The New Look BRFCS...

[Herbie6590]

As you have probably noticed, the site has had an "interesting" week but we are now returning to something like normal service - and I thought it might be helpful to explain what happened, why & what we have done...

 

What happened last week?

The site crashed catastrophically and unexpectedly...it wasn't a stress-free scenario.

We* have been working in the background for the last few months on building a new version of the site in order to make it more resilient, more appealing and to open up new functionality to make the user experience more interesting.

 

*We = @StubbsUK @Roth 👏

 

As a result of the crash, we made a strategic decision not to try & repair v1.0 but instead to go ahead & launch v2.0 - recognising that we hadn't quite finished full testing. It was the lesser of two evils & ensured that we could at least get the forum back up and running asap in time for the PNE match.

 

What's new?

Besides the under the bonnet stuff which users will never see, the main change is to the functionality and look & feel of the home page.

The Match Centre tiles showing results next match and fixtures are now much more appealing from a layout perspective and are functionally more rich than the previous versions. 

Tiles are highly prominent for Articles, 4000 Holes Articles and 4000 Holes podcasts ensuring that access to all the really great content is much easier. Comments under each of the articles are now possible so you can have a dialogue about the the piece you've just read. These will of course be moderated in a similar fashion to the messageboard.

Navigation is simplified and we hope in due course that this will encourage any new contributors to come forward and join the ranks. 

Anyone who is interested BTW - please email media@brfcs.com for more information - come on in - the water's lovely...😀

 

What's next? 

The immediate priority is to make sure everything that needs to/ought to work does. A quick reminder that we all do this on a voluntary basis so we will work through our snag list on a best endeavours basis. 

We are still uncovering some glitches as we test the site in live & it may well be that you have spotted some - we'd welcome your assistance in capturing these. If you could either email media@brfcs.com or call them out in the threads (if they are forum issues) tagging in @StubbsUK & @Roth that would be helpful. As much detail as possible about what happened, what should have happened & a screen grab will help us immeasurably.

Please don't be offended if the thing you report takes a while to fix though - as above - we will do the things that threaten site stability/security first, then we will work down a prioritised list as best we can. 

Once we're satisfied that everything is once again shipshape, then we will progress our plans to continue the refurbishment and introduce more exciting features.

 

Any immediate questions - flag them below & I'll do my best to cover them off.

 

One final point - and I can't emphasise this enough, this site is run entirely by volunteers.

The tireless efforts of everyone from Stuart & Andy (our IT gurus), through to all the mods/administrators, writers, podcasters & of course forum posters keep this a vibrant community, unlike anything else available out there for Blackburn Rovers supporters. 

It does cost money to keep it alive, stable and contemporary so we are extremely grateful to all of our sponsors, our subscribers and anyone who buys any of our merchandise. Every little contribution means we can plan our future with greater certainty.

 

#COYB  ⚪🔵

 

 

 

 

[sabino]

Hi there, any way to get just unread threads when logging in?

Thanks

[Herbie6590]

3 minutes ago, sabino said:

Hi there, any way to get just unread threads when logging in?

Thanks

Added to snag list 👍

[islander200]

Thanks for the hardwork Herbie and the rest of the brfcs team 

[StubbsUK]

4 minutes ago, sabino said:

Hi there, any way to get just unread threads when logging in?

Thanks

Top right hand corner "Unread content" ... but it's on the snagging list at the moment because it's not working.

[GHR]

Probably not the apporiate forum, but whilst I remember, is it possible, or has it been resolved in v2.0, that when a topic is retitled, it doesn't knock the entire topic to unread when you click on it next?

[StubbsUK]

Before you ask @rigger ... no. 😉

[StubbsUK]

Just now, GHR said:

Probably not the apporiate forum, but whilst I remember, is it possible, or has it been resolved in v2.0, that when a topic is retitled, it doesn't knock the entire topic to unread when you click on it next?

We use 3rd party software for the forum so, no, that's not fixed, and isn't likely to be any time soon, sorry.

