User Panel
Posted: 10/4/2001 3:12:52 PM EDT
Ok I hope this one doesn't come out and bite me on the arse, but I think we've come a VERY long way in the past year.
This place has been completely re-written from the ground up. We lost our old forums, and that sucked, but I think we've managed to keep things going through some ups and downs and are really kicking ass. Site uptime has not been an issue AT ALL since the new code started and the new hardware I've brought into the mess has done incredibly well. Backups keep things safe in case of emergencies as well... AND not only do we have AR15.Com, but we've added 50World, AK.WeaponForums (without its damn domain!), and waiting on SigTalk to join the ranks. All of the sites are running tip top shape, speed is not much of an issue, and they're being closely tied as the days move forward. Admin wise, we've also had our ups and downs, but the crew is great and a bit "too" gung ho at times. We've managed to avoid problems that face many sites where racism and hate run them into the ground, we've allowed the freedom to discuss many topics, and even share pictures of hot women (and men!) all because we respect each other's opinions. So now I ask of you two things: 1) On my agenda for the coming weeks is: - New Equipment Exchange Engine (Will Kick ASS!) - Cross site navigation code to ease moving between them and interacting on them. - Merchandise online ordering, to make it simple to point click and select items, sizes, colors, and logos. (Also will help JLA out in getting things processed much quicker! Blame me not him!) - Improved NEWS capabilities to allow for us to bring in more GUN RELATED content from other news sources across the world. - Finally, CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT! It's hard to do so much at once, but bringing in more content will become a focus shortly. So what do YOU think is needed and wanted? What can I do to make this place better for you, members and guests. What new tools, changes, and fixes that you think would add to the place? Lemme know! 2) New expansion SITES... - We've grown now and added a few other interests we've all got... well errr some of us! My next look is to two areas which I am passionate about and I think many others are too. That would be PISTOLS and SNIPER/RANGE Rifles. BUT, I want to know what are the big interests out there for you guys. What makes your heart skip a beat, what are things you HAVE to have! I know some guys here would love an UZI site... or perhaps a CETME site... should these kind of sites be grouped more... perhaps a submachinegun site, assault rifle site, etc... lay it one me! I'm damn proud to be a part of this place and a part of all your lives. Through the recent events you've all shown me the wonders of what my work has provided. We've been able to come together unlike anything I've seen before and many individuals like the guys in NYC, Heilo, FMJunkie, and the Staff and Moderators whom I've had a lot of personal contact with, make me thankful for this place existing. One of my goals is to reach out and meet and talk with as many of you as possible, to get to know you, and for the honor of sharing a beer at a shoot. Now I ask for you to step it up and "help me, help you!" ]=) |
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where did the email toggle switch go to unsubscribe to the automatic email-me-the-replies option?
with the new buttons and whatnot i don't know if i just can't find it or if it got lost. |
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Hey Juan,
I would like to encompass all of my shooting sports in one place, namely, pitol (1911 and glock would be fantastic) and "sniper" rifle site would be great. I am interested to see what you have planned for the equiptment exchange, auctions? Barter? |
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CONTENT CONTENT CONTENT - if you build it they will come!
Rather than SNIPER rifles how about benchrest/vodoo rifles? Vendor discounts - more please! |
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Well...I'll take a stab at this...first of all...the site as it is is damn good, best on the net IMHO.
Maybe a section on Military Firearms...seems to be catching on...Mausers/Enfield/M1's...you name it. Tons of deals out there right now on old military weapons. Maybe a section for us FAL freaks, encompassing FAL's, HK's, Cetme's and all their varients. You'd be going up against sites like l1A1 but what the heck? Good Luck |
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From the Admin level, this site couldn't be run better. You bust yer ass, and it shows.
That's why this site is what it is. If you ask me, I think you should take a cut for yourself out of the equiptment exchange. Do it on the honor system, like Gunsamerica. A lot of people will pay, a lot of people will not. And I understand that you are hesitant to ask for such a thing, so I will reccomend it. You put too much time in this site, and there is a whole lotta profit made off your hard work in that exchange. The AR15.com exchange is the one place on the net that will sell absolutley anything, and I think you deserve your cut for the time you invest in this site for all of us. And you know I don't say things to "kiss ass" either. I truly believe that. My .02 McU |
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Goatboy, although I am not the most outspoken person on this site, nor do some of my posts have relative content, I give you props for the job that you are doing.
I've seen this site grow more mature and at times resind into absolute chaos; but you, the staff and the mods are doing the best that you can. You've created one of the most unique online forums on the web. Complete with the most diverse groups of individuals that I've ever had the pleasure of knowing. As far as I am concerned any changes made to this site are for the best. The only new forum that I would like to see is a general pistol forum. A forum in which all sorts of pistols old and new are discussed. Thank You, Alex |
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I agree with McUzi, you need to take a cut off the top of any sale completed on AR15.com, just provide an extra button that is linked with PayPal and tack on an extra 2-5%
I am all for that. |
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Heh Heh Heh! Looking for a reason to pat yourself on the back, eh? WELL, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO GET IT FROM ME! J/K
Congrats Goatboy, it's pretty nice. How much college did U take to learn your programming? I'm currently a Csci major, but am changing to Mech Eng (to design new black rifles or toys thereof). It looks nice... -inuhbad |
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Great job with all you've done. I enjoy the site so much I hardly ever go anywhere else anymore. Thanks for the hard work!
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Site looks great and runs smooth. Now see if you can do the same for the personnel.
Just like code, quality and simplicity is the key. sgtar15 |
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Quoted: ...and even share pictures of hot women (and men!) all because we respect each other's opinions. View Quote Dang it!! I missed the pics of the hot men!!! Give me a link, please!!!! [:P] But seriously....I don't have any valid suggestions for additions to this site since I am just here to LEARN. And I have learned a lot already. I do want to say that I have been extremely impressed with the functionality, content, and general operation of this site. The ideas and advice are priceless, and the site admin is flawless. I don't know if I could stand it if it got any better! Kudos to you, GoatBoy....and to all of the members who have provided such informative (and frequently amusing) posts. [^] |
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Quoted: where did the email toggle switch go to unsubscribe to the automatic email-me-the-replies option? with the new buttons and whatnot i don't know if i just can't find it or if it got lost. View Quote It's the SUBSCRIBE button up top... it still functions as a toggle to subscribe and unsubscribe... General Pistol site is DEFINITELY coming... that way we can get all our toys in one place... I tend to like that sort of setup more because it brings all pistol owners together for general dicsussions, while allowin individual forums for specific guns and their implusive owners! FAL would be a nice addition... Actually have that on my list... I do like the idea of military rifles or maybe collectors/classics I dunno... something where the M1 and Mauser owners can go to play... maybe something more encompassing like a history buff type of site? Authentic clothing, rifles, equipment, etc... Im not a big re-enactor, but I do like seeing them and I love my authentic items and historic reproductions... As for taking a cut on the EE... maybe... but I don't want to hassle people who need the money. Perhaps this "optional" fee would work out. Kind of like a tip for the system... heeehee I plan on coding it up to normal for sale listings only for the time being, but possibly adding auctioning to it... seems more people are happy to list and sell as opposed to dealing with auctions, dutch auctions, and reverse auctions. Can't say that I blame them... I'd rather know what I was getting for the money than worry about bidding to get something I really want! Keep the ideas coming! Anything MEMBERS want to see added for their benefit? Changes maybe to how some things work? Anything? |
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As for taking a cut on the EE... maybe... but I don't want to hassle people who need the money. Perhaps this "optional" fee would work out. Kind of like a tip for the system... heeehee View Quote I say do it at the buyer level. If they can afford to buy it, they can afford to cough up a little something towards the site that provided them with the oppurtunity to buy in the first place. Hell. I've spend thousands of dollars in that exchange. It's only when I get deals like my 2nd Gen NV scope from Cheeks (Which I just got today- GOOD SELLER!) - and it arrives in the mail- do I really appreciate how much this site offers from a consumer standpoint. The larger commercial sellers could ante up too. |
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Mr Goat Boy I very much enjoy the site its about the only one I go to ,but I would like to see more links for ammo sales. Thank you for the hard work. Icemanokc
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Hey GB:
What's with the invite only chat room, someone trying to run us regulars off the chat? |
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I would also be interested in a "classic military firearms" type forum and the "target/sniper/benchrest" forum. I think it might be nice to have a "members only" or "contributing members only" forum too. Don't know what for, just something away from the trolls...
Also, I have noticed lately that, of all the people here with really high post counts, not that many of them appear to be contributing members. I that's a shame since they are obviously enjoying their use of the site. Maybe you should do some sort of membership drive or something. I almost feel guilty for coming here so much and enjoying this place so much for a measly 60 bucks. (I am actually looking forward to "renewing" my membership) Anyway, couldn't be happier with everything and anything else you do is just GRAVY!![:D] |
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I think a site devoted to the shooting sports would be great...beyond great! I second the pistol site too...lots of good ideas.
I am too interested about this: Quoted: Hey GB: What's with the invite only chat room, someone trying to run us regulars off the chat? View Quote |
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The new Equipment Exchange Engine sounds interesting, I can't wait to see it. And the merchandise online ordering automation is a boon to any site admin...now you're on your way to be the pro-2nd Amazon.com (teehee)
CONTENT: When I first got on AR15.com on the old forums way back when, I was very impressed by the quality of the reference information here. I would like to see an expanded Reference section with authoritative information, not just rumors and fluff. Hard data that we could point to and use. Whether it's technical in nature such as the serial number runs of lower receivers, or even political in nature as to facts on the upcoming Sunset in 2004 and what parts of the law goes away. Maybe as the sniper/range rifle section gets going...they could have ballistics and basic scope and mounting how-to's. There's some gun web sites out there that have some great quality information too. I don't know if they'd even want to, but perhaps some of them wouldn't mind their information being mirrored as a guest spot on this site with due credit being given to them. Oly has their interesting articles on .223 penetration that I still point people to regularly as old myths are debunked. We'd all love to see information from John Lott and others with hard numbers. The opinion pieces which can make for good reading probably would not go in this "Reference" section. New sites... I like the subgun idea, I'm not sure about everybody else. Picking and choosing hardware to base a site on could be fun. I really like the Remington 1100 and 11-87 or shotguns in general, but how much can be said about the 870? Who knows. How about a site based upon a concept rather than hardware. Tactics, home defense, etc. From the looks of many posts, I wonder about a SHTF site (teehee)...I'm sure 20/20 would just love to do a piece on that one! *rolls eyes* I've really enjoyed AR15.com, and I like the professional looking layout too. Congrats! - Robbie |
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Quoted: I would also be interested in a "classic military firearms" type forum and the "target/sniper/benchrest" forum. I think it might be nice to have a "members only" or "contributing members only" forum too. Don't know what for, just something away from the trolls... View Quote Try the accurate AR Competition forum. Trolling gets dealt with swift and justly. [smash] Some people that stop in there with excellent knowledge on firearms from the military marksmanship teams etc. and their application, would be deterred because they have to send in 60 bucks. FWIW |
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This is a top-notch site GB!! You've done a bang-up job, and I think it will only get better.
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I too would like to see a site for FAL's and variants, and military/collector site similar to Tuco's.
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This is by far my favorite site on the net and I think you have done a great job here. I just have two points.
1. I don't understand why the old messages were lost. If it was a technical or data conversion problem, I know there are people here such as myself who could have helped. There are a number of experienced programmers here and data conversion is usually not an impossible task. 2. Full-text search would be great. Sometimes I need to find a message, but the keyword is in the body of the message, not in the topic. That's my $.02. Overall I think everything is great. |
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Well I just rebuilt the paging functions to go with the new layout of the forums and be more "user friendly." Thought it was lacking... so figured WTF!
I would also like a full text search engine, but waiting for the new ISP for that, also for the archive portion of the forums. As for the old site content, I have the drive here, but it was slagged big time... I can barely get it to read before it craps out and more bad sectors plague it... then its a bitch to try to fix them as they corrupt more of the disk... one pathetic drive failure... the warrenty went since I kept it around to try to salvage it... when I have time I plan on performing surgury on the drive and seeing if I can salvage the platter and pull info off it... will be the second time I ever try this and the first time worked pretty well... not sure what I can do to be honest, but it does make a nice paperweight! I'd love to focus on content, but I can only do so much! Bug the other Staff guys to add links and hammer on them with emails or posts with links to add! (They all have the power to manage it!) Ask them for categories and fill em up! As for the chat, that was fixed... nice to see so many people in there each night! The place is rockin! The next site I'll focus on will be a PISTOL site and we'll go from there and dicsuss a collector/classic/historic site... Maybe I can find other nuts like me and the old man who like black powder and ball and cap reproductions and authentics! ]=) |
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Hey Goatboy... 10% of the people in the shooting sports do 90% of the work. You are doing more than your fair share. Thank you. Some day hopefully before it's too late the other 90% of the shooters will wake up and do something for the sport.
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GB, I really like your new method of selecting the page # on the subject list page. The pull down box wastes less space than the old list of page #'s. I've seen a lot of web sites, and that is the nicest interface of that type that I've seen. It just needs a submit button so that we can use it. I tried it by hand, so I know you have the program finished to handle it. I even like it better than the ones I've done. Well done.
A few suggestions: Strip the HTML out of the thread's subject before you place it on the page's title. This is important, because someone (I assume you're not checking for this) could either put JavaScript or invalid HTML in the subject. Imagine a stray META refresh tag in the subject to a malicious site. I haven't tried it, so correct me if you only allow certain HTML tags in the subject. Also, it would be nice to also put the thread's subject in the pages's title of the reply page. The you place in between each part of the hierarchy you display at the top and bottom of the thread display (the All Forums > General Discusstion > ...) doesn't imply the structure. A simple greater than sign, like Yahoo uses, would better express this. The button to get to the forums from the main page is very small. IMHO, that is what the site is about, and it should be big and bold. Also, putting a link directly to a few of the forums on the main page would be nice. It would save us from having to wait on the page with the list of forums to download and save you some work to generate it. That page looks pretty db-intensive to generate. There isn't a submit button on the form to use to jump between forums. You call it jumpForum in your code. I often jump between forums, so having a way of using that form would be nice. BTW, I haven't seen you post question asking for technical help with anything on the site. Maybe it's easier for you to just figure it out yourself, but we're here and we want to help.z |
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I LOVE IT! It has never been faster and it looks cool. Great job Goatboy! [beer]
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I just thought of one more thing. Different link and vlink colors would be nice, especially on the page that lists the threads.
A neat trick you can do is to put the number of posts in the link so that when there is a new post, the link color will change back to the unread color. That way, we waste less time looking back at topics to only realize that there hasn't been anything new added. I did this on a site that listed inventory items. The users liked it, because they knew that if the link was the visted color, there hadn't been a change since they last looked at it. Thanks again for your hard work.z |
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Quoted: I LOVE IT! It has never been faster and it looks cool. Great job Goatboy! [beer] View Quote Ditto!! I think the little page index box at the top is GREAT! THX |
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[thinking]I just thought of something…..
How about putting some paid membership info on the registration form? Maybe something like: Free registration allows access to ... yada, yada, yada Additional perks/features for paying members: (place link to membership page here) I know when I first registered, I had no idea that there was a paid membership option. That link at the top of the page is so small! BTW ... as soon as funds allow, I will become a paid member. This site is too good to be free!! |
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Ok, I'll bite.
This place does really KA! But the one thing it does need is a LEO room. Where only creditentialed LEO's can come and post. Why? Because any time someone starts posting stuff about SWAT, LEO's or anything along those lines, it turns into a bash session or boneheads show up who just want to inflame and in generally piss people off. There maybe times when LEO's go looking for bid processes or look for info that is not necessarily open to the public but yet needs to be passed onto brothers and sisters in distant departments. Just a secure place, where we can talk of LE related issues and topics without interferance or disruption. Email me, I would love to talk with you more on this. Thanks, Juan for all your hard work. This place rocks! [beer] |
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Quoted: GB, I really like your new method of selecting the page # on the subject list page. The pull down box wastes less space than the old list of page #'s. I've seen a lot of web sites, and that is the nicest interface of that type that I've seen. It just needs a submit button so that we can use it. View Quote Shouldnt need a submit... javascript event handlers should change the page on selection. Simple and easy. A few suggestions: Strip the HTML out of the thread's subject before you place it on the page's title. This is important, because someone (I assume you're not checking for this) could either put JavaScript or invalid HTML in the subject. Imagine a stray META refresh tag in the subject to a malicious site. I haven't tried it, so correct me if you only allow certain HTML tags in the subject. View Quote Way ahead of you, this has been there since the early days of development. Security was one of my main concerns because of the pathetic cases shown by boards like UBB and VBulletin. All HTML is scrubbed and denied. Anywhere HTML is allowed, is very very limited. Also, it would be nice to also put the thread's subject in the pages's title of the reply page. View Quote That reminds me... whomever wanted their own email notices not sent when replying to a topic, I put that in last night. As for this... I'll add it... never really paid much attention to it since the topic and posts follow the reply boxes. The • you place in between each part of the hierarchy you display at the top and bottom of the thread display (the All Forums > General Discusstion > ...) doesn't imply the structure. A simple greater than sign, like Yahoo uses, would better express this. View Quote Heehee, now yer assaulting my sense of style! The button to get to the forums from the main page is very small. IMHO, that is what the site is about, and it should be big and bold. Also, putting a link directly to a few of the forums on the main page would be nice. It would save us from having to wait on the page with the list of forums to download and save you some work to generate it. That page looks pretty db-intensive to generate. View Quote Actually, it needs to be rebuilt, it's not DB intensive as it is HTML heavy... nested tables kill it and I'll get to that shortly. There isn't a submit button on the form to use to jump between forums. You call it jumpForum in your code. I often jump between forums, so having a way of using that form would be nice. View Quote Again, javascript handles the "jump" when a forum is selected... works in NS and IE... what are ya using Opera? BTW, I haven't seen you post question asking for technical help with anything on the site. Maybe it's easier for you to just figure it out yourself, but we're here and we want to help.z View Quote Usually it's a matter of time and not questions. I've been doing this for years and years and have a pretty solid handle on everything DB and Web. I wouldn't mind some help with CONTENT! *hint hint* And yeah, my sense of style may be a bit on the "edge", but that's just me... ]=) |
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Thanks for replying GB.
Another suggestion: around the text in the last post and moderator(s) columns, on the page that lists the forums and on the page that lists the threads, would be nice. Those two columns are not as important (sorry moderators) as the others. It would save some valuable horizontal space, and give more room for the thread's subject so that it would be less likely to linewrap. Glad to hear that you're careful with the HTML. I've been burnt by that several times, so I just started stripping it all out. You might want to strip all of it, including the UBB code, out of the Again, javascript handles the "jump" when a forum is selected... works in NS and IE... what are ya using Opera? View Quote I try to avoid JavaScript like the plague, because it doesn't work for most people (due to differences between browsers that support it and the simple fact that most browsers don't support it). I use a lot of different browsers because I'm a security guard, so I often have lots of free time in different places in front of a computer. It depends on where I'm working, but I haven't yet figured-out a pattern to where it works. My boss's computer uses the latest Microsoft beta/rattle-trap browser and OS. Most JavaScript does not work with it, including on this site. Again, I don't use JS myself, so I've never looked any further into it. Two of my customers use web caches that strip-out JS, so no-go at their sites. I do use Opera, but that's only when I have to when I'm at a customer's site. Most of my customers use Opera (because MSIE and Netscape are too slow on their ancient computers), but they're old versions so I have no idea if your JS works in the current version. When I use what I want, I either use w3m or lynx, depending on the web site. For those two, of course, not having a submit button is a problem. A little go button beside the form element would be nice, something like ak-47.net uses. If you don't think that would look good, then using your 1x1 clear.gif as a form submit button would mean that for those of us that don't/can't use a graphical browser would still have a submit button. MSIE and Netscape users wouldn't even see it. I might seem overly sensitive to the access issues, but most of my web work has been for colleges, charities and nursing homes. They are very sensitive to the needs of the physically impaired. Also, most of my friends use text based browsers, because they need 100% control over the text size in order to read it. The proliferation of buggy web design software that uses the pixel (px) size in style sheets makes MSIE useless for them for many sites. A 19" monitor w/ a 80x25 text screen on a 486 is a great, cheap solution for them. On the accessibility issue, the two nicer text to speech systems I've seen used don't support HTTP version 1.0. So, when they send-out the request for any web page, they do not include the "host:" HTTP header. The system you're using replies with the error message "No web site is configured at this address" if that is left-out. I don't know if this is on your machine or your ISP's, but if you have a separate IP address for each hostname you support, there is no technical reason that requires that header to be set. Also, my wife works for the state government, and their proxy strips-out all HTTP headers (an overreation to cookie paranoia?) so she can't view this site. Maybe, that's a good thing. :) (cont) |
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(cont)
As for this... I'll add it... never really paid much attention to it since the topic and posts follow the reply boxes. View Quote Thanks. I'm usually on this site at work, and I have a lot of distractions. The reminder of the topic at the top would be nice. Of course, maybe I can't keep-up with it because I'm old. I wouldn't mind some help with CONTENT! *hint hint* View Quote That's no fun. Programming is more fun. If I was to send you a content page, how do you want it? I assume you have a standard header and footer, so I'd only need to send you the content that goes in the main cell? I assume you'd want us to use your basic.css style sheet? And yeah, my sense of style may be a bit on the "edge", but that's just me... View Quote You think your style is on the edge? I'm a 73 year-old security guard, so how mainstream do you think my style is? Over the 29 years I've been programming and past seven years I've been doing web pages, I've had to defend my "style" more times than I care to remember.z PS: A big thank you for using, except in a few small places, text sizes in points rather than pixels. More use of the em unit would be nice. |
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An invis submit button for the javascript calls isnt a bad idea... overkill sure, but what the hell...
Personally those who turn of JS screw themselves out of essential web content. Yeah it's a risk for WAP devices and older browsers, but such is life. (Cookies are very much the same way... a necessary evil most of the time.) I'll check through for any fonts still using the "px" as opposed to "pt" sizing... shouldnt be there... may be oversights... as for moderator names and such... give them some credit! ]=) As for http headers, right now they're essential because of the ISP changes we're looking at and the need to keep costs low. IPs are a bitch to get a hold of now-a-days especially when it comes to making business cases out of them, so it's just not worth the headaches... Sooooo we try to keep it to 1-2 ips per box which we've been able to rationalize and get approved. Let me tell ya, I miss the old days of calling up for a 20IP block and just getting them!!! Thanks for all the info and the time to type it all in here. You've given me some new hope for those who are "browser challenged." [=D] |
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