Why The Need to Redevelop?

My website was originally created in 2005 using Joomla v1 as a profile / showcase website and I learned how to develop and manage a website from this start and over the years, migrated to new versions always sticking to Joomla since it is what I knew and served a simple purpose of the time.

2013 when I started developing preset libraries for Ableton Push and later Komplete Kontrol I needed to update things to handle checkouts and downloads and while I was able to shoehorn in some very crude solutions, it didn't offer much flexibility and the way it assigned products to accounts had a limitation which is now being reached along with the Joomla 3 platform being discontinued and the PHP version needed to run the site on the edge of being dropped by the host with none of the main plugins I use able to migrate to later versions of Joomla... 

There have also been constant issues plaguing the site which many will know such as the issue where you appear to be logged out when accessing some pages even tho you you have logged in and the lack of accessibility in certain parts of the site, but for the most part it has done well to serve the number of users and files it has managed.

What is the Current Status / Goal? 

I started looking into new Joomla versions over the last 2 years and while I would have loved to stick to what I know, after some tests it was apparent that I would still have a lot of work due to having to find new supported shop / download components and migrate things into new systems so I decided i'd switch over to the better supported WordPress. This increases a lot of cost due to heavy reliance on 3rd party plugins and constant subscription needs, however I save a lot by developing myself but lose much free time :( 

To be brutally honest, my goal at the start of the year was to maintain my current site for as long as possible and likely just close it down when it reached end of life, this was especially my thought when I had a major issue 6 weeks ago where I could not access the back end of the site due to the company that developed the template I use closing business and switching off their authentication servers causing the site to fail. Luckily I was able to find out what component was phoning the server and code out the call to fix the issue but after I took the site offline for about a week to investigate (planning to not bring it back) and having a flood of users begging me not to close it down I decided to kick into gear and get this new one started.

In the last 6 weeks I have now a fully designed and working replacement so I thank those that extended their deepest support and appreciation, I wouldn't bother if it wasn't for people out there as this is what my website is all about.

While I hope to have this all available by end of year so I can get back to updating libraries in the new year, I also have to work other jobs and typically get only weekends and nights to work on the website now so some time off over xmas will really help. 

What To Expect

For most of you this is just another website that isn't much of a thought, but for others the site is used as a springboard to find NKS supported libraries knowing that whatever I list will be well supported both via NKS and after sales support. I want to make this a simple and reliable process so here is some of the things to expect: 

• Clean/Simple layout based on a dark template and bright text, similar in layout to the old site
• No advertising, while I could make money by filling the space with ads I choose to keep my site ad free
• Simplified browsing of libraries and checkout/cart process
• Quick search feature and library tags make it simple to find libraries and similar instrument possibilities
• Currency switcher to show the approx cost in AUD/USD/CAD/JPY/GBP (possibly more on request)
• Smoother checkout process with Paypal, Credit Card, Google Pay and Apple Pay options directly available.
• Possibility to integrate more payment options such as Skrill/Stripe if enough interest
• Automated discount system applies bulk / bundle discounts to purchases automatically
• Unlimited ability to add libraries and bundles to the site (previously heavily limited)
• Direct download of demos and previous purchases from the library shopping area
• All past purchases and downloads are still listed in the account with easy to download invoices
• A LOT of streamlined processes from the backend side. Everything on the old site was a manual page and shortcode creation which was time consuming to manage. This now cuts time down to 1/3 to manage even just a simple product update. 
• Many future possibilities

I am also looking into some other interesting avenues of possibly starting up development of Push libraries again due to a lot of requests and possibly even some other DAW support projects and preset/sample packs too. If you have suggestions on things you believe I should look into that could really help people in production, let me know.

IMPORTANT: User Accounts & Past Purchases

So this is the only downside to this migration, while I should be able to migrate the user accounts into the new site (names, username and email) users will have to reset passwords which is not a huge deal and is probably a good thing anyway to be secure. 

The next issue is there is simply no easy way to migrate previous purchases automatically into the new system but I have a full record of every user account and their purchases so I can easily assign things back manually but this will need to be requested manually by each user since this is a huge amount of manual work to do all at one time. More details on this when it goes live but be aware and don't panic.

Another thing to be mindful of is while every effort will be invested to carry over all libraries, some will either not initially be available or not at all. Some libraries of older discontinued plugins or VST2 only plugins may be omitted however I keep backups and records of everything so no stress, just message me about your concerns.  

Seeking Help

I am looking for anyone who may have pretty good skills in data migration (such as assigning products to users in woocommerce programatically via SQL query) that may be able to offer advice and also for some users who rely on accessibility, specifically mac users just to test how it works for them.

If you are interested to test drive navigation of the new site I have it accessible online, just reply back and I can let you know what I need tested (just basically if it is easy to navigate with a screen reader is the main thing). I would stress tho to NOT purchase anything unless it is meant as a donation as all user accounts registered in the test period will be deleted.

So thanks to those that have offered their support, hopefully this will be worth the time and effort to at least make things much easier moving forward.

 

 

 

Small Fix for Roland Cloud AIRA Libraries

A few extra fixes for the AIRA libraries and expansions. The main factory library did not have banks set for the factory banks so this has now been fixed. There was also missing tagging for the System-8 expansion content which has now all been tagged.

The expansion bank "Mello" for System-8 was not in its own directory so this has also been fixed

This is all updated in the AIRA Collection + Expansion Bundle and also the Complete Roland Cloud bundle. If you want to fix these issues just download the updated libraries (you will see the latest dates alongside them) and delete the existing NKS presets in "...User Library\Roland Cloud\AIRA" and replace with the latest versions

Small Fix for JD-800 Expansions

Fixed bank JD-800 "Brothertiger" not having correct bank label for NKS browser, was appearing under the Factory bank.

This is downloadable in either the Complete bundle or the Legendary Expansion Bundle

To update, download either of these and you just need to locate and replace the following expansion, tho you can delete the whole "Legendary Collection Expansions" folder and recopy all of the files:

"...User Library\Roland Cloud\Legendary Collection Expansions\JD-800\Brothertiger"

Get updates from your download area:

https://freelancesoundlabs.com/nks/mydownloads

 

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Now Available: Roland Earth Piano

https://freelancesoundlabs.com/nks/earthpiano

 

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