[GHR]

Just now, StubbsUK said:

We use 3rd party software for the forum so, no, that's not fixed, and isn't likely to be any time soon, sorry.

Not to worry, thanks. Not too bad ordinarily, but when it happens to the likes of the busier threads it can be a trek trying to find where you left off.

[...]

Think it goes without saying appreciate all you folks do behind the scenes 

Edited Thursday at 16:18 by ...

[wilsdenrover]

33 minutes ago, Herbie6590 said:

As you have probably noticed, the site has had an "interesting" week but we are now returning to something like normal service - but I thought it might be helpful to explain what happened, why & what we have done...

 

What happened last week?

The site crashed catastrophically and unexpectedly...it wasn't a stress-free scenario.

We* have been working in the background for the last few months on building a new version of the site in order to make it more resilient, more appealing and to open up new functionality to make the user experience more interesting.

 

*We = @StubbsUK @Roth 👏

 

As a result of the crash, we made a strategic decision not to try & repair v1.0 but instead to go ahead & launch v2.0 - recognising that we hadn't quite finished full testing. It was the lesser of two evils & ensured that we could at least get the forum back up and running asap in time for the PNE match.

 

What's new?

Besides the under the bonnet stuff which users will never see, the main change is to the functionality and look & feel of the home page.

The Match Centre tiles showing results next match and fixtures are now much more appealing from a layout perspective and are functionally more rich than the previous versions. 

Tiles are highly prominent for Articles, 4000 Holes Articles and 4000 Holes podcasts ensuring that access to all the really great content is much easier. Comments under each of the articles are now possible so you can have a dialogue about the the piece you've just read. These will of course be moderated in a similar fashion to the messageboard.

Navigation is simplified and we hope in due course that this will encourage any new contributors to come forward and join the ranks. 

Anyone who is interested BTW - please email media@brfcs.com for more information - come on in - the water's lovely...😀

 

What's next? 

The immediate priority is to make sure everything that needs to/ought to work does. A quick reminder that we all do this on a voluntary basis so we will work through our snag list on a best endeavours basis. 

We are still uncovering some glitches as we test the site in live & it may well be that you have spotted some - we'd welcome your assistance in capturing these. If you could either email media@brfcs.com or call them out in the threads (if they are forum issues) tagging in @StubbsUK & @Roth that would be helpful. As much detail as possible about what happened, what should have happened & a screen grab will help us immeasurably.

Please don't be offended if the thing you report takes a while to fix though - as above - we will do the things that threaten site stability/security first, then we will work down a prioritised list as best we can. 

Once we're satisfied that everything is once again shipshape, then we will progress our plans to continue the refurbishment and introduce more exciting features.

 

Any immediate questions - flag them below & I'll do my best to cover them off.

 

One final point - and I can't emphasise this enough, this site is run entirely by volunteers.

The tireless efforts of everyone from Stuart & Andy (our IT gurus), through to all the mods/administrators, writers, podcasters & of course forum posters keep this a vibrant community, unlike anything else available out there for Blackburn Rovers supporters. 

It does cost money to keep it alive, stable and contemporary so we are extremely grateful to all of our sponsors, our subscribers and anyone who buys any of our merchandise. Every little contribution means we can plan our future with greater certainty.

 

#COYB  ⚪🔵

 

 

 

 

 

Note to club - this is how you manage a crisis and communicate to people.

Well done to everyone involved and thank you for all your hard work. 👍

[J*B]

Just adding my two cents!

There's a lot of people that think BRFCS is a Forum - and they're right, thats our most used feature. But the reality is as the world changes, I'm pretty convinced if we hadn't branched out when we did, we wouldn't be able to pay the running costs for the Forum alone. When I took over BRFCS the reality was every year it was on a knifes edge as to whether the site had paid for itself and if it hadn't, where we willing to spend our own money to keep it here.

