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v3.0.8

Author: Brad Hopkins, ITP Admin | Published: 09/26/2009 | 58 Views

The launch of the new InThePanhandle.com (ITP) on September 26, 2009 signaled a fundamental shift in how ITP was designed, maintained and presented information.  This was the second significant change in the short life of ITP. 

V1 Originally, ITP was strictly a business directory and based on phpMyDirectory.  The bulk of that work can still be found here in our current business directory. 

V2 The first major change was the addition of non-business content including news, local events, movie listings, etc. The addition of this content, and the ability for others to share in the creation of this content, has really allowed the site develop into a resource for businesses, organizations and individuals. To accomplish this, we were constantly adding to a system that was really never meant to handle those types of capabilities.

V3 The ability (desire) to share information on the internet has developed around us and we were constantly playing catch-up. Or more to the point, looking over the wall, thinking “Gee, I’d like to do some of that stuff.” without any real way to do it. Thus, in the spring, we decided it was time to start anew, and that led to a summer of work that ended when we launched the site at the Business Expo on Sept, 26. 

As is the case with software development, the job never ends. The break that we took after the launch was short-lived and we have begun to finish the job that we started in the spring - to make InThePanhandle.com a must-visit resource for residents and visitors, and an invaluable advertising venue for businesses of all sizes.

As the work on ITP progresses, you will be able to see what we are adding to the site by coming to this page.  You can find the link to this page in the footer of every page on the site.  Just look for the “© 2009 Firebrand Media, LLC / InThePanhandle.com (v3.x.x) Launched 09.26.09 | Firebrand Media site design” text and the link in the current version number.

As always, if you have any suggestions, notice any bugs or just want to bend our ear about something on the site, feel free to contact us.  We have also created a ‘Fix-Me List’ where you can view issues that we are aware of.

v 3.0.8
• [02.04.10] - Fixed an issue in which recently updated / added products were not being displayed on the Shop Local page.
• [01.21.10] - Date of event has been added to the Event Detail page.  If the event is a repeating event, all dates on which the event repeats are listed for the current month.
• [12.13.09] - Social Media Icons added to the individual business listings.  If the business has provided links to various social media websites - Facebook, Twitter, YouTube - links are now displayed with an icon next to it. Previously, there was a text indicator. Icons via Komodo Media and pinvoke.com.
• [12.11.09] - Random video on the homepage. The video on the homepage will now pull a random video from our library and display it on the homepage of the site.  Will pull in videos uploaded to YouTube or those uploaded directly to our server.
• [11.27.09] - Ability to relate articles to your business listing (and vice versa). Businesses who write or submit articles can now relate (or display) their article on their business listing page.  This also works in reverse so that the author’s business info - address, phone, email, web address - are displayed on their articles. It requires one extra step, but it’s optional and we feel it’s worthwhile from a marketing perspective. See it on this article: Are you eligible for an $8000 tax credit? About the First Time Homebuyer Tax Credit and this listing: Hersh Business Services, Ltd
• [11.22.09] - Quick Edit link If you are an author or business owner on InThePanhandle.com then we’ve just made your life a lot easier.  Once logged in, browse to the item that you want to edit, whether it be a business listing, event on the calendar or an article that you authored. You should see a little pencil icon above your content. (Edit link image: ).  One note, as an advertiser, you can only edit your business listing, images, documents using the quick link.  Other edits, products, restaurant menus, coupons, still need to be completed through the standard means.

v 3.0.7
• [11.19.09] - Video on the homepage. Currently, we only have ads to display but as video content becomes available, we will add it there.
• [11.19.09] - News page content was modified.  Most Popular articles for today and the last seven days are now displayed on the News page along with the last ten articles.
• [11.19.09] - Edit User Profile received a makeover and is now member group aware.  What does that mean? The content that you are presented with on the Edit Profile page will be different based on the member group that you are in (ie. Author vs Advertiser).  Log-in to your profile to see the changes.
• [11.19.09] - Restaurant Menus are now sorted with advertisers at the top and the alphabetically among non-advertisers.
• [11.17.09] - Rolled out the ability to purchase advertising online.  We now offer a la carte advertising in which you can buy just the ads that you need.

v 3.0.6
• [10.17.09] - Added link to news article author’s website for those authors that have provided links in their profile.  Edited author bio text color to make it more readable.
• [10.21.09] - Made minor changes in how the Products / Services that business list are displayed on their business listing and on the Shop Local page.  Items are now listed according to most recently updated / added.
• [11.13.09] - Advertisers with business listings are now listed above non-advertisers in their respective categories.

v 3.0.5
• [10.15.09] - Made a change in the publishing system to default to “open” status for newly added content.  Admin’s still get a notification but will not have to go and open the item.
• [10.13.09] - Moved Restaurant Menus to separate publishing group to allow for better visitor tracking and management.  Also, created ‘coupon-esque’ menu page that displays contact information along with menu download.
• [10.13.09] - Added admin notification system when a user edits an entry (article, event, business listing, etc.).
• [10.13.09] - Tweaked URL structure of ‘Monthly’ calendar page to solve issues related to entries not being displayed.

v 3.0.4
• [10.11.09] - Added the categories that businesses are categorized under to each business listing. Categories are now found in the upper right of each business listing with links to the complete category.
• [10.11.09] - Added social bookmarks (digg, facebook, twitter, linkedin, etc.) to business listings. See example: Tony’s Pizza, Berkeley Springs.  Share this business found beneath business description.
• [10.11.09] - FIXED: Social bookmarking link on event detail and article pages provided an invalid link to the article / event that users were sharing.  Correct link now provided.
• [10.08.09] - Created Poll archive page.
• [10.08.09] - New 404 Page added. It’s sweet.

v 3.0.3
• [10.06.09] - Movie Showtimes & Online Ticket Ordering page added back to the site.
• [09.30.09] - Added Short URLs (http://inthepanhandle.com/local/n/5429) to all Business Listings, News Articles and Calendar Events for sharing on social networks.

v 3.0.2
• [09.29.09] - Banner AdServer installed.

v 3.0.1
• [09.28/09] - Reduced width of content area from 1024px to 966 px to accommodate the 35% of visitors that are using a display with a resolution of 1024 x 768.
• [09.28/09] - Installed EE Mobile Admin control panel plugin to better accommodate iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Pre, etc. users and help streamline the addition of content for those users.

v 3.0
• [09.26.09] - Launched 3.0 version of the site.  This version of the site uses ExpressionEngine as the backend system for content, template and user management.