Site enhancements

 

  • Site enhancements

    Posted by Huw, 23 Oct 2012 06:43. Filed under Brickset.

    I've made a few changes to the site, in response to user feedback, and also sorted out a few anomalies and annoyances.

    Change the colour of owned and wanted sets: A few months ago someone, who was colour-blind, said they couldn't distinguish the green colour used to indicate set and minifig ownership. So I've added the ability for the colours to be changed from your profile page. If you have difficulty seeing the colours, or simply don't like the wishy-washy green and purple default colours, you can now change them to anything you like. A colour-picker will pop-up when you click in the textboxes and will provide plenty of choice, but if the exact colour you want is not shown you can simply enter its hex value.

    Control 'I want' from the set gallery: Several people complained in the forum that they couldn't set their 'I want' flag any more and I believe it was because they were viewing the set lists in the gallery view which, until now, didn't provide the ability to do so. It does now...

    Searching for multiple sets: If you wanted to send someone a link to an arbitrary list of sets you would have had to resort to creating a BrickList and send them the link to that. Now, you can specify multiple sets in the search box (and thus, also on the search page query string) by separating their numbers with a comma. e.g. 6876-1,6887-1. The resultant search results page URL is http://www.brickset.com/search/?query=6876-1,6887-1. BrickLists will remain the best way to do it but this provides a quick-and-dirty method.

    Displaying multiple years in the theme browser: You can now specify multiple years on the theme browser query string, e.g. http://www.brickset.com/browse/themes/?theme=Creator&year=2001,2002,2003

    Embedding set details on your blog or web page: You might have noticed on set details pages such as this one, there is a new 'Share' tab at the bottom that shows how you can embed set details on your website using an iFrame, much like you would do a YouTube video. I've been testing this with the good folks over at BrickFanatics and Bricktrader and it seems to work OK. Give it a go and see it's of use to you: if so, let me know and I'll continue to enhance it.

    Minifig browsing: Over the last few weeks I've been enhancing the minifig browsing pages, and they are now just about done. The index page needs 'tarting up' a bit but functionally I think it's complete and a vast improvement on the somewhat muddled and inconsistent pages that were there before.

    I think that's all, other than some minor changes to the web services interface. As usual, LMKWYT: As you can see, Brickset thrives on user feedback...


    54 comments, latest one posted 7 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
    2603 views


 
 

Comments

Posted by Savage_Steel in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 07:31

Awesome work Huw. These constant improvements must take lots of work, but definitely appreciated. It's nice that you listen to everyones requests too :)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 23 Oct 2012 07:41

Ahem, in the user profiles, the text is coloured with the same colour as the owned sets... :P

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 07:43

Not here it isn't... what browser you using? Try pressing Ctrl-F5 to refresh your stylesheets.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 23 Oct 2012 07:45

@Huw: Chrome 22... Even with a Ctrl + F5, nothing.

Posted by CCC in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 07:58

> Change the colour of owned and wanted sets

Just skim read the bold and I thought this was going to be on using dye ...

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 08:17

^^ Fine on Chrome here. You'll have to paste a screenshot somewhere, unless others are having the problem too.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 08:18

@Savage_Steel, what would the site be without its users? I like to keep you all happy :-)

Posted by ChicoCheco in Norway, 23 Oct 2012 08:19

Nice job! Especially the multiple set search option will make my Christmas wishlist much easier to share with the family ;-)

Posted by snifflestick in Germany, 23 Oct 2012 09:00

Hello, iFrame works great. It would be nice to style some things... font-color e.g. I cant read the text on my site with black background.. :-)

Posted by bluelion3 in United States, 23 Oct 2012 09:06

If only Huw managed Bricklink.... :)
Brickset is continuously improving due to your efforts!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 09:07

^^ What site is that? I'l take a look. It should use the css I've specified from Brickset's server. It doesn't specify a body colour, so it should therefore be white.

Posted by rosney in United States, 23 Oct 2012 09:12

Thank Huw.

