New site features

 

  • New site features

    Posted by Huw, 28 Dec 2011 05:36. Filed under Brickset.

    I've rolled out some new features today:

    Related sets

    This is the biggest and most significant change. The notes about related sets (e.g. same as...; US version of...; Polybag version of... etc.) have been replaced with a database relationship. 

    Related sets are now shown in their own section of the set details page (example) and also in the search results table as a list and a pop-up window (example).

    Although this was a relatively small change to the site, it needed a lot of work to gather and check the data to ensure it is accurate. I'm confident that it is, but also sure there'll be further additions and improvements to it over the next few weeks as the admins carry out more checks.

    Gallery view

    Sometimes you want to see just the thumbnails of the sets rather than all the details so I've implemented a new 'gallery view' for the search results. You can flip between the two using the control on the search results header, and your preference is saved in a cookie.

    Pop-up view of a set's minifigs

    The minifig count information in the search results table is now a hyperlink to a pop-up view of the minifigs.

    Miscellaneous

    • Search results table tidied up a bit.
    • Minifig taxonomy data from Cristoph Bartneck's book displayed where appropriate.
    • 'New at shop.LEGO.com' reinstated on home page.
    • eBay bar removed from home page.
    • Improvements to set review form.
    • 'Member since' and 'last online' dates shown on member profile pages, although the site only started recording joining dates in 2010 so it's not shown for 'older' members.
    • Various small tweaks and improvements.

    Do let me know if you encounter any problems and what you think of the changes.


    88 comments, latest one posted 16 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 28 Dec 2011 06:10

All great ideas, thanks Huw! I hope you are still thinking about introducing some kind of trading post where members could swap or sell figures and sets etc.

Posted by absolutelylez in United Kingdom, 28 Dec 2011 06:10

I love the gallery view!

Posted by suckerpunch83 in Canada, 28 Dec 2011 06:26

"....although the site only started recording joining dates in 2010 so it's not shown for 'older' members."

Wow, I feel so....Old! ;)

Grat updates Huw thank you.

Posted by Be-Burger in Israel, 28 Dec 2011 06:28

"the site only started recording joining dates in 2010 so it's not shown for 'older' members."

Perhaps for those members you could have some simple text like: "Before 2010!" So it isn't blank.

Thanks for the great updates!

Oh, I never understood why you took off the 'New from LEGO shop' in the first place...?

Posted by Camusdarrach in United Kingdom, 28 Dec 2011 07:48

The site looks really good now, with the ebay banner removed.
Thanks for the changes, Huw - much appreciated

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 28 Dec 2011 08:20

Bricks, I joined in 2009. :( Oh well. :| Anyway, changes approved! :) You even re-coloured some of the news cathegories. :P

EDIT: You may want to put these changes in the website changelog. ;)

EDIT 2: Another small change: The instruction image has been changed.

Posted by Minifig Man in Netherlands, 28 Dec 2011 08:45

Another excellent set of changes. Especially the related views.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 28 Dec 2011 08:54

^^ More likely I'll remove the changelog, I never remember to update it :-)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 28 Dec 2011 08:57

@Huw: Alright. :P

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 28 Dec 2011 09:18

In the search results page, there are bullet points beside "Related sets", "Minifigs", etc.. However, they are so faint on my screen that I barely see them. :P Also, in the two examples in the article, you take us to "dev.brickset.com". :P Is that the development site? :P

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 28 Dec 2011 09:51

*Sniffles* Huw, I don't like these new graphs: http://www.brickset.com/about/stats/ I want to see the detailed rises and falls in traffic! With these "pointy" graphs, it's impossible to see the rises and falls! Can't you change it back?

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 28 Dec 2011 09:56

Great update.

Posted by TooMuchLEGO in United States, 28 Dec 2011 10:39

I'm mostly positive about the changes, but there's one thing I don't like, and that's the new colors of the Owned and Wanted for sets. I personally think that they look somewhat ugly- they were better when they were brighter. (If they haven't changed at all, then I'm going insane!)

And that gallery view- man, that's cool. Good update overall.

Posted by jake9 in United States, 28 Dec 2011 10:42

Love the gallery view. Thanks!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 28 Dec 2011 10:51

^^ They have changed. I toned them down a bit because otherwise in the gallery view, if you owned all the sets, it was a bit overpowering.

Posted by modena in Italy, 28 Dec 2011 11:03

Well done Huw!

