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Kristofer Dahl
Here is some news for those of you wondering what happens behind the curtains at GMC!

We have spent the last couple of months switching development agency - which has caused the development pace to slow down. However it seems we are at the end of the tunnel and I hope we will be able to create some strong improvements of the site's functionality in 2012.

Here are some small tweaks which (for most part) went live today:

* Bookmarks feature streamlined
Bookmarking is done now all within one menu by clicking on "Bookmarks" icon in the upper right corner. To bookmark a lesson: visit the lesson page and go to bookmarks>bookmark this lesson. Also, the lesson page does no longer reload when bookmarking (that used to cause the lesson video to start playing again).

* New Lesson Series categories
Now its possible to browse lesson series by categories and more easily navigate the page.

* Sound cloud embedding :
It is now possible to embed soundcloud files in the forum. Click here to read more about it.

* Forum PMs being cut off
It would happen sometimes when you receive a Private Message in the forum, that the pop-up window that informs you about it would be cut-off to the side and not show the full message. This is now fixed.

* Broken avatar in lesson feedback
Students who don't have a forum avatar set in the forum would have a broken image showing in Chrome and IE when they post lesson feedback : http://pix.thefarm.se/20110628003030/20111213205412/
This is now fixed by showing a generic avatar there.

* Old GMC background showing in forum
It was possible to see an old GMC background forum when realoading the pages in the forum. This could also have a slight impact on forum performance. This is now fixed.

* Lesson Playback
It is now possible to pause the video in the lessons by clicking on the screen. Get fullscreen by double clicking. (test it)

* Insert Special Item
It is possible to access Youtube, Soundcloud and Tab custom tags via "Insert Special Item" option when writing the posts : http://screencast.com/t/gzxRawrv

* Broken forum attachment icons
Some unknown file types had broken image when added as an attachment in the forum. This is now fixed.

* Keywords bug
Some keywords like power chords, arpeggios etc would "eat" the punctation signs that follow. This is fixed.

* Linkmembers feature for webmasters is now updated.

* Rate lesson button removed
We have have removed some elements on the lesson pages that were rarely used. This will allow for new stuff and cleaner pages.

If you find bugs or want to suggest new features or improvements - big or small - we would really appreciate it! Just shoot! GMC students know better than anyone else what the site really needs.
Dinaga
Awesome! biggrin.gif

The most frustrating bug out of these was the page reloading while bookmarking a lesson. So glad it's resolved now! smile.gif
Love how you're paying attention to every little detail. smile.gif Will submit if I find any more problematic stuff!

maharzan
Nice!!

I am not sure what font styles you are using but sometimes the fonts don't render on me. Arent you using Google Fonts ?
FrontlineGuitar
sounds awesome smile.gif the only thing I would say is just the loading bar of a video/backing track is pretty hard to actually click on sometimes and drag around.. other than that sounds great smile.gif
Kristofer Dahl
QUOTE (maharzan @ Feb 15 2012, 02:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Nice!!

I am not sure what font styles you are using but sometimes the fonts don't render on me. Arent you using Google Fonts ?


For normal text we are using standard fonts, and for headers we are rendering a non standard font as an image (so that everybody can see it).

Please show us a screenshot when this happens next time!

QUOTE (FrontlineGuitar @ Feb 15 2012, 02:38 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
sounds awesome smile.gif the only thing I would say is just the loading bar of a video/backing track is pretty hard to actually click on sometimes and drag around.. other than that sounds great smile.gif


Thanks - are you referring the actual handles/bar being too small? Or the fact that it won't obey your clicking?
JD_
Nice work! These are great updates.

One suggestion would be, when leaving feedback for a lesson (on the right hand side of the main page window) it would be great to be notified when the instructor replies to the feedback.

Cheers
Kristofer Dahl
QUOTE (JaxN4 @ Feb 15 2012, 02:43 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
One suggestion would be, when leaving feedback for a lesson (on the right hand side of the main page window) it would be great to be notified when the instructor replies to the feedback.


Thanks - this would of course rock!

We will need to think about how to do this in the best possible way. Adding it to the list smile.gif
JD_
QUOTE (Kristofer Dahl @ Feb 15 2012, 01:46 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Thanks - this would of course rock!

