Major changes to FlashlightReviews.com? NEED INPUT

Hi folks!

I'm looking at implementing a major addition to FlashlightReviews.com. For those of you who don't know the history of my site, I was a member here at CPF for a little while and decided to build a site to host my rather simple mods. Then I did a few reviews. Then it spiraled (nearly) out of control to what you see today!

Please take a look at the beginning stages of development of this MySQL/PHP DATABASE of flashlight info.

Keep in mind that the data is all just TEST data.

LINK TO TEST DATABASE

Now, here is where you have a little input... I'm wondering what to keep in this table, and what to remove. As you can see, it is VERY wide but has all of the data that I have collected accounted for.

So what should stay and what should go in order to produce a searchable database of lights I have reviewed?

Note that I am not planning on ADDING any additional columns unless there is a very compelling reason. The current columns reflect the data that is already available in the reviews and I am NOT going to go back and measure the lenght of every flashlight, for example.

Also keep in mind that I will have a link to the review for further information on the light.

This database will also result in the removal of the throw/output charts since you will be able to sort by throw and output.

Last, I am at the total limit of my abilities in creating this database. I'm using automated software to help out, so please don't ask for any fancy PHP stuff.

So, what stays, what goes?

I like the idea but don't think that scrolling side to side is the way to go. I've designed several sites and professional designers feel it's ok to scroll up and down, but inconvenient for the viewer to scroll side to side.

Some great ideas here, though, such as the link to the review. Would like to see throw and overall brightness ratings in there somehow. Maybe you could have a tight window no more than 800 pixels wide with some basic info. If the viewer wants more, he or she could click on a link to bring up a pop up window with all of the main facts on the light. That would be the best of both worlds. Quick facts to compare on every light with a way to easily open up more info for those lights one really cares about.

The icing on the cake might be to be able to compare two or three favorite lights by selecting radio buttons and then a sort button.

Sorry to be a PITA, but I don't think that this database will be worth the enormous trouble of organizing it and keeping in organized.

Your main website is already very structured and easy to navigate and has all the relevant info in the tables right in front of the eyes.

Example ... what will searching the database for "runtime" reveal? A lot of lights in very different classes ... most of which won't meet my criteria. I want a long running bright light like a Pelican Divelight ... but get the ArcAAA listed as it sports a similar runtime ... would have been easier to go to "big lights" from the start to see lights that comply more with what I want. Same for most of the other criteria. Given the choice I'd go with the menue structure of the current site which is pretty good and effective.

Use your limited personal resources for reviews instead ! :nana: :wave:

bernie

I think it's great but if it was a .pdf or .xls that we could download to our phone, memory stick or pda so we could have all the info with us all the time, now that would be great, we can not always be near a computer when we are playing with flashlights

I was going to ask if you had this data available a few days ago. I ended up copying and pasting data to plug into Access but then something similar to waht I wanted came on sale and I bought it. Great idea.
I would add wattage, number of "bulbs", can it be focused, and the rating should just be a number, put excellent etc in a separate field.

Your reviews are great but this would make comparing all the Focasable, 2 battery, LED lights easy.


If you don't add filters it would be nice if the file was available in a comma delimited version for database use.

The whole database is sortable by clicking the column headers. I have already paid for the software to design the database and PHP, so it IS going to get used.

Currently I'm bouncing around what to replace on the site - either the Reviews Index tables, the Throw and Output charts, or both. I can put graphics into the tables, so I could use the same icons as are found in the Index tables (For beam width, electronics, etc...)

The nice thing is that it can be filtered, is sortable, and basically the user can decide which critera are important and what they want to see.

Maintaining the Reviews Index tables and the Throw and Output charts is a huge pain in the buttocks so this is going to make it easier for me and easier for everyone else as well (I hope).

I can create and save filters, so I'll add common ones as I go.

And yes, I know scrolling side-to-side is not the way to go, this is why I was asking for suggestions on what to keep and what to ditch.

I certainly do not plan on making it so you can just download all my information and take it with you. Sorry, but after the thousands of hours of work I put into this site I'm not planning on giving it all away.

Well, that all looks like useful information and even if it only helps a few people, it might be worth it. I have something similar to that (just in Excel format) for the lights that I own or have owned and in it, I include:

Maker and model
Your Lux reading
Your 'output' reading
Craig's mcd reading ( )
Cell type and count
Retail price
Price I paid (which would obviously be useless to anyone else)
And both your runtime results and my 'useful output' number

From looking at your info, I would definately add at least:

Water resistance
Length
Weight
Beam type
Rating
Review Date

Rather than having the review link in a seperate column, I'd just make the model listing link to the review. Things like lens and reflector materials probably shouldn't be included in my opinion.

That's my one fiftieth of a dollar anyway.

Keep up the outstanding work!

If it actually is less work ... cool!

