EaglePost Blog

I took some time this morning to evaluate the number of pageviews that EaglePost has seen over the past few years.  Proboards gives me the ability to see pageviews per month provided we had paid for the ad free service.  This service costs a fixed amount for 50,000 pageviews, and unused pageviews are not rolled over.  So, the statistics are not necessarily 100% complete, but there is enough data for us to do some general comparisons.

Note how we did in December:

December 2003 - 29,226

December 2004 - 61,733 (Liberty Bowl)

December 2005 - 45,515 (NO Bowl)

December 2006 - 90,699 (GMAC Bowl)

And if you thought that was a fluke, check out January:

January 2004 - 26,301

January 2005 - 64,133

January 2006 - 40,530

January 2007 - 124,000 (estimated actually it is 123,716 with all afternoon to go)

In each case, we’ve doubled or tripled the volume of last year.  And are far exceeding any of the highest totals.  And the past four months have all had over 90,000 pageviews averaging over 100,000 pageviews.

Why is this important?  Webmasters measure themselves by metrics like this.  It tells us that users value our service and come back over and over again.  The content is exciting and elicits good discussion.  And for those who would argue about the quality of the posts not being the same, I’d argue that nobody would come back again and again if the quality wasn’t there.

So, in closing, I’d like to say thank you to each and every one of you!  It is our members who make EaglePost what it is.  You provide the content and you’re doing an outstanding job!

Each day I’m checking off a few more to do items on development!  Sorry, but I have to share my excitement.

As of the time of this writing, we have 55 users registered with the messageboard.  That is great!  There have been a few minor annoyances, but nothing I couldn’t clear up quickly (I know, when you’re on the other side of technical assistance it seems like a lifetime).  So, we have most of the users, and particularly the most active users re-registered.

I put the Initial Legend on the Calendar.  I had to list sports by initials so they would fit on the monthly calendar.  Now you have an easy to find guide to what sports are what.  I’m going to enhance that legend even further by having links to the actual PDF schedules on www.southernmiss.com. 

I put a few counters on certain pages to give us an idea of the number of visitors.  This should be good information for our Sponsors to know how many views their advertisments are getting.

I’ve found a gentleman in Austrailia who has dealt with the Foxpro issue on the same template in the past.  He was nice enough to respond with a solution that solved part of the problem (header).  I followed up with him and he has given me a few more changes that hopefully will work.  You’ll hear me hooting from here when I get it working!  Stay tuned…

Besides setting up the Auction site for the items donated, the cutover itself is the only major thing left.  Most of the rest now is cosmetic.  So, if you’re out and about and something isn’t working right, please report it on the Help Forum.  I want the transition to be as seamless as possible.

Cheers!

I have gotten in touch with Dick Vogel and the Auction is on!  We’re going to receive some items for this auction and would like any of you who are willing to make donations for the auction.  As before, all proceeds will go to support the Eagle Club.  I’m sure you have something tucked away you’d like to see find a good home!

Look for the Auction when we go live, and more than likely, we’re looking to expand the quality and reach of the auction even more.  Details to come…

I know its a pain in the butt, but yes, you’ll have to register for the blogs separately.  They are on separate databases.  I wanted to integrate the user data for each, but being stand alone programs, it was far too difficult and time consuming for me to get done now.  I will try to merge them over time, but then I lose the benefit of upgrades from the vendors.  I’m thinking this through.

So, in the mean time…  After you register for the EaglePost Messageboard at www.eaglepost.info/board/ (you’re automatically registered for EaglePost Chat), then you’ll also want to register your ID at the following services:

- EaglePost Blog - this blog (www.eaglepost.info/blog/).

- RuffledFeathers - a blog by GoldenEagle33 (not sure if he’ll also keep doing his blog on blogspot or not or just do this one, but we’re glad to have him!)  (www.eaglepost.info/ruffledfeathers).

Registering on each of these services will allow you to make comments.  You may not want to make comments, but by securing your ID you ensure noone else is using it.  Just a thought to consider…

Yes, the messageboard isn’t working with Firefox.  Seems it might be a bit more particular with the code than Internet Explorer.  So far, the entire site works fine with Internet Explorer, but with Firefox, the color is wrong, so the text and background are often the same color (makes for some hard reading even with good eyes)!

USMmmm has gone searching for answers and has given me some leads I am following up on (63 of them to be exact).  Should be interesting…  In the mean time, he has also gotten this general workaround.  It works because you’re effectively turning background colors off and turning all text to basic text colors.  So, the site won’t be pretty, but you can register, read and post.