Hey, any chance we can resolve the recently-introduced issue of entering a set # in the search box, hitting return and it goes right to the set (if it exists)? Right now it brings me to an interstitial page which I must then click again.

Yes I can use the dropdown, but that's not as quick and type-enter-I'm there!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 09:33

^ That feature was a casualty of some rationalisation work I did a month or so ago. I'll see if it can be added back again without complicating the code too much.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 23 Oct 2012 10:05

@Huw: Well, here's my screenshot... http://images.wikia.com/legomessageboards/images/0/04/OddBug.PNG Yes, it's on a wiki. :P

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 10:13

It was green, not the 'owned' colour. I'm not sure why it was, so I've changed it to black. Ctrl F5 this time *will* resolve it for you.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 23 Oct 2012 10:28

@Huw: Thanks, this time it worked. :P Still, quite odd...

Posted by MeckoGecko in United States, 23 Oct 2012 10:42

I'm relatively new to the site (I've been stalking for months, but finally registered for an account a few minutes ago), but being able to view themes across multiple years will be huge for me and is an awesome enhancement. Thanks!

Posted by Brickcreator in United States, 23 Oct 2012 10:44

@ Huw: Thanks so much for me now being able to click 'I want' at the same place as 'I own' when I browse large categories. It has made my experience all the better. :)

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 10:46

^^ Welcome to the site, and thanks for your comments :-)

Posted by quackyducks in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 11:26

@Huw, first time post today, so firstly thank you for your hard work! My collection consists of mainly minifigs and I used to be able to list all minifigs that I owned from My Sets tab, and then expand the search to include figures that I didn't have so that I could then add them individually. I can't seem to do this anymore. Also, the search minifigs by all categories doesn't appear to be bringing back any results.

Posted by ambo100 in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 11:29

These 'small' improvements are just as good as any big update. There are some really good ideas that have been implemented.

Posted by The Green Brick Giant in United States, 23 Oct 2012 11:44

These seem lie nice little improvements to me. nice job. :)

Posted by Dennis in United States, 23 Oct 2012 12:31

Appreciate the updates. I've added my entire Lego collection recently and find it very useful. I can't find the Star Wars Luke Skywalker Mini Landspeeder New York Comic Con exclusive tin though. Could you add that too?

Posted by bluemodern in United States, 23 Oct 2012 12:56

Looks great! Thanks for all your hard work.

Posted by jgrahl in United States, 23 Oct 2012 13:36

all are great improvements

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 13:43

^^^ Not added yet but I'll do so now. We don't have a decent picture of it, can you provide one?

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 14:16

@quackyducks, the 'All categories' now works again, thanks for letting me know it was broken.

I've shifted the 'expand the search to include figures that I didn't have' functionalty onto the main minifig browsing pages, which by default show those you own and those you don't. I've also now just added a link to the appropriate page on the 'Minifigs I own' page to make it easy to get there.

Posted by Town in United States, 23 Oct 2012 14:24

Thanks

Posted by Dragon_Master_48 in United States, 23 Oct 2012 14:38

Haha! Well done on all the changes.

Posted by drewchadwick@gmail.com in United States, 23 Oct 2012 14:53

Thank you for doing all this. This site is ESSENTIAL for the management of my and my son's collections. And I don't pay a dime for it! This is wonderful and it is appreciated. If one wanted to send a token of appreciation from Huw's wanted list (item is readily available where I live in the US) where would one send it? Thanks again, Huw!

Posted by The Unbeliever in United States, 23 Oct 2012 16:21

BUG: If you both 'own' and 'want' a set, it does not render properly in the gallery view.

Posted by legoDad42 in United States, 23 Oct 2012 16:28

Quick question...on my profile page I have a 'Role at Brickset' line. Can I type in anything here or is it for official Bricksetter's?

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 16:54

^^ I can see the problem, I'll sort it tomorrow.

^ It shows roles, which you can't edit. See my profile for an example.

