Got a new friend… he’s called Simon!

Ok so that sounds a little creepy but hey! I asked around a while ago for some help building the new site and Simon stuck his hand in the air and said hello… nice chap Simon, and he’s good with this internet thing too!

And as Simon has some experience of the software we’re using over at the new site he seems like a good chap to get on board! So I am off to buy him a pint or two on Tuesday and we’ll see if we can’t get the new look site off the ground for you all.

Developing a website when you have a clear idea of what you want to do but are not 100% sure how to achieve your goals is frustrating.

I know that I want a friendly easy going site with as much flexibility and freedom for the user as possible but I also want it to be closed enough so that it is only Cast Members who can get in to join the community.

What I have opted for is a concept called the honesty gate. I looked at censoring membership applications until I was sure about the applicant, or waiting for other members vouch for new users in the end these ideas seem to have too many issues… so I am opting to use the system most of us use in the real world online. I will trust everyone until I am proved wrong. I am going to choose to believe that every person who wants to joint the community is for real, and I will trust them, until I see otherwise…

Which is why all this is dragging on. Slowly.

Time rolls on…

As I sit here fretting over the information architecture of the new and hopefully improved After the Mouse site I find myself wondering how far I should go. How many levels of information do we need and how searchable do they need to be?

So I am sat here at my desk on a quiet day in the office with entirely too much time on my hands wondering about the site. More specifically the usability of the site. I would like the members to be able to search out friends and colleges through a variety of methods by name, where the worked, the year they worked together etc.

You see having this site work well and it be successful as a point of contact for fellow Disney Cast Members is important to me, I want… need it to work. I have been playing with this idea in various forms for the last 8 years or so. Firstly with the dlpcastmembers.4t.com and later with mouse.nodstrum.com so I am hoping that using a dynamic, database driven site that the community can grow itself and I can concentrate on managing the look, feel and style of the community… one day soon…