SOUL STRUT 10: Coming June 1st
RAJ
tenacious local 7,782 Posts
So I and Jehovwet have been hard at work with the next Generation of Soul Strut.Ever since I have become a dad in 2004, I have not had much time to put into the site. The kids are growing up and the free time is coming back.It has been my dream to have this place be a complete user driven community. Not just the forums... but the rest of the site as well. Well my dream is about to come true. Here are a list of features set to be available in Soul Strut 10: Membership[/b]With the new site, all current forum members will have their accounts transferred to the new site. None of your personal data will be transferred only post count and username. You will have a Member Profile with lots of custom fields like: Youtube of the moment, Divshare of the moment, latest Twitter update (if you have one), Feeling / Not Feeling, Flickr Stream (if you have one), plus plenty of fields to plug your URL, Facebook, Youtube, Vimeo accounts etc. You will also be able to upload member profile pictures and real first name and last name (for those man/woman enough).As a member you will be part of a group (Basic Strutter, Contributing Strutter, or Premium Strutter)... these groups all have their own privileges for adding content for the site. More of this later.The Blog[/b]Simple enough feature. Just a area of the site for folks to write about anything (digging, DJing, photography, design, etc,). You will need to be a Contributing Strutter to add stuff here, so get at me if you want to contribute. I know we have a lot of bloggers here. So I am encouraging you to either move your blog here (in most cases, this will mean more exposure), or you can double post if you want (keep your own blog, but also blast the one on SS).City Guide[/b]This feature I'm pretty excited about. It's basically a refined Yelp for strutters. This is open to all logged in strutters for submission. The city guide is a dynamically driven database of your spots. Add the establishment name, address, and a review and it will be added. Folks can comment. It could get crazy. Current categories are Record Stores, Thrift Stores, Flea Markets, Music Equipment, Bars, Restaurants.. with more to be added.As a cal to action, for this really to take off, we need you to give up some spots. I have already put BLOWN UP ALL of my spots in there. So feel free to look them up and crash them.Currently the City Guide is US and Canada only but we will expand. The Classifieds[/b]This is the last section I will be working on, but it will be its own section and the key revenue stream to finance the site.The classifieds will no longer be in the forum. It will be its own section and completely automatic (no more waiting for my lazy ass to enable access and guessing when your account expires.)I habe the technology to do this, but I haven;t implemented it yet. So hopefully all goes well.The Forums[/b]It will be a little different. It will be different software with some differences here and there, but the same lively group. And again, with the new membership structure, it will be all inclusive of the site. You will be logged in everywhere.Mixes[/b]Another section I am excited about. All logged in users will have the ability to add mixes whenever they want, instead of bugging me. There is an approval process for basic strutters. Once your mix is approved once, you will be upgraded to contributing strutter and will be able to add mixes at will with no approval process.Reviews[/b]Pretty much the same as mixes. Hopefully we can get some cats to start adding record reviews, DVD reviews, equipment reviews, etc.The Rest[/b]That's pretty much it for now. Like I've said, I'm dedicating 6 months of my life, sanity, and finances for this. It's the next gradual step for Soul Strut. It will be interesting to see what happens... if it totally overloads the server, stays stagnant, plateaus. etc. I'm hoping to have this site be a little more mainstream. In the past, I have pigeon-holed this site as a hip hop site, or a crate digging site... as we very well see, we are into ALL kinds of things and we are united by Music. So I am hoping to make this a little more broad to attract more people, more traffic. Like I said, it's the next step. Beta Testers[/b]Starting May 1st, I want to recruit beta testers. Folks who can come to the new site and try to break it, using all browsers, screen resolutions, etc. I will put a bulletin out on that when the time comes.
Comments
I have to upgrade you manually. Everyone comes in basic until I change their status, which would take a second
No, really though, this does sound pretty next level. BRING IT ON.
Will we see the end of random non-launches? I can't tell you how many times i've entered the URL and it refuses to load. Weird.
^^^^^^^^^
With that on the front and "Soulstrut has ruined our lives and now all we have is each other" on the back. I will pay $25 to make this a reality.
great forward thinking ideas
Premium will be those who pay to poast in the classifieds. right now they have all posting privileges which is weird. gotta figure that one out.
I know. Don't know if it's because of this old ass forum software I'm using or what. But this will be addressed with my host, even if it means I have to upgrade to a faster server or whatever.
I forgot to mention that this will have google maps with color coded mark points for each category. So you can plan a road trip on the fly and sort by region.
There is a spot on the East side of South Central I can't wait to add to the LA map.
For real though Raj, I applaud this move and look forward to a more interactive and less anonymous board.
I encourage all strutters, if you use the site on the regular to upgrade your account, donate or even just contribute your knowledge to help the site grow.
Hey Raj,
With this City Guide deal. Will we be able to link photos of spots?
I'm going to drop pins all over town that read "no, no records here"
I know a few Euromen who are chomping at the bit to get cityguides started over here too...
cant wait.
Thanks, Raj!
I do it for the collectro
cranky strut.
What if you can mark it as your spot in the guide and they name you queen of the turf and anyone that checks it out using your guide has to pay you a finders fee? That or a sandwich...
LOL. Or if its your spot then don't mark it on the map. And if somebody else marks it on the map then I guess it wasn't just your spot.
what is this reading comprehension retahhhd day?
sayin, is this wiki legend of spots list for forum members only or open to every lurker in a graphic tee too?
DOR i got you on sangwiches, after all i do hail from philly so i was raised on them!