The AutoShrine Network

AutoShrine Network Development Blog

A history of the AutoShrine Network since its humble origins as a collection of links about my MGB in 1997. It has been a labour of love, I have put thousands of hours into these sites so I hope you enjoy them as much as I do! Most of the sites (except the forums) have been written from scratch using PHP and MySQL extensively, all HTML is hand written with Vim and now TextMate, and I'm now on the 3rd major rewrite of the whole site. The most recent version was written in the back of a camper van as I traveled around New Zealand for a year. I forgot to update this page between 1999 and 2005, but lots of stuff happened, trust me!

AutoShrine Network v4.3 serving autoshrine.com
Copyright © 1997-2007 Skye P. Nott, F4 Systems

February 8, 2010
  • Optimize registry slideshow query and fix vehicle has_image.
February 7, 2010
  • Improve the new Top 10 registry rating algorithm.
February 1, 2010
  • Increased forum textarea font size and bumped up small css fonts.
January 20, 2010
  • Add common JS and refactor custom page CSS.
  • Increase car display in Forums to 4.
  • Added From: no-reply to some automatically generated emails.
  • Debounce submit buttons for Firefox(!) users with JS.
  • Break out MGB VIN article to its own page with BMIHT info.
  • Use white bg tile for articles.
  • Refactor registry schema, add hist_id and use table linking for speed.
  • Refactor registry front page, major speed/load improvement.
  • Refactor comments schema.
  • VERSION 4.3
January 14, 2010
  • Resend activation email option from sign-in error page.
  • Added new eBay Partner Network widgets to Store.
  • Added banner ads back to Forum (missing since upgrade in Sept)
  • Add unlimited post edit to Trader forums via mod_autoshrine.
January 13, 2010
  • Rewrite email library and everything that uses it.
  • Refactor AS_Site and fix cron daemons to actually run from cron.
  • Eliminated duplicate email addresses from the database and added unique index.
  • Refactor author feedback/comment system.
January 11, 2010
  • Clean up members schema.
  • Added Last Login to profile.
  • Automated email change via confirmation email.
  • ASN v4.2
October 10, 2009
  • Check for activation in forum auth mod.
October 5, 2009
  • Fixed activation key mismatch bug.
  • Increased Mysql max_allowed_packet to 4M for attachments.
October 4, 2009
  • Changed Mysql ft_min_word_len to allow 3-char searches.
  • Updated Paypal subscription instructions.
October 2, 2009
  • Added Floating Threads control to forums, default off if not logged in.
October 1, 2009
  • Added video embedding module to forums.
  • Added readable dates module to forums.
  • Added post preview module to forums.
September 30, 2009
  • ASN 4.0 launch day!!!
  • Many many tweaks and bug fixes.
  • Refactor password reset code and add admin widget.
September 29, 2009
  • Refactored forum template designs.
September 28, 2009
  • Start work on AutoShrine version 4
  • Upgrade Phorum from 5.0.21 to 5.2.13
  • Rewrite forum session hooks to use ONE member database (yay!)
  • Store member passwords in a more secure manner.
  • Moved forum attachment resizing to ASN module hook.
  • Added poll feature to forums.
April 25, 2009
  • Upgrade MySQL to version 5.0.77
  • Clean up database names
  • Upgrade Apache to version 2.0.63
  • Upgrade PHP to version 5.2.9
April 22, 2009
  • Split MG Off Topic forum into General and Political sub-forums.
  • Replace my lame CAPTCHA questions with reCAPTCHA service.
November 7, 2008
January 29, 2008
  • Added "click thumbnail" text above journal entry images.
  • Remove Edit Email from Phorum CC.
  • Added helpful info to email change request link from profile edit.
  • Added Royal Enfield to manufacturer list.
  • Prioritize tasks for February...
January 1, 2008
  • Happy New Year!
December 19, 2007
  • Improve debug module to investigate "disappearing auth cookie" bug.
  • General DBO code cleanup.
  • Optimize forum ASN mod, split vehicle image HTML fetch into new function.
  • Fix auth/session skip in image.php to fix auth bug.
December 18, 2007
  • Added article (MGE): Steel Wheel Paint Codes
  • Added article (MGE): You Know You're Driving an MGB When...
  • Added article (MGE): Good & Bad Wire Wheel Hubs
  • Increase MGE article font size to 13px.
  • Added article (MGE): An Easy Way to Siphon Gas
  • Fix website member links in DB and require valid URI in profile edit.
  • Added ability to post a flyer image along with Calendar events.
  • Launch ASN v3.5.5
  • Added "General Chat" forum to TE.
December 17, 2007
  • Disable CoralCDN picture caching, it freezes up a lot. Leave it on for forum attachments.
  • Admin: Member expiry histogram page.
  • Added better error message on add duplicate vehicle VIN.
  • Add colour (color) search to Registry. Only searched original colour for now.
  • Removed annoying right-float ad from library articles
  • Only show one ad if the article is quite short.
  • Added article (MGE): Negative Earth Stickers
  • Added article (MGE): Float Lever Drop
  • Updated article (MGE, TE): SU Fuel Pumps 101
  • Added article (MGE, TE): How To Blow Through an SU
  • Disable CoralCDN forum attachment caching.
December 14, 2007
  • Everything seems OK with DB images on CoralCDN so...
  • Experimental deployment of CoralCDN caching for Phorum attachments via mod_rewrite.
December 13, 2007
  • Experimental deployment of CoralCDN caching for DB images via mod_rewrite.
December 12, 2007
  • Submit sitemaps to MSN Live search.
  • Add image SEO description to alt and title tags for media crawlers.
