do with html for months...

Anyway, I have a break coming up and I figured it's the best time to start modifying the website and bring it up to date. I've already made a number of changes to the main site, including updating and collapsing menu topics, as well as updating the membership roster online. I am going to standardize the formatting a little bit more so that it is easier to read and find your way around. The videos suck; the compression format is obsolete and take forever to load (if it decides to work at all...), so I'm going to reconfigure the embedding code and make it a bit more user friendly. The photos section is currently down, as it is next on my plate of pages to repair.

If anybody has any suggestions or ideas, please post it here or send me an e-mail. I always appreciate feedback, and want to make the unit website the best for everybody. Thanks!

[Sandino]

Sounds good, Caffrey!

[McCluskey]

A suggestion I have, is something that dissapeared with the last massive change to the forum. On the homepage, you can access all the different sections, videos, pictures, events, etc. But on the forum you cannot. That's something I miss from the old forums.

[Caffrey]

Kevin, I miss that feature too!!

The problem was when I upgraded the forum database (because the old one got shitloads of spam attacks) the entire server was brought up to version RC3, which didn't support the integrated frame or templates like before. I'm sure some of you remember having massive problems with the Firefox explorer after the upgrade.There were additional problems too, such as the fonts and styles getting confused and I spent hours manually resetting code, just to find it made all new problems. I hadn't realized the extent of the code changes in phpBB, so I simply deleted the menu on the side and suddenly all the errors corrected themselves. Maybe in the future I'll figure out a way to bring the menu back into the forum, but the latest versions of phpBB are still designed to stand alone it seems.

At the very least, I'll try to add a link to the Home page. Right now I don't think there is one, so you have to type easy39th.com into the URL bar to get back. It's annoying, I know...

[Caffrey]

Hey guys,

I have been updating the website since it's been needing a few updates for a while. I added a new link in the navigation bar of the forum. So now there is a direct link to the main site. Just click on: Main Website Other changes include redesigning the index page so it's a little more user-friendly to the newer web browsers. I changed over all the videos on the server to YouTube links, since their streaming is much better than ours; no more Quicktime junk. I also added a couple more video shorts to the lot. All the other pages were updated: Fonts changed and layouts cleaned up to look a little more aesthetically pleasing and broken links repaired. I never got to finishing the photos page, so I'll fix that up next and I think that is it for most of the changes.

Let me know if anybody has any ideas for the website.

[Sandino]

Keep up the good work, bro.

[Heinlein]

Great job, Caffrey!

[Caffrey]

The Korean War section is now a part of our main website! If you want to check it out, there is a new link on the main menu. Or just follow this link: http://www.easy39th.com/korea

[Heinlein]

Caffrey, the Korean War section looks great! Good job!

[Ben]

Caffrey, the Korean War section looks great! Good job!

I second that.

[Baker]

Third, it looks really good, but you need to update the site pics, you can take some of the pics from my facebook if need be.

[Caffrey]

I know. I'm working on the WW2 photos section right now!

[Caffrey]

As requested, a Gulf War subforum has been created under the Alternate Impressions forum. I also added subforums links on the index page under General Discussion and Alternate Impressions forums of the Reenacting catagory.

[Baker]

that's all and good, but what about the photos section.

[Caffrey]

I put up about 28 pictures on the Photos page. I had 50 ready to be uploaded, but I accidentally deleted half of them (due to a software glitch). Check them out and let me know what you think.

Edit:

There are now 48 pictures uploaded. Baker, if you can send me the photos from the last Marching Through History Expo, I can get those up too.

[Sandino]

Caff, nice job!! Pat, you know which picture to send to him. Do it. Need I say more?

[Heinlein]

Amazing job on the unit website, Caffrey. Thanks for your time and effort! Looks great!

[Caffrey]

Thanks for the e-mail Drew!

I included 26 additional photos, so now there are three pages of pictures on the website. That should be enough for now... Let me know if you find any broken links.

[Heinlein]

Everything looks great, Caffrey! Great job!

[Caffrey]

Does anybody have additional ideas, suggestions, or commentary towards the website right now?

An idea I had for the impression page would include a lot more research with photo examples for various uniform/equipment setups on a mannequin. That way we could demonstrate exact, by-the-book, uniform types and how to wear it properly using original items. I often see people do this kind of thing for their unit websites, but it's never near perfect for the period manuals, not to mention the tons of reproduction clothing photographed. Between the lot of us, we have tons of original crap we can document and photograph. A project of this extent could even make us a staple in the re-enacting research community, not to sound too pompous.

[McCluskey]

Perhaps a page with a basic break-down of gear and uniforms and average re-enactor would need. Along with vendor recommendations.

[Caffrey]

That's a good idea, Kevin. Would anybody be interested in typing something like this up?

[Heinlein]

That's a good idea, Kevin. Would anybody be interested in typing something like this up?

I wouldn't mind putting something like this together. As well, it might be good to put together a pamphlet, something short, that can help the potential member in getting acquanted with the WWII soldier before they go out in the field. Later, once the person become a member, additional reading would be issued to them (i.e. Soldiers Field Manual, etc.). Hard Scrabble Farm has a lot of beginner resources that could be used with the latter.

I don't think it's pompous at all to want to serve the reenactor/academic community by making our website a key source for information. Especially if its well documented, has plenty of pictoral evidence, etc. This, I think , should be the gole of all living historians/reenactors.

I'm getting paid this Friday so I'll be putting together some of the FM 21-100s together fairly soon.

[Caffrey]

I was thinking that when we've finished putting together an example of a Unit handbook or primer panphlet, that should also be offered for download on the website. Maybe not the materials relevant to our group, but at least the training and studying information such as line-drawings or photographs. Conversely, we can then use the website examples of uniforms inside our primer packets.

I do like the idea of a page dedicated to finding uniform parts, collecting originals, and which reproduction vendors to recommend for various items. We talk about this stuff all the time, but it's never written down anywhere specific for reference.

[Heinlein]

The unit primer is coming along quite well. When done it sould only be around 30 pages. Most pages consist of simple diagrams and pictures. Something easy for the new reenactor/member to grasp. I might be able to cut down the pages number to something a little less, though. Caffrey, within the next week or two I'll have it done. I'll send you a copy online (or in person) and you can let me know what you think.

[Caffrey]

Sounds great, Drew! I look forward to see what you've come up with.

[Caffrey]

Hello everybody,

Just a little update from the previous posts in this thread... Drew and I have finished publishing the prototype "Unit Primer" booklet. If you would like to review it, we can give you a hard copy in person, or you may download it directly from this website.

Click on the booklet to view the packet:


We appreciate any feedback.
Some material courtesy of Brian Mead at Hardscrabble Farm.