Airfield Models

What's New at Airfield Models - Year 2007

December 19, 2021



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Airfield Models (http://www.airfieldmodels.com/)This page shows all new content added to the site in 2007.

If you would like to be automatically notified when new articles are added, please register with Airfield Models and check the Subscribe box.

Note:  Page dates (upper left hand corner) indicate the last time the page was updated.  Sometimes that means there is new information and sometimes it means I fixed a typo.

 
 
11 - 30 - 2007 Secured new web hosting.  I have nothing bad to say about my previous web host except my site just kept breaking.  I was calling them frequently and they always appeared very willing to work to solve the problem.  Unfortunately, it just wasn't working.

As of the date of this post the site isn't up with the new host, but the entire site is uploaded to their servers. When the name hosts propogate over the next day or so you'll be viewing the site hosted from its new home.

11 - 26 - 2007 Completed another major update that has been in process for nearly a month.  This site is created using FrontPage because regardless of what anyone says about it, it's easy to use and if I had to read and write HTML this site wouldn't exist.  Unfortunately, my web host needs to have FrontPage extensions installed for some of the features I have on this site to work properly and that stuff keeps breaking.  FrontPage says it's my web host's fault.  My web host says it's FrontPage's fault.

It hasn't been a huge problem because this site is pretty much devoid of flashy crap that on most sites takes the place of actual content.  This site has plenty to offer so flashy stuff isn't needed.

The two things I did use FrontPage features for is the site navigation at the bottom of every page and for the site search tool.  The search tool still works even though I admit it's lame as far as search tools go.

I've done a lot of internet searching to find a good site search tool but the ones that install easily (meaning even I can figure it out) are even more lame than the one I have now.  The good ones either cost a lot of money or require a lot of technical knowledge and time that I don't have.

As far as the site navigation goes, I went through every page on the site and hard-coded it which will be a pain to keep updated when I add pages in the middle of the site such as a new how-to article, but at least I don't have to depend on FrontPage extensions to work.

I also made some cosmetic changes such as the box in the upper left hand corner that has the date the page was last edited.  The box was too small for names of longer months and it always bugged me but until now I was too lazy to fix it.  Hopefully nobody invents a new calendar with a longer month name like Octonocemberary.

I added a new guestbook script.  The format isn't even close to the original guest book or the rest of the site for that matter.  Before I spend a lot of hours figuring out how to modify the code to match the rest of the site I'm going to see if the new code eliminates or at least greatly reduces the amount of spam.

Lastly, I added Google AdSense ads to every page I plan to have them on.  I really didn't want to put ads on this site either but this site is starting to incur a noticeable cost and it was either ads or a donation button or just taking the site down.

Hopefully I can now get back to building model airplanes.

11 - 03 - 2007 Began adding Google AdSense advertising to site.
11 - 02 - 2007 Added How to Make a Split Fence for a Dremel Router/Shaper Table.
11 - 02 - 2007 Added How to Make a Router/Shaper Table for use with Dremel Moto Tools.
10 - 06 - 2007 Added more information about rasps and files.  This information was moved from Miscellaneous Tools to Tools Used for Cutting.
09 - 23 - 2007 Added How to Make a Dual-Rotational, Reversible, Variable Height, Bench-Mounted Vacuum Pickup Tool Holder v2.0TM.
09 - 23 - 2007 Added Microlux Tilting Arbor Table Saw.
09 - 23 - 2007 Added How to Make a Semi-Rigid Contour Sander.
08 - 26 - 2007 Added Disk Sanders for Model Builders.
08 - 25 - 2007 Added AMT/Ertl Star Wars Imperial Tie Fighters to Gallery.
08 - 25 - 2007 Added AMT/Ertl Star Wars Darth Vader's Tie Fighter to Gallery.
08 - 07 - 2007 Added How to Paint a Scale Pilot Bust.
08 - 07 - 2007 Added How to Mount a Pilot Bust.
08 - 07 - 2007 Added Williams Brothers 1/4 Scale Spandau Machine Gun to the Gallery.
08 - 06 - 07 Added more information to the Airbrush page.
07 - 31 - 2007 Completed Judging the 2006-2007 Design and Build Contest.
07 - 06 - 2007 Posted final 2006-2007 Design and Build Contest Entries.  Judging to be completed by July 31, 2007.
07 - 04 - 2007 Completed massive website update.  I'm not optimistic enough to believe everything is fixed, but hopefully most of it is.  At this point I'm going to depend on my awesome visitors to point out any errors or problems they find with the site.