Again, the official go live date is March 1st.  I don’t want to spit traffic during that time and I need the available bandwidth (I’m only paying for a base amount) for development.  Thanks!

Workaround found by USMmmm

If you are unable to read all the script on the new site, there is a workaround…IF you use Firefox. The workaround drains the color from the site, but you can read all the script and register. Once you come off the site and go to your homepage, you might want to un-do the work around and reload you homepage.

Baldy is working to fix a coding issue.

I was able to get a great deal done over this weekend!  So a March 1st go live date is planned and ready.  Most of what I have left to do is cosmetic (except for that firefox issue).  Thanks to USMmmm, I now have a lead on that and hope to have that fixed soon.  I hope to have that fixed before I go on vacation.  Then I can just spend the last two weeks of February on new content, setting up sponsors, and helping new members with the transition. 

To facilitate the transition, I have posted a message on the old board to get people to contact me for instructions for registering for the new site.  So far we have 30 members (besides myself).  So much for the only 12 members myth!

We also received word that a second Hattiesburg-based business is coming on as a Sponsor!  Great news as I really want this to be a network of alumni that is willing to help each other grow.

I also arranged an affiliation with Stubhub.  This site allows users to buy and sell event tickets and has quickly become the go to place on the net for sports tickets.

So, yes, a busy weekend to say the least, but a very good one for EaglePost!

I’ve gotten my “to do list” down to a single page!  Things on the new site are really taking shape.  I have every piece framed out and linked from the home page.  I have a few pages that still need a lot of formatting (and there will be some learning curve on most of the once that are pending).  But overall, I’m well ahead of where I expected to be at this time.  So, I’ve set March 1st as the target start date!

On another front, I have also secured a Hattiesburg-bases Sponsor!  We should be sealing the deal any day now, but it is exciting news!  My goal is to have the board self sustaining through Sponsors, ads and donations by the end of the calendar year.  That will ensure the board stays the wonderful place it has become for a long, long time!  Please visit our sponsors and tell them you heard about them on EaglePost!

So, what will I do with all my free time once I get the new site developed?  I intend to start focusing on some real “journalism”.  By that, I mean bringing you the news first.  I’ll be digging particularly hard for recruiting news.  Stay tuned!

I was able to fix the issues related to the chat and believe I’m ready for another test.  Will try to get some testers together for that.  It looks good so far, so wish me luck.

I’ve worked on formatting this blog.  Not completely happy with the colors, but beats orange.

I added a calendar, but the script is not working right.  I’ll probably take some time to get in and see if I can get it working.  But have a lot of other areas to work on that I consider a higher priority.

I’ve moved the USMstuff site over to Eaglepost Store.  It has been a while since I set that store up, so a lot of the links are no longer valid.  Will go through the process of resetting it over the next couple of weeks.

I’ve been researching various auction scripts.  None of them really seem to give me what I want.  So, I’m considering just setting up something along the lines of what RTJ was using on www.goldeneagles.net.  It was simple, but required manual updates.  Given the low volume of bids on the small number of items auctioned, that might just be the best course of action.

Finally, I’ll want to set up a few multimedia pages.  I’m considering linking to video feeds from www.youtube.com.  And including a page where pictures can be uploaded and thumbnailed for easy viewing.  I may also include a few audio files for folks to download.  But that will all take a great deal of time.

In any case, I’m still on a reasonable development path to go live in May or June.  Should be interesting.  Stay tuned.

Well, I learned two valuable lessons in my development of this site last night.  I asked a few members to assist me in testing the chat during the game.  Those lessons?

Never try to test software during a game.  It was taking away from watching a good game (good for us that is).

Also, don’t assume that if the software is working for you that it will work for others.

As a short answer, I believe the theme I used, which was not the default theme, created the issue.  When users logged in, the program was looking for the default theme and couldn’t find the files.  This gave users errors and didn’t allow them to fix the issue themselves.  I’ll have some research to do, but rest assured, I’ll get the kinks worked out.  I’m committed to providing the members with the best a fan site can offer.

We start with a C-USA win by the Lady Eagles over ECU.  Great win girls!

Next we have a loss by the Men’s Basketball team to Savanna State (last second shot gives them the win).

And finally, the one we’ve all been waiting for, the football team dominates Ohio in the GMAC Bowl.  The best news of this was the strength and performance of the defense, which hasn’t done as well this year relative to other years.  The offense made plays when it counted and put up some decent stats.  My vote for MVP would have to go to Jeremy Young.  He is beginning to show a seasoning and when he’s healthy, he’s a treat to watch.  Should be a good 2007 campaign for the Golden Eagles who will really only have gaps in the OL and DB to fill.  Stay tuned!