We continue to update the website with new features, and provide fixes for bugs. Thanks to everyone who’s written in and helped us fix some of the outstanding issues related to the launch of the new website.

Return Of The Hub

We’ve brought back The Hub, a place where MatthewGood.org registered members can visit to find the latest changes in website activity. On The Hub page you’ll find the latest posts, comments posted on entries, and changes to website pages since the last time you visited and were logged in.

You can find the link to The Hub under the ‘Operations…’ menu in the sidebar, or in the second column if you’re using NES navigation.

Note that there’s a “Clear Activity” link beside the trash can— clicking it will wipe the recent activity listing. Use it to mark all the activity as read.

The Hub is also the place to check for goodies which will be made available in the weeks ahead.

New Registration Form

We’ve updated the Registration Page to include more fields for things like social networking links, etc. There are new required fields, which ask for your first and last name and to agree to our Policies.

We also added the ability to set your own password at the time of registration, preventing the problem for some people where the registration e-mail would not make it to your e-mail address due to various services’ spam routines.

Changes To Existing Accounts

We’d ask that those of you with existing accounts take the time to visit your profile page and update your account information. For now it’s not mandatory, but at some point in the coming weeks you’ll be automatically redirected to your profile page to fill in missing feilds.

We’re planning some more advanced user features which will take advantage of the sharing of your social networking links, and more. To do this we need your help, so please take a few minutes and update your account now.

Here’s a quick rundown of the latest website changes/updates, for those interested:

The horseman is gone! Preliminary IE6 support has been added. There are still some issues we are working on, but most of the website is fine in the browser now.

The broken RSS feed link has been fixed.

Lyrics to Hospital Music have been added.

An issue where the NES and excerpt/non-truncated settings were not being saved properly has been fixed. Keep in mind that these settings are anonymous and per browser. That means they’re not associated with your user account (if you have one) and will be persistent whether you’re logged in or logged out- but as such require you to set them for different browsers.

An issue where the ads on the home page were not displayed properly has been fixed.

An issue where the whole post area would disappear for some users has been fixed.

An issue where ‘My Favourites’ would not delete has been fixed.

Refresh Required

In some cases, simply refresh your browser’s cache of the website will solve some issues. Additionally, deleting any cookies associated with matthewgood.org can also fix some problems. Please try these things before contacting us, to be sure the problem isn’t on your end.

If you experience difficulties or problems while using the site after trying the above, or think you might have found a typo, broken link or bug, please let us know by mail. We appreciate all the feedback provided.

We continue to work on a few outstanding issues with regards to the latest website changes. If you’re experiencing funky strange things please report them to us and we’ll try and address them promptly.

EXPLODER SUPPORT

Oh you randy bastards using a 7 year-old dilapidated browser. Don’t you think it was your whining and crying that got us to support your tired old beast.

That said, we’ll be adding support as soon as we can figure out some workarounds for common IE issues. We’re working through a priority list and truth be told IE6 was always in the cards but we wanted to launch this weekend so we put up the site full-well knowing the Exploder monsters would come out to play… and are adding in the last of the little pieces as we finish them.

Expect support for IE sometime tomorrow (the horseman will let you pass).

We went through a great deal of the over 11,000 accounts today and removed those that appeared to be duplicates, spam accounts, or were accounts which only had random letters/numbers in the names of the accounts.

If you can no longer login as a result of this, please send your account e-mail address to admin@matthewgood.org, and we’ll double check it’s not in there and help you set up a new one.

Sorry for any inconvenience this causes, but it’s a heck of a lot better than just deleting them all, right?

We’ve been having some site issues lately, mostly on the back end of things. Today while trying to address one issue, another was created.

For awhile this morning/afternoon, you may have been unable to login to the website. As a result, if you’ve reset your password to something new, you’ll find yourself unable to login again.

The reason: we’ve restored the login user database to a previous one.

If you changed your login information after December 13th and before 1pm PST, you’ll need to use your older login information to gain access to the site. From there, you can change it again if you prefer.

If you’ve signed up for a new account between December 13th and today before 1pm PST, you’ll need to create your account again.

We apologize for the issues, and any frustration & confusion this may have caused.

A recent entries’ comments were closed, and many of them deleted or edited. While we do apologize for the censorship, as we rarely do edit or deny comments, we felt it necessary in this case. While the issues surrounding the show in Sault St. Marie are important to discuss, the way in which they were presented quickly became argumentative and abusive. Those who do not agree with Matthew’s actions are entitled to their opinions and welcome to state them here on the blog, but such discussion was hardly present in a reasonable form, and instead derogatory and defamatory remarks were made throughout the comments, including responses which were also inappropriate and unnecessary.

As we’ve said in the past, and will again now, comments on blog posts, in the Forums, or in the Community IM are all subject to the website policies, which are there to ensure a respectful venue for discussion on this website- please read them if you haven’t already.

Failure to respect the policies results in both the deletion of the comments in question obviously, and may also result in the removal of your account; the logging of your IP address; the recording of your activity and comments on this website; and, in extreme cases, your location and Internet Service Provider is logged. If you continue to visit this website and attempt to re-register using a different e-mail address, your IP will be matched and your new account removed. Furthermore, we will contact your ISP and inform them of your actions, and provide any or all details we feel appropriate to identify you and your actions. We will also block your IP from even viewing matthewgood.org.

Such has been the necessity in a rare few circumstances which resulted in Matthew being personally threatened and harassed. His life was actually endangered due to this website- something which he has considered unworthy of enduring, and should it happen again, will likely prompt the closure of the website in its entirety.

