Encyclopedia Updates

[SkyWarp]

There have been several programming and design changes to the Encyclopedia with the new web site.  I thought I would highlight a few here and leave this open for further updates in the future.

1) Search Engines on both ATAC and Network (The new names for each) Encyclopedias have been re-programmed to take advantage of the entirely new database structure that the Encyclopedias have been built upon. 

2) The Network Encyclopedia was brought up to where the ATAC Encyclopdia was before the update. This basically means all characters, suspects, places, things, etc are now in one database instead of spread over several different ones.  This not only improves the seach engine optimization, but allows for many other improvements in coding as well as planned future enhancements.  However, both the Network and ATAC Encyclopedias were improved even further.  Most of which will be introduced at a later time.

3) Recent Updates were added to both the ATAC and Network Encyclopedias (as a result of the previous mentioned upgrades).  And on the main page of the web site, a combined Recent Updates area was added to the right sidebar.  This area highlights recent additions or changes to entries in the database.  No longer is there a need to manually click around the web site to see if anything new has been added.  If something has changed, then it will be listed in the recent updates.  (books are not part of the recent updates, just the content of the books).

4) A new details section has been added to each entry's web page.  It is in this section that one will eventually be able to see the actual book and page from which particular information was obtained for that entry in the database.  Currently this section is empty, but soon you should see examples of this for entries from Casefiles #8, See No Evil.  Not wanting to continue to carry out a two year promise much longer, this section will also be pivotal in the long awaited UB Contributors feature (however, please note this feature has still not gone into beta testing, so it could still be another year away).   

5) Wallpapers have now been integrated into each books individual web page.  If a wallpaper exists, it will appear below the ISBN numbes.  For now, only Casefiles 1-8 have wallpapers.

6) ISBN numbers are slightly different now as well (at least for the newer books).  If a ISBN13 number exists, it will be the only one that appears, however, if you were to click on the link or view the link in your browser, you will see its ISBN10 equivalent.  ISBN10 numbers have not existed in the last couple Hardy Boys books so these can only be obtained through other sites or a mathematical formula. 

A few non-encylcopedia updates as well......

7) A login/forum pm messages feature has been placed in a more prominent position on every page of the web site. 

The store (Bayport Mall) has been placed inside a scrollable iframe instead of the old stationary one.  This allows one to see all information and not have the bottom parts of a longer page cut off.  Its still not ideal, but better than before. 

9) The Sleuth Game has had several updates, most of which are behind the scenes.  You can keep up on the sleuth updates via its own changelog post in the Sleuth Game section of the forum.

As always, if you experience any issues, please don't hesitate to let me know either in this topic, or via the contact page on the main site. 

[MacGyver]

As a long time follower of this site, I must say the upgrade looks very nice indeed!
However, I do have a question. I know this site really started out as being dedicated to The Hardy Boys Casefiles and then expanded to cover the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys Supermysteries ('88 series- it's so annoying having to put that to clarify now... oh well) and then to The Hardy Boys and Tom Swift Ultrathrillers books and The Hardy Boys Undercover Brothers series and its various spin-offs and The Hardy Boys Graphic Novels and The Hardy Boys Computer and Video Games.
As the site continues to expand, I was wondering if it might eventually grow to cover the original canon of Hardy Boys stories- from "The Tower Treasure" to "The Sting of the Scorpion" (both original and revised stories). And maybe also a few other spin-off books, like The Clues Brothers series (which is being revamped next year, by the way) and the Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys Be-A-Detective series, the Super Sleuths books, the Camp Fire Stories book, the Survival Handbook, and the Ghost Stories.
And maybe even branch out to the various TV shows and productions and comics.
   But the main one I'd really like to see is the Digests series. It seems I can find most all of the other of The Hardy Boys series covers online, but I've yet to find a really good cover art gallery for The Digests. I would really particularly love to see the books from "Night of the Werewolf" through "Motocross Madness" covered.
Well- just a few ideas I wanted to toss out there. I realize if it's just not really within the scope of your site then it may not be covered. In any case, you've done a tremendous job with everything so far. Keep up the great work.

[SkyWarp]

As the site continues to expand, I was wondering if it might eventually grow to cover the original canon of Hardy Boys stories- from "The Tower Treasure" to "The Sting of the Scorpion" (both original and revised stories).... It seems I can find most all of the other of The Hardy Boys series covers online, but I've yet to find a really good cover art gallery for The Digests. I would really particularly love to see the books from "Night of the Werewolf" through "Motocross Madness" covered.... I realize if it's just not really within the scope of your site then it may not be covered.

Very good question.  The answer is really two fold. 

1) Currently we are focused on the Casefiles (and to a lesser extent the Undercover Brothers).  And until I really get at least once of those series under wraps, I highly doubt I would progress into more territory. 

