SQPN website gets major overhaul
As you can see, the website of the Star Quest Production Network has received a major overhaul. We are still squashing some bugs, so don’t worry if some things don’t work - we’ll hopefully be able to fix any problem soon!
We made some more progress on the new website: it’s now possible to leave comments on each show, just like on the old website. So let us know what you think!
Hi father
This is a better approach to access the SQPN Network than before.
His Holiness is to have a boat-a-cade during his visit to Sydney on harbour. Sydney was again Voted No 1 city world so all is on track for July.The CC paid SJC Sydney Jockey Club A$41Million
compensation for WYD 2008 in July. This weekend sees campaign to find accomodation from parishoners to billet pilgrims in July so we all will be urged to share our home then. Keep up the good work and please more news on the Daily Breakfast re WYD please!
Hi Fr. Roderick.
Nice new layout, but is there any way to download podcasts without using iTunes? Under the old layout I could right-click a podcast and select Save Link As to my desktop, but that option doesn’t seem to exist anymore. My MP3 player can’t sync to iTunes, so I download to my desktop and then transfer to my MP3 player. Keep up the good work!
We had some issues with download links because we were using a plugin that turns every link to an mp3 file into a grapic (thereby disabling the possibility to download the file). I have removed that plugin, so you should now be able to download the files. Downside: some posts will not display a flash player for the file anymore. But you can still listen by clicking on the link to the file - your browser will play it in a new window.
Hi Joe,
If you right-click on the word Subscribe, you should be able to save the link of the RSS-feed to your clipboard and paste it in your podcatching software. Some time ago I wrote a how-to on my blog, using WinPodder (by Mike Versteeg) as an example. I believe there’s also a how-to somewhere on the SQPN site, but can’t find it for you now, hence the link to the post on my blog.
Oops, forgot this line: If you don’t want to use a podcatcher, you can use the URL of a podcast’s feed to download the individual podcasts that are part of the feed.
I know most .xml URLs work this way.
I hate to say it, because I know you have worked long and hard, but I like the old layout much better. This is just a mess–I wouldn’t have the first idea where to find anything. As a long time listener, I can eventually figure it out, although not without a lot of frustration, but a first time visitor wouldn’t have much hope of finding a show. I really liked the way the other website was laid out–you could get an idea of what each show was like and then go directly to it. I’m curious to know what it was that you thought needed fixing.
TJ, take your time to explore the site. The old site was extremely static - we received many complaints from new visitors that they couldn’t figure out how to listen, and that the site was never changing.
In this new website, you can click on movieclips, and new posts will have clear playbuttons. Also, the shows are now neatly organized in drop down menus, and you can get a full list of all shows by selecting ‘categories’.
Rhythmbox and Banshee can handle SQPN podcasts just fine if you are running Linux.
Love the new website! It’s neater and cleaner than before. Even though I must agree that the old site gave a clear bird’s eye view of the podcasts available. Anyhow, great work Father!
Glad you got the comments working now! Love the new look. I’m sure it’ll take some getting used to for those who could navigate the old site in their sleep, but this one strikes me as better organized and cleaner-looking. Excellent job, Father.
Hi Father, The new website looks awesome! I know how much work had to have been put into it. One note though… I noticed that it doesnt have the word “Catholic” anywhere on the home page. Anyways, good job as usual… God Bless
-Zack
I will have to agree with TJ on the new site.
While the site looks great and you have obviously put a great deal of effort into it… I was quite frustrated trying to find what I was looking for.
In particular, I wanted to listen to the second half of the last episode of Catholic In a Small Town. It was not at all obvious where I could now find that show (if it was there at all).
I have found it in the end, but I would really appreciate a sidebar with a list of shows and links to their pages. As a fairly longtime listener I am not so much looking for fancy graphics, as much as easy access to the shows.
In the past, when I was looking to listen to something new there were all the shows laid out and easy to access, so I would just browse and try something out. I don’t really see that anywhere here.
Maybe a button on the main page with ‘try our shows’ linking to a page with brief explanations of all the shows would be a nice addition.
Mary, I changed the layout a bit so that there’s a big list of all the shows on the right side of the main page. Does that help you navigate?
Yes it does help! Thanks. Wow, that was fast.
I would suggest titling that tab something other than ‘categories’. Perhaps ‘Shows’?
Categories is one of those words that has so many meanings that it is almost meaningless. I would not assume I could find a list of the shows there.
Thanks for all your hard work. It really does show on a beautiful new site.