I'd pull the trigger for those categories:

- Light Type
- Beam Info (Luxeon Lottery is voiding this one anyway)
- Runtime advertised (we know it's bogus )
- Combine Battery Type and # of BAtteries
- Combine all the "Material" columns including reflector type
- lens type (isn't important enough)

bernie

Great idea...definitely worth the effort. I'll miss the old 'Throw/Output' charts tho'.

I'd suggest merging the 'Beam Shape' and 'Beam Info' categories into one with combined descriptions like "narrow bluish"...that would save one column. If you standardize your descriptions, they would still be effectively searchable.

Same kind of thing could be done with 'Runtime Advertised' and 'Runtime Tested". Create one category instead, and describe the data as 'tested runtime (claimed runtime)'.

I suspect most folks will search for runtime results based on your data...the manufacturers claims are the more trivial (and sometimes meaningless) numbers. I doubt they need to be searchable.

And I'd keep the lens stuff...for some folks it would be useful info.

But what do I know? :shrug:

It looks like it will be really usefull once you've got it up and running. I'd hyperlink the 'Light name' to the review, that would eliminate the seperate column for Review.

Also if your looking to remove any other columns, my suggestions would be:

Lens Material
Reflector material
Reflector type
Accessories

I'm assuming that all this information would be available in the review, so I could read about it there. I'm not sure I'd use this info in a database context for sorting or camparing.

I think you should keep the runtime info, especially since you have both the Advertised and Actual times, this is one of my major considerations when looking at a light, so I think it is good to have in the database.

I like the radio button idea mentioned above for selecting particular lights for comparison.

Your flashlightreviews.com is a great website. Thanks for the enormous effort you put into setting it up and maintaining it. I like the database you are working with now. As others have posted there are a few things that could be eliminated or combined to make it not so wide. I would not want to get rid of too much information though. I really like the idea of a narrow version that would be easier to compare lights in a hurry and an option to open it up to a wide database with loads of information, perhaps even including dimensions. Getting rid of some of the other stuff on your website to make overall maintenance of the site less work for you is a good idea. Anything to free up more of your time for MORE reviews is important to me.
jclarksnakes

Hello Doug,

Here is what I think you should keep...

Company Name
Light Name - clickable for review
Rating
Lamp Type
Throw
Output
Beam Shape
Weight
Battery Type
Number of Batteries
Body Material

and maybe run time.

The rest of the information can be found in the individual reviews.

Tom

QB,

I just want to say thanks for all the effort to provide such helpful resource.

TR

Having designed a LOT of databases in my Analyst days, only put in the basic info in the top record, if the person is interested they can go into the detail records. Put things like Lens info, reflector info, accessories, seals, run times, beam shape and tint, throw and output in the detail records. It is readily available by simply clicking into the review part of the records. Have sort keys on Manuf. Bulb type, battery type so people can look at groups of records. Hope this helps. Allow print reporting if the software allows so a user can print a lost of lights to look into further.

BTW. your site is the BEST of the breed, very consise, accurate (everything I had bught works just like you say), intellegently presented and performed. Reading your own testimonial of the big ice storm introed me to headlamp advantages and now they are a good part of our emergency and even everyday light kits. It so happned that the VERy day I read your article, I was in Target, and saw a Brinkman headlamp, and picked it up. That very night I lost power for 12 hours, and found out just how handy the headlamp was for every day chores and things like reading in the dark. Keep up the good work please.

Radio said:

I think it's great but if it was a .pdf or .xls that we could download to our phone, memory stick or pda so we could have all the info with us all the time, now that would be great, we can not always be near a computer when we are playing with flashlights

Click to expand...

I think that would be a great idea. Have a button somewhere so you could download the entire main table as a .pdf and as Radio said, "so you can have all the info on a memory stick or on your phone".

I can only imagine how handy that would be espically when your at a Fry's or Target or something of the like.

I think that some things can be gotten rid of
Like seals, lens material, lens type, reflector material, reflector type, and possibly comments.

May be I'm just stupid and not reading this right, but instead of battery type; alkaline, lithium and stuff. put AA, or D. I'm assuming that most people would realize that cr123 means lithium, and most companies don't make a light just for rechargeables AA and so on, unless it is built in like those the SF 10x. If that made any sense.

good luck, and keep up the good work.

Thanks, All, for your inputs. I have several things to consider now, but first, back to getting some reviews done!

So you're going ahead with it then are ya It seems to be down now though, too bad, wanted to see what you had added since last night.

Sorry, dude! I took it all down, revamped, put it back up, changed it some more, took it down again... etc, etc.... Before I put data into it I want the tables in their final form, and that's going to take more work. I removed a bunch of fields, left in 3 fields that the database can be filtered on but won't specifically show in the table, and the rest will be visible. Basically it'll look like the Reviews Index pages minus the graphics, but plus the Throw, Overall Output, Weight for sortability.

In the end, If you are looking for the brightest lightweight headlamp, you can filter on Light Type for Headlamps, plus filter on "less than or equal to" 6 oz., then sort by throw or overall output. It should provide tremendous versatility for everyone.

gotta have an info about regulation!

Regulation type: not regulated, semi-regulated, flat regulation.