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 28 Dec 2011 11:16

Why does the gallery view remind me of BrickLink?... :P

Posted by bricklord in United States, 28 Dec 2011 11:24

@Huw Thank you. I really appreciate the dedication you have for this site. I'm here a lot checking up on my sets and browsing the database.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 28 Dec 2011 12:06

Awesome changes! This site gets better and better each passing week almost!

I have never found, and probably will never find, another site that actually takes the time to constantly update and takes user commentary and suggestions like command.

Thanks Huw, thanks to all the other staff members of Brickset, for having an incredible website. Who knows, maybe I might join you guys someday! :)

Posted by grrr in New Zealand, 28 Dec 2011 14:53

Huw: for some reason the bottom of the related sets tiles get chopped off for me. Am using IE9, standard zoom, on Win7 32 bit. You can see the effect here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10340806@N08/6589578073/

Posted by Stacy in Australia, 28 Dec 2011 16:21

^ I'm in the same boat. I'm using Chrome, Standard Zoom, Win7 64 bit.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 28 Dec 2011 16:44

^ & ^^ try ctrl-F5 to refresh your cache and fetch the latest stylesheet.

Posted by sarlacc98 in United Kingdom, 28 Dec 2011 17:18

I never remembered when i joined and i still don't know blank for me i guess i joined in 2009

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 28 Dec 2011 18:02

The Random Set feature is having problems with long set names... :P

Posted by grrr in New Zealand, 28 Dec 2011 18:12

A full delete of temp files fixed the problem.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 28 Dec 2011 18:25

^^ So it seems, I'll get that sorted.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 28 Dec 2011 18:29

@Huw: Good, thanks. :)

Posted by AndreasL in Denmark, 29 Dec 2011 05:26

Hi Huw,

Thanks for the new set relation feature. That is very appreciated. A couple of suggestions for further enhancement of the feature:

1. The system for registering minifigures, brick count, set count, etc. do not register the subsets contained in "Product Collection" sets (e.g. 66194). This would be a nice addition as now one now has to both register the product collection set and then all the subsets to have the minifigures and other counters update correctly.

2. It would be great if the subsets were shown with a special color if they are registered as part of a product collection. Similar to the owned/wanted colors.

Hope this makes sense :-)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 29 Dec 2011 14:16

Shouldn't there be a "View all comments written by [user]" feature?... :)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 29 Dec 2011 18:04

Huw, the set numbers in the additional info page have broken out: http://www.brickset.com/information/

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 29 Dec 2011 18:07

Thanks, will get that fixed.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 29 Dec 2011 18:08

@AndreasL, I did wonder about that but if you register that you own a product collection, do you also own the individual sets? If so, and the product collection had piece and minifig counts, they'd be doubled up in your totals.

Posted by MvdS in Netherlands, 29 Dec 2011 18:26

Love what you did with everything.

One thing though: the links to Twitter or Facebook etc. are gone.
Is this by accident or on purpose?

Another thing, but this has nothing to do with the latest improvements...
On the homepage, it disturbs me very much, to see all the offers/discounts of the sets which are at sale.
I get it, that a lot of people like it, but it gets beyond what this site should be (for me). It is supposed to be about news, reviews and maybe interviews.
The offers etc, should get there own page.

Let me know what you think about it.

Greetings,
Marcel

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 29 Dec 2011 18:27

@Huw: It's so good seeing someone fixing things in a website as soon as someone reports a problem. :)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 29 Dec 2011 18:28

Another thing: http://www.brickset.com/detail/?Set=9455-1 The set should be renamed.

Posted by Zackula in United States, 29 Dec 2011 19:11

Can you make a way to say that you own a set, but not a certain minifig in it? It's kind of annoying when the site says you still have a minifig, but you have lost or sold it.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 29 Dec 2011 20:03

Gah, Huw, look at "Cube Dudesand more": http://www.brickset.com/more/

EDIT: Minifig gallery messed up even with Ctrl + F5: http://www.brickset.com/minifigs/gallery/?theme=Harry%20Potter

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 30 Dec 2011 03:41

Thanks, will get them fixed later. Now, how can I get you on the beta test team to check the site *before* it goes live??

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 08:02

@Huw: Convince my parents. :P

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 30 Dec 2011 08:19

@Huw - How can we test the Beta site? Is it just by invite?

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 30 Dec 2011 12:04

I can beta test. :P

Seriously I can.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 30 Dec 2011 12:31

@Jonbuddy and Huw - Same, I'm up for that (if possible)!

