Arcade-related directory - myarcade.org

[screaming]

Hey all,

  I just want to make an informal announcement to direct a little attention to one of my new projects..  I'm trying to harvest arcade-related websites and compile them into a directory-style layout.  It started out as a way for me to keep my bookmarks organized but once I got started I realized it could be so much more!

  Take a look at what I have so far at myarcade.org and let me know if you have any links to add to it (and you'll see my other related WIP announcement  ).  Eventually I'll make it searchable and have a form for anyone to add a link, but for now I'm just getting it started

  Post here, PM me, or email me with a URL and category and I'll add it ASAP!

-sab

P.S. I don't want this to necessarily have project examples since these are already on AC's example page, but I will start putting project example links on there if you guys think it's worth it and I get enough of them. What do you think, would it be worth it to have a project example section with a brief description of each?

[AlanS17]

Is this for BYOAC or general arcade?

[screaming]

Is this for BYOAC or general arcade?

  Hm.  Initially I was thinking it would have only BYOAC links since that's all I have.  I never considered having all "arcade related" links in there.  A *lot* of sites have information helpful to both types of projects, so I guess general arcade?

[AlanS17]

It entirely up to you. It's your site. The name sounds like general arcade links, but that wasn't your initial focus, and it would be a much more difficult site to maintain. There's a lot more arcade stuff than BYOAC stuff out there.

[screaming]

  Yeah, I think it would be most helpful for it to be "general arcade" than specific to build-your-own arcade.   If it starts getting hard to wade through links that wouldn't be so beneficial for one group or the other I'll just do a little re-organization of the categories.

  I don't think that will be a problem for a long while though, if ever.

-sab

[AlanS17]

With a good directory structure like Yahoo USED to have, that shouldn't be a big problem. The sheer number of possible links could become a hassle, though.

[screaming]

This is (and will always be) a community-driven site, so if you have any suggestions on a directory structure I'll see what I can do.

The sheer number of possible links could become a hassle, though.

  Where are these alleged "links"? I added a form so you can submit them

[AlanS17]

Links submission? Sounds dangerous. Who's going to verify broken links? This site has had that problem before.

[screaming]

Links submission? Sounds dangerous. Who's going to verify broken links? This site has had that problem before.

  It's a manual process by me for now, at least until I get the organization and category layout stable enough.  I suspect there will be a little ramp-up time that will keep me pretty busy adding links for a while, then after that things will start to slow down once the more popular links get added.   Most of the links that are on there now have been up for quite a while... as long as I've been here, anyway.

  I have a cron job set up to do the broken-link pruning, but depending on how big the directory gets that might need to be re-worked.  I'll cross that bridge when I get to it

[JoyMonkey]

Great idea! Any chance of comments for each link? Might be nice for people to add a few words about what they like/dislike about each link.

[Crazy Cooter]

When I used to use FrontPage 98, it had a link verification process built into it.  I don't know what you're using, but if it's WYSIWYG, it may have that.

[screaming]

Great idea! Any chance of comments for each link? Might be nice for people to add a few words about what they like/dislike about each link.

  Added.  We'll see if it gets much use...

  I added a "rating" system that's exactly like E-Bay's.  In fact, I "stole" their icons I figured that might be a nice touch..
-sab

[screaming]

When I used to use FrontPage 98, it had a link verification process built into it. I don't know what you're using, but if it's WYSIWYG, it may have that.

  Thanks for the tip!  I'm not sure Frontpage will work though since the data is mostly database-driven.  I don't have to make a page for every single category, I just give my backend software a template to use and it takes care of everything else..

  I know they make Windows-based tools that will crawl pages looking for dead links though... Hmm..

*shrug*
-sab

[AlanS17]

When I used to use FrontPage 98, it had a link verification process built into it.

[EndTwist]

You might want to get some people who are willing to verify links (like "myArcade Moderators"). This way not all the work falls on you.

Also - you might want to come up with a slightly better design (no offense meant, it just isn't that great, especially on larger resolutions).

Lastly - take a look at mod_rewrite if your host supports it (see: http://www.sitepoint.com/article/guide-url-rewriting). It'll make your url's even cleaner (instead of "http://www.myarcade.org/?lc=DOS+JBs", you could have "http://www.myarcade.org/DOS-JBs/" or "http://www.myarcade.org/DOS-JBs.html", but it will still use your script)

[screaming]

You might want to get some people who are willing to verify links (like "myArcade Moderators"). This way not all the work falls on you.

  I'll definitely be looking for people to help out once everything gets rolling, especially now that there are comments to moderate too.  It's not 100% set up yet though and I haven't gotten too many submissions, so I'm okay for now.

  I should have a formal announcement for both the directory and the hosting by this weekend.   Once I get that out it'll pick up, and then I'll re-evaluate how much moderation is needed.

Also - you might want to come up with a slightly better design (no offense meant, it just isn't that great, especially on larger resolutions).

  Yeah, I know I'm a horrible design guy.. I try and stick to the technical stuff   If you (or anyone else) wants to come up with a better design, I'll be sure to implement it!  I'll see what I can do for higher resolutions in the meantime.

Lastly - take a look at mod_rewrite if your host supports it (see:

  Yeah, one of the speedbumps I hit when setting this up is my provider switched me to a Windows box (IIS) right in the middle of me setting this up.  I'm still looking for a more elegant solution (like mod_rewrite) than creating virtual directories for each category...  Once I find one I'll be sure to implement it!

  Thanks for the suggestions, EndTwist!

-sab

P.S.  Thanks AlanS17 for making the first comment

[JoyMonkey]

P.S.  Thanks AlanS17 for making the first comment

Hows abouts listing the most recent comments on the main page?
OOh! Ooh! And an obligatory 'highest rated' section.

[screaming]

Hows abouts listing the most recent comments on the main page?
OOh! Ooh! And an obligatory 'highest rated' section.

  Hmm.  I went a little different route.   Check it out and let me know what you think.

-sab

[jer2665]