Lots of updates to the database...

Over Easter I had a chance to fix and add a number of things in the database. There are a couple more things left to do, but the bulk is done. Here is a small run down of what's new:

Added a stats page that includes around 50 statistics from the database, including popular teams, numbers, jerseys and players. As well as most common names, counts, hits, created signatures and avatars plus more...

The "Who's New" and "Top Jerseys" pages now allow you to browse by lots of 100, so you are no longer limited to those displayed but can go backwards in forwards in the lists.

Page numbers are now implemented for search results of more than 100. This makes the loading faster and makes way for listings for teams with very large numbers of jerseys. (There will soon be nearly 2,000 Steelers players in the database.)

All search results now include a thumbnail of the jersey, this is not a smaller version of the regular sized one but a completely separate image. This make it easier to browse the results as well as increases loading times and the image quality in IE and Firefox.

You can now click on player names and team names as links to the results in the database that correspond to them. This saves having to do a new search when you find a player or team you want to see. To see the preview image of a jersey you now click on the thumbnail.

User created jerseys, of which there are nearly 3,000 now, are now clearly marked with a small orange jersey in the search results. Hovering over it will tell you the creator's name. Clicking on it will take you to their jersey page.

There are now small green plus buttons in the database that allow you to add to a jersey's popularity points in the database. Clicking on the button will add 1 point to their rank and also give the creator of the jersey positive feedback. You are encouraged to use these for jersey's you like, and especially if they are a completed request of yours.

Search result pages now include a "Sort by Popularity" and a "Sort by Date Added" button. The second will be especially helpful if you just want to know which jerseys were last added for a particular team.

Not exactly database related but the forum now includes some new icons...

Using the browse option in the database (the buttons with the jersey counts on them) will now simply show you a table of the teams available as well as the total number of jerseys for that team available. I removed the search area from these pages as well as the list of latest jerseys. This makes it more logical to use now that the number of teams have grown.

There is now a section for all of the mascots in the database. This will be continuously added to as we try and cover the more known mascots in the world of sports...

All listings of search results now include small list numbers that make it easier to see where you are in the results as well as find your way back to where you were. These will also tell you the exact rank of jersey by popularity etc if sorted that way.

Not available to everyone, but of interest to those who may want to be a contributor in the future, I have created User Control Panels for people actively making jerseys. These pages allow you to upload zip files and images, as well as enter your player's information. This greatly expedites the process for getting the jerseys actually into the database. In addition to this each person has a detailed list of the stats for their submissions as well as the ability to edit them.

I am now encouraging any future submissions to the site to first be posted in the forum in the "Feedback" section of "Making Jerseys". This is important since it gives people a chance to get some other opinions and possible help before doing an entire roster. It's never fun to redo 60 of these things if you forgot something...

www.jerseydatabase.com

This Weekend is Mascot Weekend

In response to a thread in the Requests section of the forum, this Easter weekend (starting tomorrow) will be officially "Mascot Weekend" as we try to get some of the better known professional mascot's jerseys into the database.

You can help by posting images featuring the backs of your favorite team mascots in the thread here, called Mascots Section. User sabrefangoalie92 has compiled some good lists of names and numbers to go. Wikipedia has a section of pro sports mascots found here. Here is the NHL's complete list with images. And don't forget Mascotnet!.

*Image features the greatest, and most useless, invention of all time: the hot dog gun.

Become an Affiliate

A lot of people contact me requesting to be able to use the jersey images from the database on their websites. In hopes of making the process a bit easier I've created an affiliate section here on the site, by becoming an affiliate you are given full permission to use any of the images on your web pages.

The section, found here, currently contains links to sites that have been featured on the widgets or in other ways have been associated with the website.

To become an affiliate simply send the image you would like used in your frame. As well as the address to your website to hockeywidgets_at_gmail.com

Where's my signature!

Dear friends,

Due to the unforeseen popularity of the Signature Maker that is available on this site I am unable to host the images here anymore. The amount of information that the server was being required to process has pretty much crippled the ability to use and navigate this website. The simultaneous connections resulted in not only pages not being able to be rendered, as well as errors, but also a lack of stability when it came to the images themselves.

You can still create the signatures in the same fashion, however you will first be required to save the image generated locally to your computer (on a Mac you can simply drag it to the desktop, on a PC right click on your signature and choose to save it.) Once you have done so you can use a free image hosting site such as photobucket.com or imageshack.us to upload it to the net and use it on a forum. I'm sorry about the inconvenience but I was really left with no choice due to the amount of server errors. Since I am no longer actually hosting the images here you are free to choose whether you want the site watermark or not. I'd appreciate it, but I can't force it on anyone. At this point I think most people know where to find where the signatures come from.

Please understand that this is for the good of everyone who wants to use the signatures and for the sake of those that don't but are using the same forum.

Thanks for being understanding,
KP
HockeyWidgets.com

If you can still see your signature I suggest saving it now, as it will soon be deleted from my server.
You can read more in the forum here.

You will temporarily (the next day or two) be able to access your old signature by adding this to the address:
http://www.hockeywidgets.com/sig/old/sigs/YOURSIGNATURENUMBER.png

If it is too late to get your signature in the way named above, and you are truly in a situation where you need/must have your old signature, contact me with the image address and your e-mail address and I will try and locate it locally for you.

In Memory of Pelle Lindbergh

Outside of Stockholm, about 15 minutes by subway, lies the UNESCO heritage site of Skogskyrkogården (the woodland cemetery). It is an amazing work of architecture as well as landscaping and the final resting place of some of Sweden's most famous sons and daughters. One such person is Pelle Lindbergh, who's grave in a quiet corner is not unlike the thousands of others - anonymous and unknown to most people that visit the cemetery. Only the Flyers symbol and engraved "#31" tell the tale of one of the greatest goalies Sweden has ever produced and one of the greatest the NHL has ever seen. Someone who's life was tragically ended at just 26.

He is remembered by many. Occasionally small items are left as tokens of appreciation from fans both local and far away (such as the puck in the picture.) The guest book in the information center bares an unusually high number of addresses from the Philadelphia area. It's an emotional thing to see, and one can never quite escape the thought of "what could have been" as a Flyers fan. At the same time one reflects on what was: a bronze medal winner at Lake Placid in 1980, a Vezina Trophy winner, a two-time All Star and the highest vote getter in 1986 posthumously, and loved in a city far from his home...

My brother, who was visiting from the States, and I were there last week. It's close to where I live, but when you stand there and see the name "Pelle Lindbergh" you are far away, 22 years back in time. We were kids on a bus going to elementary school where we heard the news report that shook the foundations of Philadelphia sports and made anyone at that age destined to love the sport of hockey and the Flyers for the rest of their lives. And there you stand for a few minutes and remember, and then you go...

There is an excellent website about Pelle Lindbergh in both Swedish and English that can be found at PelleLindbergh.se. It contains a great deal that cannot be found anywhere else including videos and interviews.