Make sure to join and compete in the offical RCTLounge Holiday Challenge to build the best Winter/Holiday theme park area in Roller Coaster Tycoon 3!
More Information: http://rctlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1598
So, what really is behind the new site? Well, it’s actually quite complicated.
Everything is stored in a MySQL database, and to get all of the information out and into your browser, I’ve created a custom program built in PHP. Every little thing (except this blog) was custom coded by me (four months of hard labor!)
To control everything, I knew it was necessary to create a control panel that would allow us to manage every little bit. So, I thought it would be cool to show everyone a little bit of the CP:
Here’s the home page of the CP. Just some notes that we can add to keep up to date.
This is what my account’s page looks like. Way low-profile compared to my forum’s account…
A very important part of the CP is the Spotlight section. This is what is looks like when editing an existing Spotlight.
Of course, there are tons of images we have to keep track of now (we can upload and crop images in the CP too now). With this handy tool, we can delete un-needed images. All the images with a red border are in use so we don’t delete them.
To make page editing easier, this is the very, very simple CMS (Content Management System) for them. It automatically creates search engine friendly URLs and good stuff like that.
Finally, this is what it actually looks like when you edit a page. We’re using the TinyMCE editor to make it much easier to make the pages look nice.
Well, I hope you enjoyed this little tour of how the new RCTLounge is controlled! It seems that our hits have been flying through the roof now! Thanks everyone!
After being gone for 2 months, we’re excited to announce a new Screenshot Contest Round has (finally) started!
You have until Wednesday (the 19th) to post your screenshot!
After nearly 6 months of planning, designing, and developing, we are proud to release the 3rd Version of RCTLounge!
Here’s some of the many new features you’ll find:
Updated Look
The biggest change by far is the new look. It’s both XHTML and CSS valid (for you web design followers out there), and provides a much cleaner page than before. The program behind every little thing you see on a page was developed by Doug in PHP, MySQL, and jQuery. Everything can be controlled now by a custom control panel (obviously, you the regular guest or member can’t access it, so sorry.)
Spotlight
After being taken down for quite awhile, we have brought back our popular spotlight, but better than ever! Now everything is categorized, and when you click on the spotlight’s thumbnail, you get a bigger picture along with a description and link to the project’s forum thread.
Blog
Our new blog will keep you up to date with what’s going on this week, news about the site, and just random stuff about us. Subscribe to keep up to date!
What’s Your Color?
This feature allows you to change the color of the links on any of the pages, including the forums. It’s another step to making RCTLounge your site.
Search Feature
Another small feature added is the function to search the pages. Another feature we did not have before.
All in all, we hope you like what we’ve done with the site. We think you’ll agree that this is a huge step forward for us. We’d like to thank all of the members that have stuck with us our first year online. Without your help, we wouldn’t have been a success!
Thanks!
RCTLounge Team (772pilot, Ethan, and Doug)