This update was no small task and I spent a week writing 5,000 lines of software code to help reduce the possibility of things being missed.

  • Some pages weren't in the database which means that Tell a Friend and Page Comments weren't hooked up for those pages.  All pages having those features are now in the database.
  • Some pages have been moved as this site has evolved.  In many cases I neglected to change the URL in the database which meant that Tell a Friend would send people to a page that didn't exist.  I went through the entire database page by page to correct every URL.

  • When this site was moved to the new server, the Search feature didn't work any more.  I cut and pasted the button navigation table on the left to make my life easier.  Ha!  Well, I didn't think about the fact that I changed the PageID of every page and essentially broke the entire site.  That one little time-saver was a disaster.  All PageIDs have been corrected (I think).

  • Setup Guestbook to moderate entries.  I really didn't want to do that, but until I find a better way, I needed to do something to stop the spam.

  • Registration has been fixed.

Many other things were updated along the way.  Most of it is stuff that happens behind the scenes and won't make any difference to people visiting the site.

All in all it was a lot of work and hopefully everything is back on track now.

But please!  If you find any errors please notify me.  The one thing I haven't fixed are links to the Glossary.  Because that is Java code it doesn't automatically get updated when a page is moved.  (I really need to stop moving pages since that causes 99% of the problems with this site).

If you find any page that has broken Glossary links, please let me know and I will fix it ASAP.

One other thing... whenever I move a page it also breaks the buttons.  They look fine until you click one and then it disappears.  It's another Java thing that doesn't update when a page is moved and most of the time I'm not thinking about it so I stumble across the error when I'm perusing the site.  If you find any pages having buttons that do weird things, please let me know about that too.  I love you guys. :)

Contact

07 - 01 - 2007 The deadline for submitting entries for the 2006-2007 Design and Build Contest is passed.  A lot of people dropped out but I did get several submissions of very nicely built models.  My next task is to put those pages together and get them uploaded.
06 - 18 - 2007 Added the File Name Replacement Utility.  Renames multiple screwed up filenames in a way similar to the Replace feature in a word processor.
06 - 07 - 2007 Temporarily disabled ability to post in the Guestbook due to dirt bag spammers.  My wish is that every time one of these people sends out spam one of his fingers bursts into flames and is destroyed to the knuckle.  Failure to learn this lesson will mean they have no fingers left.
04 - 18 - 2007 Added Jeff Fair's Magnetic Workbench.
04 - 14 - 2007 Secured new web hosting.  Unfortunately, the move to the new host meant features are implemented differently which means every page containing PHP code or linking to pages having PHP code was partially or fully non-functional.

All articles are online and complete.  Page comments don't work properly and the search feature has been changed.  Some pages are updated.

It will be months before it's all working again.

04 - 02 - 2007 Site went offline for reasons beyond my control.  I was unable to contact my web host and began searching for new hosting.
02 - 12 - 2007 Added The Amazing Scroll Saw Paint Shaker.
02 - 12 - 2007 Added How to Make Pallets for Brush Painting and Airbrushing.
02 - 12 - 2007 For those who may be interested in purchasing my Microlux Miter/Cut-Off Machine, I have written a set of instructions because I can't find the ones that came with it.
02 - 12 - 2007 Did some more rearranging of the site which I know I should stop doing because I break things that I wasn't thinking about at the time.  Your help in pointing out broken links is much appreciated.
 
 

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Copyright © 2007 Paul K. Johnson