Posted by lotrninja23 in United States, 23 Oct 2012 17:51

im having issues with the wanted and owned minifig pages. they are just in one column down the page in alphabetical order.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 23 Oct 2012 18:13

^ Try presing ctrl-F5 and if that doesn't work LMK what browser/computer you're using.

Posted by audiobean in Singapore, 23 Oct 2012 18:40

Love the new minifig browsing sorted by theme. Well done!

Posted by lotrninja23 in United States, 23 Oct 2012 19:37

^^ @Huw i tried that and it didn't work on Chrome, IE, or Firefox. Im using a Microsoft PC with Windows Vista.
now its only on wanted minifigs.

Posted by murphquake in United States, 23 Oct 2012 21:50

Huw, Thanks! ...that is all.

Posted by quackyducks in United Kingdom, 24 Oct 2012 02:25

@Huw, great stuff, thanks!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 24 Oct 2012 06:32

@The Unbeliever, that issue is now resolved.

Posted by Yellow in Hungary, 24 Oct 2012 09:16

Minifig browsing, theme Star Wars, but I assume it is the same at all themes:
Can I change the order of the displayed figs?
Now it seem to have an order by name, I would prefer order by minifig number - or at least the ability to chose which order I prefer.

Posted by WolfCubs in Canada, 24 Oct 2012 09:19

What happened to being able to say I own a loose minifig on the minifig browser? I'm sure it was there some time ago, but not last I tried a week or so ago. I tried to log all the minifigs I traded at the TRU swap weekend.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 24 Oct 2012 10:23

^ Still there...

^^ Not currently but I might be able to add it.

Posted by Yellow in Hungary, 24 Oct 2012 12:21

Huw, that would be great. It would also help to track if the lists are complete or not (I miss some figs from SW)

Posted by Si_Dorking_Surrey in United Kingdom, 24 Oct 2012 14:07

Great work on these changes, Huw, especially the 'embed in blog' feature, very nice.

Posted by yodaman5556 in New Zealand, 24 Oct 2012 14:49

Huw, these changes to Brickset are awesome! :) I did contact you around 2 weeks ago asking about whether you would consider adding a subscribe via email feature to the news section. Many other LEGO news sites have this feature and I think that it would be very helpful to visitors who want all the AWESOME Brickset news into their email inbox.

You can use FeedBurner (by Google) for your email subscription service -it works it all out for you! :) Link: feedburner.google.com -all you need is a Google account!

I would appreciate it very much if you added this function! Thanks.

Posted by LegoAthos in United States, 24 Oct 2012 16:10

i had a friend who was diagnosed as colorblind... It caught him completely out of the green...

Posted by djfooboo in United States, 24 Oct 2012 20:41

Thank you thank you thank you Huw. I was the color blind user that emailed you ^__^

Posted by legomaster65 in Canada, 25 Oct 2012 03:45

Thank you Huw. Having the ability to specify "I Want/I Own" from the gallery view (as well as viewing both colours) is a very welcome update. Brickset continues to be my number one site for everything Lego. I work at a Lego Brand Retail store, and use Brickset on a daily basis to help answer customer's questions. Keep up the good work!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 25 Oct 2012 04:06

^ You're welcome, I'm glad to hear it's of use!

^^ You too!

^^^^ I'll look into feedburner, thanks

@yellow, you can now sort by minifig number.

Posted by Chills in United States, 25 Oct 2012 09:14

Thanks for the updates, Huw. And thanks for such an awesome site!

Posted by Yellow in Hungary, 25 Oct 2012 10:40

@Huw, thank you very much!

Posted by legoDad42 in United States, 26 Oct 2012 14:43

How is one assigned a role of Trusted Reviewer? Certain amount of reviews or maybe more thorough and frequent reviewing? Just curious.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 26 Oct 2012 16:53

That role is pretty much obsolete now. It's the same as being 'gold rated', it just means your reviews bypass moderation.

Commenting has ended on this article.