So, v5 is well underway. This is a good thing, as v4.x is definitely showing its age, as is the hardware that v4.x runs upon.
Development of v5 is occurring on the new server hardware that as purchased for Side 7 by the very kind Gushi, who has served as a full-time, and now occasional, admin of the site and the site's hardware since the late 1990s. The new hardware is pretty zippy, and the new site is being written in Ruby on Rails (all previous versions of Side 7 were run through Perl).
With this version I'm being much, much more deliberate in the design, and subsequently the design documentation. There is so much going into this upcoming version of the site, so much is changing, and the code is being written from scratch from the ground-up, that by-the-seat-of-my-pants programming would be extremely detrimental to the efforts.
The past couple of weeks have been spent doing a lot of research into database design principles and discussing ideas with colleagues of mine who are seasoned database administrators. I've received a lot of insight into how I want to design certain aspects of the site and the underlying database. Also, the data models used for the User accounts have been very carefully redesigned to optimize everything. Ruby on Rails gives me a lot of capability for dealing with the data and how everything relates without requiring tonnes of coding overhead. This is a definite boost over the way things were done in Perl.
The User model is nearly complete. After that, the data models for user Content, commenting, forums, and other common aspects of the site will be created. Once I'm done designing and implementing the data models for each portion of the site, then the wireframes which determine how the site will look shall be completed. Those wireframes will be posted to our Facebook page (did you know we had a Facebook page? You'll find it here) and your comments are welcome.
Once the wireframes are done, then the nitty-gritty of building the Controllers that make the site work, along with the Views that render the website's screens, will be done. At that point, we'll be looking for Beta Testers! If you're interested, you can post to Side 7's Facebook page about your interest!
Well, that's where we stand, and what I'm planning. More later as development continues.
-- BK
