Details of the New OLS Web Site and Server (Demo Video Now Available)
The New OLS Web Server
The first OLS upgrade will be a move to a brand new web server, one that I designed and built myself. With 3 times as much memory (24GB), redundant power supplies, enterprise-class 2.5" SSD drives and an enterprise-class RAID card with 512MB of battery backed-up cache (actually a super-transistor with flash memory for backup) it will literally smoke the server we're using now. It should easily be able to handle double the amount of traffic we have now as well as the many more advanced features that we are going to have with the new version of the OLS web site. The occasional slow-downs we sometimes experience when accessing some pages (forum search, initially accessing private messages, etc.) should be no more. I also found a much improved method to accomplish the regular backups of the database without making the web site inaccessible for 10 minutes or so. Those of you who are on the web site in the middle of the night (~5:00am ET) will know what I mean.
The move to the new server will take place in either 3 weeks or around 6 weeks from now. It all depends on how fast I can finish setting it up once I get back from the sweepstakes convention.
I really wanted the new web site up and running before the sweepstakes convention, but I didn't make it. So now I'm hoping to have it up around September 1st, 2009 with a quick beta period a few weeks before that. I've got to get the move to the new server completed before I finish up the new web site, so these dates are ballpark figures.
***10/9 UPDATE***
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I apologize for the delays in getting the new server and web site up and running. I can assure you, that no one is more disappointed and frustrated than I am. The new server has been delayed because I waited for a few weeks for a new firmware for the SSD drives. While I was waiting, a new version of the raid card I'm using came out. It uses flash memory to backup the data in case of power loss instead of a battery that has to be replaced every couple of years. It's safer, more reliable and will be cheaper in the long run. So I bought the new raid card. A week later, the new raid card was recalled by the manufacturer which resulted in another delay of a few weeks. I finally have the new server nearly ready to be shipped out to the data center and should have it up and running a little more than a week from now. I also ran into a couple of unforeseen problems with the new web site. They're not insurmountable, it's just taken me longer than I would have liked to work through them and get everything done. I'll be out of town for the next couple of days to attend my 20-year high school reunion and will return early next week. I should be able to have the new server and the new site up and running a few weeks later which will be sometime around November 1st. The new server and new web site are just the beginning, there will be a steady stream of new features, updates and improvements added once we're over this hump. I have a whole lot of plans and new ideas that will continue making OLS better than ever, some I've mentioned before (or have been suggested by our members) and some I haven't. Thank you all very much for your continued support and patience. There is no doubt it's coming, it's just taking me a little longer than I anticipated. Brent |
The New OLS Web Site
The basis of the current version of the OLS web site was designed in 2002- back when we averaged ~50 new sweeps per day and had far fewer members and features. We've outgrown it to the point that it's now fairly inadequate for our needs today. Not to mention how much technology has changed in just the last five years in terms of both web browsers and server-side technology.
Today, web sites are slowly morphing into web applications. Instead of going from static web page to static web page with minimal interactivity and personalization, modern web sites are becoming more like the applications and programs we run on our own computers. Without question, web applications are the future while plain old mostly-static web sites are the past. The new version of the OLS web site will leap-frog OLS to the forefront of that future and literally open up a whole new world of possibilities for what a sweepstakes web site can do.
Before I start going over some of the new features and characteristics of the new OLS web site, I should mention that it will not be an overly radical departure from the way the current OLS web site looks and works now. You will not have to spend hours upon hours learning how to use a completely different web site. I've kept what works well and improved on most of it. Some things may take a little bit of time to get used to but it should be like riding a bicycle for anyone that is used to the current OLS web site.
Introducing Some of the Major Features and Improvements of the New OLS Web Site
- AJAX, AJAX, AJAX - If you don't know what Ajax is, it's basically a technique that allows sections of a web site to be updated without actually loading a whole new web page. It makes web sites much more interactive as well as quicker and easier to use. Some older browsers do not work well with Ajax and for that reason you will have the option of not using the Ajax functionality either out of necessity or choice. In fact, depending on whether you're an unregistered guest, member or premium member as well as the capabilities of your web browser and your own preferences, there will be several different styles and options available for the way you want to access the new OLS web site. By making full use of the Ajax features, OLS web pages will load even more quickly- your browser won't have to load the whole web page each time which also means your browser won't have to load and initiate the JavaScript each time you go to another page. The new OLS web site does use a great deal more JavaScript than the current site.
- Easily find and enter the exact types and categories of sweepstakes and contests that you want to enter much more quickly and efficiently. No blogs, no problem! The less time you have to spend weeding through the hundreds of new sweeps that are posted each day to find and enter the ones you want will vastly improve the quality of your precious sweeping time. The faster and more efficiently you can do your sweeping, the more you'll be able to enter and the less time you'll have to spend doing so which will result in a more enjoyable sweeping experience and quite potentially even more wins.
- Know and keep track of which sweeps you've already seen or are completely new to you. The current OLS web site does not make this process very easy and a lot of our members have developed their own work-arounds and methods they use to keep track. Having to weed through lists of sweeps that you've already seen just to find the ones you haven't is unavoidable for the most part. The new OLS web site will help you avoid having to consider this almost at all.