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 12:57

@jonbuddy, CapnRex, and Huw: If it doesn't involve any emails, I can do it... :P

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 30 Dec 2011 13:31

Yay, everyone wants in! @Huw - Seriously though, can Alemas, Jonbuddy and me join in with testing the Beta site because that would be great!

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 13:44

@CapnRex: If it doesn't involve emails, I'm in. :P

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 30 Dec 2011 13:49

@Alemas - Great, now we just need Huw's permission!

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 13:51

@CapnRex: However, if emails are needed, I'm out. :P

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 13:53

HUW! BIG problem: http://www.brickset.com/reviews/PostedBy/?User=Alemas I think someone has rated every review of mine as unhelpful! Now, I'm a bronze-rated reviewer, not a gold one! Sure, I could rate them all back as helpful, but that would be a bit unfair...

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 30 Dec 2011 13:58

@Alemas - That happened to me a while ago, Huw rated them as helpful so they got back to the required standard to be displayed. I'll rate yours as helpful now and see if that helps (I wouldn't mind you rating this one as helpful for me in return, I think it's a bit unfair because I think it is a good review:http://www.brickset.com/reviews/?ID=40905).

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 14:01

@CapnRex: Thanks. ;)

EDIT: @CapnRex: Rated your review as helpful. :)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 15:37

Few more things: I know BrickLink doesn't classify Lotso as a minifig, but you could have added him to the minifig gallery if the cathegory is called "Lotso and gang"... http://www.brickset.com/minifigs/gallery/?theme=Toy%20Story
A little typo here: http://www.brickset.com/minifigs/gallery/?theme=Space "...up to 2010., organised..."
King George's Officer's photo goes below "2011": http://www.brickset.com/minifigs/gallery/?theme=PotC

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 30 Dec 2011 15:37

@Alemas, @CapnRex101, That happened to me too! >:( I was a Silver, now I am nothing! And I have 100+ reviews under my belt! I will rate you guys up, if you rate mine up too. Don't rate up the super dumb ones, but all the rest would be nice. :)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 15:38

@jonbuddy: Uh oh, there's a saboteur on the loose. :P Ok, I will rate your reviews now...

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 30 Dec 2011 15:41

@Alemas, lol. And I rated yours up. Good thing I caught you before the mods delete these posts.....if they do. :P

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 30 Dec 2011 15:41

@jonbuddy: Thanks, and I rated your reviews up, too. ;)

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 30 Dec 2011 15:43

@Alemas, thanks. :)

I got Rex's done too, but I think he is set...his role is Trusted Reviewer! :O

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 30 Dec 2011 15:46

@Jonbuddy - I am rating them now. Also, any good ratings are helpful if possible!

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 30 Dec 2011 15:47

@Rex, Thank you. Although, even with 2 more helpful ratings per review, I believe the percentage is still too low for even a Bronze anyway.....But thanks guys. :)

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 30 Dec 2011 16:35

@Jonbuddy - I'll try and get some other people to rate them up as well. I thought they were good so I guess it is just people wanting to ruin it for everyone else :( I sent a message to Huw asking how it is possible to become one of the Beta site testers.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 30 Dec 2011 17:01

@Rex, Thanks a billion, because right now it looks like all my reviews are junk because I have made so many over these 4 years....

Thanks for emailing Huw...I hope he says we can. :)

Posted by The Reviewer in United States, 30 Dec 2011 17:14

What Happened to Random Bricklist? It was a great way to get some extra views.

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 31 Dec 2011 09:29

WOOHOO! I'm Gold-rated now! :D Thanks you guys!

@Alemas, don't worry though, you have 18 helpful, so if you make another two great reviews.... :)

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 31 Dec 2011 10:09

@Alemas and Jonbuddy - I got a reply from Huw and he said that when there is something to test, we are at the top of the list!

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 31 Dec 2011 11:04

@jonbuddy: Don't have the time or the willpower. :P I'm happy with silver anyway. :P
@CapnRex: GOOD! :)

Posted by Thomson & Thompson in Canada, 31 Dec 2011 11:18

I have an idea. In your profile, it shows the # of reviews you've written. Why not show the # of Bricklists you've written, as well as the reviews?

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 31 Dec 2011 12:08

@Rex, HECK YEAH! :D
@Alemas, Oh, okay. :P

Posted by phi13 in United States, 31 Dec 2011 12:21

I have a suggestion. Perhaps there should be a list of sets that are the same sort of model; i.e. if the set is, say, 6090-1 (Royal King's Castle), list other castles such as 6086-1 and 6098-1. Or if the set is 6598-1 (Metro PD Station), list other police stations such as 6398-1 and 7744-1.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 01 Jan 2012 12:02

ALRIGHT, NEW FEATURES ARE OUT! :P The member page now has a "member number", "View the # Bricklists created by [user]", and indicates when a member joined before November 2010. Huw, of course, is member #1. :) Grahame is member #2. Who is member #3?