December 11, 2007
  • Fix bug in journal edit code, where adding new images nuked old images.
  • Fix bug in journal edit image captions.
  • Fix bug in bare URL at EOM bbcode translation in forum, remove added square brackets.
  • Redirect old /imgr/ links to MGExp registry.
December 8, 2007
  • Deny search crawlers from live forum topics (read.php), attachments, etc
  • Clean up forum archive static pages.
  • Monitor crawler performance on Google, Yahoo and MSN Live.
December 7, 2007
  • Try to fix some IE7 layout bugs.
  • Finish Google/Yahoo/MSN sitemaps cron scripts.
  • Optimize DB image display to be 15x faster.
December 5, 2007
  • Increase MySQL query cache size and max packet size.
December 5, 2007
  • Start work on updated Google and Yahoo sitemaps generation.
  • Discover nasty memory leak in gen_sitemap, appears to be PHP 4 related.
  • Make changes for PHP 5 deployment... can't put this off any longer.
  • Switch production from PHP 4.4.4 to PHP 5.2.5, turn off output compression.
  • Upgrade all PEAR libraries to latest versions.
December 4, 2007
  • Finished Photoshop and HTML work for NW Corrado to Corrado World conversion
  • Launch ASN v3.5.3
December 2, 2007
  • Write script to correct image size in DB for imaged uploaded yesterday.
  • Archive production member, journal, vehicle image files.
  • Drop custom object type prefix from picture URLs.
  • Add debug path for picture URLs.
  • Launch ASN v3.5.1
  • Add SEO text for registry, member and journal images.
  • Launch ASN v3.5.2
  • Register corradoworld.com for NW Corrado site revamp (going global...)
  • NW Corrado Club is now Corrado World: The International Corrado Club!
December 1, 2007
  • Move common DB image code from DBO base class to ImageEngine member.
  • Refactor code for ImageEngine change.
  • Rewrite journal edit code for Image DB.
  • Rewrite registry mini-slideshow to be more efficient and use image DB.
  • Add current image to member profile edit.
  • Archive old image files.
  • Launch ASN v3.5.0
  • Fix PHP4 bugs on production site...
  • Move A tag out of img-shadow div for IE6.
  • Fix image thumbnail size calculation bug, causing slow loads.
November 30, 2007
  • Write Journal entry image DB import code.
  • Modify Journal view code to pull images from DB.
November 29, 2007
  • Nuke changes to allow multiple registry images and unique filenames, it was a mess.
  • Get my Corrado through AirCare at the last possible moment :-)
  • Fix imgr_reset_pass to just do a direct query.
  • Backup & drop obsolete comments tables.
  • Design schema for storing images in DB.
  • Write script to import existing images for Registry, Members
  • Fix bug in Journal Summary comment counting code (was using old table)
  • Modify member and vehicle objects to fetch images from DB instead of disk.
November 28, 2007
  • Give registry and member photos unique names on upload to avoid browser caching bug.
  • Move shared image handling code to DBO base class.
November 27, 2007
  • Revert to default don't keep copy of sent private messages on MGExp for load/space.
  • Fixed Member Search by full name or location, added country code blurb.
  • Exclude unactivated and not-this-site members from Member Search results.
  • Tweak Registry scoring calculation.
  • Added car count by country stats to Registry FP (not yet linked to search).
  • Fix Location column display in Registry Browse.
  • Added ISO3166 country code tables to database for future features.
  • Added country full name search capability to Member Search using new ISO3166 tables.
  • Obfuscate email address and show total result count in Member Search.
November 22, 2007
  • Fix bug in Top Registry Votes SQL (MySQL group by alias bug)
  • Tweak CSS for Registry FP, add clears to BR and fix Safari 2 layout.
  • Moved all cross-site shared templates to common directory.
  • Fixed but with duplicate templates (site specific dir takes priority...)
  • Added Top Rated, Recently Updated, Latest Comments to Registry FP on Triumph, Corrado sites.
  • Added new statistics to Registry FP (average model year, average mileage)
November 22, 2007
  • Created admin vehicle transfer script.
  • Create special vehicle owner for non-member-owned cars in rego limbo.
  • Update admin CSS scheme.
  • Revised Registry front page for MGExp.
  • Added Recently Updated Cars to Registry FP.
  • Added Latest Comments to Registry FP.
  • Added Top Rated Cars to Registry FP. Hopefully the voting algorithm is OK.
  • Revised Registry browser to use more efficient SQL.
November 19, 2007
  • Created dedicated MGC Forum on MGExp.
November 13, 2007
  • Change the "Free Member" tag to just "Member".
  • Modify registry tables and code to allow VIN editing and general cleanup.
  • Add registry mod_rewrite ID lookup method.
November 8, 2007
  • Finish setting up new dev environment on my new Mac mini.
  • Refactor some journal entry code and variables.
  • Fix journal entry length restrictions and bump up to 32k.
  • Fix form_haserror code to work with PHP5.
  • Changed vehicle comments max length to 8K (varchar to text) and fixed formatting.
November 7, 2007
  • Switch activation key chop.
  • Fix md5 data concatenation and removed legacy activation code.
November 6, 2007
  • Created unactivated account 2 month expiration script with helpful email.
  • Shortened activation key to 12 characters to avoid line splitting.
  • Revised activation email with site specific strings.
  • Set member.site during register so expire script can brand the email.
  • Check for existing Phorum account during activation to fix user_add(0) bug, hopefully.
  • Added IP to member DB during registration for security.
October 30, 2007
  • Created new admin script to easily update email address change requests.
October 29, 2007
  • Moved code and documents under subversion control on my awesome new Mac Mini dev box.
