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    CMS2 go live plan

    Over the next few weeks, we plan to go live with our new-look site, CMS2. You may have already had a play with it as a beta tester using the link on the news page. Soon, it will be the only way to access abbywinters.com, and a massively improved way as well!

    The definition of the completed go-live is when all users (admins, members, guests, models, affiliates) are using CMS2 exclusively, and CMS1 is taken down for good (meaning old old-look site can no longer be accessed).

    To ensure there is a little downtime as possible, we have a few techniques we'll be employing:

    (1) Extensive testing. CMS2 has been tested internally by staff, coders and designers. Then it was Alpha-tested with a small group of expert members for around 8 weeks. For another 8 weeks, it was beta-tested by a wider group of users. For the last few weeks, it has been at Release Candidate 1, where all AW members have full access to use CMS2 (or CMS1) at their discretion. Most people have been using CMS2, and thoroughly enjoying it!

    Throughout this testing process, our testers have been finding bugs and reporting them. Each week or so, we fix all the bugs and upload the changes to the site, and wait for more bug reports, while we wrap up the million small details of the new system.

    (2) Incremental changes. The go-live procedure is staged, meaning we make many small incremental changes to reach the full go-live, not just flick one big switch, hoping for the best. That means we can test components, and groups of users (which is roughly analogous to load on the servers), and gently increase it as each stage demonstrates no problems. Of course, we have done load testing, but it's difficult to accurately mimic the randomness of real users, spiders and so on.

    (3) Rollbacks. Every incremental change can be quickly and easily rolled back to the previous stage if there is a major problem.

    (4) Changes happen when people are around. We make sure when we do make an incremental change, web dev staff are around for at least a few hours to ensure there is time to notice and fix or rollback.

    The switchover should ensure there is no downtime for anyone, but if there is, we ask for you to be patient as we make this major change.

    The go-live procedure will staged like this:
    • (DONE) All guests who visit abbywinters.com and choose to explore the site from the tour will be sent to CMS2
    • ~2000 members will go to CMS2 (beta-www.aw) by default when they log in (no need to click on the link in CMS1)
    • ~half of remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in
    • Remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in (all traffic now goes to CMS2 by default)
    • CMS1 relegated to old-www.abbywinters.com; CMS2 at www.abbywinters.com
    • Sub-domains (dvd, press, affiliates, careers, etc) go live at subdo.abbywinters.com
    • Updates stop appearing on CMS1
    • CMS1 (and CMS1 subdos) removed entirely
    • Boards migrated to new CMS2 design
    There may be period of hours or days or (hopefully not, but possibly) weeks between each stage, depending on what unanticipated problems we come up against as we progress.

    All of our Customer Service contacts still work, so if you have a problem please let us know so we can help you sort it out. You can submit a bug report, or a feature request. Note that there is a link on every shoot page linking to that shoot in CMS1, so it's easy to switch between the two versions of abbywinters.com. This will remain until all bugs are resolved.

    #2
    Ok, we have gone live with the second step:

    * (DONE) All guests who visit abbywinters.com and choose to explore the site from the tour will be sent to CMS2
    * (DONE) ~5000 members will go to CMS2 (beta-www.aw) by default when they log in (no need to click on the link in CMS1)
    * ~half of remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in
    * Remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in (all traffic now goes to CMS2 by default)
    * CMS1 relegated to old-www.abbywinters.com; CMS2 at www.abbywinters.com
    * Sub-domains (dvd, press, affiliates, careers, etc) go live at subdo.abbywinters.com
    * Updates stop appearing on CMS1
    * CMS1 (and CMS1 subdos) removed entirely
    * Boards migrated to new CMS2 design

    Comment


      #3
      What happens to our lists? I love AW because of all the lists members/fans create

      Comment


        #4
        Originally posted by mabiririzi View Post
        What happens to our lists? I love AW because of all the lists members/fans create
        Hi mabiririzi, here is the thread where we are discussing that. Please contribute, what do you love most about lists?

        Comment


          #5
          just like anything new ,it takes time to learn a new thing ,it's easy

          Comment


            #6
            Hi Garion,
            I just watched the new intro or tutorial video explaining the features of the new website. It is fantastic. It is very easy to follow, and explains away many of my little problems. I became very frustrated because of the discovered what I thought were lots of bugs we went back to report them either they had already been reported, or I could not specifically re-create the webpage for you to follow and correct.
            Part of my initial problem was that I did not have enough time to sit and seriously play with the new display.
            It does look very intriguing, although I would ask that you get rid of the all-white background in favor of the light blue noses on the old one or anything else other than just plain white.
            For a first-time user, the selection of video quality is a little confusing. Would it be possible to add the size and type of file to each of the possibilities? for example, I might not really know the difference between HG HG 4, HD, or (I cannot recall the other choices).
            I have not specifically noticed how to track various threads on the bulletin boards. To be honest I was not an expert on the older version, and I am just now beginning to fully understand many of the little tricks one can do to follow various board threads.
            Anyway, CONGRATULATIONS for a job well done. Thank you and your tech support team.
            Ciao,
            Browneyes

            Comment


              #7
              Hi

              We reached another milestone today. Looking good!

              * (DONE) All guests who visit abbywinters.com and choose to explore the site from the tour will be sent to CMS2
              * (DONE) ~5000 members will go to CMS2 (beta-www.aw) by default when they log in (no need to click on the link in CMS1)
              * (DONE) half of remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in
              * Remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in (all traffic now goes to CMS2 by default)
              * CMS1 relegated to old-www.abbywinters.com; CMS2 at www.abbywinters.com
              * Sub-domains (dvd, press, affiliates, careers, etc) go live at subdo.abbywinters.com
              * Updates stop appearing on CMS1
              * CMS1 (and CMS1 subdos) removed entirely
              * Boards migrated to new CMS2 design
              Last edited by garionhall; 21 April 2010, 09:42 AM.

              Comment


                #8
                Originally posted by Browneyes2009 View Post
                It does look very intriguing, although I would ask that you get rid of the all-white background in favor of the light blue noses on the old one or anything else other than just plain white.
                We will not be changing the site background to the blue colour of our old site. In fact, there is very little white in our new design, it's mostly shades of grey. We did this deliberately, to draw a user's eye to the only colour on the page, the images from shoots, of our lovely models.

                It was a big change for us as well, but after a few weeks we got used to it, and now the old site looks dim boring. We hope you'll give it a go for a while, and come to like it as much as we do.

                For a first-time user, the selection of video quality is a little confusing. Would it be possible to add the size and type of file to each of the possibilities? for example, I might not really know the difference between HG HG 4, HD, or (I cannot recall the other choices).
                If you look on a model's shoot page (let's use Alice G in this example), there are the small video download icons. These are intended as a quickie shortcut, if you know you just want to download the video right away. You can set your preferred default in the Preferences. But if you're not sure you want the video, or you want to know more about the otions, click on the video frame-cap, and you're taken to the video page (Alice G's in this example).

                Scrolling down to the bottom of the page, on the right hand side, in the Video download box, you can select the radio buttons, and see more info about the options.

                Comment


                  #9
                  Congratulations Garion indeed looking good.

                  Just to add briefly to your reply to Browneyes2009 on video, also on the right hand side of the page there's the Help i button, clicking on which takes you to the page dealing with video.

                  tom

                  Comment


                    #10
                    I wanted to pop in and say that, so far, CMS2 is infinitely better than CMS1 or whatever the original format was named. The original was fine, but this looks better and is much more user friendly to me. 2 thumbs way up!

                    JT

                    Comment


                      #11
                      thanks Jtaylor!

                      Not everyone is as convinced as you, but I reckon they will come around.

                      Comment


                        #12
                        Hi

                        We reached the biggest milestone today, and we're very excited.

                        All members, and all guests are directed to CMS2 by default now. Die-hards can access CMS1 on each shoot bio page, but that feature will not last for long.


                        * (DONE) All guests who visit abbywinters.com and choose to explore the site from the tour will be sent to CMS2
                        * (DONE) ~5000 members will go to CMS2 (beta-www.aw) by default when they log in
                        * (DONE) half of remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in
                        * (DONE) Remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in (all traffic now goes to CMS2 by default)
                        * CMS1 relegated to old-www.abbywinters.com; CMS2 at www.abbywinters.com
                        * Sub-domains (dvd, press, affiliates, careers, etc) go live at subdo.abbywinters.com
                        * Updates stop appearing on CMS1
                        * CMS1 (and CMS1 subdos) removed entirely
                        * Boards migrated to new CMS2 design

                        Comment


                          #13
                          Outstanding work! We love it!!!

                          Comment


                            #14
                            Still no answer(s) to "the" very sound question what's going to happen to "our" lists.
                            will they remain accessible/visible both the public lists as well as the private lists ??

                            Love

                            BlueBird

                            Comment


                              #15
                              Originally posted by bluebird07 View Post
                              Still no answer(s) to "the" very sound question what's going to happen to "our" lists.
                              will they remain accessible/visible both the public lists as well as the private lists ??

                              Love

                              BlueBird
                              Bluebird, the answers to your questions are here...