EDIT: @jonbuddy: Consider yourself old: You joined before bluemoose. :P

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 01 Jan 2012 14:03

@Alemas, WHOA. I feel very old. XD Another change: copyrights are updated. Brickset is constantly changing, but always has the same feel, it never goes through a major overhaul in one fell swoop.

That's why this site is cool. :)

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 01 Jan 2012 14:55

@Jonbuddy and Alemas - My current account seems quite new! Member 39264, but I did have a different account just called 'capnrex' which I forgot the password to, I also forgot the password to my old e-mail so I couldn't retrieve it! That one was quite a lot older, something like 20000 I think. Embarrassing...

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 01 Jan 2012 15:40

@jonbuddy: Well, of course, it's 2012 now. :P
@CapnRex101: Good grief. :P

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 01 Jan 2012 15:52

WHAT THE BRICK?! :P LEGO designer Mark Stafford (a.k.a. Nabii) joined before most of us: http://www.brickset.com/profile/?Nabii

Posted by sarlacc98 in United Kingdom, 02 Jan 2012 13:14

Wow I joined before capnrex sweet I thought I was a more recent member.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 02 Jan 2012 16:09

@sarlacc98 - Lol, yes you probably did. But not before my old account, number 22212. I still mourn my old account which I forgot the password to! :P

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 02 Jan 2012 16:10

@CapnRex: I see you acquired "Enhanced functionality"... :P

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 02 Jan 2012 16:50

@Alemas - Yes, I still don't really know what it does! I emailed Huw earlier wondering about it and he said "find out for yourself, you have it!" It apparently lets me see new features before they are generally released to everyone. I know I can see parts lists under a tab on each set page (like the eBay tab etc.)

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 02 Jan 2012 17:29

@CapnRex: WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! :D PARTS LIST, OH YEAH! :D Thanks Huw! :)

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 02 Jan 2012 17:41

@Alemas - Yeah... I wouldn't get too ahead of yourself, Brickset are not allowed to release it to everyone as they have not had permission from Bricklink, but they might get permission at some point I suppose.

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 02 Jan 2012 18:01

@CapnRex: Probably Huw already got permission... :P

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 02 Jan 2012 18:17

@Alemas - It says - The parts inventory below has been obtained from BrickLink without permission and this feature of the site may be removed at any time. It doesn't show up for everyone so I feel very special!

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 02 Jan 2012 18:24

@Capnrex: Ah. :P

Posted by jonbuddy in United States, 02 Jan 2012 18:26

@CapnRex, Too cool! I wonder since me and Alemas are also on the beta testing list with you, we will be (HOPEFULLY) put on the "Enhanced Functionality" list in the near future. :D

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 03 Jan 2012 12:23

Hee-hee, Huw put "01 Jul 1997" as his join date. :) So Brickset was launched on the 1st of July 1997!

Posted by Alemas in Germany, 03 Jan 2012 12:26

6 million page views: http://www.brickset.com/about/stats/

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 03 Jan 2012 13:33

@Alemas - For a moment I thought there was a new feature on profile pages saying how many people had visited your page and you had 6 million! Anyway, awesome fun fact there!

Posted by mjence in United States, 04 Jan 2012 00:25

For some reason, the Minifigs from the new batcave set are not showing up for me in the Minifig browser. Anybody else have this problem?

Posted by grelb32 in United States, 04 Jan 2012 11:31

Huw, I do have a question regarding new things added to the site... is there a way you can make a function that either tells or allows people to tell what stores sets are exclusive to? Because (for example) my brother and I are trying to find the Dynamic Duo Funhouse, but we're not sure if it's available at Toys R Us, or Target, or Walmart, or if it's not available at any of those and only at Lego.com. Even if it's just something where anybody who's found a set at a certain store can go on and say that that set is available at that store, that would still be awesome. Just an idea...

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 05 Jan 2012 05:44

^^ The batcave hasn't been inventoried at BrickLink yet and that is where we get the data.

^ We do sometimes put that in the set notes but often we don't know, and of course it's relevant only to one country: what's exclusive to you in TRU might be a Tesco exclusive in the UK for example.

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