Hello

[Diablo84]

I thought it was about time i registered, and had a look around. I'm not sure how many will remember/recognise the name.

It's good too see a few familiar names here, most notably; Matt, Nick, and of course Cd. I hope you are all doing well.

I recently took some time out from the web dev scene, to pursue another interest. After a long break, i'm back working with PHP, and trying my hardest to avoid the (over/mis)use of the phrase "web 2.0" :)

[COBOLdinosaur]

About time you showed up. :^)

Now all I need to do is get Sean here.

In case You have not noticed the site is in two parts (better SEO). This is the .net site and the content side is the .com site.  There is a link in the side bar for the .com

If you need anything just PM any of the familar names, and if we don't have privilege to give you what you need we will find someone who does.

You may find the forum seems a little quiet, but the site is not some much Q and A as it is education through discussion and collaboration.  The articles we have generated have had about 300,000 view since we went live in January so we are getting our ideas and helpful pieces exposed.

If you are interested in publishing an article or tutorial, there is a content submission topic whre we work to gether to help each other improve and refine before we put it on the site.  Author retains copyright and creative control; all the site retains is royalty free right to publish (onsite only).

Glad to see you.  Raad through a few threads.  Look around.  If you want to know how we are doing check the stats page:
http://www.expertsrt.com/static/stats.html

As for Web 2.0, we will be getting more web2ish on the content side in the new year as I start roll out the new UI, use some AJAX powered server side by LAMP, new content; and a few gadgets and toys.  BUT... no ads, no paid subscriptions, and no points to chase.

Oh and MERRY CHRISTMAS (a day late, but what the hell).

[CrYpTiC_MauleR]

OMG he's alive!!! =oD Welcome to ERT!

[coral1]

Welcome to the Insane Asylum.
Enjoy your stay.

: )

[nicholassolutions]

Well I'll be darned. The first thing I thought when I got Roy's PM telling me you'd showed up, was that it must be a prank, but I recognize the old email address. Welcome to ERT  -- you've been missed by more than a couple of us.

Roy's summed things up pretty nicely. Unfortunately I'm not around as much as I used to be -- prison (aka med school) is taking up most of my waking hours and energy, but if you need anything always feel free to send me a PM. If you're interested in doing any development, I can also give you access to the back end (Nick can probably help you out with that too). One of the nice parts of being around here is that you don't have to check your email every five minutes to be a part of things, so you can get involved in whatever way you want.

Anyhow, it's great to see you here. Merry Christmas and happy New Year -- I'll see you around ;-)

Matt

[GrandSchtroumpf]

Welcome Diabolo.  I hope you enjoy ERT.
Fighting against the term "web 2.0" is a noble cause.

[Diablo84]

Following the events that unfolded at the other place, i was far less then enthusiastic about giving up my free time so readily. Under different circumstances, i'd like to think that i would have turned up here much sooner. As it happened, i felt the need for a long break away from the scene.

Like Matt, my free time isn't what it once was, but it seems that you have the PHP angle well covered without me :).  I intend to have a look around over the next couple days, to get a better idea of what i can do to help. I would certainly like to bring something to the table, even if it isn't much.

Now all I need to do is get Sean here.

Are you still in contact with Sean, Roy?

Any idea what he is up to these days?

the site is not some much Q and A as it is education through discussion and collaboration

I'm very pleased to see that the emphasis is on the more beneficial aspect of the process.

I'm also very pleased to see how well the site has grown over the course of this year.

If you're interested in doing any development, I can also give you access to the back end (Nick can probably help you out with that too). One of the nice parts of being around here is that you don't have to check your email every five minutes to be a part of things, so you can get involved in whatever way you want.

I think i will have to decline that offer, i've never been a fan of modifying existing code :)

If you ever need a fresh pair of eyes to look at a problem, you know where to find me. I just have too many memories of looking through lines and lines of code, trying to understand why the author wrote 'this' - 'that' way, before i can even begin to address the original issue.

