vowe.net has landed safely
by Volker Weber
Photo: NASA
What happened?
vowe.net runs on 12 y/o software. I believe in simplicity. If it ain't broken, don't fix it. So I am flying a Soyuz spacecraft instead of a Shuttle. The site is incredibly light, it's basically just html that is assembled with a bit of PHP code. Things that look the same on all pages, are the same on all pages. The things that are not the same on all pages are created with Perl code and stored in a database so they can be recreated. When I post, or when you comment, I generate the least possible amount of new hmtl.
This site was running in shared hosting. With tens of thousands of other sites on the same hardware. The operating system got refreshed and my bespoke construction no longer worked. PHP did, Perl did not. Nobody's fault, just collateral damage.
Once I knew this would be complicated to fix I asked Stefan for help. I pushed all the code to my sandbox, where parts of the site were already hosted. Today, we ironed out the last bug we could find and with a bit of help from 1&1, we pointed DNS to the new site.
Huge thanks to Stefan who fixed everything in his spare time. He is one kick-ass developer/admin.
vowe.net is still a Soyuz, but we no longer launch from Baikonur.
Comments
The analogies made me smile... :-)
"If it ain't broken, don't fixt it" (sic)
Says the man who's got the latest smartphone at all times ;)
Der Unterschied zwischen Werkzeug und Werkstück. Alle meine Computer sind längst abgeschrieben. :-)
Tolle Analogien, wirklich!
Wenn die Gerüchte zu meinem Hoster stimmen, werden die wohl auch bald magenta. Dann suche ich mir auch einen neuen!
Viel Erfolg weiterhin.
Wenn man Ausgangs- und Zielsystem kennt, dann werden die Analogien noch viel ... lassen wir das, ich teste nur nochmal 'ne Formatierung ;)
Well, you should use this opportunity to add what has been missing for a long time.
What your site really needs is a message and a button asking me for confirmation that you may use Cookies. Asking this three or four times a day should be sufficient.
Also two or three rows of share buttons would be great and so colorful.
What about ads? You aren't running them anymore. Maybe re-introduce them with a bang. interstitial ads would be great, or auto-playing ads with sounds that could the wife.
I know, I know. All good thoughts. You will thank me later.
Ps. The new site and commenting feels faster as well.
Nothing that could not be fixed however. A handful analytics scripts will get you going.
I will ponder your suggestions. ;-)
+1 Mariano.
If I could add anything to his wonderful list, please consider adding custom fonts. I figure one each for headings and body and links and dates.
I don't think anyone has mentioned the "please subscribe to our mailing list / like us on Facebook" layer popping up just as you're getting ready to leave yet. This is a must for any modern site these day. Surely you don't want to be left behind?
Actually, the new "must have" is a pop-up asking whether you'd have some time to take a short survey regarding the web site / whether you'd like to talk to someone concerning the product you're currently looking at.
I think I need an app. And then suggest an installation whenever you hit the site.
That's not going far enough. You need to send the visitors straight to the App Store / Google Play / other to install the App when they're visiting on their mobile device. What's good for Facebook is good for you.
Yeah, and don't you dare 'forgetting' the Windows app, or else!
We might even start a petition!1!!!11
Armin: And every effing time. Ask *every* time.
I can't believe no one has mentioned the lack of outbrain links with other stories I might be interested in at the bottom of each article.
@Stefan - I think you win.
Volker. Please please can you add a "Chat to me" button, that launches an instant voice chat with you - or maybe an AI you.
Once I reach the bottom of any page, I want to be redirected automagically to the front page. No matter if I already read it.
And: please show a "page has been updated, do you want to reload?" layer after approx. 3 minutes without any user input/scrolling, allowing the user to say "yes" only.
I <3 all these suggestions, would like to add one. Please use more colors in your page design. Lots more colors. Also user-selectable background colors. Maybe even let readers customize their pageviews by typing in CSS code, that would be cool! And since you're already remembering all comment text in a database, you could remember people's preferred CSS scripts, and automatically load at render time individually. That might also help with your "it's faster now" problem.
The suggested improvements are nice but what about the user experience? Parallax scrolling is the future. And please Volker every time loading the front page I want to hear a sound or even better an endless looping sound.
how about a darktheme? ;)
now seriously: RSS for comments
and: wow - this site is fast - amazing!
@Samuel a feed for comments? Like the one here?
:-)
Sam and Ben, you are moving off topic here. Please be team players ;)
One vowe.net app is a good start, but what about three apps? Vowe.net, vowe.net comments and vowe.net messenger? I think the messenger as a separate app is a must.
Can't wait for the vowe.net App on my Samsung Smart TV! Pretty please ...
While you are at it, can you please make your titles more interesting. How about "13 things Lenovo are not telling you about the new Yoga".
Or - "The worst thing you will hear this year about Apple"
Or - Alphabet's top 13 features for 2027 (you wont believe no 7).
TIA
Well and if we are talking about apps, don't forget to add Smartwatch functionality.
And why only comments, how about a vowe community forum?
I'm laughing out loud right now! Everyone... trust your mother!
You need more clickbait image sliders. And, please please take this into real consideration: Comic Sans!!!
Seriously, you should all get big money for your *brilliant* consulting advise here! I am sure, Volker is composing and updating the requirement specification for newvowe.net all the time. Maybe there is a marketing flyer, already? At least a nonfunctional mockup?
And Ben, holy moly! I am reading vowe.net (well, the old one) since 10 years, I think. I NEVER had an idea, that there was a comments feed. Thank you so much. To (kind of) quote a famous former soccer player from Germany: 'Again what learned'.
Selten so einen aufgeräumten Quellcode mit so hohem Inhaltsanteil gesehen. Habt Ihr gut gemacht!
Ich würde mir einzig noch eine bessere Leserlichkeit auf dem Smartphone wünschen.
