The Future of Transformers-Universe.com
21.09.2023 - 15:10 by Philip S.

The Future of Transformers-Universe.com

Well, my dear friends, nothing lasts forever. Not even a PHP-based content management system from 2002, which served me well these last 20 years. But now it is time to switch over to a newer, modern CMS in order to keep Transformers-Universe.com running and up to date.

The new system is already set up, though in a rather rudimentary form, and now begins the migration process. 1,500 bi-lingual reviews, more than 55,000 pictures, and various other content will now have to be moved from the old site to the new. It’s not terribly difficult, just a lot. So please don’t be surprised if updates to my site will not be as numerous for the rest of the year as you are used to. A lot of work will take place in the background.

It is planned for the new site to go online on January 1, 2024, just in time for the beginning of Transformers’ 40th anniversary year. Whether or not every single bit of content from the old site will be migrated by that time remains to be seen, and look-wise the site will probably be a bit plain at first, simply because the look isn’t top priority at this time.

A few features, though, will not be available at the new site, at least not initially.
• User-specific toy lists
• User ratings for toys

The reason for this is that I have to completely reprogram the entire ToyDB module and do not know (yet) how to incorporate the user functions of the new CMS. If interest remains in these features, I will do my best to reintroduce this feature as soon as possible, but for starters it will have to go.

Everyone who is currently using my site to keep track of their collection, I am sorry, but that will not be possible any longer past January 1. For those who wish, I can generate a complete list of their collection per December 31, 2023 in CVS format and email it to them (please ensure that the email you are registered with at Transformers-Universe.com is still valid). So the information will not be lost.

In the next few weeks I will approach a few selected users in order to hopefully recruit them as beta-testers for the new site, in order to find bugs, gain feedback, and maybe collect some ideas on what additional features might be possible. A new CMS means new possibilities, of course, so we shall see what will come of it.

In closing I would like to thank everyone who encouraged and supported me during these last few weeks after it became apparent that the site needs a complete overhaul. Transformers-Universe.com will persist, though in a new look.
Until then,

Yours, Phil