FilmmakerIQ.com v4: Better, Faster, Stronger

FilmmakerIQ.com v4: Better, Faster, Stronger

Posted on July 5, 2010 in Featured, General | 7 Comments

We are happy to announce today, on our second anniversary the release of FilmmakerIQ.com v4! It doesn’t seem like that long ago, but two years ago today IQ was born. We want to thank everyone that has stuck with us and welcome all of the new members that have discovered our little home. Maybe it’s not so little anymore. Millions have passed through; and now hundreds each month are putting down roots and becoming members.

Better

We have added several new features and enhancements to v4.

Forums are now called Discussions

There seemed to be a lot of confusion on what a forum was and how they related to Groups. Groups and Forums sounded like two different things. Forums where just a feature of a Group. We decided the calling them Discussions made more sense. Along with the name change we made the Discussions tab the default tab when visiting the Group Page. Hopefully this will cut down on questions being posted and lost in the Activity Stream.

Improved Navigation

One thing that needed to be vastly improved was site navigation. It doesn’t matter how many cool features you have if members can’t find them or know how to use them. (State how navigation has been improved.)

Search Box

The first thing we added was a large search box that lets you find what you are looking for. You can search via Articles, Members, Groups and Discussions. The default search setting of Articles can be change by selecting Members, Groups and Discussions via the drop-down menu on the right side in the search field.

Header Navigation Menu

In the past, the article categories were below the pages in the header menu. We have now moved the article categories to a drop-down menu below the Articles icon. This should cut down on confusion and make for better navigation.

Sidebar

We have made vast improvements to the sidebar. (Such as…)

Ask a Question
The first thing you notice is a big “Ask a Question” button that will direct members to the Discussion Index where they can ask their questions. This should cut down on confusion on where they should post.

Inbox Messages
When logged in your Messages will be displayed below your avatar for quick scanning.

Accordion Menu
We have created a accordion menu in the sidebar to allow for quick navigation of site content. You can now quickly scan Recent Posts, Popular Posts, Recent Comments, Member Submitted Links, Discussion Topics, Groups, Members, IQ Point Leaders and Featured Articles.

Video Library (Beta)

The IQ Video Library is your ultimate source for filmmaking videos. We put the Web’s best filmmaking content all in one place presented in a library that lets you surf hundreds of videos that are updated often.

At the time I’m writing this the Video Library is still being built. Over the next days and week we will be adding hundreds more. We will also be doing more filtering so only the most relevant and highest quality videos will be shown.

IQ Points (Beta)

IQ Points is currently in Beta testing. Once we have fine tuned the point values and analyzed usage we will be able to setup a rewards system. We have some ideas, but all we can say for now is it will be cool.

Where can I see my point totals?

There are several paces to view your totals. They are displayed in the sidebar next to your name and avatar. You can view the total at the top of this page (must be logged in). For a in depth view and a point log you can go to: My Account > Points > My Points.

Where can a view a list of the IQ Point Leaders?
Below you can view a list of the Top 100 IQ Point Leaders. In the sidebar there is also a list of the Top 20 IQ Point Leaders. (Some IQ Staff are not included on the list.)

Here are some of the things you can do to earn IQ Points:

  • Daily Login
  • Commenting on a Article
  • Group Creation
  • Joining a Group
  • Posting a Update
  • Replying to a Update
  • Completed Friend Request
  • New Discussion Topic
  • Discussion Post/Reply
  • Submitting a Link
  • Voting for a Link
  • Commenting on a Link
  • Uploading Avatar
  • Sending a Message

New Help & FAQ Page

We created a new FAQ for our help Page. You can now quickly scan question, search the help categories and if you still can’t find a answer to your question there is a quick form where you can submit a question directly to us via email. We will be updating this page often.

Faster

IQ v3 was rushed into service to help us test and analyze a new generation of features. Some of you loved it some of you didn’t, but the one thing everyone agreed on is that it was too damn slow!

IQ v4 is a 1/4 the size of its predecessor. We have reduced the amount of javascript and css and stream lined the php. The amount of images have been reduced and optimized. We have vastly reduced the number of sever calls and improved caching.

What does all that mumbo-jumbo mean? It means a much faster IQ, and all you people stuck using IE won’t pull near as much hair out waiting for it to load.

Stronger

IQ v4 fixes over 300 bugs. Some of them big and many of them small. These fixes should result in far fewer crashes, better overall speed and performance and a overall better experience.

Fixing bugs is a never ending task. With every new version there will be more. If you should find a bug please report it in either the comment section of this post or in our Support and Announcements Group.

We would like to thank everyone for their help and feedback. We ask that you continue to offer suggestions, because the next version of IQ is already being worked on.

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