Oh My Word(press), What Have You Done??
Welcome back everyone! I present to you the fourth iteration of Just Games Retro, back and better than it was last time. I’m there are questions, so let’s settle into our seats and get right to it.
Are you REALLY back?
Yes, we’re back!
Static and I will both be writing retro reviews for JGR, just like old times. And just like old times, we may not have a set schedule, but we’ll hit em when we can, and the old reviews will be around in the meantime.
Why WordPress?
As I’m sure Mr. Creosote will ask! First, it is well known and proven that, while I might be able to kludge together some code, I can’t web design for shit. Second, JGR is essentially a reviews database. It makes good sense to use a database structure for that. We can do far more with SQL than we could with folders full of html files updated by hand (as about 2 months of hand-transferring the old content can attest).
We also get the full (ahem.. and free) support of WordPress plugin and widget authors, allowing us to drop in the kind of user functions I could have only dreamed of, or tried to hack together myself.
So What’s New?
Aside from the updated look…
- Comments sections for all reviews
- Updated search engine (will be tweaking in coming weeks)
- Post tags to supplement searching
- A dynamic list of all reviews on the site (for easy browsing)
- Larger screenshots! Click on anything for an expanded view.
- The ability to easily expand to reviewing other console/computer systems (which we will indeed be doing)
- We now own and redirect from justgamesretro.net in addition to .com
You can also follow @JustGamesRetro on Twitter. That account will solely be used to announce new reviews (and respond to questions/mentions). For more generic Twitter time and musings, you can follow me at @BurningStickMan, or Static at @rdigiorgi.
What’s Coming?
New reviews, obviously. We’ll also be adding functionality as we discover deficiencies, so please feel free to make suggestions! In the immediate, we’ll be adding links to all reviews now that the structure is done, and going back over any blurry screenshots. Original JGR didn’t store larger versions of screenshots because, clearly, we’d never change the design of the site.
What Now?
Go explore the new site! Leave comments! Tell your friends! Let us know if anything is borked! I hope you enjoy the site and see it as a marked improvement. I’m certainly looking forward to it freeing me up to get back to writing more of our (in)famous reviews!
Sloppy kisses,
-J Man
Woohoo! Glad to be back!
Actually, I just wanted an excuse to try the new comment system. Carry on.
Successful test! I’m hoping to keep the comments open to everyone, without the need to register. Hopefully spam-catchers will take care of the n’er-do-wells.
Welcome back! My comments about WordPress in general and usage on your site in particular will be directed to your personally 😉
Glad to see one of my favorite review sites back after all. Like MC Hammer, you guys are 2 legit 2 quit!
Still tweaking that search engine by the way. I see that a few of you had unsuccessful searches for games that are on the site (Discworld is not… yet).
Trying to work a good balance between being forgiving, and letting you know when a game hasn’t been reviewed yet (as opposed to just a broken search)
Having now seen JGR from “behind the scenes”, so to speak, this wordpress software is quite slick. I could certainly see an advantage in moving FFG over to it. In particular the comments system (which is one thing I would imagine takes a lot of work to do by hand, at least if you want it to be decently secure).
I was very resistant to WordPress at first. Static had been trying to convince me it could do more than just typical “blogging,” but I didn’t really get that until I spent some time with GameCrashers. I have to say, it does everything I’ve wanted it to, and it’s certianly far more impressive than something I could code on my own. The free/open source plugins also help tremendously with customizing and adding features. I love FFG as it is, but if you’re looking for a change, WP isn’t bad.