AutoPuzzles for sale?

[nicanary]

Sold!!!

Spend it wisely!  I wish you all the very best for the future, and a big thank you for initiating Autopuzzles in the first place. That includes Otto.

[Carnut]

The consortium of new Owners is (in no particular order!):

Otto Puzzell
Allemano
Paul Jaray
Carnut
nicanary
Bill Murray

Very much looking forward to the future of AP but the main reason to do it was to keep it going as it has for the last 10 years!

[Oguerrerob]

  Congrats!!!

[Wendax]

Many thanks to Charlie for what he has done in the past, and best wishes to the new consortium for keeping this site an exciting place. 

[Allan L]

Many thanks to Charlie for what he has done in the past, and best wishes to the new consortium for keeping this site an exciting place. 

Couldn't have put it better myself, so I'll just add my name to this!

[Oguerrerob]

Many thanks to Charlie for what he has done in the past, and best wishes to the new consortium for keeping this site an exciting place. 

[Ultra]

Fwiw, my last act as owner of the board, I promoted nicanary and Bill Murray to editor.  As owners they should have access to all areas of the site.

Congrats guys!

[Carnut]

Welcome to nicanary and Bill Murray, who are not just new Editors but also new part-owners of this site.
The Owners and Editors all look forward to continuing the site in the same vein in which it was established: as a very friendly site for the promotion of lots of fun identifying the unidentifiable!

[el_monty]

Many thanks to Charlie for what he has done in the past, and best wishes to the new consortium for keeping this site an exciting place. 

Congratulations to all parts involved!

[thorax]

Many thanks to Charlie for what he has done in the past, and best wishes to the new consortium for keeping this site an exciting place. 

Congratulations to all parts involved!

[mekubb]

Well done gentlemen !    Just read this topic for the first time and I would have been interested to participate in an 'ownership'. But the increased workload prevents me from doing so.... Anyway, it has been settled now, thanks a lot to all guys involved. Looking forward to use Autopuzzles for many more years to come ! 

[kwgibbs]

congratulations gentlemen for providing us all to the most enjoyable site there is! Thanks again!

[Allemano]

Is there any chance for a 'Front Page' update?

[nicanary]

Is there any chance for a 'Front Page' update?

I agree with Allemano. It's not been touched for years, and could benefit from being refreshed -  don't ask me to do it though!

[Carnut]

Otto's the only one who knows how to do it!

[pnegyesi]

Well, actually, er, no. I can do it - probably. Would you like to see a new featured puzzle, featured article etc. or would you like to see a completely revamped home page? The latter may be a bit more tricky

[nicanary]

Personally I think most visitors hardly go there, certainly regular members don't bother. I feel we may as well just have some sort of wallpaper there, rather than start "feature car of the week" or whatever which then requires regular updates ( or not, as is the present case). Maybe we could have a collage of previous puzzle cars and then just leave it there as a statement page to show newcomers what we're all about.

[Allemano]

I think – but I'm only speaking for myself – the whole web design of AP urgently needs an update. 

[nicanary]

I think – but I'm only speaking for myself – the whole web design of AP urgently needs an update. 

I am in full support. However, who is going to do it? If we employ an outsider they would need to understand the ethos of the site, and it would also cost a lot of money.

[Allemano]

Must certainly be a (low cost) labour of love!
Think I can say how it should look, but unfortunately I don't know anything technically about web-design

[pnegyesi]

Currently the site uses a theme called Curve
It's here:
http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=2270

If we upgrade the theme, the site will look nicer.
Here's an example:
http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=2859
or
http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=2866
or
http://custom.simplemachines.org/themes/index.php?lemma=2851
or
you choose

[Allemano]

If only these are available for a low cost solution I definetly vote for Alpha Centauri

[gilescooperuk]

Well with the forum as Pal says it is a simple matter of choosing a new theme, and changing the forum to use it.

With the front page - you need the hosting details and the way the page was built - does it have dynamic links etc...

Having had a quick look at the code it appears to be static links to the puzzle and then a suitably scaled picture taken from the puzzle directly.

Not difficult to write and change as required - a dynamic page would be a lot harder as it requires extracting the image from the puzzle directly and then scaling it on the fly...

Giles

[nicanary]

 . You've lost me already!

PS I don't think it's the font or general layout of the site which requires changes,  but it's more the homepage and preponderance of unread non-puzzle sections. The site is top-heavy with stuff nobody ever visits - Charlie and Otto did their best to re-invigorate certain sections last year, and I was proud to be appointed to the racing section, but in all honesty I have to say that the plan didn't really work. It attracts scant attention. Same goes for the feature writing section and others. I wouldn't miss all the other stuff if it disappeared overnight.

I'm sure not everybody would agree with me, that's just my personal opinion. If we decided to change the format, it would be a good opportunity to streamline the site.

[Allemano]

Think a modest update will be sufficient — we're all old men and we don't like changes...