We would ask those registered users here to refrain from retaliatory comments when others break the website’s policies- and as one user did today, simply inform us using the ‘Report Comment’ link above each comment on blog posts. There’s also a report link in the Community IM. If you’re using the forum and find something that’s a breach of our policies, please mail discussion@matthewgood.org and let us know.

The sooner discussion issues are reported to us the sooner the admin can ‘nip it in the bud’ and restore a reasonable discussion.

On a positive note, everyone here at matthewgood.org is excited about nearly reaching 10,000 registered users. We’re extremely proud to have one of the most vibrant, participatory and positive artist-related communities on the web.

Though at times we experience occasions where comments are in poor taste and inappropriate, the vast majority of the discussion on this website is very positive, insightful, and thought-provoking.

Thanks to everyone who’s been around for quite some time, and to those who are just joining us, welcome.

Over the past few days many of you have mailed us regarding the websites’ speed, which has crawled to a halt at times. While the root cause was an issue with our webhost, we’ve taken the opportunity to make a few changes and upgrades.

Most of what’s been done is ‘under the hood’- upgrading our publishing platform, WordPress, to the latest build (2.3), along with several updates to the various plugins we’re using, which makes a big difference in terms of site speed and stability.

There are a few minor tweaks under the hood and to the appearance of the Community Instant Messenger. We hope the server-side fixes and adjustments result the messenger using less bandwidth, something which it’s been hungry for.

A small update to the video player included in some posts (such as the recent posting of the video from Current.TV). The player now properly supports fullscreen playback. Clicking on the [o] button will initiate a fullscreen view.

Several new gallery photos will be added shortly, for the shows in Saskatoon Winnipeg, Thunder Bay, and Sault. St. Marie.

There may be a few extra kinks or bugs due to the upgrade, so if you are experiencing issues please let us know by mailing us at bugs@matthewgood.org.

Here’s a quick rundown of recent updates to the website, and future ones:

Fan Gallery
The fan gallery continues to be updated daily, so check in to see the latest photos and additions for each stop on the tour. Thanks to all of you who have submitted photos thus far. If you have video clips which are of high quality and wish to submit them as well, send them along to admin@matthewgood.org and we’ll consider them for a future update to the gallery.

Shows Page
The shows page while not having any new dates is updated regularly now with links to each show’s photo gallery, and any mp3 or video links for past shows. So check-in to find media relating to tour stops as well.

User Accounts
We’ve done some Fall cleaning, and removed a chunk of suspect accounts which either had registration e-mails bounce back to us, or are obscure and contain non-sensical addresses (xlaijbscs@svlijbac.com). In an effort to reduce spam accounts and prevent abuse we periodically check the status of user accounts and delete those which appear not to be in use, or those that are likely spam-related. If you find yourself suddenly unable to login, we may have removed your account my accident. E-mail discussion@matthewgood.org and let us know, and we’ll re-activate your account.

Audio
The next single from Hospital Music, I’m A Window, is now playing in the A/V Player.

Coming Up
Look for a new on-site gallery for Matthew’s Flickr photos soon on the website, and possibly some new videos.

We’ve had a lot of new registered users join the site in the past month or so- welcome. We wanted to remind older users, and share some information to the newly registered folks about some of the website features, and Community aspects.

As an older member, please be mindful that some of the newer visitors may not be as familiar with this website, the history of Matthew’s writing here, or the various site features. If possible, please provide some assistance and support for them as they move around the Community and website.

Policies & Support
Though perhaps a dry read for some, please check out the Discussion and Participation Policies page for information regarding conduct in comments, the forums, and the Community IM. There is also copyright information, and help regarding comment moderation.

If you’re a new user and you have questions about the website and how to use it’s features, e-mail help@matthewgood.org and we’ll do our best to respond to you in a timely manner and provide support.

Also, you can visit the Support FAQ category, which lists all website posts having to do with its use.

Community
We’ve seen the community grow substantially since we asked for re-registration a couple months back. Fans, authors and admin at matthewgood.org have remarked about the benefits of the new Community created here, and we’re extremely proud of the overwhelming majority of users who consistently engage each other in insightful discussion and debate with others.

That said, there are occasions where discussion become derogatory, defamatory, or otherwise breaks the policies we’ve established to build a reasonable and civil atmosphere. Please be mindful of this when posting with each other- we’re well aware that the topics discussed often regard heated issues with passionate opinions surrounding them. We have, and will continue to, moderate those comments and threads which both derail and detract from the original discussion, and contain malicious, abusive, or otherwise inappropriate language.

Features
If you’re a new visitor here, please take advantage of the Community features at matthewgood.org. You will find extensive forums, a live messenger to communicate in real-time with other members, downloads, desktops and more. These features are available to registered members who are logged in on the website, and currently found in the sidebar links.

Moving Forward
Sometime soon the website will undergo a small theme refresh. Though not a significant overhaul, there are aspects which will be more conducive to community aspects of the website, and also reduce overhead, speeding up the website on posts and pages.

This is just a notice to those who early this afternoon experienced technical difficulties upon attempting to listen to the iTunes, Winamp, or the Windows Media Player Radio Stream for Hospital Music- the problems have been fixed, and we hope that the connection issues users previously faced have been fixed as well.

The Radio Streams require at least a DSL/Cable connection, and may, from time to time, move slightly forward or back in the playing of the stream. This is out of our control and is usually due to network congestion. Efforts have been made to optimize the stream regardless, to limit those experiences.

As mentioned previously, the Radio Stream will feature track-by-track commentary from Matthew at some point in the weeks ahead, and we’ll post here when that addition is made to the stream.