PsiPog.net

So, I normally think of a million ideas for PsiPog every day, but I'm actually starting to do something about it. I've been in a slump the past month or two, but I feel my motivation coming back. One thing that has helped is that I've been reading Awaken the Giant Within by Anthony Robbins, which is a great book for getting you focused and motivated on accomplishing your goals.

So, while showering the other day, I thought of a way to make it all work. You see, the current PsiPog has a lot of systems running to accomplish the goals. For example, it has a News system for posting news to the home page. It has a different system for the home page poll. It has a different system for the articles. And a different system for even catagorizing the articles. And a different system for the forums at PsiPogBB, and a different system for article submission, and a different system for updating the links page, and a different system for the calendar, and a different system for the search page, and the Q&A is completely seperate...

You see the problem? It's challenging to keep it all working and functioning. Each system independently evolves over time as I work on them individually. So if I add a feature to the Q&A system, and I want a similar feature for the links page, then I have to write the same code twice.

This situation came about because when PsiPog was young, all we really had was articles. Then I added something here, then something there, then got a new idea and added another thing... etc. So it's turned into a bunch of seperate ideas functioning all on their own.

Well, the idea I had in the shower (where most of my best thinking happens), was to get one giant backend for all of this. The idea is kind of technical... but the basic idea is that all those systems I have on PsiPog fit a basic pattern. And that pattern can be modelled more accurately, and connect all these different systems together.

SO! What does that mean?

Well, it means that I have to code a huge ass giant system for doing everything. So it sounds like a huge pain in the ass - but really, it will save me time in the long run. By bringing all these different systems together under one system, a lot can be accomplished that would be a lot harder in the past.

What does it MEAN though? What actual tangible features will be added?

1. Forums that use the PsiPog.net username (not a seperate phpBB system where you have two logins).
2. A mailbox system that is modelled after Gmail.
3. Every user can have a blog or psi journal type of thing where they can share their experiences.
4. Every user can have their own forum that they moderate and control.
5. Any user can post an article, and also keep track of the drafts for their articles.
6. All other systems will work like before, but better . I.e., Q&A, Search, Links, Calendar (which will be updated to a better idea), and all those other side pages that need to be maintained.

All these ideas will have the same backend that stores content and handles the delivery of information to the visitor/users. NOT seperate buggy systems independant of each other.

Also, one more idea that I want to implement in the future is psi games online that people can practice, and get highscores, and stuff like that. But this will be after all the above ideas have been completed.

The specifics for each feature are being worked out, and the code is starting to get written. I'm not sitting on my ass anymore - and I'm motivated to get this up and running.

~Sean