Have you noticed that they Recent Reviews page looks a little different?
We trimmed down the time stamp that was displaying seconds, we reduced the breadcrumb trail to show only the item name and the list, we put the item name in bold, and we've added the image of the reviewer to the review.
Looks better, no?
We have one more tweak in the works as well....
2/26/08
Database Clean-Up (with some collateral damage)
Guys,
I'm sorry to report that any ratings / reviews / and lists posted yesterday are gone. We had to revert back to our backup db that was updated through Monday at 1AM.
Here's what happened:
A long time ago, we set up our system so that non registered users could rate and review things. These reviews would not post live on the site until the person registered, but we had to save user information about EVERYBODY - registered or not.
Well we quickly realized that people found this system confusing, so we scrapped it. However, we did not scrap the process that "remembered" anonymous users. So every day, we were accumulating thousands of these "anon" users in our database, that were just taking up space.
So as of yesterday, we were up to MILLIONS of lines in our database of worthless anon info. We kept putting it off, and putting it off, because a clean up of this magnitude is a big exercise.
RateItAll's CTO last night made the call that it was time to clean this stuff up. In the process of removing all of these anon listings, there was a problem with the db. We were forced to go back to Monday morning's backup (this is why we do backups every single day).
The good news is that all of those ANON listings are out. The bad news is that we lost a day's worth of data.
We're making a concerted effort to get our technology in order, to make the site faster and better. This was a very unfortunate side effect, of an initiative that in the long term will improve site experience.
I'm sorry to report that any ratings / reviews / and lists posted yesterday are gone. We had to revert back to our backup db that was updated through Monday at 1AM.
Here's what happened:
A long time ago, we set up our system so that non registered users could rate and review things. These reviews would not post live on the site until the person registered, but we had to save user information about EVERYBODY - registered or not.
Well we quickly realized that people found this system confusing, so we scrapped it. However, we did not scrap the process that "remembered" anonymous users. So every day, we were accumulating thousands of these "anon" users in our database, that were just taking up space.
So as of yesterday, we were up to MILLIONS of lines in our database of worthless anon info. We kept putting it off, and putting it off, because a clean up of this magnitude is a big exercise.
RateItAll's CTO last night made the call that it was time to clean this stuff up. In the process of removing all of these anon listings, there was a problem with the db. We were forced to go back to Monday morning's backup (this is why we do backups every single day).
The good news is that all of those ANON listings are out. The bad news is that we lost a day's worth of data.
We're making a concerted effort to get our technology in order, to make the site faster and better. This was a very unfortunate side effect, of an initiative that in the long term will improve site experience.
2/24/08
San Antonio is now Live
We just turned on our San Antonio directory in RateItAll's local business review channel.
2/21/08
Add your city to RateItAll Local
Twansalem recently suggested that we add Iowa City to our local business directory. Unfortunately, I didn't have the data. So what we've done is added a skeleton Iowa City Directory with a couple of categories - Iowa City Pizza, Iowa City Restaurants, Iowa City Bars, etc.
Twansalem can now add his favorite establishments at his leisure, and if is participating in the RIA economy program, get a rev share on any any local business listing that he adds to the directory.
Let me know in the comments if there are other cities that you'd like to see represented, and I can see if we can work something similar to what we did for Iowa City.
Twansalem can now add his favorite establishments at his leisure, and if is participating in the RIA economy program, get a rev share on any any local business listing that he adds to the directory.
Let me know in the comments if there are other cities that you'd like to see represented, and I can see if we can work something similar to what we did for Iowa City.
2/18/08
Two New Cities in RIA Local
We've launched two new cities as part of our local business reviews section: a Richmond, VA Directory and a Madison, WI Directory.
You can now rate restaurants, doctors, hotels, mechanics, bars, and much more in both Richmond and Madison.
You can now rate restaurants, doctors, hotels, mechanics, bars, and much more in both Richmond and Madison.
2/15/08
Best Song from the 1990's?
I don't know what it is, but you can probably find it on Jamie McBain's Music from the 1990's list.
I was speed rating this list, and I couldn't get through it. Nearly 800 song titles, all with descriptions.... incredible. Remember, on these song lists, you can actually embed the track by grabbing song widgets from Imeem.
I was speed rating this list, and I couldn't get through it. Nearly 800 song titles, all with descriptions.... incredible. Remember, on these song lists, you can actually embed the track by grabbing song widgets from Imeem.
2/14/08
2/13/08
Weblist on Phoenix Local News
I've heard from a couple of reliable sources that HistoryFan's weblist "Worst Valentines Day Gifts" was featured on the Channel 10 local news in Phoenix.
Nice work HF.
Nice work HF.
2/7/08
Don't burn yourself....
... on RateItAll's screamingly fast web pages.
RateItAll's new CTO, Mathew, was up most of the night working on our database. He upgraded some software that allowed us to fully use more of the machine's memory, and he fiddled with some settings.
In poking around just now, the site is flying like I haven't seen before.
Nice work Matt.
RateItAll's new CTO, Mathew, was up most of the night working on our database. He upgraded some software that allowed us to fully use more of the machine's memory, and he fiddled with some settings.
In poking around just now, the site is flying like I haven't seen before.
Nice work Matt.
2/6/08
Scheduled Maintenance Tonight: 12AM PST
Guys, we're bringing the site down tonight at midnight PST for no more than 2 hours while we drop in some new db software that should help performance.
Thanks for your patience.
Thanks for your patience.
2/5/08
Profile Page Fix
Several of you have commented that the links from the section on the profile page called "Reviews from My Trusted Network" weren't working. Well, they're working again.
2/3/08
Super Bowl Ads
We have the 2008 Super Bowl Commercials list up, and each commercial has the video embedded. Try speed rating it... it's cool.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