  • Revised the Forum Help page, with instructions on floating threads.
October 6, 2007
  • Updated keywords and raised budget for MG Experience AdWords campaign.
  • Created Triumph Experience AdWords campaign.
  • Updated meta keywords for MGExp, Triumph and moved to AS_Site class.
  • Removed motorsport forum link from Triumph site
  • Made Triumph article Silver Member offer more noticable
  • Fixed year rollover display bug in calendar.php
October 3, 2007
  • Added error message to top of form on submit validation failure, to make it super clear that there's a problem.
  • Added link to forum archives on every page footer on MGExp to help direct traffic.
  • Revamped signed-in-required page with big Sign In or Register Now buttons.
  • Added custom action message on signed-in-required page.
  • Added big buttons to registry landing page and browser for Add Vehicle.
  • Cleaned up Membership page, especially in IE6.
October 2, 2007
  • Created 404 page for autoshrine.com
  • Added more redirects for popular old article locations from 404 report.
  • Changed password reset to 8 characters uppercase.
  • Added request IP to registration activation email.
  • Revamp registration page: require country, remove website, add text captcha against spammers.
  • Improved registration thank you page, added more instructions for MIA activation emails.
  • Put membership nag in white box in forum header.
  • Update membership page to reflect instant processing which has been around a long time.
  • Updated Gold, Silver, Administrator icons with modified Famfamfam Silk icons.
September 30, 2007
  • Added redirect for /rotator/ to new article location to fix lots of 404s.
  • Added favicon for Triumph Experience.
  • Turned off custom 404 page temporarily, its masking 404s from the access log.
  • Turned custom 404 back on in htaccess using relative URL and added templates for Corrado and Triumph sites.
September 29, 2007
  • Added flag icons to Forum, member profiles.
  • Moved What's New page from MG Experience to Development Blog on AutoShrine.com
  • Added per-site membership stats to nightly report.
January 27, 2007
  • Coded static Forum Archives for Google.
  • Changed leaderboard in forum to embedded small rect as per request. Hope to remove some ads from forum if archives generate revenue.
January 11, 2007
  • Fixed the Journals front page to only show entries from that site.
  • Default to keep copy when posting a PM in the Forums.
October 7, 2006
  • Fixed ", Select a Country" display in Forums.
  • Increased image attachment size from 400 to 500px in Forums.
  • Swapped next/prev directions on journal pager.
July 22, 2006
  • Added Google Sitemaps for Forum and all static and dynamic site content.
  • Removed incorrect Member ID requirement from reset password page.
July 14, 2006
  • Added Google AdSense Link Units to read topic nav header in the Forums.
  • Improved Forum quoting system.
July 1, 2006
  • Renamed domain from mgbexperience.com to mgexperience.net; no reason to exclude other MG owners!
  • Fixed (hopefully) an issue with Phorum cookies not being set properly.
June 23, 2006
  • Added direct cross-links between MGB and Triumph forums.
  • Update member password from Forums, if not set, at auth time.
  • Update onetimekey to be site specific.
  • Changing name from The MGB Experience to The MG Experience!
June 22, 2006
  • The Triumph Experience launched.
June 21, 2006
  • Started work on The Triumph Experience!
  • Thanks to Adrio Taucer for use of his TR3 in the site design.
May 2, 2006
  • Changed references to TMGBE to the AutoShrine Network in emails.
  • Changed URLs to HTTP_HOST in emails.
May 1, 2006
  • Working with Kevin Podszebka to launch solregistry.com
  • Added a rough multi-level administration ACL feature.
  • Added model selection to site configuraton.
  • Added site-specific webmaster email settings.
April 18, 2006
  • Launched NWCorrado.com!!
  • Lots of little mods to make code completely site-independant.
  • Added site field to libray, links and garages.
April 11, 2006
  • Added comments to historic race car pages.
  • Added pages for LBL 591E historic racer.
  • Tweaked colour scheme again.
April 10, 2006
  • Starting work on templating site by HTTP_HOST
  • Eliminated all configuration define()s from common.
  • Removed last few MGB references from code library.
  • Changed cookie names to force everyone to login to get the member db synched.
  • Launched v3.2.0 !!
April 8, 2006
  • Wrote a little email library to standardize From, To, etc from forms.
April 7, 2006
  • Updated dodgy copyright MG logo to chrome style text title (Arial Narrow).
  • Bumped up Forum attachment size limit now that images are auto-resized
  • Added subtle HR before signature in Forums.
  • Added Zetland, Sydney, Aus and Abingdon, England to VIN decoder.
April 6, 2006
  • Moved Journal pictures to hashed directories and renamed to ID.
  • Auto-resize of images attached in the Forums.
  • Changed site navigation div from sunked box to rounded style.
  • Added one-line smaller site nav to Forum header.
  • Added better vehicle information to registry slideshow.
  • Show as much of link URL as possible in Forums with ... truncation.
  • Added 'Send Private Message' button to member home page.
  • Changed article Google AdSense to skyscraper.
  • Added CSS drop shadows to most pictures.
  • Rewrote journal entry image display code using floating divs.
  • Added 'Magic VIN Decoder' to Registry vehicle viewer.
  • System seems stable and almost all scheduled features completed.
  • Bumped version to 3.1.1
April 5, 2006
  • Added Calendar calendar with clickable days.
  • Added Calendar event attendee code.
  • Force login for calendar, garage and links add due to spam.
  • Added 'Articles Written by this Member' to profile home page.
  • Added pager to Journal browser.
  • Moved Member pictures to hashed directories and renamed to ID.
  • Moved Registry pictures to hashed directories and renamed to ID.
April 4, 2006
  • Update all Phorum and Member created dates to date of oldest post.
  • Only show CARFAX if VIN is 17 characters.
  • Fixed date range and empty dates in admin interface.
  • Allow empty dates in new and edit vehicle optional fields.
  • Fix computing thumbnail dimesnions when displaying journal entry.
  • New Article: Steering Rack Service
  • New Article: Printable Used Car Buying Checklist
  • New Article: Mysteries of Removing the Dash
  • New Article: How to Paint Wrinkle Finish
  • Sort Library subsections by article title.
  • Clean up Comments Block, make it blend into the page better.
  • Added comments to individual events in the Calendar.
  • Tons of little fixes. Things are settling down a bit now.
April 3, 2006
  • Spent the day migrating Member profiles, fixing bugs, etc
  • Tweaked Phorum CSS colours and layout a bit.
  • Added CARFAX links.
April 2, 2006
  • v3.1.0 launch day!!!!
  • Remembered to check IE6 and Safari for compatibility.
  • Worked around IE6 disappearing text and gallery positioning bugs :P
April 1, 2006
  • Created proper thumbnail code and directory for vehicle photos.
  • Created proper thumbnail code and directory for member photos.
  • Cleaned up ImageMagick code for the above.
  • Mucked about with some AJAX stuff for a lightweight crossfade slideshow block on the front page that shows random vehicle thumbnails and links.
March 31, 2006
  • Added comments email back to the code.
  • Partial rename of "Member Profile" to "Member Home Page".
  • Wrote the Member to Phorum create on login code (legacy Members).
  • Wrote all the "change password" logic to keep Phorum in sync.
March 30, 2006
  • Wrote the Phorum to Member import on sign-in code (legacy Phorum users).
  • Wrote the Member to Phorum create on activate code (all new users).
  • Added a "forgot password" mailer to old IMGR records.
  • A bunch of little things... almost ready to launch!!!!
March 28, 2006
  • Wrote schema for new generic comments table.
  • Wrote script to import old comments.
  • Wrote new comment engine library.
  • Added comments back to journal entries, articles and garages.
  • Added comments to vehicle registry. Super easy with the new code!
  • Implemented proper PHP error handling to a log file. Not that there will be any bugs in the new code...
March 27, 2006
  • Added search, insert, column sort and delete to DB admin pages.
  • Elimated calendar_pending table by adding pending column to calendar.
  • Did the same to calendar and garages.
  • Rewrote link add page.
  • Rewrote Garage Locator page, searching, etc.
March 25, 2006
  • Reorganized and renamed DataObjects.
  • Added new DataObject base class for dynamic table administration.
  • Finished dynamic adminstration table view, row view and row edit. VERY cool!
  • Set up admin template system and made a nice 3-box layout.
  • Rewrote admin PHP and DB status pages.
  • Connected authentication and authorization to admin pages.
  • Used static property method for object configuration in common.
  • Exciting way to spend a Saturday night :-)
March 24, 2006
  • Converted New Vehicle, Vehicle Transfer, and IMGR Import code.
  • That pretty much wraps up the Registry for now! Woohoo!
  • Back to working on Member services...
  • Rewrote new member registration code.
  • Changed code, mod_rewrite etc to allow spaces and dots in Member ID's for eventual Forum integration.
  • Rewrote Forgot Password code.
  • Rewrote the oh-so-complex templates for Membership Status.
  • Wrote a new Member Search page (as requested... finally)
  • Member stuff pretty much done!!!
March 13, 2006
  • Finished rewriting the Registry browser/viewer, model selector and search.
March 11, 2006
  • Reorganized imgr/ to registry/
  • Rewrote the Registry welcome page
  • Rewrote the Registry browser with PEAR_Pager
  • Rewrote the Registry viewer
March 10, 2006
  • Wrote an import script to bring all registered vehicles from the IMGR into the new vehicle tables and eliminate the crufty temporary merged index generation functions. No more 15-30 minute delays in index updating!
  • Wrote a much more efficient SQL query to fetch latest entry from vehicle history (0.2ms vs 5s!) for registry index, total mileage, etc.
March 9, 2006
  • Continue working on Journal code conversion.
  • Convert Motorsport section and Historic MGB Racing to new template system.
March 7, 2006
  • Continue working on Journal code conversion.
  • Register autoshrine.com and .net - finally a good 'umbrella' domain!
March 6, 2006
  • Working on rewriting Journal code. Tricky.
February 28, 2006
  • Slogging away at converting article add, calendar add, and donation pages.
  • Finished review of new database-generated Library.
  • Fixed media viewer.
January 31, 2006
  • Back to work, converting Library metadata to new database table.
  • Removing PHP from Library articles and moving to common directory.
January 22, 2006
  • Refactored the links (directory) page with Flexy etc.
  • Templated the locator include and fixed country select.
  • Rewrote the mini and full events calendar pages.
January 16, 2006
  • Break everything all over again...
  • Reorganize PHP code directory structure.
  • Autogenerate PEAR::DataObject containers.
  • Move old PHP library code to new DataObject subclasses.
  • Rewrite Member Profile page (again) to use DataObjects. Most of the day.
  • Rewrite Profile Edit page (again) to use DataObjects. Only a couple of hours this time!
  • Rewrite Member Sign In to use DataObjects.
  • Added Cancel and Reset buttons to Profile Edit (and later forms...)
January 13, 2006
  • Start research on SQL/DB abstraction layer in PEAR.
January 11, 2006
  • Rewrite Profile Edit page in Flexy and QuickForm. Took 2 days, but since the form template is fully dynamic, subsequent pages should be super easy.
