CP: Tinwhistler.com (kinda sorta--I'm not selling anything)

The Ultimate On-Line Whistle Community. If you find one more ultimater, let us know.
Post Reply
User avatar
Wanderer
Posts: 4450
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 10:49 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Location: Lovettsville, VA
Contact:

CP: Tinwhistler.com (kinda sorta--I'm not selling anything)

Post by Wanderer »

So, it's been 10 years or so since I last updated my website.

http://www.tinwhistler.com

The new site is located (temporarily) at http://wandering-whistler.com

That's an old domain that I never let go of, and I'm using it as a staging ground to test the new site. In a few days, once I have any bugs out and the site polished, I will move it over to tinwhistler.com

I started the site back in '95 or '96. Back then, there wasn't much on the internet in the way of whistle info, or sheet music. Now, of course, you can't throw a stick without hitting an irish music website. :D

When I first wrote the site, the entire site was static HTML, and every new tune required me to make a new page. This wasn't a problem when I had a few dozen tunes. A few years later, I re-developed the site with a database back end (Microsoft Access) in ASP so that adding new tunes mostly required making some database changes. Then I redesigned it again in 2007 or 2008 in ASP.NET, reusing the same MSAccess database, but developing it in .NET.

Anyway, it's time for me to update again and move things to a more modern era. I have moved the database to a SQL Server, and taken the opportunity to add new features, namely:

Tune features
  • The tune index page is searchable, sortable, and filterable on tune name and type. You can also sort the columns labeled MIDI,MP3 and Low MP3 if you're looking for tunes with recordings. No longer will you need to click "search by name" or "search by type" and then know the first letter of the tune you want to play.
  • The tune index page has on-demand loading of HTML5 audio players. Say you search for "Road to Lisdoonvarna", get 2 results, and don't know which you think you want? Select one, and click the play button on the audio players that appear.
  • The tunes details page also has all the audio in on-demand streaming players, and also now allows for me to post video.
  • If I've made a recording of a tune on the tunes page, I can link to the review of the whistle that I played the tune on (this is a work in progress for some of the old recordings, since I don't always remember what whistle I might've used 15 years ago!)
  • Tunes are directly linkable. For example you can link to The Butterfly directly. This feature was lost when I redid the site in the mid 2000's.
Review features
  • The review index page is searchable, filterable and sortable on the maker's name and the model name of the whistle. I'll soon add a column for the price at time of review (so you can search by least expensive, for instance) once I clean up the data in the database a bit.
  • The review detail page has html5 streaming audio and video, and if the tune being played is in the archive, you can click the tune name to go directly to the sheet music.
  • Reviews are directly linkable. For example, you can link directly to my review of the snakewood Thin Weasel.
Overall nice features for me:
  • Since I've moved it to a SQL server back end, I can write tools to help me update and maintain the site. One of the reasons I don't add many tunes or reviews is because I'd have to download the MSAccess database, make a bunch of changes directly into the database (keeping in mind all the index numbers and stuff from the various tables), and then upload the database back to the site. I can write some editors to simplify the entire process and make live changes instantly. (I've already written and tested the FAQ editor and added a couple of FAQ questions).
I know a fair amount of people use thesession.org these days, but I still get a decent amount of traffic. So please, feel free to poke around the new site for a bit and if you have any suggestions, let me know. I have about 12 days before the old site disappears, so I have a little time to incorporate feedback.
│& ¼║: ♪♪♫♪ ♫♪♫♪ :║
Dan A.
Posts: 453
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2017 8:19 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I can only hope that my proficiency with the whistle is steadily improving. A few of my whistles get a workout on an almost daily basis. And I'm almost certainly afflicted with WhOAD.
Location: Detroit Metro

Re: CP: Tinwhistler.com (kinda sorta--I'm not selling anythi

Post by Dan A. »

I wasn't able to see anything other than the home page at the temporary location. (I'm thinking this is because I browse the Web on a mobile device.) However, the permanent site is pretty useful to me as-is...though it would be nice if the tunes had fingering diagrams, as I can't yet read music. Hope my feedback has been helpful.
User avatar
Wanderer
Posts: 4450
Joined: Wed Mar 24, 2004 10:49 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Location: Lovettsville, VA
Contact:

Re: CP: Tinwhistler.com (kinda sorta--I'm not selling anythi

Post by Wanderer »

Thanks for the head's up. I missed pushing the javascript library that makes the little "hamburger" menu work (the three lines at the right side of the page on small screens--clicking that opens a menu).

So that's fixed, and also now review images should resize themselves to fit your screen, whether on mobile or on desktop. When you rotate your phone or tablet, the photos should resize themselves accordingly. You've been a big help!
│& ¼║: ♪♪♫♪ ♫♪♫♪ :║
Dan A.
Posts: 453
Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2017 8:19 pm
antispam: No
Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
Tell us something.: I can only hope that my proficiency with the whistle is steadily improving. A few of my whistles get a workout on an almost daily basis. And I'm almost certainly afflicted with WhOAD.
Location: Detroit Metro

Re: CP: Tinwhistler.com (kinda sorta--I'm not selling anythi

Post by Dan A. »

Only too happy to have helped! The revised site looks great, and everything is working well for me. I'll look at it a little more in-depth later today.
Post Reply