Website Redesign Update

[Admin]

The site is going to be a mess this weekend (unfortunately). The site had to go "live" since it is PHP based (long story, not even sure I understand it) so I am going to be working endlessly to update and fix everything.

Search engine links also will not work, as all of the pages on the website are now .php instead of .html extensions...not sure how I am going to forward those (one step at a time though).

I'm pulling my hair out right now (and I really don't have any), so back to work for me! It'll be worth it!!!

[Iggy]

Good luck to you and I'm sure the final result will be well worth it!

Go easy on the hair though, maybe you could pick up an old Alf doll and pull from there

[Admin]

A majority of pages are up, but there are still a few things that will take me a while (trivia, pictures, etc.) - I would say 80-85% of the site is back up and running normally.

The forum is scheduled to be updated TONIGHT, so expect a new look soon!

[Admin]

The alftv.net to alftv.com conversion is complete...took me three HOURS! I didn't expect it to be that much work. A few things:

1) Even if you type in the .net name you will be redirected to .com
2) ALL search engine links should be making their way to the .com address, along with the .php extensions (as I am not using .html files anymore)
3) Shouldn't lose any search engine rankings...that's always the problem with this kind of project, but I was careful enough with the redirects that everything should be smooth as butter (fingers crossed). The type of redirect I use (there are different kinds) is designed to show the search engines that the website has moved and is still there...almost like forwarding your mail at the post office.

I hope you don't mind me keeping you all informed. I'm definitely STILL excited about it all. What's also great is that I set up Macromedia Dreamweaver MX 2004 (the program I use for the website) to connect DIRECTLY to the server, which means that once I make a change on my computer and hit "ctrl+s" - it's on the site automatically! No logging into my FTP client software to upload every file manually! What used to take me 5 minutes now takes 5 seconds (literally, no exaggeration there).

If you notice anything "funky" please let me know so I can look into it. Forum upgrade is tonight folks! Be sure to check back in the morning

[AxelFoley]

Only "problem" I have is the lack of space background that is so classic to ALF sites. Will this be permamently gone on the forum?

Other than that, great job!

[Admin]

Sorry, no space background.

When the forum template is updated, it will look like the rest of the site (no ads or side bars of course, so it will take up almost the whole page horizontally).

Even though there will be no space background involved, I really think that you'll like it when it's complete. Though I got word today that it will be done by WEDNESDAY, so it'll be a few days yet...

[AxelFoley]

But... there's a space background right now, far up on the forum where the topics are scrolling up

[Admin]

I had to go through some code on the forum, so I changed the background while I was rewriting some stuff (it was changed automatically the other day when I updated the scrolling topics feature for the rest of the website).

Enjoy it while it lasts
-
hehe

[Admin]

Thank you all for bearing with me through the redesign process, your patience is greatly appreciated.

The forum is almost finished, BUT the scrolling topics feature has not yet been restored. It should be back within the next day or so. In the meantime, you will have to go to the "search" button and click on "view new posts" to see the most recent topics. OR you can just go the homepage (http://www.alftv.com) and open the links in a new tab.

The chat room is also not working (you can log on, but can't submit any text). I think that's a completely unrelated issue though...

Enjoy!

[melmacian56]

I am LOVING the new redesign for the web site and forum. The change was needed. Everything looks really professional! I really like the new forum layout. It doesn't take very long to get used to it at all

There's only one thing I think should be changed. I don't really like the background used on the scrolling topics for the forum on the homepage. That's just my opinion.

[Admin]

Thanks, I'm glad that you like it. I think it was well worth the time, money, and wait. I've been looking at my website stats, and visitors to the site are staying for longer periods of time...I definitely think that has to do with the user-friendly and attractive design. Overall visits are down right now...until the site gets back into Google that is. The site should hopefully be back on the first page of the search engines (for the "ALF" keyword) within the next week or two. Right now it has been on and off the first page because the bots are still "digesting" the new domain name, page URLS, and titles (I redirected them all, so it will not be an issue as far as rankings are concerned).

I will look into additional backgrounds...there are quite a few sites out there with free backgrounds, and maybe one of those would work.