                              Comment


                                #16
                                Hi

                                Another step in the go-live process today:

                                * (DONE) All guests who visit abbywinters.com and choose to explore the site from the tour will be sent to CMS2
                                * (DONE) ~5000 members will go to CMS2 (beta-www.aw) by default when they log in
                                * (DONE) half of remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in
                                * (DONE) Remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in (all traffic now goes to CMS2 by default)
                                * (DONE) CMS1 relegated to old-www.abbywinters.com; CMS2 at www.abbywinters.com
                                * Sub-domains (dvd, press, affiliates, careers, etc) go live at subdo.abbywinters.com
                                * Updates stop appearing on CMS1
                                * CMS1 (and CMS1 subdos) removed entirely
                                * Boards migrated to new CMS2 design

                                We're also about to go live with some cool new features around the Multi-select mode, and video thumbnails.

                                Comment


                                  #17
                                  To Garion and his developers - The video thumbnails is really cool (when you hover over a video you see 4 or 5 little preview pics). Thanks!

                                  Comment


                                    #18
                                    yup, just added that a few hours ago. We have also made some improvements to how the multi-select mode works, based on feedback from our members.

                                    Comment


                                      #19
                                      Originally posted by bookmanz View Post
                                      To Garion and his developers - The video thumbnails is really cool (when you hover over a video you see 4 or 5 little preview pics). Thanks!
                                      I agree, a really cool feature, thanks

                                      tom

                                      Comment


                                        #20
                                        Multi-select mode is working quite nicely. Did you guys just add the zip file feature or has it been there a while? It works good.

                                        Comment


                                          #21
                                          it's always been there, tho the location has moved a bit

                                          Comment


                                            #22
                                            Why does CMS2 have no live support like the old site had?

                                            Comment


                                              #23
                                              Originally posted by laktor View Post
                                              Why does CMS2 have no live support like the old site had?
                                              Laktor, we stopped live support back in Feb on CMS1. It was not used much, and was difficult for us to man 24-7.

                                              Comment


                                                #24
                                                Ham, moved your problem and my reply/request for more details to this thread: http://forums.abbywinters.com/vbulle...ad.php?t=12524 in tech suppoty

                                                Robert, moved your problem and my reply to it, to this thread http://forums.abbywinters.com/vbulle...ad.php?t=12523 in tech support.

                                                Comment


                                                  #25
                                                  Ok, did a search for CMS2 to try and find an appropriate thread, and decided to put this here. Is there any way to move from one pic to the next in a "best of" page of photos? You can do that easily (go back and forth) when viewing all the pics in a shoot, but trying to do that in a "best of" mode, with just one page of pics, you can't. When you click on the next or previous "arrows", it just takes you to the next pic in the complete set of pics, not to the next pic in the "best of" set.

                                                  Comment


                                                    #26
                                                    Yeah, the next/previous behavior is strange/unexpected when browsing a best-of set. Filed a bug for that.

                                                    Comment


                                                      #27
                                                      Is there any way to sort updates in descending order. Kind of bothersome that it will show me updates all the way back to May 15th, but not what's coming up this week.

                                                      Comment


                                                        #28
                                                        Originally posted by foolsfortune View Post
                                                        Is there any way to sort updates in descending order. Kind of bothersome that it will show me updates all the way back to May 15th, but not what's coming up this week.
                                                        That information is in another widget/box. Default that box is in the right-top corner I think. It's called upcoming shoots and lists.. well.. upcoming shoots really In order of when they are going to appear, first up on top.

                                                        Comment


                                                          #29
                                                          Hi

                                                          Another step in the go-live process today:

                                                          * (DONE) All guests who visit abbywinters.com and choose to explore the site from the tour will be sent to CMS2
                                                          * (DONE) ~5000 members will go to CMS2 (beta-www.aw) by default when they log in
                                                          * (DONE) half of remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in
                                                          * (DONE) Remaining members go to CMS2 by default when they log in (all traffic now goes to CMS2 by default)
                                                          * (DONE) CMS1 relegated to old-www.abbywinters.com; CMS2 at www.abbywinters.com
                                                          * (DONE) Sub-domains (dvd, press, affiliates, careers, etc) go live at subdo.abbywinters.com
                                                          * Updates stop appearing on CMS1
                                                          * CMS1 (and CMS1 subdos) removed entirely
                                                          * Boards migrated to new CMS2 design

                                                          Comment


                                                            #30
                                                            Good work, Garion. Good work, guys & gals in AW technical departments. It's been a long haul but carried out with finesse and an impeccable degree of professionalism.

                                                            Comment

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