's Blog
Installation instructions + other info returns!
This was missed somehow but has now been added back. You can find installation instructions directly in the downloads browse view as well as on the details pages.
We have also added back the link to find recolors for meshes and the ability to see the complete set while browsing individual items. Both those links can be found in the left hand link list on the details pages.
Look for more fixes coming soon! :)
Server work underway
We're currently doing some work with the servers to get more servers from V6 into the V7 cluster. We're trying to affect the site as little as possible while doing this, but you may notice a few "glitches". These are temporary.
Expansion Packs filter back
The Expansion packs filter that got missing in the transition to v7 is now back on the downloads pages. Enable it by opening the "Advanced Search" in the right column (make sure Full Screen mode is disabled), tick the "Only My Expansions" box, and hit the Show Results buttons.
In the advanced search you also find a lot of other useful options. Some of these are specific for different types of downloads. For example, in the Residential Lots section you'll find a lot of filters for price, num bathrooms, num stories etc.
Post feedback on the downloads search functionality in general, and the re-enabled Expansions pack filter specifically, as comments to this post.
Big speed improvement and bugs fixed
Today we made some changes that led to a very big improvement in page load times, i think you will notice the difference :).
There are still some more things we can tweak to reduce the load times even further but i believe we are on an acceptable level already.
We have also done some changes in the way ads are being loaded in an effort to improve responsiveness in IE 7, now the ads are loaded after the whole page has loaded which should help a little bit at least.
The wizard installation has been fixed today.
The Java IRC application is now working.
We have also fixed a lot of other small bugs like for example that the category tree navigation now closes the initial open node when you select another, the moving of pods on your profile page works again, links to profiles have been corrected in some places to name a few. We are working hard to fix all the bugs that we find and the ones you report.
Now with the performance issue hopefully under control we will be able to focus even more on fixing remaining bugs!
Downloads index finetuned + others
I've spent some time restructuring the downloads index with the new 2 and 3 column view. The download buttons has been merged into the box for each item, the required items info no longer hides the buttons and item info + many other smaller changes and fixes.
I've also removed some of the clutter by making all pod headers the same color (as suggested by DOT!).
For convenience sake I've also added a link to this blog from the frontpage.
Hope you like :)
More servers added
We have now added more servers to the server cluster which TSR v7 runs on, and together with some optimizations this should have improved the speed of the site. However, we still have more servers to add and more optimizations to implement, so we expect the speed of the site to improve considerably down the line. Stay tuned for updates on this.
Sims2pack and IE
The new file servers and Internet Explorer did not get along very well when it came to sims2pack downloads.
IE insists on trying to open them as XML files due to the xml header in the sims2pack files even though the web server said it was a binary file.
We have configured the web servers to force a download so sims2pack downloads in IE should be working again now!
View-post optimized
We had some performance problems for viewing posts (news, blog posts etc), we have done some optimizations in that area which should improve the load sopeeds, especially for posts with a lot of comments.
v7 Development Blog
Since launching Version 7 of TSR on January 7th we have been following user feedback closely. As we continue to improve the site and fix peoples concerns we have decided to post about the changes we make here, so that hopefully you can see for yourself how the site is evolving based on what our users are telling us.
Here you will see posts made by our developers, Johan, Per and Pommes, and by myself and Tom as we do feature changes and graphical improvements.
I'd like to start the ball rolling by outlining the biggest change we have made today, based on feedback that the download pages were too "cluttered" and the preview images were too small.
We have redesigned the use of the downloads pages, increasing the preview image size by around 50%, reducing the columns from 3 to 2 in normal view, and adding the download buttons to the browse page to reduce the 'work' involved in grabbing the content that appeals to you. The image still open in a lightbox, so if you want to see the full size view of any item, just click the preview image.
The downside to this change is that all the images need to be regenerated at this new size, and that's done when its fetched from the database for the first time. The result will be a slower website again this evening as all the images are regenerated on demand. It's a short term problem though, and worth it in the long run.
This change has added more "white space" to the page also, making it easier on the eyes! While I'm writing this the download boxes are moving from above each box to inside it, so it will improve even greater. This might take a couple of hours to replicate across the servers though.
You also have the option once you have completed your searching and filtering to turn off the side bars and view 3 columns instead of 2 for faster browsing, switching the category filter and search back with a single click. See this screen for an example (as anywhere on the new site, click the image to open a full size lightbox view). The tab to do this it on the far right above the right search column.
Just a note on the use of the category tree. It's been reported that certain types of download are hard to find, one example being tiled floors. On v7, simply click the Downloads Tab, then Sims 2. Then in the left category tree, Floors, then Tiled. You are simply 4 clicks away from 752 tiles floor patterns! I'm sure you will soon find your way around the site and appreciate the speed at which it can be used with a little bit of use.
OK, have a look at those updates and we will post with more very soon.
Enjoy!