We will need to think about how to do this in the best possible way. Adding it to the list smile.gif



Email Perhaps? Just like Forum Topics.... And ppl who don't want it can access the options in the "MY Controls" section... also just like Forum subscribe topic.

cool.gif
thefireball
This is awesome, Kris!! smile.gif I did notice the bookmark update a few weeks ago and was pleased about that as well.
Dinaga
This popped up in my mind a while ago, so I'll mention it:

Lesson responses in the "Workshops" page is a very good idea. I think that it would be even better to also have lesson responses listed in that particular lesson's page. That way when we browse lessons we can immediately see how other users handled that particular lesson. smile.gif
Todd Simpson
Good to hear smile.gif Always great when new features and fixes come online!

Todd
JD_
QUOTE (Dinaga @ Feb 15 2012, 02:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
This popped up in my mind a while ago, so I'll mention it:

Lesson responses in the "Workshops" page is a very good idea. I think that it would be even better to also have lesson responses listed in that particular lesson's page. That way when we browse lessons we can immediately see how other users handled that particular lesson. smile.gif



+1

I believe this used to be a feature that you could view on the stats page of the lesson, but has since been disbled
Kristofer Dahl
QUOTE (Dinaga @ Feb 15 2012, 03:47 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Lesson responses in the "Workshops" page is a very good idea. I think that it would be even better to also have lesson responses listed in that particular lesson's page. That way when we browse lessons we can immediately see how other users handled that particular lesson. smile.gif


Very good point! We used to have it like that - but it was poorly integrated with another feature which made it hard to find. I will think some more about it!

QUOTE (JaxN4 @ Feb 15 2012, 04:04 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
+1

I believe this used to be a feature that you could view on the stats page of the lesson, but has since been disbled


It was actually under another tab called "community" - which we removed (because it sucked).

However your comment made me think that we could just add "amount of student video responses" or something like that on the stats page - and then just have that link to a page with the relevant youtube videos.
Gabriel Leopardi
Those are great improvements! Well done Kris!! I love to see the GP files attached without the broken icon! smile.gif
maharzan
Heres what I got earlier...

Click to view attachment
Alex Feather
QUOTE (Kristofer Dahl @ Feb 15 2012, 12:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Here is some news for those of you wondering what happens behind the curtains at GMC!

We have spent the last couple of months switching development agency - which has caused the development pace to slow down. However it seems we are at the end of the tunnel and I hope we will be able to create some strong improvements of the site's functionality in 2012.

Here are some small tweaks which (for most part) went live today:

* Bookmarks feature streamlined
Bookmarking is done now all within one menu by clicking on "Bookmarks" icon in the upper right corner. To bookmark a lesson: visit the lesson page and go to bookmarks>bookmark this lesson. Also, the lesson page does no longer reload when bookmarking (that used to cause the lesson video to start playing again).

* New Lesson Series categories
Now its possible to browse lesson series by categories and more easily navigate the page.

* Sound cloud embedding :
It is now possible to embed soundcloud files in the forum. Click here to read more about it.

* Forum PMs being cut off
It would happen sometimes when you receive a Private Message in the forum, that the pop-up window that informs you about it would be cut-off to the side and not show the full message. This is now fixed.

* Broken avatar in lesson feedback
Students who don't have a forum avatar set in the forum would have a broken image showing in Chrome and IE when they post lesson feedback : http://pix.thefarm.se/20110628003030/20111213205412/
This is now fixed by showing a generic avatar there.

* Old GMC background showing in forum
It was possible to see an old GMC background forum when realoading the pages in the forum. This could also have a slight impact on forum performance. This is now fixed.

* Lesson Playback
It is now possible to pause the video in the lessons by clicking on the screen. Get fullscreen by double clicking. (test it)

* Insert Special Item
It is possible to access Youtube, Soundcloud and Tab custom tags via "Insert Special Item" option when writing the posts : http://screencast.com/t/gzxRawrv

* Broken forum attachment icons
Some unknown file types had broken image when added as an attachment in the forum. This is now fixed.

* Keywords bug
Some keywords like power chords, arpeggios etc would "eat" the punctation signs that follow. This is fixed.

* Linkmembers feature for webmasters is now updated.

* Rate lesson button removed
We have have removed some elements on the lesson pages that were rarely used. This will allow for new stuff and cleaner pages.

If you find bugs or want to suggest new features or improvements - big or small - we would really appreciate it! Just shoot! GMC students know better than anyone else what the site really needs.

