A few minor tweaks to the site

 

  • A few minor tweaks to the site

    Posted by Huw, 31 Jan 2013 06:44. Filed under Brickset.

    In what seems to be my never-ending quest for perfection of the website, I've made a few tweaks today.

    - There are two new news article listings that might be useful: Most read articles and articles that have been commented on today. Links for these are provided at the bottom of the home page.

    - The search auto-complete feature has been extended to parts and minifigs which should make it easier for you to find what you're looking for. Flip the search scope to Parts or Minifigs and start typing...

    - The 'Minifigs you own' page has been changed to make it easier to see how complete your collection is in each category, much like the set collection analysis page.

    - If you're new to Brickset and have your collection stored offline or at another site, you can now import it via a tab-separated text file.

    - Advanced Queries can be exported as a CSV in addition to a BrickLink XML file (that feature was added a while ago).

    Finally, if you haven't already completed the Brickset the user survey, today's your last chance to do so. There have been 1850 responses so far -- thank you!


    20 comments, latest one posted 3 months ago. (Commenting has ended on this article)
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Comments

Posted by brickmonkey13 in Canada, 31 Jan 2013 07:36

Well done sir! The new "Minifigs you own" page is marvelous, so much easier to navigate and way more satisfying to peruse.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 07:47

Glad you like it :-)

Posted by Andhe in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 08:16

Great updates Huw, this site just keeps getting better.

Posted by BrickBob09 in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 08:23

I'm loving this new minifigure collection page, but have found a problem.

On pages with lists of minifigs you do or don't own, when right clicking the "Appears in X set(s)" and select open in new tab, I get taken to a basic page of the set(s) the minifigure appears in, like http://www.brickset.com/ajax/getSetsForMinifig.aspx?m=sh018&aid=hslsh018.
Clicking on "More Details" takes me to the normal page, so it's not a huge issue. I just think it would be nice if this page was a 'proper page', rather than a list. Or it might just be me being fussy :D

I hope this makes sense- if it doesn't let me know. I'm using Google Chrome if this helps.

BrickBob :P

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 09:19

That's because the 'Appears in X set(s)" link is not designed to be right-clicked on, it opens up in a pop-up window when you left click it.

I have attempted to differentiate such links with subtly different styling: if they open in a pop-up the link gains a shadow round it when you hover, if it opens as a new page, it has a normal grey background.

Just to confuse you the 'Appears in X set(s)' link on parts, (e.g. on this page: http://www.brickset.com/parts/browse/colours/?colour=Aqua) opens as a new page, because usually there are too many to show in a pop-up.

Posted by BrickBob09 in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 10:07

Ah ok, this makes sense (I have never noticed the styling differences).
I guess it just my personal preference. I like the pop-up window for enlarging images, but prefer lists for looking at sets, especially on figures like the standard skeleton (http://www.brickset.com/ajax/getSetsForMinifig.aspx?m=gen001&aid=hslgen001) which appears in 39 sets (although I can't see many other figs with such a high set count). The pop-ups are a very nice feature for basic things, but can be cramped and unorganised when lists are put in them.
Although for the majority of minifigs it's not an issue as they don't have 40 sets :D

Apologises for being so picky, I just don't like the 'unfinished' pages ;)

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 10:54

Agreed, it works well for 95% of minifigs, but on that basis I think I'd prefer to leave it as a pop-up. You can, of course, go the the minifig detail page to see them: http://www.brickset.com/minifigs/?m=gen001.

Posted by gunoz in United States, 31 Jan 2013 12:25

One major different I'm noticing is that the My Sets page says I own 1988 minifigs, but the Minifig Collection page says 1362.

Posted by halcyon305 in United States, 31 Jan 2013 12:27

"Never-ending quest for perfection"...nothing wrong with that. Although the site became invaluable to me once parts inventories were added...Great work, keep it up!

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 12:38

^^ the latter only counts uniques.

Posted by CapnRex101 in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 13:50

Great new features, particularly the Minifigs You Own feature for me. Thanks Huw.

Posted by messy in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 14:23

Fantastic updates, the Minifigs You Own page is great, thank you!

Posted by cinemajay in United States, 31 Jan 2013 17:18

Any chance the "Log in to post comments." at the bottom of each post's comments can be made into a hyperlink to the login?

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 31 Jan 2013 17:35

^ That would seem sensible. Consider it done.

Posted by Zacherano in United States, 31 Jan 2013 19:20

@Huw - Is there any chance that you might reinstate the original minifigure page as an option to the new alternative? While I like the statistics feature of the new page, I find the old one more convenient and aesthetically pleasing.

Posted by King J in United States, 31 Jan 2013 21:51

^ I agree with Zacherano. I love how you can see how complete your collection is now, but it's not quite as satisfying as seeing every minifigure you own displayed in a giant gallery (or as easy to show off to somebody). Maybe a "See All" button?

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 01 Feb 2013 03:46

^ 'See all' is available by clicking on the total at the bottom of the table.

Posted by caperberry in United Kingdom, 01 Feb 2013 13:09

And unless my eyes deceive me, you've amended the site logo image!

Posted by Odeinoichus in Canada, 01 Feb 2013 17:00

@Huw, I haven't checked out much of the new implementations yet, however I have noticed what appears to be a major problem over in the Bricklists section. My profile says I have made/posted 8 Bricklists to the site, but for some reason they seem to have been cloned for every set I posted into those lists. Or something, because now I'm seeing the same list over and over again at least ten times each for all the Bricklists I posted to the site.

And I didn't try to post the same list over and over again, no sir, I don't do that sort of thing. I can't explain it, just thought I'd bring it up to you somewhere as to point out the issue.

Posted by Huw in United Kingdom, 02 Feb 2013 04:49

^ Thanks for spotting that: I tweaked one of the database views yesterday. No idea why it had that effect but I've reverted to the old version and it's now sorted.

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