It's been nice to wake up every morning, without finding an inbox full of notifications that each require your attention :)

I hope you have all had a good Christmas, and have a happy new year.

It's been great to hear from you all again.

- Mike

[COBOLdinosaur]

Are you still in contact with Sean, Roy?

Any idea what he is up to these days?

Sporadic emails.  I don't think any of us understand how much he felt hurt by the way he was treated by EE and what was said by some assholes like Dan Rollins. I think he is just devoting his time to his business and does not want any more to do with online help sites.

[CrYpTiC_MauleR]

I think i will have to decline that offer, i've never been a fan of modifying existing code :)

If you ever need a fresh pair of eyes to look at a problem, you know where to find me. I just have too many memories of looking through lines and lines of code, trying to understand why the author wrote 'this' - 'that' way, before i can even begin to address the original issue.

Heh I hear you, unfortunately the site right now is run on 3rd party opensource software which I expect you know can be a nightmare to modify yet alone read. So much of the modifications are done carefully and seldom so nothing breaks. We hope  to eventually make a nice slimmed down forum from ground up, but as Matt stated, he does not have much time to devote anymore and neither do I. I can not expect more from anyone else on that matter since people do have other more important things and making a new CMS from a-z is not something that happens overnight. I don't know how far down the road it is but we are moving along fine so far using 3rd party code. I would love to wait until we have a nice amount of regular members so they too can take part in the coding is they want. Maybe assign a little thing here and there for them to code. Provided we give them a simple coding convention to follow so its readable and modifiable by more experienced coders if needed. That would take a huge load off the project from the staff.

I'll PM you some login details when I get the chance, but got to go do laundry leaving for FL in 4 days and won't be back until the 13th. Take care.

[Diablo84]

Sporadic emails.  I don't think any of us understand how much he felt hurt by the way he was treated by EE and what was said by some assholes like Dan Rollins. I think he is just devoting his time to his business and does not want any more to do with online help sites.

Understandable, but unfortunate. The way he was treated, ultimately marked the end of my participation there. It's largely thanks to the two of you, that i am now at least vaguely competent when it comes to CSS. I couldn't tell you how many times i found myself browsing through HTML/CSS (TA) threads, picking up bits of priceless information, from your combined knowledge.

Heh I hear you, unfortunately the site right now is run on 3rd party opensource software which I expect you know can be a nightmare to modify yet alone read. ... /snip

I would personally, much rather build something from scratch, then modify existing code. I have a lot of respect for anyone who has the patience, to sit down and make changes to an existing CMS.

The problem with building an original system is, as you've highlighted; the amount of time it takes. It can be a matter of months, before you've even got around to adding the things that you take for granted in an existing package.

I am going to be pretty tied up for the next couple of weeks, but perhaps after that, i can help by starting to put something together. It will come at the cost of sacrificing the time i've currently invested in another interest, but PHP has always been my first love. I think my coding style is pretty easy to follow, combined with comments, i'm confident that i could maintain a standard that both you, and Matt can easily understand. My only concern is that later down the line, one of you will come across something that needs to be added, which my code hasn't sufficiently accounted for. You may then find yourselves back at square one, having to make a 'quick & dirty' fix for my code.

It's something that would need thinking about, but it might be a feasible method of moving forward - a couple of people on hand to manage the live system, with one working behind the scenes on a new system.

The most important thing for me, is not stepping on anyone's toes. As you have said, you are moving along fine with things as they currently stand. The last thing i want to do is undermine the efforts that you have all put in to date :)

[seandelaney]

Hi Diablo84!

Just though i'd stick my head in the door and say welcome to ERT!  You'll probably better know me as "ellandrd", but i'm going by my real name here...

Catch up with you soon!

Sean

[Esopo]

Welcome!

Most has been said already. I'll just add there's pizza in the fridge and sodas at the back.
Enjoy your stay.