New website features

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pennymachines
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Re: New website features

Post by pennymachines »

Museum bugs ironed out now: multiple videos working, 'Save as Draft' working, images scaling correctly on small devices (phones etc.). There's a small issue with searching by categories (search box) which is being addressed.
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Re: New website features

Post by pennymachines »

The searching by category feature of the Archive and Museum searchboxes is now fixed.
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Re: New website features

Post by pennymachines »

pennymachines wrote: Wed May 24, 2017 5:12 pm I already lost two by pressing the wrong button. :smash: The Firefox add-on Lazarus Form Recovery is no longer supported. :( l realize now how often it saved me from such frustration. It seems incredible that form input saving isn't a built in browser option.
Just a quick heads up, although Lazarus hasn't been reanimated, there's a replacement Firefox add-on which does the same, called Form History Control (II).

Lazarus still works on Chrome and I think it's available for the Opera browser. Typio Form Recovery and Simple Form Recovery are other alternatives for Chrome.

Can save a lot of lost typing frustration. !THUMBS!

Internet Explorer doesn't apparently offer such extensions.
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Re: New website features

Post by pennymachines »

treefrog wrote: Tue Mar 14, 2017 1:36 pm one thing I always felt that would have been good on this site, was a company wide database and information portal. Adding pictures of machines, dates, and company info. I know there are sites like arcade database, but too broad and too little info can be added.
treefrog wrote: Thu Mar 16, 2017 5:35 pm ... still believe we do not have a good database of manufacturers and machines. Would be happy to assist where I can with my limited resources and knowledge.
treefrog wrote: Tue May 23, 2017 8:20 pm I see the Museum enhancements look great and fill a gap we have discussed many time mr pm. with a bit of tweaking looks like a great way in creating a slot machine database, by type, manufacturer and model with a little bit of history as a great starting point. But I think Museum is the wrong name as it is a data table or register of slot machine history. The ability to register and categorise your own machines is great, but I would be tempted to make some of these field indexed based on categories that can be searched and structured.

Next point, I have a real issue is any bandit type machine being classified as a "gambler" so are many other non bandit machines like allwins etc...I believe there should be one arm bandits category for one armed machines and fruit machines for button based machines.
treefrog wrote: Mon Jun 12, 2017 8:38 pm Another thing, please do a database of machines, ALL British operated coin op machines, including bandits we could contribute to.....would fantastic.......

Ignore me at your will
Some of the above wasn't addressed to me directly but I chatted to TF last year about this. It occurred to me that it would not be too hard to clone the work I did creating the Museum to provide a database for bandits not made in Britain.

The Museum is categorized by game type, but I'm not clear what categories would be required (if any) for bandits. TF suggests 'one armed bandit' (for bandits with handles) and 'fruit machines' (for button based machines), but I'm not sure that distinction would be widely understood. To me 'fruit machine' just implies a gaming machine (mechanical or otherwise) with fruit symbols or the like. I think dates ('30s, '40s etc.) might work better, or manufacturers. Dates can be tricky when it's not clear which side of a decade a particular machine belongs. And do we want a separate category for trade stimulators?

I'd be grateful for suggestions and to hear if other members (apart from TreeFrog and Widget) think it a worthwhile addition to the site before going any further.
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badpenny
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Re: New website features

Post by badpenny »

For what it's worth .......

Mr PM started with a statement Welcome all ye olde slot machine enthusiasts... and all ye young ones... to our website which is dedicated to those marvellous vintage British mechanical amusements and all who enjoy them.

So if that stands then elements of this site that are educational or historically factual should abide by that premise, unlike The Forum, Market, Archive and Library. Otherwise we need to change the principle of "British" or we say "Operated in Britain.
If we say Converted for British Market then we could take ownership of Boland and Gunther Wulff re-cased or do we also include American & German three reelers that are only adjusted for coins?

I too don't like three reelers/bandits being lumped in with gamblers.

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brigham
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Re: New website features

Post by brigham »

I think a 'glossary of terms' might be a good thing.
Not everyone will understand the difference between 'bandits' and 'gamblers'.
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Re: New website features

Post by pennymachines »

The reason for a catch-all "Gamblers" category in the Museum is that pre-decimal British one arm bandits are almost non-existent. There are only half a dozen or so. It made more sense therefore to put them with Hidden Treasures, Supermatics, Revolving Jackpots, Stock Exchanges etc. In principle they're all the same - one or more elements spin (or rock) and there's no pretence that the player has any control of the outcome ('skill buttons' were a sop to the authorities only). A game with two hands which spin around a dial when you turn a handle (Twelvewin Clock) is essentially no different to one with three reels which spin when you pull a handle. The operators knew it, even though the authorities sometimes took a little longer to catch on.

The only pure gambling machine which seems almost to deserve its own category is the betting game, represented in Britain by the Bullion and Clement & Whales Greyhounds etc. The antecedents of these pre-date Fey's original bandit, but again there are too few British versions to justify a category. Games of (purported) skill were necessarily the stock in trade of the British Amusements machine industry.

Anyway, I digress.

If we go down the route of a bandit database as TF suggests, I assume the pupose would be to represent machines operated in British arcades but made elsewhere. That would include everything from Aristocrats to Beromats. I guess there's no reason it shouldn't include foreign skill games too, for that matter. More feedback welcome.
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badpenny
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Re: New website features

Post by badpenny »

I feel Three Reeler/Bandit/Handle Pull machines are a strong enough genre in their own right. Who, even outside of the hobby, hasn't heard of a one arm(ed) bandit, but who, even including those in the hobby, would associate said machine with the term "Gambler" ?
Even I raised my eyebrows in a moment of dawning about ten years ago (30 years into the hobby) when it occurred to me that Bryans Hidden Treasure and Tick Tock could be classified as such. !PUZZLED! :dammit:

I've always associated this site with English machines as I mentioned a couple of posts back, mainly due to Mr P's opening statement. I see no problem with detailing machines from Foreign'land if some member can accurately confirm having seen one offered for play in a British arcade. Otherwise there are only two options ....do nothing or describe everything ever made anywhere.

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Re: New website features

Post by coppinpr »

I believe one of the reasons this forum has become the number one slot machine forum not just in the Uk but in the world is because it has been allowed to evolve over the years to cover all types of machines from all over the world. There are those I know who would still like to think of it as a forum for UK machines but the truth is it no longer is. Its strongest theme is UK for sure but you only have to look at recent posts to see the variation of interests from foreign 3D viewers to Australian one arm bandits. I for one would like to see the museum include more non UK machines. BUT we should not expect MrP. do do all the work .As TF says the members should contribute under the strict editing of MrP. He's the guiding light here.
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Re: New website features

Post by pennymachines »

The new Auction/Market area is now up and running.
See Selling & Advertising at Pennymachines.co.uk

It includes a For Sale & Wanted section.
I've set the fees for advertising spares as low as possible 50p/month - £2 for 2 years (PayPal dock me 20p + 4.4% per transaction). I could have made it free but would have to restrict it to signed up pennymachines members or face a constant battle against Spam. As it is, the small fee should discourage Spammers and hopefully encourage hoarders to list their surplus spares.

The 'Auction' part will hopefully be launched in the future - still too buggy.
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