New Soul Strut Web Site - October 2014
RAJ
tenacious local 7,782 Posts
First off, I want to thank all of you profusely who still come here and call Soul Strut home. In a time when Internet forums are dying, DJs rarely spin records, and self promo has gone the way of social media, I thank you for still kicking around.
Soul Strut turns 15 next month. I was faced with a dilemma (as I approach 40!) to keep the light on or retire the site. As I looked back and started to reconnect with heads, I realized that I am extremely proud of my Soul Strut heritage and value the good times, lessons learned, knowledge passed, and friends made.
So... I have been working hard to redesign the site. Rather than fight the fight and compete with the 1,000,000s of apps and Wordpress Fly by nights, I decided to give the new site more of an archive feel... a celebration of 15 years of record talk.
Here's what I have in store for the new site:
Responsive mobile friendly design ....
Community (forums). Two skins. One that is responsive for iPad and iPhone. and the Classic Mode, for you old heads who still like tables and locations.
Instagram integration. #soulstrut
Classic mixes: I am going through over 1,000 mixes sent to me over the years and picking the best and most relevant (interesting). They will be posted on Soundcloud and archived on the site with an embedded player.
Classifieds. Pondered whether to keep at it.... noticed that it's still being utilized and with it being free, still a viable options to promote your eBay, Discogs, Set Sales. The design is simplified and clean.
No ads... Never... Unless they give me crazy loot.
That about does it. My kids growing up has allowed me to have more time on my hands and reconnect. With that I have some more ambitious plans with the Soul Strut 100, blogging (do they still so that?), new mixes, Soul Strut pride.
More importantly.
I would like to hear from you, your thoughts on a better experience. Or a not to do.'s.. The new site takes liberties with modern web design and development technology... which scares some people. But at almost 2015, I think it's time.
Soul Strut turns 15 next month. I was faced with a dilemma (as I approach 40!) to keep the light on or retire the site. As I looked back and started to reconnect with heads, I realized that I am extremely proud of my Soul Strut heritage and value the good times, lessons learned, knowledge passed, and friends made.
So... I have been working hard to redesign the site. Rather than fight the fight and compete with the 1,000,000s of apps and Wordpress Fly by nights, I decided to give the new site more of an archive feel... a celebration of 15 years of record talk.
Here's what I have in store for the new site:
Responsive mobile friendly design ....
Community (forums). Two skins. One that is responsive for iPad and iPhone. and the Classic Mode, for you old heads who still like tables and locations.
Instagram integration. #soulstrut
Classic mixes: I am going through over 1,000 mixes sent to me over the years and picking the best and most relevant (interesting). They will be posted on Soundcloud and archived on the site with an embedded player.
Classifieds. Pondered whether to keep at it.... noticed that it's still being utilized and with it being free, still a viable options to promote your eBay, Discogs, Set Sales. The design is simplified and clean.
No ads... Never... Unless they give me crazy loot.
That about does it. My kids growing up has allowed me to have more time on my hands and reconnect. With that I have some more ambitious plans with the Soul Strut 100, blogging (do they still so that?), new mixes, Soul Strut pride.
More importantly.
I would like to hear from you, your thoughts on a better experience. Or a not to do.'s.. The new site takes liberties with modern web design and development technology... which scares some people. But at almost 2015, I think it's time.
Comments
b/w
This actually happens? Oh thank god.
Yeah man... 8 and 10 are good ages. How much longer you got? :beer:
:oof: My first is 15 months.
You could perhaps create a site that would allow people to build their own Soulstrut to showcase their gems & holy grails. All in one tap!
b/w:
Viva Soul Strut and Raj Mahal, the 'Strut Father'!!!
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
Thanks Raj.
I am super excited to see the new design!!
1. Rename site. Maybe something like "Vinyls Closet"
2. Get more dudes involved. Not enough dudes on here. Sometimes I can't tell if I'm on Vinyls Closet or Design Sponge.
3. Make a dedicated section for CDs. I mean, shit, music comes out of them too. Maybe call it "Plastics Cubby."
4. Can you like make the site not on the internet? Like a mailer or something that I can read while dropping a deuce? I used to set up my desktop in there, but I decided it wasn't worth moving it back and forth if I'm only going to be in there for four hours a day.
5. Did I say more dudes? It's like all chicks posting on here.
6. Can you make a daily podcast of the message board? You reading it. Or a robot. I'm not picky, just a bit lazy.
On a serious note...
Yay. More mobile friendly is good because I pretty much only come here on a phone. The mixes on soundcloud are great. Sounds like things are headed in a good direction. This is the only site I check every day.
seriously thank you for all the efforts and years
a blog i contrbute to just did a site redesign and it worked wonders
i will try to contribute more and promote the fuck out of it
SS por vida
Excited to purchase the SOULSTRUT 15 tee.
Peace, stein...
thanks raj.
this site rules.
yeah keep the mixes, people ask me about music all of the time and i always point them to the soulstrut mix section.
anyone else experiencing this?
You should totally feel comfortable having a donation drive once a year. I think we all trust you to improve the site experience (TM) or just cover your costs. I'm going to send you something soon, anyway...
Will people please start listening to more current hiphop and r&b? I fear that Bassie was lost to the great Ferguson SS K-hole Webchat of 2014... I need people like you to tell me what I'm missing. What are all of you young people and riff raff listening to?
We let RAJ win the Fantasy Football league every year for a reason! ;-)
b/w
Thanks for all that you do sir, including Commish duties.
Ditto!
to the exponential !
:feelin_it: :killin_it: :shh:
You might want to make a glossary of inside jokes for new users.
I am going to archive the best of the pre-2005 threads (I have them on a CD). But that will take me a minute and won't be on the site immediately. BUT it's in the cue.