[Janus Wolf]

I would like to know what features members would like to see here. Yes unlimited downloading is great and wonderful etc. This is an opportunity for members that may like features on other sites to comment or provide links.

This site is far to buggy, to continue, and the entire site will be overhaled. No worries to the download gang, however there will be an attempt to add useful and interesting features. Of course, I understand, downloading maybe the only or the main feature for some.

However, lets hear some features that you may like here.

Janus

[boox909]

I will give this some thought and report back.

B.

[Janus Wolf]

Thanks, since the entire site will be redone, might as well add something more then just downloading....

[narfstar]

There was some mention of blogs and links. Not sure how different having blogs would be than what we currently do in the forums. But it is probably what some would enjoy to express themselves more. I would like to see a research section as well as a place where we carry the public domain logs

[Janus Wolf]

yes, an actual legal research section will be here. More ideas please..

[Astaldo711]

I think links would be good. Several members have comic related websites of their own and it would be good to list them here. Or perhaps have a section of our own on some of the characters, titles or even the publishers/artists/writers of the Golden Age.

[boox909]

   You might want to leave off the "Pure Excitement" and "Golden Years" websites.  Nothing wrong with 'em, but I think all their scans either came from here or have been uploaded here, so they would be redundant in providing members with comics.

You are wrong on both counts Sky. Those two sites existed long before GAC and some of their scans (not all) have ended up in books here in order to improve quality. The owners of those sites are members here. In fact, the banner on the download site was created and donated by Golden Years' owner.

Furthermore, I would never advocate leaving these two sites off of any list, as they serve as an entry point for Golden Age fans old and new.  As if Sky...as if   ::sigh::

B.

[Roygbiv666]

Ideally, a good search function - title, character, artist, writer, company, genre, etc. so it functions more like an actual database. of course, that means all that data would need to be assigned.

Not everyone is looking for a specific issue of a specific title from a specific company, maybe you just want a good western from 1955.

[Janus Wolf]

Interesting...

As always, willing to try new things, who would help with this?

Janus

Ideally, a good search function - title, character, artist, writer, company, genre, etc. so it functions more like an actual database. of course, that means all that data would need to be assigned.

Not everyone is looking for a specific issue of a specific title from a specific company, maybe you just want a good western from 1955.

[JonTheScanner]

That is a major undertaking.  GCD is set up to do things like that.  I'd suggest a simple line of text some place suggesting people looking for specific artists etc. be directed there.

[Roygbiv666]

That is a major undertaking.  GCD is set up to do things like that.  I'd suggest a simple line of text some place suggesting people looking for specific artists etc. be directed there.

yeah, I thought of that after I posted. D'oh!

[Astaldo711]

Perhaps having VIPS vote on books based on art, story, writing, etc. I know we have a feature for each download to give it a rating, but I thought maybe break it down to more specific categories and then have it appear in a database. This way, if a member wants to read a western title or science fiction, horror, etc they can look in the database for the title in that genre with the highest rating.

[JVJ]

My vote is to get the site back to normal and automatically help all of the newcomers. I must confess that the tenor of the posts has lost a lot of its charm recently. My hat's off to the mods doing all the work and to their remarkable patience. I would like normalcy, automation, and (hopefully) Yoc back.

my 2

[fett]

Where is Yoc at? Did he return to the egg? (terrible I know)

[Astaldo711]

Don't know. He hasn't been around for a while. General consensus is he slipped into a black hole.

[fett]

His nick isnt even registered?!?? Good grief.

[larrytalbot]

Several things I'd like to see here.

A history of GA comics - not the usual bird's-eye view kind of history, but one that takes a closer look into the actual lives of the writers, artists, colorists, publishers, etc - even print-press operators: their lives & their times.  There must be a lot of scattered info of this kind, both in print & in the memories of GA pros (& semi-pros) still living.  It would be nice to have it collected in one place where it could be added to on a continuing basis.

I would like to see some technical articles about comics.  How the technology has changed through the years, i.e. type of paper & ink & processes used.  How comics-restorers perform their magic (they're tight lipped about their tricks!).

[bchat]

They're not Earth-shattering ideas, but here's my thoughts:

Having all the essential FAQs organized and prominently featured alongside "Home-Help-Profile-etc" MAY help cut-down on all the "I just registered/haven't been here for months and I can't/don't know how to (fill-in-the-blank)" posts.

A "character index" with links to books on GAC plus a list of books still needed or are that incomplete.  Hopefully, this would draw attention to the fact that the site doesn't haven't everything just yet, and possibly, a member who has a missing/partial issue would be willing to contribute scans.

Something for the forums:  An "Art Gallery" section where members could post artwork (with links using outside resources, of course) that they've created using PD images or pages/panels that impress them enough that they feel like talking about it.  Could also be a place for someone to do an "Artist Timeline" for their favorite creator to show how they evolved over time.