- MySweeps+++ - Keep your own personal notes and links and assign your own priorities and personalized categories. You'll be able to sort and display your MySweeps lists however you choose. Pull up any MySweeps you haven't entered in the last day, week or month based on your own priorities and personalized categories if you choose. Pull up any MySweeps that you've recently added personal notes to. Pull up your MySweeps in the "New Sweeps" and "Expiring Soon" formats (based on date). In the near future I also plan on making MySweeps intelligent enough to be able to tell you what sweeps you need to enter before the next expiration period expires. And finally, MySweeps will no longer use problematic cookies to save your changes (unless you're using an older web browser).
- Shazam! - One of the most popular features on OLS is much improved. You'll find Shazam! on every page that contains sweepstakes listings, not just in the MySweeps pages. You'll be able to easily select which specific sweeps you want to save to MySweeps and/or enter via Shazam! on any given sweeps page (and make the ones you don't want to see disappear). You'll also have the option to automatically block the referrer being passed by your browser to the sweepstakes you're visiting and entering, regardless of whether you use Shazam! or manually click on a link (any sweep-related link).
- Advanced Browser History - The new OLS web site will avoid your web browser's history entirely and track your access to all internal OLS web site links on the server. See at a glance if and when you've clicked on "New Sweeps" and "Expiring Soon" links (by date)- they'll be color coded based whether you've click on the link at all, in the last 24 hours, 3 days, week or month. And because the new OLS web site will keep track for you, your browser history for the new OLS web site will carry over if you use different (modern) browsers or even computers.
- Improved Styling and Layout - Many of the text fonts and menus are larger and easier to read as well as fully size-adjustable by your web browser's options. The layout of the new OLS web site is improved in numerous ways and will be more consistent among different web browsers, web browser versions and operating systems.
- Less Scrolling and Clicking - Selecting or clicking on a sweepstakes listing will cause it to automatically and smoothly scroll to the top of the window. Sweep notes, rules, rate it! and report windows are automatically closed when you select another sweep. When you click on the sweep notes or the archived rules, which often produce a window that's longer than your browser window making it a bit difficult to use, the sweep notes or archived rules window will be automatically be re-sized to fit the size of your browser window. Also, the main scroll bar for the web page that you use to scroll through the sweep listings is temporarily removed so that you won't run into that troublesome double scrolling problem that sometimes occurs. The main scroll bar will reappear once you close the sweep notes, rules, rate it! or report window or you select another sweep. The automatic scrolling may not work well with older browsers or computers so you'll have the option of disabling this feature.
- New and Expiring Soon Sweepstakes sections will allow you to easily go back or forward for up to a year (by month). The New Sweepstakes section will give you the ability to see all sweepstakes in the database that haven't started yet (coming soon).
- The time and date in the upper-right corner is synced to OLS server time and is updated on the OLS web page every minute (remember, Ajax pages aren't completely reloaded each time you change a page). OLS server time is automatically synced with the government's time clock every single day to ensure it reflects the most accurate time possible.
- The Search page function will be vastly improved. It will be much easier to find exactly what you're looking for without having to scroll through pages of search results.
* Just to be clear, most of the more-advanced MySweeps features will be available to Premium OLS members only. Unregistered visitors and non-premium members will have access to most of the rest.
There are a lot more smaller updates and improvements as well, but these are most of the biggest. I also have plans for many more once the new server and the new OLS web site are up and running smoothly. One thing I want to do is make it easy for you to track your wins. Find the sweep you won and similar to posting a note you'll be able to post your win. The new OLS web site will then keep track of all your wins on one page for you. You'll be able to keep it private or make it public (to other OLS members anyway). I'm also planning on adding some nifty graphing capabilities so you can easily see your wins over time in a neat little chart.
Other Future Plans/Ideas
The forums and chat room will be upgraded sometime in the near future as well. There's a major forums upgrade due sometime this fall/winter (I think).
I definitely want to add more local sweeps to the sweepstakes directory.
I've thought about giving premium members the option of making certain personalized MySweeps categories available to others (whether it's just certain friends or other OLS members as a whole).
I'm considering a web page that lists the most popular sweeps by the number of times they've been added to OLS members' MySweeps lists and/or how often they've been entered.
I would like to add an OLS blog to the main page/sweepstakes directory. And maybe a Wiki.
Sometime in the not too distant future I would like to add snail-mails to the sweepstakes directory and use MySweeps so that you could select the ones you want and have the OLS web site spit out a nicely formatted PDF file for you to print off and use.
Flash Video Demo Is Here!!!
Please note that I did the video with a 800x600 pixel screen resolution. Most people these days have monitors that are able to handle higher resolutions (some much higher). The new OLS web site, like most web sites, will look much better the larger your screen resolution is. 800x600 pixels is the minimum recommended screen resolution for viewing OLS, for both the current and new OLS web sites.
The video could be done a bit better. I threw it together quickly to get it out. But I think it will do a decent enough job of giving everyone a fairly good idea of what you can expect with the new OLS web site. It is a rough draft and there are a number of new improvements, features and plans that aren't even mentioned.
Keep in mind that you can pause, rewind and fast forward the video as needed, particularly if it runs a little fast for you.
The video is nearly 20MB in size and about 6 minutes long.
http://www.online-sweepstakes.com/BetaDemo/
Thank you all for your patience and continued support! OLS will be better than ever very soon.
Brent
Keep up the good work and make sure to get some rest after all this hard work. 
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