As I stated in an earlier post, I like the new layout. I’ll admit that at first I wasn’t quite sure where to find a list of the shows, until I discovered them under the Categories tab. Having that appear first, as you’ve now set it up, will probably be a great help to people such as Mary, or first-time users of the site who are looking for a show.
I can’t seem to find subscription links on each show’s page. Am I missing something? Overall great update, though. This design is much more professional than the previous one.
@Nigel: not all affiliate podcasters put those subscription links in their posts. The new website needs very specific information, so we’ll have to tell our podcasters how to make sure their posts contain the information needed.
Hi,Fr.! Wow-amazing job with the new website! I have 2 comments (requests): #1: If at all possible, can you please move up the “search on Amazon” box to as close to the top of the right hand sided column as possible so you don’t have to scroll down so much to get to it? (It would make it easier for people who have agreed to shop on Amazon through SQPN because I or others have asked them to but otherwise don’t navigate the site and wouldn’t necessarily equate the “store” on the header as “Amazon”).
(2) Likewise, I kind of agree with Mary Martha on “categories”: Could you maybe put “Categories/Available shows” or something like that?
THANKS SO MUCH FOR ALL YOU DO!
You’ve all done an incredible job and as always, much appreciated!
Take care!
Bonita
When will the video podcasts be operational again?
TJ, all the posts have to be modified by hand, so this will take a while. I’ve already updated a number of posts from the Healthy Catholic series, Godspeed, Fr. Geek, and some others.
@Bonita: I have put the Amazon search box a bit higher
@Mary: unfortunately I cannot modify the name of that tab; it’s embedded in the scripts of the theme we use, and if I change it, it breaks the site..
Father,
Is there going to be a open “forum” section on this version, or are all comments going to be tied to a news story / podcast / etc.?
Hi Father,
It looks like you put a lot of work into this website and I have to say it looks really nice. It is going to take a little while to find my way around but thats just fine.
A word of caution though, the new site seems really impersonal. The greatest benefit of podcasting is the personal connection you have with your listeners, even though we don’t even really know you. I kind of feel like I have stumbled across a website of a mega-corporation and not good ol’Fr. Roderick and Club.
But really, you’ve done an excellent job. God bless.
-Matt
Thanks for moving up the Amazon box, Fr., I think that’s better. Hopefully you are sleeping now as I think it is 11:49pm there.
Sweet dreams!
Bonita
Spiffy website upgrade Father Roderick, and all the busy elves behind the scenes at SQPN.
I love the way the content is sorted into “channels”. Once I clicked around a bit it was very intuitive. And thanks for giving me a post idea for my 40 Days of Catholic Media project at http://cc.ductapguy.net . I was drawing a blank today for ideas.
Wow Father Roderick, good job on the new website. It is much improved! I loved the ‘latest posts’ tab on the right. Also love the way you have categorised all the shows into educational, talkshow, etc. And the links to the next and previous posts and the bottom of the page are great too! Much much easier to navigate. Thanks for all the work you do with SQPN! God bless.
Hi Father Roderick,
I love the Daily Breakfast and really appreciate all the work you do for our faith. I have to say though, I’m not too thrilled with the new website. It uses too much Flash and Javascript. This is very unsafe. I surf with all scripting blocked. I don’t allow people I don’t know to install anything they want on my computer, why would I let a server run whatever code it wants on my machine over the Internet?
The old site was a beautiful example a wonderful site that can be done with minimal scripting. I wish more people would try to do that.
Thanks for all the work you do and the time you give to us.
@Chris: You can choose to surf the internet like that, but the fact is that Flash and Javascript are highly accepted standards, used by million of websites. There is almost no media website today that works without Flash, whether you like it or not. It’s often the only way to display video’s and dynamic content.
The old website was static and hard to access by people with limited knowledge of new media (I take my parents as an example). Now at least, thanks to these new techniques, there are buttons you can click to get immediate access to audio and video. That is a huge step forward.
I was surprised to discover that the iPhone browser (Safari) does not yet support the Flash Player.
So far, developers have been encouraged to develop in AJAX. But I have to believe that Adobe is working hard to figure out a player that works with the iPhone…
BTW, Father Roderick - I like the new design of the SQPN site. Kudos!
I have to say that I love it. I know change is hard for most people. But it does look really good. I think it will just take us a few weeks to get it down like the last one.
very good Father Roderick
Hello Fr. Roderick, I love the new site, although it will take time to get use to it and navigate it as easily as the old one. one question though, is there a way to put a link to the website of the shows that have one somewhere on here? I know some shows have one, but as a fairly new listener, I would love to see as much information about a show before suscribing to it.
