SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 7, 2012 SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 7, 2012 Today, we launch a completely new version of our video clip site, SnowJapan.TV. The Headlines: ** 100% new coding ** Just the basics ** Simple and easy to use ** Prefecture categories ** Search and tags ** Automatic embed on SnowJapanForums (video URL) ** Mobile version Here it is: www.snowjapan.tv The Details: 100% new coding - just the basics - simple and easy to use It's all new. We wanted it to be clean, simple and easy to use. So we stripped it right down, started again and what we are left with in the new site is just the basics. Signing up, logging in, searching, viewing clips, uploading clips... it should all be simple and intuitive. Prefecture categories On the main Videos page you will see the main categories and a few different ways to sort the clips. To start off with the categories we have assigned are the prefectures of Japan - a good starting point, we think! Search and tags The new site features a useful search function which searches on video title and description as well as assigned tags. We have also created a cloud tag page that displays all of the tags that have been assigned to clips. These tags are assigned by members when they upload clips. Automatic embed on the Forums To embed a video onto the SnowJapanForums, all you need to do is copy and paste the full URL of the video page - the same way you can embed YouTube clips on the Forums. It will automatically embed within a post here. So the following clip got embedded simply by pasting the following URL: http://sj.snowjapan.tv/videos/687/gunma-pow-for-afternoon-tea/ Mobile version The new site now includes a simple mobile version, so you can now watch clips on mobile devices, including devices that do not support Flash. The mobile site will usually be detected automatically, but there's a link going between the two versions on each site. The Thinking: We had never been totally satisfied with the SnowJapan.TV user-experience. The site was too complex for it's own good, the design was at times confusing, and there were some issues that were proving to be almost impossible to clean up with the base code we were working with. Bottom line was that it wasn't very 'user-friendly' and we realise that it probably put some people off using it. You might have noticed that over the last year or so it had not been very prevalent on our sites and we haven't really given it much mention either. We knew that we wanted to give it some attention and improve the experience - and that is what we have been doing and this new SnowJapan.TV site is a result of that work. The new version is much more user-friendly than before. For a start when you first go there you will notice that it looks much cleaner and simpler. We have literally stripped it right down and what remains is just the basic essentials... watching, uploading and sharing clips. (Actually it is 100% new code, so it was a case of starting from scratch). We realise that we are not YouTube or any of the other video site giants, and we're not silly enough to even want to try to be. Do our clips always load as quickly as on YouTube? Perhaps not always - though they should generally load quickly. Do we offer tons of detailed in-depth settings for video enthusiasts and professionals? No, we don't. I don't suppose people who demand those things would be uploading to our site anyway... What we do offer here is a convenient place to upload and share clips of Japan winter sports. A place that is dedicated to Japan winter sports. A clean and simple interface that is not noisy with stuff that gets in the way. A place that is free from overbearing ads. And later on this year, importantly - when we make some major changes to the main SnowJapan site - a place that will be much more prominent and integrated into the SnowJapan experience. We're going to be linking this up over the next few days more than it has been, but later this year it will be much more visible for people visiting SnowJapan. First and foremost though, it was important to us that we improve the quality of what we offered at SnowJapan.TV and we think that the new site does represent a considerable improvement. We hope that you like it. Please go over there and take a look. Obviously, in the end with something like this it is the content that make the site. If you do have Japan clips, please do consider uploading them. The clips will help many other people using our sites to research Japan, and will also go some way to helping support the ski-jo around Japan and us as well in the process. Bonus! We appreciate your support. The FAQ: I won't repeat the whole FAQ in here, so please take a look at the page on the site for some more questions and answers: http://sj.snowjapan.tv/about/ Here's a few important ones that are probably of most interest to Forums members: Can I log in with my Forums username/password? Unfortunately, no. It's all to do with different systems and databases. But the sign-up process on SnowJapan.TV is extremely simple - it should take less than a minute. Please feel free to re-create your SnowJapanForums username over on SnowJapan.TV if you wish. I already have an account on SnowJapan.TV from before. Is my account on the new site? Yes, it should be. All active accounts and clips were moved over onto the new site. But, we did change passwords for security reasons. To regain access to the site using your old account, fill out the 'Forgot your Login' form here http://sj.snowjapan.tv/login/forgot/ and you should immediately get an email with instructions. Again, it should be a very simple and quick process. More FAQ here: http://sj.snowjapan.tv/about/ If you encounter any problems, just get in touch and we'll be there to help. ------- Anyway, we have a scary amount of things to get done before the end of the year. We're really excited about what we have planned.... if we can get it done in time of course. So, must get back to it! www.snowjapan.tv Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 7, 2012 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 7, 2012 We have taken down the 'Videos' link and section that was linked at the top of the Forums - it was proving to be somewhat confusing and not really serving much of a purpose. Today, we will be adding a link to SnowJapan.TV on the top black bar of the Forums as well as adding links on the main SnowJapan site. Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 eep dudes, having a few issues. Trying to like and favorite BMs tree crash and neither one is going through. http://sj.snowjapan.tv/videos/433/tree-smash/ Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 7, 2012 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 7, 2012 Hi there ippy. Can you PM me some more details and we'll look into it for you. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 7, 2012 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 7, 2012 Actually no need - I can see that not working. Typical! It was working ok yesterday. We'll get on the case and fix it up asap. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Well done guys Link to post Share on other sites
surfarthur 22 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Nice work guys, give Hillary lots of treats and walkies for all her hard work getting this up and running Link to post Share on other sites
ippy 66 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 cheers dudes. Link to post Share on other sites
sanjo 2 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 A big improvement. Well done. That 'Like' thing was definitely working because I used it the other day when I checked it out. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 7, 2012 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 7, 2012 Yes, it was working. I have no idea why it has stopped working but I'm sure we'll be able to get it back going soon - just need to wait for my colleague. Being rather worn out last night it might be this afternoon before we can do anything. Link to post Share on other sites
Error404 0 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Looks really good guys. The other one was a bit........ messy. This is a big improvement. Makes me want winter to arrive too! Link to post Share on other sites
surfarthur 22 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 I know what you mean Error 404 - watching all those videos has me checking out flights and checking my budget to see if it can be stretched to accommodate a trip to Japan again this January. Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Yes I used that Like thing too, so was doing ok then. Good luck and otsukaresama. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 7, 2012 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 7, 2012 Actually one of the reasons we wanted to get this up today rather than wait until early in the week is because we traditionally get less traffic over a weekend, especially out of season, and so probably the best time in case of any issues. I think we will hold off linking up from the main site as well for now while we try and sort this out. Obviously we wanted to work through the weekend too Link to post Share on other sites
brit-gob 9 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 We have taken down the 'Videos' link and section that was linked at the top of the Forums - it was proving to be somewhat confusing and not really serving much of a purpose. Good idea, I never really understood that bit! Nice work on the revamped site it looks much better. Link to post Share on other sites
hellyer 216 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Two thumbs up guys :thumbsup: Link to post Share on other sites
pie-eater 207 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Unfortunately I don't have any clips myself, but I do enjoy watching others. Nice work folks. Gambatta ne! Link to post Share on other sites
tokabochi 9 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 So much so, David's nose fell off! Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 7, 2012 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 7, 2012 OK an update. We are having problems working out what is preventing that functionality - Like, Sharing, Favorite and Comments - from working. Like said before, it was all working but obviously something we did yesterday affected it. So we need to work out what that was and try to fix it up. I'm sure we will get it sorted but just not sure when. I'll put a message on the site over there as well so people know. Thanks. Link to post Share on other sites
SKI 15 Posted July 7, 2012 Share Posted July 7, 2012 Bringing it down to basics is good and it looks really neat. Well done, hope you can get a few beers in soon! Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 8, 2012 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 8, 2012 OK. ippy (and anyone else) --- Comments and the Like button are now, it seems, working. You can also use Share. Still something going on with Subscribe and Flag, but could you try those as well and let us know. Thanks! Link to post Share on other sites
big-will 7 Posted July 8, 2012 Share Posted July 8, 2012 Just did a few Likes and added some comments, seemed to work. Link to post Share on other sites
griller 9 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 I like the new look, certainly cleaner and easier to use. Those page views seem to show a lot since the weekend too. Well done. Link to post Share on other sites
SnowJapan Admin SnowJapan 178 Posted July 9, 2012 Author SnowJapan Admin Share Posted July 9, 2012 I think I have good news. We seem to have been able to fix up all of the remaining functionality that was causing a few problems after launch. You can now Subscribe to another users videos and also select videos are Favorites. You need to be registered and logged in to do both of those things of course. We are rather worn out with this right at the moment and so another check tomorrow morning with clear heads and then if all is ok we will take off the message from the site and then start to link up the new site from places around SnowJapan. We really want all of this to "just work", hopefully we are now at that place. Thanks and sorry for these little initial issues. Link to post Share on other sites
muikabochi 208 Posted July 9, 2012 Share Posted July 9, 2012 Working good Link to post Share on other sites
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