patchcamp.com blog » Base Camp Beta Test

How to provide feedback

Glenn Chase — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 06:17:37 +0000

Thanks for taking the time to test-drive the December, 2006 update to The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp! You’ll find the updated site available for your review at http://patchcamp.ranchochase.com

There’s a couple of ways to provide feedback. First, please fill out the quick and easy survey.

Then, if you’d like to provide more specific details about the site I encourage you to try out a very cool new way to annotate a web site with your comments using fleck.com. It will enable you to add the electronic equivalent of sticky notes to the Base Camp and share them. Fleck only works with the Firefox browser so far, but does not require you to install any plugins or register for an account. If you are using Firefox, here’s a link to annotate the newly updated Base Camp with your comments. Please feel free to send me your annotated pages via email (spanky at mac dot com).

You’ll find links to the survey and to annotate the Patch Collector’s Base Camp at the bottom of the home page. Of course you are always welcome to send me a direct email as well.

I’m looking forward to reading your comments and opinions!

Six years of The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp

Glenn Chase — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 03:10:50 +0000

The Scout Patch Collector’s Base Camp was officially launched to the public on Election Day, November, 2000. Since then the site has served over 175,000 visitors from over 100 countries.

Web development has come a long way in half a decade, and it’s time for the Base Camp to undergo significant changes, both in appearance and in underlying code, to bring it up to date and take advantage of the many new technologies now available.

The revisions will start gradually, however, with a content refresh to remove dead links and add new ones. The site is also moving to a new host where I will be able to implement scripts and add features that are not possible with the Time Warner Roadrunner server where the Base Camp launched and has resided for 5 years. Don’t worry – the site address will remain http://www.patchcamp.com and I will implement an automatic redirect at the austin.rr.com URL to the new location.
After the beginning of 2007 look for a major facelift to the Base Camp to streamline the content to reduce load times and scrolling requirements. For now, though, efforts are concentrated on the site migration, content update, and building the foundation for a richer, more interactive experience in the future.

Patchcamp November 2006 revisions

Glenn Chase — Sun, 19 Nov 2006 03:08:19 +0000

If you compare the existing version of The Patch Collector’s Base Camp with the updated version that’s scheduled to go live on December 1 there aren’t many easily noticeable differences. In fact, the changes may not even seem significant enough to warrant testing by a select group of users. But be assured that many hours of efforts have gone into updating and modernizing the Base Camp. Here’s a list of the changes and new features in case you’d like some clues to what’s new:

Transferred site to new host (Wirenine.com).
Set up and implemented Google-powered custom search engine that specifically searches only Scout patch related web sites.
Began migration to CSS styling to reduce page loading times and simplify appearance revisions.
Implemented custom bullets and mouseover thumbnail popups for linked sites (powered by Websnapr and Brian McAllister’s Link Preview script).
Installed Google Analytics for traffic analysis and outbound link tracking.
Added persistent “back to top” icon on right side (code courtesy Brian McAllister).
Added subclassifications and revised some category titles for clarification.
Removed dead links, added several new sites, including:

Implemented “heat map” and outbound link tracking (courtesy CrazyEgg.com).
Added Recent Visitor Location Map powered by gvisit.com and Google Maps.

Beta tester invitations go out

Glenn Chase — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 03:30:30 +0000

As December 1 creeps closer by the minute time for testing by a pilot group of users gets shorter, so even though the edges aren’t completely smooth invitations went out by email Friday evening seeking feedback for the Base Camp.

Beta testers were instrumental in the development of the original Base Camp back in November of 2000, and I am hopeful that eyes of others can spot what I’ve missed, and helpful suggestions can make the site better than I imagined.