Brad

OK, I aligned it to the left like the top one, and added the little folder icon as well to keep things consistent. If anyone complains, it's Aaron's fault :) I'll look into the Instant Messaging/Skype thing right now.

OK, there should be a bar right above the Quick Reply box with the links. Let me know if you think it should be moved or changed in any way.

Do you mean these kinds of links: GottaDeal.com Forums > GottaDeal.com Off Topic > Discuss GottaDeal.com ? That wouldn't be a problem

Everything will pretty much be in the same place it is now, just a few minor changes to the look (more blue and orange accents to go with the logo). For example, there will still be the drop down menus on the left column, the same links on a horizontal bar across the top of the page, etc... As the site gets closer to being done we are thinking about asking a few of you to beta test it and see if you can break it or offer even more suggestions. We'll let you know more about this when the time comes.

A customizable home page could be an option, but it would be a matter of deciding how to do it. We could have a cookie, which means each time you access the site you'd have to customize it again. Another option is a user login system (which could be tied in to the deal alerts, daily deal update mailing list, maybe the forum as well). That would be a little more complicated, but is still possible. Maybe have a universal login. You login once and you are logged in to the forum, your customized home page shows up, you can change alert & e-mail settings, maybe get your own gottadeal.com e-mail account, etc... We'd like more feedback on this - would you use something like this or would it be a waste of my time to code something like that. Something like that is easier if you use a 3rd party CMS system, but since the main site is custom coded, something like that would have to be created from scratch.

That would be considered a "deal e-mail alert" which is one of the ideas I gave in the first message. Something like that could be possible...

How would you define "hottest"?

Well as you can see we now have a little drop down menu in the upper right corner of all forum pages. Just select a store, hit the "Shop" button and you will be taken to that store through our affiliate link, if we have one for that retailer.

We are in the early stages of designing the next version of the main GottaDeal site. We launched the site on 1/1/04, and then had version 2 ready to go (along with these forums) on 6/1/04. We anticipate launching the next version sometime this spring or early summer. We have received great feedback on the current site, and we know that our visitors like the clean layout, photos of the deal items, and the fact that we don't have any advertising whatsoever. Those 3 things will remain the same. We're not going to do a dramatic overhaul where you can't find your way around the site. Things on the site will for the most part look similar - just a little more polished with some new features. That is where you, our loyal visitors, come into play. We have our own thoughts, but we want your ideas for things you would like to see in the next version. No suggestion is off-limits. Even if it seems impossible, post it anyway. If you like something on one of our competitor's sites, let us know and and we'll steal it and make it better (they steal our deals all the time - might as well as take something from them, ). Some new features that we're already planning on including: new layout graphics (logo & color scheme will be staying the same)better search results (including main site and forum threads)detailed rebate information for each deal (URL to form, amount, expiration date)ability to customize the deals shown - pick a specific store, category, rebates (yes/no/either), date range, etc... or any combination of those and then sort the deals by date posted, item price, etc... for example, "show me all flash drive deals at buy.com that don't involve rebates sorted by final price"better labeling of expired deals (to the best of our efforts)forum stats box on the main site with things like # of users, threads, posts and online users (to hopefully encourage more people who just visit the main site to join us here)less text with the deal descriptions - will allow for more deals per screen and faster load timessingle page listing all retailers with affiliate links to help support the siteThose things will definitely be in the next version. I have plenty of time to code a bunch of other features, so just let us know what you want. Some ideas - deal e-mail alerts, better ways to comment on deals, more customization options, forum enhancements, regularly scheduled deal chats, contest ideas, types of deals that we should post more/less of, possible merchandise to offer, ways to help you spread the word about the site. We just want ideas. We'll leave this thread open for a few weeks and see how things go. Once the new design launches, we'll randomly pick someone who gave us at least one idea in this thread and they will win a $25 gift certificate to a mutually agreeable online retailer :)

I go into the MySQL database and manually search the "old-school" way, lol. Actually just the Quick Search :)

Good suggestion. We will have much more recongnizable ways to support the site in the future. We currently have some top-secret stuff under development for the next version of GottaDeal, so all these suggestions will be incorporated.

Yes we are. To use our affiliate link, click the TG logo on this page: http://www.gottadeal.com/coupons-store-thinkgeek.html We are working on a page that has all our affiliated retailers on it to make it easier for you guys to help support the site when you shop.

There is now a field for your Skype username in your profile. Click on User CP, then Edit Profile

I think we can add it via the admin control panel - no "hacking" needed

LOL

looks like this deal is dead

Orinoco Gold for $24.88 @ J&R: http://www.jr.com/JRProductPage.process?Product=4021837

exactly - price would be the only reason, unless you need an external antenna or something.

If you want WiFi, a good option is the Dell Wireless 1350 Internal Wireless (802.11b/g, 54Mbps) Mini-PCI card [add $29] or you could go with a cheap PC card.

The fact that there are no rebates makes it an even nicer deal. Get that low price "out the door". Good basic laptop. I don't see any upgrades that would be worth it, so you're better off doing those yourself for things like the HD and RAM.

They just released a new $55 code to replace the other one that had the max 2000 uses. The new code is 2202KZX7B311VC. So both LCDs are once again available for $506 :)

i'll see about adding them. they don't have as many coupons and don't usually let us know about them ahead of time like dell home. many of the dell business coupons are one-time-use that they send out via e-mail.

The new coupons are now in the database. They are listed on the new coupon page, but the actual codes won't be displayed until the times listed :)

Upcoming Dell Coupons: Save $300 on the purchase of select DimensionTM desktops $999 + Free shipping+ Free Flat Panel Upgrade (select systems) Save $500 on the purchase of select InpironTM notebooks $1399 + Free shipping (select systems) Save $600 on the purchase of select InpironTM notebooks $1699 + Free shipping (select systems) Save $750 on the purchase of select InpironTM notebooks $1999 + Free shipping (select systems) Save $600 on the Dell 42" HD Plasma TV's Save $500 on the Dell 30" LCD TVs Save $50 on the purchase of select Dell Printers orders $100 or more Save 15% on select Kodak Digital Cameras Save 30% on this specially configured Axim X30 624MHz bundle (evalue-code 11111-X30624S) Save $55 on select Electronics and Accessories orders of $475 Save $45 on select Electronics and Accessories orders of $400 Save $40 on select Electronics and Accessories orders of $375 Save $35 on select Electronics and Accessories orders of $325 Save $20 on select Electronics and Accessories orders of $225 So the $750 coupon will be back, but you have to spend $1999 instead of $1499

Added the list of expired coupons at the bottom of the page. For now it'll list all of them, but once the list gets too long I might have it show the last X number of coupons or from the last X number of weeks/months. Also, if it makes it easier to remember, you can also access that page using this URL: http://dell.gottadeal.com