Cabinet-Database Website Proposal

[infinty]

Been looking thro' this and Hall of fame forum and see the unbelievable job people are doing with their cabs (cocktail, bar top, uprights etc..) but find it a bit of a bore trawling thro posts, replies, work in progress shots etc to get to the money shots - finished pics of the projects.

I myself am a web designer and am considering putting together a site that is a kind of database for finished projects. This could be broken down by cabinet type (cocktail, bar top, uprights etc..) and then listed alphabetically as a series of thumbnails of the finished project, against which could be the name, brief description, some detail (i.e. 4 player with spinner), designers name (and picture if they like), geographical location and link to their website.

As an aside, votes could be registered and the projects listed by vote as well as the afore mentioned listing method.

Let me know what you think, if the feedback is positive then I'll start putting some ideas together and host at a secret location during the development process. Feedback from here would help in the design process and functions of the site.

I could start by adding my machine - 'Infinity' - http://www.sharkfinmedia.com/infinity/

I see there is something similar here at arcadecontrols.com but would like to have a go at a new, dedicated site just for finished projects.

I look forward to your feedback/ideas/comments.

[vrf]

I for one would love a thumbnail gallery of finished projects. It would be better than slogging through the threads and sometimes dead links just to find the finished picture. (Although it would be good to link to the work file in case you want more information.)

I like the ranking system idea, too, where the "better" cabinets somehow appear first in the galleries.

Good luck!

[SNAAKE]

nice control panel though I like that pimp molding

[rlemmon]

I  think it's an awesome idea. It would bee a great resource for people building cabs to get ideas and inspiration. Go for it.

[IG-88]

Great idea! Go for it!

[MinerAl]

Sounds like fun.

Find a server space large enough to host the pictures locally, so that when the links die (like a lot of the BYOAC examples page) there will still be at least a basic visual record of what it used to be.

I'd love to help test it.  Let me know.

Al

[SirPoonga]

Find a server space large enough to host the pictures locally, so that when the links die (like a lot of the BYOAC examples page) there will still be at least a basic visual record of what it used to be.

FYI on many of those dead links you can uses google cache or thewaybackmachine.com

[whatzcrackn]

would be very kool! 

[Acids]

you might want to ask Saint first but it seems like a good idea if you host the pics yourself.

[saint]

That's actually been a goal of mine for some time with the examples database I have here. Most of the data is already in the mysql database that I use here -- it just doesn't have a good view like that. Are you interested in working on an update of the page here?

Been looking thro' this and Hall of fame forum and see the unbelievable job people are doing with their cabs (cocktail, bar top, uprights etc..) but find it a bit of a bore trawling thro posts, replies, work in progress shots etc to get to the money shots - finished pics of the projects.

I myself am a web designer and am considering putting together a site that is a kind of database for finished projects. This could be broken down by cabinet type (cocktail, bar top, uprights etc..) and then listed alphabetically as a series of thumbnails of the finished project, against which could be the name, brief description, some detail (i.e. 4 player with spinner), designers name (and picture if they like), geographical location and link to their website.

As an aside, votes could be registered and the projects listed by vote as well as the afore mentioned listing method.

Let me know what you think, if the feedback is positive then I'll start putting some ideas together and host at a secret location during the development process. Feedback from here would help in the design process and functions of the site.

I could start by adding my machine - 'Infinity' - http://www.sharkfinmedia.com/infinity/

I see there is something similar here at arcadecontrols.com but would like to have a go at a new, dedicated site just for finished projects.

I look forward to your feedback/ideas/comments.

[Tahnok]

Some people may get upset if you start taking pictures from websites and putting them on your own host. It's one thing to put links to sites, it's another to take content from sites. That is why you have to have people actually submit their own content to you, which is exceedingly difficult for a new site. Sure, you may be able to get some people to add their stuff, but it will be far from a complete database. And once people realize that a lot is missing, they will look for the content on other, better known, sites. If people don't use your site to build their cabinet, they are less likely to submit the project to you once it is complete. And like that, the site will slowly become out of date and fall into nothing. Harsh, I know, but my honest opinion.

The main trick will be getting people excited enough about it that you get the majority to use it. A partnership with BYOAC would do just the trick.

I think the idea is good, but execution is another thing entirely. Good luck with it.

[infinty]

Yeah, I think the entries should be submitted by the builders themselves and the standardised information be completed by them, ready for inclusion, i.e.

Cab Name
Description
Type (upright, cocktail etc..)
No of players
Controls (4/8 way, spinner, trackball etc)
Image (s)
link to site

These headings could then be ordered from the database for viewing along with user and/or administrator votes.

I am of course very concious of stepping on toes and certainly don't want to steal any thunder from BYOAC which is established and has some awesome content and a forum that is unbeatable but instead would like to build a new site dedicated to just the listing of completed projects. I do however note and appreciate the offer by Saint and can see that embarking on such a project without the blessing of this site and the community would be pointless.

If feedback is generally positive then I'll go for it, suggestions for the domain name would be a great place to start, otherwise we'll just put it down as a nice idea and leave it at that.

Feedback/ideas etc would be very much appreciated...

[Mark70]

I'm all for an examples page which is set up like KLOV.  There you can submit images, cabs are sortable by manufacturere, title, etc.

Though BYO cabs would have to be sorted by Mame, Pinball, VPinball, Theme, Upright, Cocktail, Restoration, Reproduction, Original design....

[quadmasta]

I'd be willing to help.  I'm still a baby as far as PHP development goes but I'm a whiz with ColdFusion and I know a bunch of java too.  I'm a good data miner too.

[MYX]

Hey, if Saint is handing the page over to be updated, then all the current projects have already been submitted. Yes?

You idea also will give a good way to do MAMEYs. As the projects are collected through the year, and data based by that year, it will be easier to pull a range of dates.

A while back I had offered to go through and weed out all the bad links so at least there would be an easier to navigate examples page. Right now it is about 15 dead to 1 live site ratio.

[markrvp]

Thanks for offering to do this.  That will definitely help the newbies trying to look through examples.

[zorg]

unfortunatly as it's flash based I can't browse it.

there is some technological impaired browsers here 

[danny_galaga]

yes, thumbnails would be very handy

[MYX]

Saint, I will re up the offer to clean up the examples page if this is something you would let me at.

[infinty]

Some good ideas, and offers of help, I guess the question is whether the existing pages are updated, rebuilt or a new site constructed... From my perspective I'd prefer the latter but will go along with the general consensus