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First an apology for teasing an update before Christmas and then not delivering on it. We did have an update ready to go, but decided that it wouldn’t be smart to put it out at a time when everyone’s focus was on something else and our update could be so easily overlooked and quickly forgotten.

So without further adieu … here’s where things stand …

Aside from a few minor issues the site is for all intents and purposes finished.

The design is implemented. There are a few css-related formatting issues with which we’re not yet satisfied. There are also a few pages — particularly in the FAQ — where we think the language isn’t clear or concise enough and we want all those pages to be rewritten before launch. We understand and expect that there will always be questions we’ll have to answer, but we want to be sure that the language at the site isn’t prompting more questions than it answers.

Aside from those, the final two steps before launch are 1) a thorough link check, wherein we click EVERY link in the code (both logged in and logged out) to make sure all the pointers are correct and 2) populating the site with content. Step 2 involves listing, generating, proofing, and uploading all the files available for download. Both steps are presently underway. We’re making good progress on both, but we still have over 500 titles waiting to be listed and added. So that alone could take a few days.

Once the formatting is fixed and the language rewrite and the link check are completed we will launch — even if we still have some pending titles not yet added and available.

We don’t want to give a firm date (few things make one look more foolish than missing a self-imposed deadline), but if all goes well we fully expect to be live within a week or two. Maybe earlier.

More to come …

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IndyPlanet Digital will feature listings by publisher. This is something we’ve never done at IndyPlanet (although we will be implementing the same feature there soon). The listings by publisher will be showcased in two ways — one will be a simple list of publishers which when clicked will show all of a given publisher’s offerings and the second way will be a tab incorporated into the listing of each item. When this tab is clicked the user will see all of the issues available from that publisher without leaving the listing that they were viewing.

To go along with the publisher listing we’ll be allowing publishers to submit a publisher banner graphic. As with our IndyPlanet Digital mainpage banners though we’re going to be very exacting in our requirements and whether or not a submitted banner is actually used at the site will be at our discretion. We’re not going to be as strict about the aesthetics on the publisher banners as we are on the mainpage banners. The standards for a mainpage banner that will be seen by almost every site visitor is understandably different from that of a smaller banner that appears on an interior site page. We are going to demand strict compliance with our specifications however and any banner that doesn’t conform to the specs will not be included. Unlike with the mainpage banners, if your publisher banner is rejected then we’ll let you know why and you’ll be able to make the changes necessary to submit a banner that can be listed.

Here are the specifications — (these can also be seen on sample graphic accompanying this post)
) Your publisher banner MUST be 800 pixels wide by 90 pixels high with NO border.
2) Your publisher banner should consist of a single background image and include the publisher’s logo … and NOTHING else. No slogans, no urls, no creator names, etc. Just a background image and a logo. That’s it.
3) The publisher logo must be at least 24 pixels from the right and left edges of the banner, centered of course is always best.

The uploader for the publisher banner can be found in the “edit profile” section of Ka-Blam User Control Panel.

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There’s still a HUGE backlog of content waiting to be added and we’ve still got a few cosmetic things I’m hoping to get fixed, but come hell or high water the site goes live Monday morning. We’ll be working furiously over the weekend to get as many titles listed as we possibly can by launch and we’ll continue to list new titles at a furious clip even AFTER we launch.

Most issues will be priced at just 99¢ and there will also be a LOT of full issues available for FREE download.

More to come …