Anyway, great job though!!!!
Hi! The site is great! I just wondered if the list of shows is complete. I don’t see iPadre there. Don’t know if it’s my browser or it isn’t really there. Great Job!
I like the new website design although I don’t think I would have liked it if I had seen it before you added the “Categories” list.
I have two suggestions. The first should be fairly easy to implement. The second is probably much harder.
In the “Leave a Reply” boxes I just used, I saw almost invisible white letters on a pale yellow background after I typed in my name and e-mail address. Please, please, please increase the contrast between the letters and their background.
I would love to be able to find a specific podcast by entering the category name and episode number. I would not have a problem with selecting/entering the category name on one web page and the episode number on the next page.
I miss the old images that showed at the top of each show. It gave a unique brand for each show and they were very high quality images. Bring those back please.
I am soooooo jealous. I wish I was a wizard with WordPress as I could copy this whole design and use it for a new VidBlaster.com, it even looks like the program!
I should also say. The new site does look good and should help the community grow. Didn’t want to dump on the new site, just the lack of those big banner images.
I totally agree. The site is awesome. Ofcourse the site takes some time to complete itself, but still it is well worth the wait. Keep up the good work.
Hi Father, the site is much better, but where are the subscribe buttons? If I choose a podcast, there should a button to subscribe to it, at least for iTunes! It may be that many people listen on the site itself, but we’re talking podcasts here…
Another problem is the animation on the frontpage. It is not blocked by my flash-blocker, and everytime the picture changes it sucks 100% processor time on my Intel Macmini. This I don’t like, I don’t want my other processes interfered with by some website eye-candy. This will mean I have to close your website all the time…
@Maurice:
If you go to the single episode of a podcast (for example, go all the way to DB #450, not just the page with all the episodes listed, when you get THERE, click on #450) you will find the ’subscribe with itunes’ button.
Hope that makes sense.
This is actually a flickr question… another listener and I both had the same problem and he posted a question about it on the flickr site under the SQPN group. Our photos (and a few others) aren’t viewable unless we’re logged in to flickr. I made sure I had my photo privacy setting on “public” when I sent it to the group, so I’m not sure what else I was supposed to do. I even tried deleting and re-sending it to the group. What are we doing wrong?
@Maurice:
Also, Father has said that they are still working on the site, the subscribe button is a known issue and will be resolved in time.
God Bless
@Maurice: the main animation is not Flash based, it’s Javascript (I think). If you have problems, please always mention which browser/version/platform you are on, because this can have a tremendous impact on rendering issues.
I like this new website a lot! It makes the ‘leading the way in catholic NEW MEDIA’ come true. Although some people don’t seem to agree with me, I think this site makes the whole a lot more accessible. It’s true that categorizing makes it necessary to search a bit more for the content you want, but it simplifies the search tremendously. Although categorizing is arbitrary by default I think it is the better way, for in the old site a single show could get clouded up in the ‘overkill’ of all these great podcasts. Now it’s - I think - both appealing and easy to search for example for a podcast that offers me spiritual guidance. Plus it’s the first impression that does a single ‘WHOW’ now.
Great job.
You are right, I should have mentioned my setup. I use Camino 1.5.4 with OSX 10.4.11 on an Intel mini. The same problem occurs with Firefox 2.0.0.12 and Safari 3.0.4, so it doesn’t seem to be browser related. But it is extremely annoying, so I won’t have the sqpn page open for any length of time…
I think the subscribe button should be on the overview page, when you choose the podcast in the right pane. But my frustration was with the Lost podcast, because with that podcast there is no subscribe button at all, and the iTunes music store doesn’t seem to know it; there was no way I could subscribe…
I know there were instructions on the old site on how to set up the SQPN web clip on an iPod Touch (or at least have the custom SQPN icon). Now that I finally have a Touch, I can’t find the instructions. I was able to get the link on the homepage, but I really wanted that SQPN icon. Where did it go or what am I doing wrong.
Other than that, I love the new website design and all of the great affiliates that have been added.
Fantastic work!
The “Visit our sponsors” box in the right hand column currently has an anti-Catholic website. Would it be possible to add instructions for reporting inappropriate ads so they can be blocked?
Hi Kev, when you see an ad like that, right-click on the link and copy the *full* URL into an email and send it to us. We can then block that ad in the future. Thanks!