Awesome! Wow man you guys have a lot of great plans! I am looking forward to see updated GMC!!!!!
Kristofer Dahl
QUOTE (maharzan @ Feb 15 2012, 05:21 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Heres what I got earlier...

Click to view attachment


Thanks. So this has happened several times? Do you have any special settings or add-ons in chrome? (since the font is displayed as images it could be a cache problem). Did you test with another browser when this happened?

I will forward this to an engineer - any additional info you can give is helpful.
Jeff Lynd
Awesome updates, Kristofer!

Bookmarks feature and new Lesson series categories will be my favorite!

There's something that my be a bug, do not know. I'd subscribe a few instructor's but the upper right button still says I can subscribe. Is a bug?

all the best
Jeff
Kristofer Dahl
QUOTE (Jeff Lynd @ Feb 15 2012, 11:58 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Awesome updates, Kristofer!

Bookmarks feature and new Lesson series categories will be my favorite!

There's something that my be a bug, do not know. I'd subscribe a few instructor's but the upper right button still says I can subscribe. Is a bug?

all the best
Jeff


Yes! smile.gif Excellent feedback, adding it right away!
Cosmin Lupu
Uh oh, that's a big row of improvements right there biggrin.gif I must confess that popup with the messages is a bit annoying biggrin.gif
Kristofer Dahl
QUOTE (Cosmin Lupu @ Feb 16 2012, 10:27 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I must confess that popup with the messages is a bit annoying biggrin.gif


Hm does anyone now if this can be changed via board settings?
Bogdan Radovic
QUOTE (Kristofer Dahl @ Feb 16 2012, 10:47 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Hm does anyone now if this can be changed via board settings?


Yes it can be turned off : http://screencast.com/t/4vUrMp0YoM

To turn off private messages notifications go to :

My Control > Board Settings > Do you wish to get a board notification when you get a new personal message? and select "No".

maharzan
I am not sure. This happened only once I guess and might be happening on slow network, my internet was slow yesterday. How about just using google fonts? That might work better (efficient) I guess. I use it all the time in situations like this.
Gitarrero
I'll seize this opportunity to say a big congrats to these little tweakings, but also to the overall development of GMC.
It's not only the chats that take place basically every day. There is a bunch of new stuff that is just as good or even better than in the good ol' days. Ben has a guitar bushido which is free for everyone. Cosmin does private mentoring which is also free...we could say we have the beloved MTP back smile.gif
Gabriel and Ivan will usually send you one PM each week on a day when they will be around the forum, offering advice. How cool is that? Basically all instructors are there for you no matter what problem you have! (Anybody know how to tell a very clingy friend to back off just a little without hurting her feelings?? wink.gif )
Bogdan already has his own appreciation thread, so no word about him here tongue.gif
Seriously Kris, GMC is better than ever. I think this had to be said...

Christian
Dinaga
QUOTE (Gitarrero @ Feb 16 2012, 04:42 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'll seize this opportunity to say a big congrats to these little tweakings, but also to the overall development of GMC.
It's not only the chats that take place basically every day. There is a bunch of new stuff that is just as good or even better than in the good ol' days. Ben has a guitar bushido which is free for everyone. Cosmin does private mentoring which is also free...we could say we have the beloved MTP back smile.gif
Gabriel and Ivan will usually send you one PM each week on a day when they will be around the forum, offering advice. How cool is that? Basically all instructors are there for you no matter what problem you have! (Anybody know how to tell a very clingy friend to back off just a little without hurting her feelings?? wink.gif )
Bogdan already has his own appreciation thread, so no word about him here tongue.gif
Seriously Kris, GMC is better than ever. I think this had to be said...

Christian


Great words mate. I absolutely agree with you and I'm glad you brought that up - let's give a big THANK YOU to the active instructors on GMC, who always take care of us and help us in any goal we have! I have made more progress in these 6 months than in the past 5 years! And it's not exaggerating.

This is truly the best guitar place to be, but it's not only that - I have never ever found so helpful, open-minded and friendly community anywhere - including non-guitar communities - hell, including non-internet communities as well! It's like a home to me.

Thank you guys for everything. smile.gif
Fran
Wow, those are a lot of improvements there smile.gif

I thoroughly agree with previous posts, GMC is always getting better, and that's a lot given it has always been just amazing cool.gif
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