Firstly, I'm now absolutely certain it's easier to get info on our next fixtures/results using the BRFCS.com website than it is to find that information out on Rovers website. As fixture changes are announced, the site will auto update, so the information you're seeing is the latest info RE date/kick off time. So if you currently use the Rovers site for this, consider using BRFCS!

Additionally, our new match centre (https://www.brfcs.com/football/match/1334966/blackburn-wolves) looks quite basic before a game, but during and after a game automatically brings in tonnes of data - who's on the pitch, stats and a realtime timeline of key events in the game. We're actively looking for sponsorship of our match centre, but to do this we need to evidence people using it, so please try and get into the habit of doing so! Especially the "Player of the Match" voting, which opens automatically after every game. You should get alerts (which are currently broken!) after the game for 24 hours prompting you to do it - it takes 2 minutes and really helps us.

Finally, we have (thanks to @4000Holes and @Herbie6590) lots of content on the main page. We have articles taken from the 4,000 holes magazine, guest columns by the likes of Rich Sharpe and Alan Nixon and 3 podcast offerings, The "What Now" Show which has monthly fan debate, "Kidder Street Noise" from Rob & Lewis and "The Rovers Inc" Show which assesses everything Rovers off the pitch. 

All of the above is done through fans giving up their free time. BRFCS is a free to use website and after RoversChat was sold, is now the only active independent Rovers community. It's really tough to keep it alive, so if you'd like to help keep BRFCS going, please consider:

Writing Articles

Listening to the Podcasts

Becoming a Podcast contributor (or putting your existing podcast on BRFCS for exposure)

Buy something from our store - https://www.brfcs.com/store

Become a subscriber for an ad-free experience - click here

https://www.brfcs.com/pages/premium 

Vote in the POTM votes

Comment on the articles on the front page - if you enjoyed it, agree with it or even disagree with it, add your thoughts. 

Try to get into the habit of using the BRFCS home page (www.brfcs.com) if you only currently use the forum.

If you'd own a company that would like to partner with BRFCS, we're open to sponsorship!

I'll spare mentioning everyone by name, but the IT team, content team and moderation team all go through the ringer to keep this ship afloat, so please support us if you can. 

Edited Saturday at 07:20 by Herbie6590
New url for premium

[onlyonejackwalker]

Thanks to everyone involved for all your efforts and hard work.

[wilsdenrover]

1 hour ago, J*B said:

Just adding my two cents!

There's a lot of people that think BRFCS is a Forum - and they're right, thats our most used feature. But the reality is as the world changes, I'm pretty convinced if we hadn't branched out when we did, we wouldn't be able to pay the running costs for the Forum alone. When I took over BRFCS the reality was every year it was on a knifes edge as to whether the site had paid for itself and if it hadn't, where we willing to spend our own money to keep it here.

Firstly, I'm now absolutely certain it's easier to get info on our next fixtures/results using the BRFCS.com website than it is to find that information out on Rovers website. As fixture changes are announced, the site will auto update, so the information you're seeing is the latest info RE date/kick off time. So if you currently use the Rovers site for this, consider using BRFCS!

Additionally, our new match centre (https://www.brfcs.com/football/match/1334966/blackburn-wolves) looks quite basic before a game, but during and after a game automatically brings in tonnes of data - who's on the pitch, stats and a realtime timeline of key events in the game. We're actively looking for sponsorship of our match centre, but to do this we need to evidence people using it, so please try and get into the habit of doing so! Especially the "Player of the Match" voting, which opens automatically after every game. You should get alerts (which are currently broken!) after the game for 24 hours prompting you to do it - it takes 2 minutes and really helps us.

Finally, we have (thanks to @4000Holes and @Herbie6590) lots of content on the main page. We have articles taken from the 4,000 holes magazine, guest columns by the likes of Rich Sharpe and Alan Nixon and 3 podcast offerings, The "What Now" Show which has monthly fan debate, "Kidder Street Noise" from Rob & Lewis and "The Rovers Inc" Show which assesses everything Rovers off the pitch. 