January 9, 2006
  • Rewrite Member Profile page in Flexy.
  • Start to object-ify a lot of site elements (members, journals, etc)
January 6, 2006
  • New PageController class complete.
  • PEAR Flexy template library running.
  • PEAR QuickForms library running, started work on validation callbacks.
January 5, 2006
  • Started work on CM v3.1.0
  • Completed new authentication scheme code, sign in, sign out, remember me
January 4, 2006
  • Applied security patches to upgrade Phorum from 5.0.16 to 5.0.21
  • Deleted all Phorum users inactive for more than 120 days with 0 posts.
  • Completed research on new persistent login cookie systems.
  • Changed text links to javascript buttons on Profile page.
  • Changed lame radio buttons to pre-filled checkboxes on Profile Edit page.
  • Greyed out "hide ads" option in Profile Edit for non-goldies.
  • General tidy of Profile Edit page.
  • Minor edits and tidy of Change Membership page.
December 23, 2005
  • Fixed a bug in Phorum where some pages/posts were giving a banlist SQL error
  • Moved Google AdSense code in in the Forums, hopefully to be less intrusive and also increase CTR.
  • Lots of new Gold and Silver subscribers!
December 10, 2005
  • Finally back in North America after our 14 months backpacking trip. Glad nothing melted down too badly while we were away! Lots of things I want to fix and improve on the site.
  • Started tweaking Google AdSense placement to be less intrusive and hopefully increase the CTR as well.
  • Improved Journal Entry viewer with mini-profile picture and moved ads.
November 15, 2005
  • Caught up on lots of garage and links submissions.
  • Made garage comments even more anonymous (no initials, just country)
August 28, 2005
  • Allow commenting on your own journal entries.
  • IMGR DB problems seem to be fixed!
  • 314 Members!
August 14, 2005
  • Keeping busy with lots of little fixes.
  • Fixed journal image upload daily limit enforcement code.
  • Changed Forums to use em intead of px font sizes for IE users.
  • Added "Fiero Seats" article by Martyn Harvey to the Library.
  • 244 Members!
August 7, 2005
  • Fixed the "journal logout" problem. Don't understand why though.
  • Uploaded yesterday's changes.
  • Plead on the Forums for Garage Locator submissions.
August 6, 2005
  • Made the "login bar" a more noticable colour, and the font size bigger.
  • Add ability to delete images from Journal Entry Edit page.
  • Added manual member activation to Admin page.
  • Added Journal Comments Watch option to Member Profile.
  • Wrote ability to comment on Journal entries!
  • Wrote notification email to webmaster and author on new Journal comment.
  • Added comments count to Journals RSS feed.
  • Wrote banner ad rotation system, with view and click tracking.
  • Added comment count to Journal summary display.
August 4, 2005
  • Worked on adding message body to watched topic notification email in Forums.
August 3, 2005
  • Keeping busy with lots of little fixes and modifications as suggested by the folks in the Forums.
  • Wrote RSS feed generation script in the Member Journals section, for individual Journals or for all Journal entries. Not sure if anyone will use it but thought I'd give it a try. Using simple RSS 0.91 spec.
  • Updated Forums FAQ help page.
  • Sent out Mk3 launch announcement to mgb-announce mail list.
July 31, 2005
  • Change Phorum bbcode module to show full url in message hyperlinks.
  • Change Phorum to show image attachments inline.
July 30, 2005
  • Uploaded MGB membership Phorum module.
  • Changed DIV to TABLE in Forum style because of IE layout bug.
  • Added post count to Forum profile
  • Changed default font in Forum to Verdana.
  • Changed message body background to off-white as requested.
  • Create T-Series and Prewar Forum.
  • Increased "Most active journals" list from 5 to 20.
  • Added "Switch view" module to Phorum (switch from threaded/flat in topic list or message read)
  • Added "Toggle Float-to-top" module to Phorum.
  • Modified bbcode module to open links in new window in Phorum.
  • Changed site-wide styles from white to "benign" (be9) offwhite.
  • Wrote "Jump to first record of model year" in IMGR Registry Browser.
  • Added Journal Browser as requested. Shows all Journals for now, may need to paginate later if the count gets too big.
July 29, 2005
  • Start cleaning up bugs that never appeared in my local testing...
  • Allow case changes to name in profile edit.
  • Check for old IMGR VIN record when adding new vehicle to prevent duplicates which muck up the imgr_index generation.
  • Fix members admin page, F4.ca's PHP doesn't have money_format
  • Fix membership page (already a member? check broken)
  • First Gold Member!!! Thanks to KimdeB.
  • Upgraded Phorum from 4.x to 5.0.16
  • Had to upgrade PHP to 4.4.0 on F4.ca for new MySQL client libraries.
  • Muck about with Forum CSS for IE6 users :-P
  • Wrote my first Phorum module to show MGBE Member icons and profile links in the list, read and profile pages.
July 28, 2005
  • Mk3 LAUNCH DAY!!!!!!
  • Made membership icons (stars and crown) and added to Journal and profile.
  • Finished Paypal buttons and forms for membership and upgrade.
  • Started upgrade testing for phorum 5.0.16 - importing the 238,000 old posts takes a long time!
July 27, 2005
  • Tarted up Admin pages with separate CSS stylesheet.
July 20, 2005
  • Writing lots of new statistics logging and graphing on server to help tune and monitor performance prior to Mk3 launch. RRDTool is awesome!
  • Figured out that I can calculate membership upgrade cost difference and provide a link to pay for upgrade, rather than doing it manually. I wish Paypal had an easier method of modifying customer subscriptions though...
  • Pretty much ready to launch! Now I just need a reliable Net connection. Hopefully Wanaka will have something cheap and fast, where I can finish a few details, launch the site, and monitor it closely for a while to make sure everything's working properly.
  • Added expired subscriptions search to admin member management.
  • Added abuse clause to membership terms of service.
  • Added Creative Commons license blurb to Journal viewer.
July 18, 2005
  • Added MG Engine History RTF document to Library.
  • Added tachometer servicing article to Library.
  • Added period magazine ads to Library.
  • Added 1980 MGB LE brochure to Library.
  • Added SU HS dissassembly manual scans to Library.
  • Added 350 Chevy, Limo, 4x4, MGTF and X10 to Media Collection.
  • Added 2 new photos to 8DBL page in Historic Motorsport.
  • Made Members' email address non-editable and unique, to prevent abuse.
  • Rewrote the donations page, mentioning paid subscriptions etc.
  • Wrote code to allow Gold/Admin members to turn off ads in profile.
  • Rewrote membership properties structure in php library.
  • Wrote all the content for the Membership Status page.
  • Wrote a member search page, for admins only, sorry.
  • Reading lots of "exciting" Paypal website integration documents.
  • Looks like the Phorum is recent enough to upgrade easily to 5.x, good...
July 10, 2005
  • Enforce daily image upload limit.
  • Wrote Journal Entry Edit page, took a bit of effort.
  • Imported journal image upload logic for add and edit entry.
  • Detect duplicate journal image uploads and ignore.
  • Added Journal show/hide this year's entries summary option.
  • Simplified article and journal summary show/hide toggles by using separate script with header Location: redirect back to referrer, and changing the British Garage Locator to use a GET instead of POST form so the referrer would send you back to the right place.
  • To-do list for Mk3 site launch is getting pretty short!!!
July 9, 2005
  • Added blurb to Journal front page and wrote most recenly updated display.
  • Wrote "view random journal entry" code.
  • Wrote very complicated Journal Add Entry page, with image uploads and resizing, thumbnail generation, duplicate detection, markup, membership level variables, etc etc.
  • Wrote journal image viewer script with mod_rewrite pretty URLs.
  • Uncountable little tweaks and cleanups.
July 8, 2005
  • Wrote the marque selector library. Probably forgot a few marques.
  • Renamed some files and added icons back to the Library sections.
July 7, 2005
  • Fixed security on production MySQL server, turned on slow query logging and noticed the query cache wasn't turned on, oops.
  • Wrote journal entry paginate code (first, last, next, prev), used mod_rewrite again to make nice static URLs for each entry.
  • Wrote "other journal entries from this year" code and layout.
  • Wrote "jump to journal year by year" code and layout.
  • Wrote journal markup language regex replacement code for bold, underline, centered, links, etc just like phorum's.
  • Added most recent journal entry summary to member profile page.
July 6, 2005
  • Finished off the DB schema for Journals
  • Converted my entire journal (back to 1997) and image links into a machine readable format. Took hours...
  • Wrote a PHP script to import my journal into the new database
  • Started writing the journal view code. Looks great!!
July 5, 2005
  • Wrote vehicle edit page. Members can finally change the VIN of a vehicle!
  • Found a bug in the vehicle_hist table schema (created as datetime)
  • Wrote "forgot my password" email and random generator code.
  • Went through all SQL selects and optimized DB indexes.
  • Added IP logging to all comments to prevent abuse.
  • Started on Journals DB schema.
  • Resurrected the old Media picture collection and put it at the bottom of the new Journals front page.
  • Rewrote the old media image viewer and made the URLs nicer with mod_rewrite.
  • Getting a little bit tired of working on the site :-)
July 4, 2005
  • Rewrote Service Tips generation, fixed format, got rid of the Perl cgi's.
  • Just present tips as-is for now, for historical reference. Maybe open it up as a "mini articles" area in the future?
  • Added new option to article wrapper, to CC author on new comment.
  • Email webmaster and optionally the author on new article comment.
  • Email webmaster on new garage comment.
  • Rewrote the admin interface authentication mechanism.
  • Created the new imgr_index caching index table
  • Wrote table locking, insert from old and new IMGR and cache expiry code for imgr_index table.
  • Rewrote the IMGR browse page.
  • Updated the IMGR's CSS style definitions to look nicer.
  • Wrote the "paginate" IMGR code, to step through pages of records instead of dumping out the whole registry.
  • Bumped up member idle timeout to 24 hours. Print blurb on sign-in page about idle timeout, and remind about logging out on public terminals.
  • Wrote random MG viewer in the IMGR.
  • Wrote IMGR search by VIN, owner name or location.
  • Watched "The Italian Job" on DVD (the original). Minis!
  • Rain continues in Nelson on top of the South Island, hence productivity.
July 3, 2005
  • Wrote vehicle add page. That's a big form!
  • Wrote vehicle sell page.
  • Bumped up member idle timeout from 4 to 12 hours.
  • Added interesting, useless facts to member profile vehicle registry.
  • Many, many little tweaks and cleanup of previous work.
July 1, 2005
  • Rewrote the view vehicle page, to support old and new style entries.
  • Wrote function to calculate history diffs instead of printing out the whole record each time.
  • Wrote the code to import old style IMGR records into the new format, preserving the vehicle history as much as possible. New DB format is much more freeform with regards to engine and transmission descriptions.
  • Added vehicle registry to member profile page.
June 25, 2005
  • Last months stats: 896,156 page views, 2,964,958 hits, 19.2 GB transferred. Wow!!
  • Downloaded PayPal Developers Guide. Light bedtime reading.
  • Wrote the DB schema for the new vehicle registry (IMGR). Was one big table, now its three small ones (ownership history, static information, historical information). Much more efficient, but a lot more complicated joins in the SQL syntax.
June 25, 2005
  • Wrote the member profile viewing code.
  • Wrote profile edit code.
  • Wrote a simple image manipulation library using ImageMagick (since GD wasn't compiled into PHP on this Mac) using the Gallery code as a guide.
  • Wrote the profile image upload and resizing code.
  • Figured out how to get the contents of div's for the comments quote feature.
  • Added an ID lookup function to link to the Forums profile from the member profile page.
  • Set a cookie to remeber your Member ID between browser sessions to make the sign in page a little faster to fill in.
June 24, 2005
  • Figured out how to make pretty URLs for member profiles and journals using the immensely powerful Apache mod_rewrite.
June 22, 2005
  • Switched from GNU FDL to Creative Commons License, prior to Mk3 launch. I didn't like the fact that the FDL didn't require attribution, and it is really more suited for open source software manuals.
  • Wrote the DB schema for the members database.
  • Wrote the member registration form.
  • Wrote the registration activation email and link processing stuff.
  • Made the sign-in page actually use the DB.
  • YAY! Now that members can sign up, a whole bunch of other work can start
  • Fixed up a bunch of session variables.
  • Wrote article comments DB schema.
  • Wrote article comments admin delete and edit interface.
  • Wrote article comments library for display, add comment, detect duplicates.
  • Wrote garage comments engine, by generalizing article comments library.
  • Garage comments admin pages done, pretty simple for now. Will need to scale better if things get really popular.
  • Wellington rules!! Wow, productive day.
June 18, 2005
  • Upgraded MySQL backend to v4.1
June 4, 2005
  • Wrote a brand new "British Car Garage Locator" worldwide service.
  • Designed garages and garage comments database tables.
  • Imported existing garages and comments from old "BC Garages" page into database.
  • Wrote garage and comments view code, with rating computation.
  • Wrote garage search by country.
  • Wrote display garages count by country.
  • Wrote garage search by case insensitive substring search.
  • Write garage and garage pending submission admin pages.
  • OnHeadphones: DJ Dave Angel - Live at Nighttown (Rotterdam)
  • Rationalized admin module naming and generated admin front page from hash.
  • Added view DB status and variables to admin pages to keep an eye on performance, since Mk3 runs a great deal of content out of the database.
  • Brrr, cold night in the van in Taranaki last night!
June 3, 2005
  • Pulled common links admin code into php library.
  • Finished links admin "edit" interface for pending and production.
  • Decided to require a contact email for links submissions as well, maybe to eventually do auto-notification when the pending entry is approved?
  • Created pending calendar events table and modified calendar table columns.
  • Created admin page for calendar and pending calendar events, which only took a few hours because I re-used most of the code from the directory admin.
  • Made the admin page buttons a lot better.
  • Made a front page for all admin tasks.
  • Made a list of the zillion tasks left for the Mk3 launch...
May 31, 2005
  • Lots of work on the new MGB Directory Service:
  • Finalized directory service table structure.
  • Perl script to convert existing links to SQL inserts.
  • Wrote PHP to fetch links on Directory page with reciprocal ranking logic.
  • Wrote HTML and PHP form code for submitting new links.
  • Created copy-and-paste HTML for text and image reciprocal linking to TMGBE.
  • Created a passable link image banner for reciprocal links.
  • Created a "pending links" table to automate link submission and review.
  • Created simple auth mechanism for web admin interface.
  • Created admin page for pending links, completed delete and approve.
  • Created admin page for links, completed delete.
May 27, 2005
  • Started on directory service database structure.
  • Updated Error 404 page to new format.
Apr 24, 2005
  • Completed conversion of all articles and servicing in the new "Library" section to Mk3 format.
  • Put all of the content under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, to preserve the free nature of all of the information on the site.
  • Made a first cut of a new "Motorsport" section, still kind of bare, other than my comprehensive historic race data.
Apr 20, 2005
  • Converted header bar navigation to use plain text and CSS rollover buttons instead of annoying Javascript rollover images, which didn't cache properly in IE anyway.
  • Cleaned up header bar image, and trimmed everything a little bit so the page will fit in a maximized browser on an 800x600 screen without a horizontal scrollbar.
  • Did a lot of work to eliminate table's in favour of div's.
Apr 1, 2005
  • Starting work on Mk3 of the site, determined to finally finish all the plans I have for the site!
  • Work commences on my Apple laptop, in a camper van, in New Zealand (extended holiday...)
Aug 30, 2004
  • The site is serving about 650,000 page views per month now.
Jan 24, 1999
  • Well, you may have noticed I haven't updated this page in a long time; my excuse is I'm changing the site pretty much constantly! If anyone finds this really useful email me and I can try harder ;) This site has now had 128,616 individual visitors in the last 12 months pretty good huh??
Oct 27, 1998
  • Got a scanner, new pictures of my car are up
  • International MG Register up and running with ~ 130 entries
  • In process of converting tips section to database format...
Sep 21, 1998
  • Integrating new header and footer look
  • Created "Make your own Spark Tester" page + graphics in Service
  • Added link to Richard Thompson MGB-GT tune in Media
Aug 31, 1998
  • MGs list archives posted. 56,000 messages...
  • Updated story, yadda yadda
  • Re-added links to Amazon.com. Follow them, buy something, I get some money to upgrade the server.
Aug 19, 1998
  • Added Carol's story, the MG essay to the Stories section
  • Added Painting 101 to the HowTo section
  • Got a good writeup in the current issue of MG World!