[Astaldo711]

Both good points. I'm interested in the history of comics as larrytalbot describes. I've seen several posts on books in that subject and it would be nice to consolidate them here. Not the actual books of course but the history contained therein.
Several members have also mentioned how they like to create their own art based on PD characters.
I vote for these features.

[DennyWilson]

Free Coffee and Donuts.

Seriously, there was that idea I sugested in another thread to set up an automatic post when new issues are added to the site.

[bakerman3]

I was actually going to start a suggestion box thread, but then I saw this so I'll post my idea here:

In regard to improving the search function, I don't know if it would be feasible to add data like artist and writer, but I think the existing data can be used to expand the existing search capabilities to search by one more variable than is currently allowed:

We should be able to search by DATE OF UPLOAD. 

Many people don't come here every day, and to have a function where you have drop down boxes for month-day-year so that you can input a specific date and then the search function would return a list of every comic uploaded on that date or after.

This way, if you only want to download a few times a month, you can put in the day after your last download and scoop up everything you missed in a single list without having to go through each title's subforum.

Whaddya think?  I don't know how much work would be involved to add the additional search parameter, and it may involve translating each text date to a number value, so it might not be realistic, but if the date is already stored as a numeric somewhere in the back end database, it might work.  I, myself, have no idea how to do this, but if it can be done, does anyone else here think it would be a useful feature to have?

[dhfh]

I think one of the best things to have for each book would be a link on the download page to the GCD's entry for that issue.   Even if the entry in the GCD contains only "skeleton data", the link should still be added.  That way, as time progresses and the GCD is updated, the entry would already be attached to the book and allow new members to "see" a contents listing of what's in the book before they download it.  If someone is looking only for, say, the Ghost Rider stories in Tim Holt, seeing the GCD entry might make the decision about whether or not a given issue is one they want to download a snap.

This might be expanded on by linking the download page directly to the GCD's cover image for the book, too.

Some ideas to consider.

DHFH

[JVJ]

I think one of the best things to have for each book would be a link on the download page to the GCD's entry for that issue.   Even if the entry in the GCD contains only "skeleton data", the link should still be added.  That way, as time progresses and the GCD is updated, the entry would already be attached to the book and allow new members to "see" a contents listing of what's in the book before they download it.  If someone is looking only for, say, the Ghost Rider stories in Tim Holt, seeing the GCD entry might make the decision about whether or not a given issue is one they want to download a snap.

This might be expanded on by linking the download page directly to the GCD's cover image for the book, too.

Some ideas to consider.

DHFH

I guess it would depend on who was going to create all those links. Is it possible to do it automatically with the erratic nature of file names here? Would we have to insist on file names that somehow could be parsed for GCD titles? We'd have to make sure that both sites followed the same conventions, wouldn't we? How hard IS it to have a second browser window open (or another tab on your modern browser) to check the GCD?

To my way of thinking, it's a heck of a lot easier to go the GCD and look up Ghost Rider and see which Tim Holt issues he's listed in than it would be to click on every Tim Holt issue in GAC and have to follow a link to GCD and check the data there.

Each site provides a unique, specialized service and while the notion for an issue by issue link is attractive at first glance, there doesn't seem to be a practical application for such a feature here. Perhaps there are other examples of usefulness that haven't been mentioned.

Interesting concept, but I think more practical means already exist.

Cover images would be great, but they would require syncing of titles, too.

my 2

[boox909]

The ability to control which threads you wish to not follow is highly desirable.

For example, the "Religious conversation" thread holds little for me personally as I am not on GAC to be exposed to discussions criticizing or praising Christianity, Islam, Judaism, neoPaganism, Atheism, etc., much less in viewing comments that boarder on hate-speech toward any religious/non-religious grouping in the name of someone's geopolitical leanings. I would like to have the ability to screen it out of my feed when I am signed in. Being able to do so would enhance my personal forum experience so that I can focus on what I am here for; social networking Golden Age Comic Book Fandom, and Collecting.

B.

[JVJ]

The ability to control which threads you wish to not follow is highly desirable.

For example, the "Religious conversation" thread holds little for me personally as I am not on GAC to be exposed to discussions criticizing or praising Christianity, Islam, Judaism, neoPaganism, Atheism, etc., much less in viewing comments that boarder on hate-speech toward any religious/non-religious grouping in the name of someone's geopolitical leanings. I would like to have the ability to screen it out of my feed when I am signed in. Being able to do so would enhance my personal forum experience so that I can focus on what I am here for; social networking Golden Age Comic Book Fandom, and Collecting.

B.

Ditto,

Peace, Jim (|:{>