All of the above is done through fans giving up their free time. BRFCS is a free to use website and after RoversChat was sold, is now the only active independent Rovers community. It's really tough to keep it alive, so if you'd like to help keep BRFCS going, please consider:

Writing Articles

Listening to the Podcasts

Becoming a Podcast contributor (or putting your existing podcast on BRFCS for exposure)

Buy something from our store - https://www.brfcs.com/store

Become a subscriber for an ad-free experience (https://brfcs.com/magazine/premium) *note this doesn't work, but it will be back working in due course!*

Vote in the POTM votes

Comment on the articles on the front page - if you enjoyed it, agree with it or even disagree with it, add your thoughts. 

Try to get into the habit of using the BRFCS home page (www.brfcs.com) if you only currently use the forum.

If you'd own a company that would like to partner with BRFCS, we're open to sponsorship!

I'll spare mentioning everyone by name, but the IT team, content team and moderation team all go through the wringer to keep this ship afloat, so please support us if you can. 

Re the bit in bold - the Stoke fixture hasn’t been updated as per the move for TV.

This isn’t a criticism, I’m just mentioning it in case this needs to be added to your snagging list. 

[J*B]

48 minutes ago, wilsdenrover said:

Re the bit in bold - the Stoke fixture hasn’t been updated as per the move for TV.

This isn’t a criticism, I’m just mentioning it in case this needs to be added to your snagging list. 

It’ll do it automatically when it refreshes the data pull. Might take a couple of hours, in fairness. 

[Stonesrick]

What a super job you all do. Many thanks for all your time and hard work. 👍👍👍

[bigbrandjohn]

4 hours ago, islander200 said:

Thanks for the hardwork Herbie and the rest of the brfcs team 

Fantastic job.

Please know that our ability to piss and moan on a frictionless and seamless platform is a testament to your dedication.  @StubbsUK

[47er]

4 hours ago, ... said:

Think it goes without saying appreciate all you folks do behind the scenes 

Yep. We take you for granted but you guys must have put hours and hours of your own time into this over the last few days.

Many thanks to all of you.

[Mike E]

I’ve met the people who run the site voluntarily at the odd match, and I can honestly say they are an absolute bunch of bastards, quite frankly.

(I’m joking, obviously. They’re brilliant and capable of utter wizardry imo).

[Upside Down]

 I've said this elsewhere but, this website is probably one of the best for any football club around.

Shits all over the official Rovers one that's for sure.

Testament to all the hard work and dedication that is given by the people who are responsible.

 

[Valconite]

11 minutes ago, Upside Down said:

 I've said this elsewhere but, this website is probably one of the best for any football club around.

Shits all over the official Rovers one that's for sure.

Testament to all the hard work and dedication that is given by the people who are responsible.

 

Not one of but THE BEST one around in my biased opinion 😉.  Clean, modern and well moderated. Visiting other club forums and they are just an absolute mess with random topics / duplicate topics, look outdated, not moderated, run terrible etc.

So well done to all those involved with maintaining this site throughout all these years. We are fortunate to have such a great forum and it is really appreciated.

[Herbie6590]

8 hours ago, Mike E said:

I’ve met the people who run the site voluntarily at the odd match, and I can honestly say they are an absolute bunch of bastards, quite frankly.

(I’m joking, obviously. They’re brilliant and capable of utter wizardry imo).

Don Henley of Eagles used to comment that their manager Irving Azoff was known in the industry as Satan.
Henley added…”but he’s our Satan…” 😆👹

[Tyrone Shoelaces]

2 hours ago, Herbie6590 said:

Don Henley of Eagles used to comment that their manager Irving Azoff was known in the industry as Satan.
Henley added…”but he’s our Satan…” 😆👹

Is he the same agent that ripped off John Fogerty ?

[Herbie6590]

1 hour ago, Tyrone Shoelaces said:

Is he the same agent that ripped off John Fogerty ?

Not sure…based on this 🤔

[StubbsUK]