2) I am no where near as familiar with the originals or even the digests, thus my knowledge and expertise would be very limited and I would think there are several other people that could do a much better job.  I have never needed to go book or cover hunting for the Casefiles or Undercover Brothers and starting up a search for all the digests or originals would be a HUGE task to say the least (especially the possible multiple covers for some of them).  Let alone the task of having to read another 200 books for the encyclopedia. 

However, with all that said, if the sort-of-secretive UB Contributor project works as planned with little issues or problems, it is possible such a project could be started with the Originals and Digests in mind.  Don't hold you breath though, I certainly don't see any such new project commencing for several years down the road.

[MacGyver]

I have never needed to go book or cover hunting for the Casefiles or Undercover Brothers and starting up a search for all the digests or originals would be a HUGE task to say the least (especially the possible multiple covers for some of them).  Let alone the task of having to read another 200 books for the encyclopedia. 

Yeah, I know it would definitely be a huge undertaking. And I know from experience that maintaining a website takes up a good bit of time and, I know you have this thing called real life stuff to do too.
     Well, I just wanted to throw that out there. At one time, I had a rudimentary cover art gallery for the Digests (though definitely not complete and not really great looking.) Unfortunately, Geocities closed on me and I wasn't able to save it.
     Anyway, I can appreciate it if you're more familiar with the Casefiles and UB series. I grew up reading the original 58 stories (revised versions) of The Hardy Boys, along with the Digests and the Casefiles and various other spin-off series and such. Eventually I'll probably delve more into the Undercover Brothers series, though I'm not sure I care for the 1st. person writing style. I do really like the Graphic Novels though. One of these days I may even get around to reading the original text versions of the Grosset & Dunlap books, of which I have a few here and there.
        So it's probably just the completist in me asking about the originals and Digests, lol. But they're all good- I've been reading The Hardy Boys since I was a kid and I enjoy them in all their different forms.

However, with all that said, if the sort-of-secretive UB Contributor project works as planned with little issues or problems, it is possible such a project could be started with the Originals and Digests in mind.  Don't hold you breath though, I certainly don't see any such new project commencing for several years down the road.

Sounds good. I guess we'll see how it goes then. In any case, don't take that as a complaint or criticism to the site please. I think it looks AWESOME as is.

[SkyWarp]

In any case, don't take that as a complaint or criticism to the site please. I think it looks AWESOME as is.

None taken.  I would love to eventually some day make the site more complete for all Hardy Boys information, but alas, I just don't see it happening any time soon. 

[hardygirl847]

This is still my main source of all things Frank and Joe Hardy. So thank you for having this available! If nothing else I know where to go to find fellow fans when my family things I'm overly obsessed. lol

[SkyWarp]

A lot of improvements and changes have taken place recently, many of which are behind the scenes and others that are still waiting to be revealed.   I thought I would share what I can here in one place:

1) Encyclopedia Search Engine: The site search engine has had several updates over the past several months.  Just recently we have added the search form to the the main page of the web site (as well as other pages) and incorporated both encyclopedias into the search results.  When one does a search it now searches not just the main summaries of each character, place, or thing, it also now searches the book summaries and titles of all Casefiles and Undercover Brothers books. 

2) The Recent Encyclopedia Updates feature on the main page now shows entries that have had changes from both encyclopedias.  Those entries that have had new evidence added, is currently not reflected.  This is something I am still looking into for the future. 

3) A LOT of updates, feature additions, and special programming has been done in the past two months in the continued preperation for the UB Contributors feature of the site.  This was originally started over a year or two ago, but was put on hold in order to completely rebuild the site.  The new site was built with the UB Contributors (and possible CF Contributors too) in mind.  In fact, I have been using a CF (casefiles) version to update the website the past few weeks.  I am still not going to make any promises on a time-table for when the UB Contributors will be ready for beta testing, let alone public use, but I do have high hopes it won't be another year or two.     For those that have no idea what the UB Contributors is, well, I guess you will just have to wait and see.  I am sure it isn't that hard to guess though what it might be. 

4) Another update to the Forum software will be coming soon.  I am not sure when I will find the time, but I hope to get around to it shortly. 

5) The Sleuth Agency has had very few updates over the past couple months, and to be honest I am not sure when I will get around to messing with it again.  My vision for the Sleuth Agency game is bigger than I am able to really accomplish at the moment and certainly will take more time than I want to put into it at the moment.  However, if anyone has any ideas for improving the game, please don't hesitate to post them in the appropriate forum. 

6) A new favicon has been added for your bookmark and browser search enjoyment.

7) A new feature that allows you to add our site search engine to your own browser (IE and FF are supported) has been implemented.  So now you can search our encyclopedia no matter where you are on the web. 

[MacGyver]

Very cool- thanks for the update- and for all your hard work on the site. Frank and Joe Hardy are well represented here.

[SkyWarp]

Remedied an error in the "Recent Encyclopedia Updates feature.  Both main Description and Evidence additions will now be flagged as a recent update.