Big changes coming to BogusRed.net

It's almost summer time :bounce: and you know what that means, more time to spend on my website woo hoo! Expect a lot of new features in the coming months. Right now I'm working on an advanced sorting feature for the writing. It's available for BETA testing here:
http://www.bogusred.net/story_advlist.php

Please note that this sorting method currently doesn't have page links so if you search for something with a large listing, it will list EVERYTHING. :( Another thing is it lists things oldest to newest instead of the other way around. I haven't had a chance to fix this yet. Also, it isn't available for the Red Curtain yet. If this works out well, I'll fix it up and place it in the writing areas of both sites.

Here is a list of some of the features people have suggested BogusRed.net implement. Many of them are found on DA but I don't want my site to become a DA clone. Let me know what your thoughts are on some of these features:

  • Members Area
    A lot of people have found this area very confusing. How do I view my artwork? How do I add a new chapter? are questions I hear often. Do any of you have suggestions for making the members area more user friendly? Perhaps I should put more detailed links on the left of every page in the members area. Any suggestions?

  • Featured Artwork
    This feature was implemented a while back but I never got around to fixing it. As it stands, if you ever change your profile, the featured artwork disappears. Your artwork is still intact but it just doesnt have the thumbnail for it on your profile any longer. I just wanted to let people know that this feature isn't working fully and I'll get around to fixing it. Should we have a "Featured Writing" thing as well?

  • Profile Comments
    Deviant Art allows peeps to post public comments on a persons profile page. Would this be something we should have? It could become something like a personal bulletin board or guest book with nested comments. It would be similar to the review features currently on the site which function differently than on DA. Do you want them nested in bulletin board style like on this site with the reviews or just listed like they are on DA, more like a forum?

  • Favorites
    When you view artwork or writing that you like, just click a button to add it to your favorites and your profile will display all a listing of your favorites.

  • Buddies List
    Add a user from the site to your buddy list and in doing so, you can be notified when they upload artwork or writing. Would you want this buddy list be shown on your profile and be avaliable to the public or be a shown in the members area and be a private thing?

  • Journal
    This has come up many times in the past but I keep getting mixed reactions. Some people like them, some people hate them. What are your thoughts? What is your idea of an ideal journal? I would probably make the text of the journals much larger than it is on DA and make it look more like a blog. Would you want people to be able to post replies to these journals?

  • Paid Subscription
    In the future when this site grows, would you be interested in paying so that you wouldn't have to see ads? Maybe you'd even get advanced profile features. How much would you be willing to pay monthly or yearly and what would you expect to get from that paid service?



Please reply with your thoughts. :ponders: