Although it might not be visible yet - the fact is that huge development steps are brewing under the surface, just waiting to be released.
These include grand improvements and additions to the visual image of the whole site and also to many basic functionalities.
For an appetizer, I have included a screenshot of the way things might look like in the very near future (Prepare for a high resolution image behind the link).
Tell us what you think.
Things are also happening on the corporate development side, namely the paperwork for the incorporation of FilmGator Ltd. is pretty much done - of which we are naturally excited about
The users’ mini profiles have experienced some visual modifications. The idea was to structure the different elements included in the profile in a user-friendly way - to make it easier for users to discover the key features presented there e.g. movie timeline, top-rated -list and the messaging utility.
A tip to all new users: You can subscribe to your friends timeline feeds (feed portrayed at your FilmGator front page at this point) by clicking on a users nickname and then choosing the option “follow this user” from the mini profile. In addition to the “recently seen by your friends” feed on the front page you will also see how your friends have rated the movies they’ve seen, this has been especially useful to me when looking for new movies to watch. Don’t forget to add the FilmGator Facebook application to your Facebook profile, so your friends can find you at FilmGator!
Also, the “movies” section of the site now offers the possibility to list all movies in addition to the genre -based listings. This section was actually one of the original main elements of FilmGator with its AJAX -centered design, which was aimed at giving users the possibility to smoothly and quickly rate and sort through lots of movies and to use the “+” expansion button for getting quick movie details when needed.
The front page of FilmGator has experienced a small facelift. Adding the “Hot upcoming movies” column to the front page is intended to give visitors a quick glance at upcoming films and their “hotness” -rate. The rate is based on a pretty straight forward algorithm which takes advantage of the ever-increasing amounts of movie statistics stored at our database.
Also the registered users’ front page has received an update in the form of a news feed ticker, which functions as a nice quick tool tip for users to take notice of new features and updates.
New updates will follow. And any feedback and further ideas are very welcome. Feel free to leave your comments to this blog or at our
contact page.
As some of you might have noticed the functionality of the small popup-user-profiles has shifted a little bit. What’s happened is that these “mini profiles” have been made the central element by which users can communicate and view details about each other.
The mini profile can be activated by a click on a users nick — wherever you can see a users nick as a link. A click on anywhere outside the profile will close it (except clicking on another user nick - this way you can have several miniprofiles open at the same time).
Other functions included in the mini profile are:
- User picture - which also is a link to the users personal movie timeline
- Name and link to the last movie the user has seen
- Name and link to the last movie the user has reviewed
- Link to a page with all the users reviews
- Gator score
- Link to the “Top rated by” page of the user
- A list of other users the user in question is following (i.e. their activity feed; including movies watched, reviewed etc).
- A private messaging tool which sends an e-mail to the user.
- A toggle link whereby you are able to start following the users activity feed.
I really like our search. It’s up there on every page, automatically focused when a page is loaded. It’s quick and it searches for movies, actors and users. It’s my gateway to the whole site. Enter two or more characters into the field and the search is on. However, as the number of movies, actors and users on FilmGator grows, you might want to type just a little more than that to make sure you get what you are looking for. That said, it is rarely necessary to type the full name of whatever you are trying to find.
Because I like the search so much, I thought I’d give it some additional capabilities. I ended up defining 3 keywords that have a special meaning:
*online* - shows the 10 most recently active users
*friends* - shows up to 10 of your most recently active friends
*random* - shows 10 random movies, 10 random actors and 10 random users
(it is actually enough to just type *o, *f or *r)
I hope everyone takes some time to really get to know the search function as it is an essential part of the FilmGator experience!
Two interesting new developments:
1. Antti, or rather
vertex has worked his magic and produced a spiffy quick
tour to portray some basic features of FilmGator for first-time visitors. The tour can be accessed from the front page of the site. A really useful tool to help people see what the service is all about.
2. Lauri, or rather
nmd, the lead architect himself has also worked diligently with some neat features that are presently partly under the surface, but can be accessed through the users’ mini-popup-profile. If you’ve already rated some movies and want to see some nice statistics, then go search for your own nick and find out what the feature does.
Stay tuned for more!
Yesterday a new useful feature was added to the Timeline page for each user. The overview chart provides a glance at history by showing the total amount of movies added to your timeline and a nice break-down of monthly activity. The chart can also be used to easily navigate through past months.
The timeline is certainly one of the essential unique features provided by FilmGator and thus is going to be subject to a great deal of attention in the development process.
Search results
Get ideas for the next movie to watch or see how your friends liked the
movie you heard about. Come back afterwards to rate it and add it to
your timeline. Simply put: FilmGator - Between Movies.
Share your movie watching with your friends by broadcasting your timeline on your
favourite social networks or on your personal web page/blog using a
JavaScript widget. Currently supported: