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Rating: 5
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 10,369
I type Like navaho
I type Like navaho
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 10,369
The winner of the April 2003 Member Spotlight Contest is Drumlines.org run by AKD96.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]What exactly is your site about, what's it's main focus?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]To put it straightforward, Drumlines.org is about marching percussion. A drumline or "marching percussion" is the section of a marching band or drum and bugle corps that carries and plays percussion instruments such as snare drums, bass drums, multi-tenor drums, and cymbals. This section also includes the "pit" which includes many percussion instruments set up on the sideline that are too heavy or cumbersome to carry and play. The focus of Drumlines.org is on the marching percussion COMMUNITY. It is a place where marching percussionists can come to discuss, exchange ideas, ask questions, and learn about anything and everything "marching percussion". This includes subjects ranging from percussion instrument brands to playing techniques or from instruction methods to motivation.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]What got you into percussion?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]My mom used to tell me that when I was a wee lad in a stroller, I used to tap my foot perfectly in time to any music that I could hear, but it all really started the summer before 5th grade (1988). There was this TV show on HBO that had this kid about my age who was a detective of sorts, but sadly, the name of the show escapes me. Like I said, this kid was my age, and he even rather looked like me. He had this cute girlfriend too. Nevertheless, this kid played the drum set and was pretty darn good at it for his age. This show is what got me interested in playing percussion. I was just going into the 5th grade and they did not have any kind of band program. I moved to Maryland (from Virginia) during my 6th grade year and their school had a band program. I made friends with some people in the band and I expressed my interest in playing drums. They took me down to talk to the band teacher and, to quote John Madden, "Boom!" - I was in band playing percussion.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]Who, primarily, are your users?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]The users of Drumlines.org range in age from middle school kids to adults into the thirties and forties. These are people that are currently marching in a band or corps, currently instructing with a band or corps, or people that used to be involved but not longer have the means and/or time.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]How did you get the idea for your site?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]I have always had a love for percussion. When I began tinkering with website design, I needed a subject to design around. I started out by making a website for my High School's drumline, and it just evolved from there into a website dealing with drumline in general.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]Aside from running the drumline site, how are you currently involved in percussion and marching bands? Are you in a band or do you lead one?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]I currently play snare drum in The Baltimore Ravens marching band. The Baltimore Ravens is a professional American football team here in the States. Our band has around 300 members, 30 of which are in the drumline. I have been with the organization since the fall of 2000 - and no, we (the band) did not get to travel to the Super Bowl.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]How long has your site been online?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]Drumlines.org has been online since September of 1998.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]How long have you been a webmaster?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]I have been a Webmaster since February of 1997 when I began tinkering on the beginnings of my Alma Mater's drumline website. Back then I hosted with Geocities and had a lovely bright green background with black text.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]What got you started?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]I had started to use computers in 3rd grade back in 1986. We were using old AppleII's programming in BASIC. In 1990, my family moved to a different state that did not have any kind of computer programs in their schools. I took a hiatus from computers, my family not being able to afford one. A few years went by (1994 now) and my uncle started working at MCI and then a small private company named Proxicom. He was in the "Internet" business. At family reunions, I would fire-up his laptop and delve into this thing called the "Internet". I was in love. Then, Christmas of 1996, my uncle bought me my first PC. It was a Monorail all in one, with a Pentium screaming at 75Mhz. I was in college by this time and took night classes. I would get home at night and stay up until the sun rose, all the while surfing everything that could be surfed. Thus, the obsession began.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]So you like to surf the net... I can understand that. What do you like to do for fun when you're not surfing, working on your site, or playing the snare drum?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]Is there a life outside of the Internet and percussion? I enjoy doing all the basic "computer nerd" stuff like playing games, chatting, building computers, etc.

Music. I am a big fan of music in general. I like everything - classical, jazz, metal, rock, rap, techno, country - you name it. Whenever an "interesting" concert is in town, I try to go.

Sports. I love playing paintball, although I do not get the opportunity to play as much as I would want. I am a huge American football fan, my favorite NFL teams being the Washington Redskins and Baltimore Ravens. I have been to one Redskins playoff game, and many Ravens games since I am in their marching band. I played American football in High School and miss those days. Nowadays, for playing a sport, I like to go to the gym and play racquetball.

Food. I love food. No, I am not talking about stuffing my face with twinkies , rather trying new things from around the world. I love spicy foods - Mexican and Chinese being my favorites. I have started to get into cooking a little, and always like experimenting with different herbs, spices, and ways of incorporating alcohol as an ingredient into everything I cook. Last weekend I made some good fried potatoes with a splash of some Glenfiddich Scotch.

Social. I like just getting together with friends and doing whatever - relaxing around the house or outside on a nice day. Having a barbecue, drinking some beer, and talking about all the crazy stuff we all did in our "younger years". Friends really are a great part of life.

And I must add the obligatory, "spending time with my wife".

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]What was your reason for going with UBB.Threads?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]In the early days of Drumlines.org, I wanted to have some kind of forum where my visitors could visit the site and "talk drums". I setup a few pages dealing with the different aspects of marching percussion. I then put a form on some pages where visitors could submit their "post" to me via-email. When I got the e-mail, I would add their "post" to the HTML page. This, of course, was not the most efficient way to run a forum. I began looking around the web for ideas. I came across UBB (April 2000, version 5.45) and really liked what it had to offer. I bought a license and began tinkering with it. I was pleased so much by it - I had cut out the man in the middle (me.) Late last year I started looking at UBB.Threads. I really liked the MySQL backbone and PHP coding. I gave it a test drive and my moderators were impressed, especially with the speed enhancement of the DB instead of dealing with flat files. That was enough for me to switch, and I have been in love ever since.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]What main modifications are you using on your site?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]I would have to say the most user-important/requested modification I am using is the Quick Reply Box. My users absolutely HAD to have this. They just could not live without it!

Another HUGE modification that I use is IIP. This is, without a doubt, THE mod to have if you are using UBB.Threads. It adds a great entrance to your website where visitors can get the just of things before diving into the Threads.

I also use the shout box in conjunction with the sidebar. I have it setup so that the shout box appears in the sidebar when you enter the forum, if users so choose. This has begun to turn into more of a "chat" box, though, so I am looking into creating an IRC-based chat room for my users.

You would not really call this a mod, but I have added a forum to Drumlines.org whose sole purpose is site ideas. This is where my users can come to comment about the website. I listen to their input and apply it to my website. My site would be nowhere without my users!

Another important mod that I have carried over from UBB.Classic is the title-image mod. Instead of using text titles for user titles, I use images - more specifically, military rank insignia. For regular members I use enlisted rank insignia of the United States Air Force and altered warrant officer rank insignia of the United States Navy. For moderators I use officer rank insignia of the United States Navy. I did not strictly adhere to the rank progression, though. I altered it to best suite Drumlines.org. I chose to go the military route because I was seeing all these "stars", "squares", and "bars" to represent rank, but I thought why go those ways. Why not be original and represent rank in the most obvious and eye-pleasing way?

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]Which modification, do you feel, is most beneficial to your site? In other words, what one modification is an absolute necessity on your Site?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]That would have to be the Quick Reply Box. As small of a mod as it is, my users would kill me if I ever removed it. When I was using UBB.Classic, I had a quick reply. Then I switched to UBB.Threads. My users hounded me until I put up the quick reply again.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]How did your transition from Classic to Threads go? You said the users liked the speed, but most users are resistant to change. Do you think they are happier now with UBB.Threads?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]The transition was very easy. I uploaded all the files, edited the configuration files, and ran the Classic to Threads importer. Voila! Some of my users were a little resistant at first, but came to love it after I explained some things to them. Threads and Classic are alike enough that it really is a seamless upgrade for the end-user. My users are very happy now with UBB.Threads. They love the speed, and the new features that it has to offer. Threads is so clean, sleek, and speedy. It is also much easier and more powerful to maintain from an administrator's point of view. What is there not to like? I have even noticed a lot more traffic since I have upgraded. Users have taken very well to it.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]Do you find adding modifications to UBB.Threads easy, or difficult?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]Thanks to ThreadsDev, adding modifications is a snap! We have great code hackers here that really know their stuff, and I continue to learn with every visit. They cannot only pick apart the UBB.Threads code, but can write-out mod instructions with such simplicity that my computer illiterate sister could apply them!

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]Do you remember the first modification you added?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]If you mean UBB.Threads, that would be the quick reply box. If you mean to UBB software in general, that would be the title-image mod. In UBB.Classic, not only did you have to change the text to an image, but also you had to add more titles since it only shipped with 4 or so. I started using UBB in April of 2000, so my memory of the experience is a bit hazy, but I seem to remember that it was not entirely a "peaches and cream" experience. However, the learning curve was easy, and in no time, I was adding modifications left and right.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]Do you have any tips to those looking to improve their sites?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]Know your audience and visit ThreadsDev early and often! Of course, if you are reading this, then I can skip the lecture on how imperative visiting ThreadsDev is. With that said, you have to know your audience. You have to develop a game plan. Who is your audience? What do they want? The best way that I dealt with this was my Site Ideas forum. Encourage your users to chime-in about your site, and be ready for some constructive criticism. When your users do pipe-up, listen to them. Listen to users' likes and dislikes about the site. Listen to their ideas. Remember, if you do not have happy users, you might as well give up web mastering and take up stamp collecting.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]The site idea forum is a neat idea. What is your most requested feature that's next on your wish list?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]Thank you, but I cannot take full credit for that. It was actually a user idea that prompted the addition. How is that for irony? Many ideas that users came up with in the past were ideas for different forums that they thought I should add to the site. Currently, my users are pressing for a chat room and a section for sheet music. I am currently working on an IRC chat room to integrate into the site, and will be getting around to adding sheet music in the future. I have created a forum called "Composing/Arranging" in the mean time, where users post stuff they have wrote.

[:"red"]ThreadsDev: [/]What are the future plans for your site?

[:"blue"]AKD96: [/]I am still pushing for a better knowledge of my site's existence. There are many well-known organizations out there devoted to running marching band and drum & bugle corps competitions. I am hoping to get some representations through them so they can spread the word about Drumlines.org. I am already in talks with a major organization in the field, and hope to spread it from there.


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