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[MarkWarner]

It seems rather fashionable nowadays to release software with codenames (two recent examples: Apple's "Mountain Lion"  and Google's "Ice Cream Sandwich"). So I thought that if we are going to play with the big boys, we should follow suit.

I have just put up a new version of the site .. it is codenamed the Curate's Egg, but in reality this is Comicbook Plus v2.0. It builds on top of what we already have, so all the bits that were already there should be unaffected (hopefully).

PLEASE BE AWARE that there is still a lot of work to be done and there are bugs galore. So in reality I am looking at Easter before it is nicely bedded in.

So the new bits are

1) Categories - https://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=categories
In very rough terms this is an initial attempt to place titles into genre. Category is a rather less contentious word and hopefully will mean that no blood will be spilled, also be aware that titles can be members of more than one category. (EG: humor and funny animals ... jungle and leading ladies). This all works pretty well and is a great starting place to get stuck into the site. In the future I'd like to have a good tidy up and add a few more. Over 1/2 of our titles have now been done, but quite a few more to be added.

2) Comicmarks https://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=comicmarks
The link above tells you more, but now you can create your own collections and keep track of your reading or pass on your choices. I made up the word comicmark as really what you are doing is creating internal bookmarks, but the word bookmark implies that you are adding stuff to your browser favorites (which you are not) and looks spammy. I quickly added a few for myself, to show the finished product and they are here https://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=5518

3) GCD Data
The site can now link issues to the Grand Comics Database ... two examples are  https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=26496 and https://comicbookplus.com/?dlid=18303 This is a big project as we need to tag each issue with the appropriate GCD id. So it will take a few months to fully complete.

4) Collections - https://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=collections
Very much in their infancy collections use the same technology as comicmarks and can be used to create weird and wonderful groupings containing a mixture of titles, individual issues or even pages.

It is editorially based and planned are such goodies are Character Debuts, individual Comic Creators, Easter/Christmas/Halloween. I quickly knocked up the SOTI collection https://comicbookplus.com/?cbplus=seductionoftheinnocentcollection as an example of what will be coming.
With everything else I think it will be Easter onwards, before more work is done here.

5) Other bits and bobs
Include a rudimentary help file and some tidying up of formatting.

Anyway as I said at the beginning, there is a lot left undone/untested and I am expecting quite a few problems with the new stuff. To be honest my ambitions far exceed my brain power. But, unlike the curate's egg the bugs can all be fixed and the site will be the better for it. It's looking like a busy year ahead!

Regards,

Mark

[narfstar]

Fantastic wish I had more time to just enjoy it all

[narfstar]

I started adding some GCD info. It would be nice to have a next issue button to go on to do the next issue as one after another is easier. Also clicking on edit does not go anywhere but if I right click edit and open new tab it works. It would also be easier if the 0 was not there that has to be erased first.

[MarkWarner]

I am doing it as well ... I think the way it is written that would be difficult:( Good that GCD has a next at the top

I am just going to select the titles with most issues... done 100 Adventures into the Unknown ...

Some issues won't show up until I put a new GCD database version across, but all Charlton are good to go. You can spot the publishers that are ready to do by looking in their section. If you see "Publication History:" on the titles then they will give immediate results. But, if they are not currently in the database it is not wasted work as they will appear eventually.

[MarkWarner]

Sent you a PM it should be fixed now

[Yoc]

Amazing job Mark.  Wow, very impressive new features!
DCM has been trying to sort the GCD angle for ages, this might be the kick in the pants we needed to get something sorted.

The Categories one is so obvious I'm embarrassed it was not part of GAC when we were still on staff there.
I too had plans for a SOTI section as well for Halloween but doing that banner with Michael T. Gilbert and then the Phantom Lady Archives derailed me.  Great job on there.  I still might pull one together but it's not on the front burner anymore.

Keep up the great work!
-Yoc

[MarkWarner]

Thanks Yoc, very appreciated!

To be honest these particular enhancements categorically prove to me that the journey is not always as enjoyable as the destination. They are real grunt work, but eventually it will be worth it (or so I keep telling myself).

[Artful]

Thanks a lot for adding all these wonderful new freatures, Mark! I had to use browser bookmarks and it wasn't a lot of fun because the data could be easily lost due to some hardware or system problems. Well, I know there are some online bookmarking services but I find it most convenient to store all the comicmarks attached to my CBP account. The only thing that puzzles me is why should we have that "My dear" notification instead of being redirected to the bookmarked page

I'm very glad to see new Categories and Collections sections. The site has always been a treasure but now it's so much easier to use. Thanks again!

[MarkWarner]

Thanks for the nice comments!

Um, I'll put losing the "My dear" on a to do, list. (Low priority , but it'll be there). I am not sure why I have it. I think partly because it doesn't happen immediately and I just wanted to tell people. The other more likely explanation is that it all get very hairy and confusing and my brain cells were seriously complaining. I had planned to be able to comicmark other pages  (like the insite and category pages), but it proved too big a task for this version. But they are on the list (medium) as I think it would be nice to add them. And indeed to comicmark other people comicmarks if that makes sense.

I really like the categories (really genre) and for someone like me who doesn't know anything about comics it's an easy way to get stuck in. Just another view of the site. Collections has massive potential as you can create a collection about anything (from the straightforward to bizzare) ... I am planning to do a lot more with them later in the year.

Best regards and thanks again ,

Mark