Navigation Redesign!
Due to numerous complaints, as well as for aesthetic reasons, all of the sidebars on ApolloMix have been redesigned, now single-columned, and smaller. It definitely looks a lot nicer.
However, the biggest change isn't in the standard everywhere sidebars... but the one one that drops down from the top. As you can see, in addition to being redesigned in terms of looks, it now lets you know when new posts are made on forum topics, sheets, and just about everything else! More updates to come.
Thanks for helping make ApolloMix what it is!
Monthly Recap
Wow, what a month!
A lot has happened in the one month ApolloMix has been back. We have a couple new pieces of sheet music that have been starred, and a few more that are currently in the revision stages. Furthermore, longtime member ShadowOnTheSun uploaded a couple of his own compositions and remixes, all of which are phenomenal. If you're not inspired to write anything, listen to some of his works!
Now... a lot of people may be wondering about what's going on behind the scenes at ApolloMix, and what you can expect in upcoming weeks.
Quite a lot!
I don't want to spoil anything, but you can rest assured that the #1 priority on our to-do list is to bring the community closer together. Our plans for doing so include, but are definitely not limited too, enabling personal-messaging, and providing a graphical interface sorting new posts.
Furthermore, we hope to release official standards regarding which sheets can be starred, and an updated terms and conditions page, in addition to a new privacy policy, outlining your rights.
However... we need your help too! Invite your friends! Submit sheet music! Help us out! If you want to see our databases grow as much as we do, we need people to fill them.
Lastly, we hope be making updates regarding the status of the website every two weeks or so. Roughly. Keep checking back, and thanks for making the site what it is!
Can't Login?
Hey there!
A lot of people have reported problems logging in. This is due to the database rewrite. The website's security has increased phenomenally, but unfortunately, that means your old password no longer works, and you will have to reset it. Don't worry; it is a painless, easy process!
Sorry for the confusion!
Welcome to ApolloMix!
"Whoa, what happened?"
That's what you may be asking yourself right now. Actually, that's what I'm asking myself right now. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls. ApolloMix was just upgraded. Before your start looking around, let me give you a little background on why I wasted the past year of my life working behind the scenes on an ApolloMix upgrade.
ApolloMix is a fantastic website. It has a great number of daily visitors, a large collection of sheet music and soundtracks, and an awesome administration behind it. However, after its first month or two of high publicity and user interaction, it slowed down. ApolloMix lost its lustor. The staff tried everything to get it back; we added new features, we updated the database almost daily, but still, no new members came and stuck around. We were at a loss of what to do.
Well, most of us were.
I, being the site's programmer and sole backend designer, knew that the site's lack of structure was solely responsible for limiting user interactions. On top of that, it made adding new updates, and FIXING the absence of structure, next to impossible... a little something I like to call 7/8 impossible. (argh, oh my gosh Frank, shut UP, I'm trying to write a news article! I don't care if Ganondorf looks like an idiot.)
Ah yes, Frank. I have always been the adventurous, motivated type. I've always worked hard, and set high goals. Can anyone guess what I did this time? I told myself, "I'm going to make one of my best online friends a birthday present." Now, what could I possibly make him, if we live wayyyyy far away from each other? I'm not gonna mail him anything. Then it clicked. It clicked like a blazing supernova inside a crazy-huge black hole x2. Let me tell you; it was a crazy click. But I was daring.
So, working for about a year on end completely behind the scenes, I started to rebuild ApolloMix. I was careful in all of my programming. I did my best to ensure everything works, (if you find any errors, let me know!) and I remade ApolloMix. And I finished. Obviously, I missed Frank's birthday, but I made it just in time for Christmas! Spread the word, guys! ApolloMix is back, and bigger and badder (and radder!) than ever.
With that said, MERRY CHRISTMAS, Frank! Merry Christmas, die-hard fans! Merry Christmas, ApolloMix!
What's New?
With ApolloMix's upgrade, numerous advanced features have been installed, with the previously existing ones upgraded. Be amazed!
Studio Perhaps the most important new feature of them all, all members are now given their own, unique studio. What is a studio? Well, in simplest terms, a member studio is basically a portfolio of all of the member's interactions on ApolloMix. This includes a list of the sheet music the member arranged, a list of the member's original compositions, and even a list of the member's remixes.
But that's not all.
Member studios are also completely customizable with CSS! Though the studios all have a nice, simple, integrated design by default, nearly all aspects of the studios can be edited. For an example of what I mean, click here. Though I refrained from moving stuff around, I completely changed my studio's color scheme. If you're jealous, don't be: anyone can do it with a little practice!
Furthermore, the studios feature all of the member's forum topics and blog posts. If you are curious as to what someone has been writing about, a quick glance at his or her studio will tell you everything you need to know about the person. If you're feeling exceptionally intrusive, you can even click the "Information" link. (don't worry about your email being exposed to others, though; you can hide it by navigating to your own studio, and clicking "Edit Profile."
Sheet Music You might be asking yourself right about now, "wait... sheet music has always been available!" Well, ask no more, for indeed it has. However, it was not new and improved! With ApolloMix's upgrade, the sheet database has been completely remodeled. Now, not only are the best (starred!) sheets easily viewable by the public, those that have remained unstarred are not penalized... and are just as honored and obvious as the others, excluding the little "star" trophy. 
Who wants that anyway?
Oh, and by the way. Me, being the little hero that I am, slightly screwed up the featured sheet list during the upgrade, and not all sheets that were featured before are starred now. Live with it; we here at ApolloMix will clean that up eventually.
Soundtracks Not much has changed here. Just some design widgets. (however, the whole backend was rewritten by yours truly for increased speed and performance. Send me thank-you's!
Compositions DING DING DING! WE HAVE ANOTHER NEW FEATURE! A lot of people have wanted ApolloMix to accept original compositions in the past. However, due to the disorganization of the previous site, we never got around to changing that. With the site's recreation, though, let me tell you: new features galore! The composition side of the website is relatively simple (and absolutely lonely!) but should bloom when some of you guys get around to uploading music! Oh, and did I mention that all compositions are sorted into albums? How cool is that?
You should probably note, however, that MP3 uploads only work with smaller files, due to lack of server processing power. We're cheap, we know. Hopefully we'll find a fix for that soon.
Remixes Due to my being lazy, I'm going to give in to lack of originality, and just use the following tag: see above.
Forum The forum has also gone over a complete overhaul. However, that overhaul has a twist. (lol, over-and-under-and-back-around-haul) All sheet music, soundtracks, compositions, and remixes, as well as news updates, are seamlessly integrated into the forum! This is a powerful design technique that allows for maximum feedback on all sections of the site, while also allowing for members to interact in close, peer-reviewed and commented discussions. I know how entrepeneurial that sounds, but hey, I know what I'm talking about.