  • Still working on IMGR...
  • Put up links to MGA/MGC mail lists to generate some traffic
  • Added link to East Coast events page
Jul 29, 1998
  • Added content to the Lucas/LBC Wiring Guide
  • Haven't been updating this... added a lot to my MGB story and various tweaks to the rest of the site.
  • Replaced HotBot search with AltaVista and it works finally!
Jun 11, 1998
  • 10,000 hits!!! My counter doesn't include hits from me, and it doesn't count reloads either so its a pretty good estimate of the number of visitors.
  • Off to London... see you in Jul
Jun 7, 1998
  • Moved server to Helikon network
  • Got pictures of my baby on the site!
May 25, 1998
  • Added suspension rebuild article by Art Pfenninger
  • Added Lucas wiring guide, complete with rainbow of colours
May 12, 1998
  • Updated the story, moved old chapters to their own web page.
  • Added HotBot Search features. My page should be indexed soon.
May 11, 1998
  • I'm picking up my car tonight!!
  • 8000 hits
May 5, 1998
  • Added DPO, CB/RB definitions to FAQ
  • Added link to Brooklands British (was: MG Only)
  • I'm looking at a 1966 B tonight!
Apr 20, 1998
  • 7000 hits, the saga continues
Mar 28, 1998
  • 6000 hits! Exponential growth, anyone?
Mar 22, 1998
  • Reworked the "Buying your MGB" page
  • Added tire/gear size calculator
Mar 14, 1998
  • Added new pictures of Mark I cars
  • Renamed "Pictures" section to "Media"
  • Added new stories, "A Nice Morning Drive" and "The Forever Car"
  • Still lots of tips to add, I'll get around to it soon!
Mar 6, 1998
  • Added the British-American Translation Guide under FAQ section
  • 5000 hits!
Feb 12, 1998
  • Added some John Twist tips to most Tech Tips sections.
  • Corrections on Evolution and Specs as to carburettor type for each year.
  • Lots of new links on the main page, check out Western Driver for the upcoming ABFM and the West Coast Events Page.
  • 4000 hits! (well, pretty close)
Feb 6, 1998
  • Took 3 hours and finally reworked the Tech Tips section. I think it looks terrific! Very happy with the results.
Feb 2, 1998
  • Added The MGB Experience BBS, with heavy modifications to the WWWBoard code. Mostly aesthetic reasons.
Jan 31, 1998
  • Redesign of page headers and footers, updated site design
Jan 24, 1998
  • 3000 hits!!!
Jan 5, 1998
  • Added to the Tech Tips section, lots more tips waiting!
  • Added 'Holiday Prose'
  • Added 'MGA Judson Supercharger' review
Dec 30, 1997
  • Put local copies of the Troubleshooting Guide and the MGOC Basic Service guide on my site. I have lots of links to the authors with the text they wrote, so hopefully nobody will mind.
Dec 29, 1997
  • 2000 hits!!!
  • Added 'The Ugly Wedgling'
  • New Stories, Humour section
Dec 21, 1997
  • Merry Christmas!
  • Added to Tech Tips section, wrote piece on compression tests
  • Found MGB sketch! When I'll have time I'll imagemap it.
Dec 17, 1997
  • Lots of new pictures, reorganized front page a little.
  • Added blurb about how I want a 1972 B now :-)
Dec 15, 1997
  • Added The Evolution of the MGB (borrowed and cleaned up from the Victoria MG Club page)
Dec 10, 1997
  • Joined the MGB web ring
  • Added more stuff to the Tech Tips section
  • I've decided to put email links in the Tech Tips section (again)
Nov 10, 1997
  • Added more stuff to the Tech Tip collection. Its over the full point for sure, hopefully tonight I can see about designing some nice imagemaps and splitting the tips into pages by system.
  • Removed contributor count from Tech Tip collection. Too hard to keep up to date. I'll figure out another way to give credit.
  • Minor cleanup changes to other pages, including this one.
Nov 7, 1997
  • Added links to Hunter Classics, Northwest MGCC, and more BC sites.
  • Submitted site again to Yahoo (grrrrrr).
Oct 31, 1997
  • Added link to Loctite site. Happy Halloween!
Oct 21, 1997
  • 1000 hits!!!
Oct 20, 1997
  • As promised, a whole slew of new tips in the Tech Tip collection. If it gets much bigger I'm going to have to split the sections into their own pages! And I still have a pile of magazines to go through...
  • Credit where credit is due: added a list of top contributors to the Tech Tip collection. I've decided NOT to hyperlink the email addresses of contributors for privacy reasons.
Oct 19, 1997
  • Phew! Redid most graphics and colours, including the new effect on the front page MGB.
  • I've got lots of new tips to add, promise I'll do that tomorrow.
Oct 16, 1997
  • Rearranged and added stuff to the MGB FAQ.
  • Added link to The Monster List, Northwest Import Parts.
  • Added nice brown title bar to all the pages. (well, I think its a nice brown anyway)
Oct 14, 1997
  • Added Misc. section to main page, too many links!
  • Added links to Wayne Kube, Trevor Boicey, British Automotive, and J.C. Whitney.
Oct 9, 1997
  • BLACK THURSDAY at Internet Direct - page was unavailable for most of the day!
  • Added Civic page.
Oct 7, 1997
  • Found some slightly better icons.
  • Separated the Links section into Links and Clubs.
  • Cleaned up formatting of Tech Tips Collection.
  • Added link to HELP Smog Parts.
  • Added link to Rick's MG Garage.
  • Created 'Whats New' page.
Sep 14, 1997
  • Official launch of The MGB Experience!