Prep for Q4 2024 Upgrades

Hi all,

Just wanted to let you know of a few changes that will be coming possibly by end of this year.  As we progress down the road for the future of CZCC, I wanted to let you know of a few things that will be updating for 2025.  We will be continuing to develop the club to keep up with current trends in technology.  As part of that preparation, I wanted to let you know a few things that you'll see coming up.

1. Login with email address.  You can start doing this now.  Right now we are currently accepting a flexible 'username' or 'email-address' login.  Problem with a username login is a slight security risk because your username shows up in all your posts.  This gives potential hackers half of your information.  Since they don't know your password, they cannot get in.  However, moving to an 'email-address' only login is more secure because hackers or bots won't know your email address and it's not published.  We will eliminate half of our security risks, once this is done.  It's already available, so please give it a try.  By end of the year, we will be depreciating the username login.
2. Native design for desktop or mobile.  Our website will have a better design for your navigation pleasure.  You can see this new design on our beta site currently in development.  This new design also supports mobile devices natively and can detect your device type without spoiling the experience.  I also like it because we no longer have to depend on a service or a mobile app.  It's also not just a squished desktop view anymore.  🙂You can try our beta site (<<-- clicky thing) on your phone right now.
3. Improved editor.  The new design also has a much improved message editor and media handling back-end.  This means your typical drag-n-drop capability for images and video will be even easier.  This is also available on our beta site, although you may not be able to test it without creating an account over on that site.
4. Classifieds.  Right now we use a module that runs in coordination with our back-end software.  Problem with this is the fact it's a custom software package that needs updating.  I will work on it, but possibly a delayed release.
5. Custom Modules.  Basically anything custom developed (classifieds, garage, links, enhanced profile block) will need some rework and available within a few months after the launch.  Pending my time availability ofc.
6. New Server.  I've already moved us to a newer piece of hardware.  Instead of making a large purchase, I've worked with our co-location parner to purchase the equipment over a 2 year lease.  This works out much better in the long run and we avoid a high upfront expense.  Our hardware is a Dell server running the Ubuntu operating system.  I did look at moving our site to the 'cloud' but it was cost-prohibitive (around 2.5x the cost of a leased piece of hardware).
7. Live Topics.  In case anyone wants to use it, we will have the capability to host a "live topic" event where people can chat and watch video at the same time.  Much like you see on YouTube live events, you'll have the capability to host an event (maybe a car shop session, race day, car show, etc) and the messages will be saved into a forum post along with the video.  This is a fairly new feature and we'll see how it goes.  But the capability will be there in case anyone wants to give it a shot.
8. Sidebar.  I'm still juggling the idea but we do have an option to show the sidebar (on the desktop view) instead of a top menu.  You can see this new layout on the beta site.  What do you think?
9. Proper Light/Dark Mode.  This new version will allow you to switch between these modes without changing the theme.  Advantage is quicker switch times and it's a LOT easier for me to manage on the admin panel (I don't have to track two different interface designs).  Not to mention your wife won't tell you to shut off your phone while lying in bed at night.  We will have a REAL dark mode capability.  Sounds trivial right? 

So far that's all I can think of.  As you can see there is quite a lot to running a website like this.  Quite a lot of cool updates coming and I'm hoping you enjoy them!  I personally like to do this because it keeps my developer skills sharp.  😉

Mike