Model Railroading > Planning for the future

I took the day off of work today do to a cold. Since there was nothing worth watching on TV I spent a good part of the day doodling about what upgrades I want to make to Trainorders. I have outlined my major goals and invite comments to my email address.

Major Modifications:

New server with a redundant disk system and security monitoring software for keeping hackers out. More powerful processor and lots of memory to take advantage of new technologies. Software upgrades of web server, database server, mail server, and other core components.

Conversion of the mail system to only forward email to a permanent email address somewhere else with the ability to turn this option off. I am considering eliminating the full email features currently offered. What this will mean is if someone sends email to your username@trainorders.com account it will be forwarded to your permanent email account that you may be using such as Earthlink or AOL. You will also be able to turn this feature off and accept no mail with the sender being sent a rejection notice.

A system for accepting credit cards online so new users can get online instantly without having to wait a week for me to process their registrations. The volume is currently at over 30 new users a month so I think this is justifiable and will save me time. It will also be helpful for overseas users who have a difficult time sending payment.

Completion of the half completed never released railroad news system. I plan to allow a group of volunteers to post regular articles and news items.

New online store to take advantage of upgraded server security. Users have asked why I closed the store I use to have. It generated an income, but my biggest problem involved security holes in the system. Just because you see the little key at the bottom of your browser doesn’t mean your credit card is secure. I estimate 80+% of internet stores are not secure and I will not subject my customers to the hassle of having their card stolen. Heck, last year my credit card was stolen from an online merchant as a result of a hacker. I got the call late one Sunday evening from the card company telling me my card was compromised, though no purchases were made yet. They would not tell me which merchant it was, but I know it was one of the biggies like Microwarehouse, Buy.com, or Amazon.com.


Minor Upgrades:

Minor modifications to the discussion forums to allow for more powerful search functions.

Additional features to the media library to allow for voting of favorite photos. Also allow for sorting of photos from highest rated to lowest rated.

Todd Clark
Trainorders.com
tclark@coppermedia.com

Todd,
It would not bother me one bit to loose my e-mail account as most of the time it just spam.
When I respond to someone on TO, I give them my personal e-mail address to reply to.
gtirr

Question: Would this pop up email notify the sender of my "real" email address? I know a number of people use work 'pooters and some bosses frown on this type of thing, esp. if its just too blatant a use of company resources. I on;y use this email for private communications w/other TO folk, and find it useful for that. however, if it makes the sight work better overall, and if it streamlines the cash flow, I don't have that big a problem with it.

All sound good. I check permanent email much more often, and don't a need another account. The security beef up sounds good in view of the problems I just went through.

Thank you for an already fine site.
Herb

I wouldn't mind losing E-mail to/from the outside world, but I'd like to see a downgraded e-mail system for members only. There's times that I would like to send a message to someone on the board, and I don't want to bore everyone else in a forum.

It'd be nice to have a new mail indication, too...

VunderBob Hostetler

From my point of view I think you've got it covered, Todd. Regarding the on-line security angle, I think you can only do so much or it simply becomes a challenge to the hacker. The best solution I have found is an email order to the company, with them passing back a phone number which you ring to confirm the order and give your card details. It isn't foolproof - but I've had no problem so far, ordering from USA to UK - touch wood!

While you are talking about upgrades... maybe you can see if there is some way to keep your servers online better. There are a lot of times I get a "server not found" error when trying to connect to www.trainorders.com