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Welcome to the new Cinema Treasures site!
posted by
Patrick Crowley
on
October 7, 2003 at 5:45 pm
We’re proud to announce we’ve given the Cinema Treasures site a massive makeover, with TONS of new features and improvements.
When we launched this site nearly three years ago, we never expected it would grow as quickly as it did. As a result, we’ve experienced some definite growing pains, as the site repeatedly dwarfed our ability to support it.
So, over the past few months, we’ve totally rebuilt Cinema Treasures, applying everything we’ve learned over the past three years. In fact, there are so many changes to discuss that we’ll be highlighting a major new feature every day this week. But for now, here’s a quick list of some of the top changes/improvements.
New Features
+ Use your new account to comment on theater news and your favorite theaters
+ Update your user profile with your favorite theaters and movies
+ Monitor your favorite theaters for new comments
+ Read only the stories that interest you with our news categories
+ Discuss interesting articles with other users
+ Email articles to yourself or friends
+ Take Cinema Treasures on the road — with our printer-friendly articles
+ Use our improved theater browsing tools to find your favorite theaters
+ Get credit for submitting theater news stories
Upgrading Your User Account
To make this transition easier for our existing users, we’ve already created accounts for anyone who registered to make a comment on the old site. If you did register, you’ll be receiving an email with instructions on how to update your account. (If you don’t receive anything from us, but are sure you’ve already registered, please contact us and we’ll look into it.)
If you signed up for our newsletter, but did not use our comments system, you will need to create a new Cinema Treasures account, which you can do by becoming a member. (You’re still signed up for our newsletter, but will need an account to take full advantage of the new site.)
More To Come
Due to the complexity of this uprgade, we haven’t had a chance to import older content (like previous news stories and your theater comments). But don’t worry! Within a few weeks, everything will be migrated over to the new site.
The Last Remaining Seats And Beyond
In closing, we’re incredibly excited about this new site, and its potential for helping to save theaters. We hope you enjoy it!
Warm regards,
Ross and Patrick
Co-Founders, Cinema Treasures
Comments (42)
So what do you guys think of the new site?
Honestly, this site was pretty incredible before. Now it has become state of the art. When y'all set your minds to doing something and doing it right, you really do it don’t you?
But it’s really the new categories and the more navigable theatre guide that shine through. There are more categories that make better sense and the Theatre Guide is almost encyclopedic.
There are more sites out there that could use your winning touch. Please keep up the great work!!!
Mike Perazzetti
You need to get add-a-photo working again! It’s been out for nearly a year and I have dozens of theatres to add to the database, but I don’t want to do it until I can add my photos of them too!
Ohmigosh…the site is wonderful!
The navigation is very cool and
extremely friendly for the eyes.
I too have photos for theatres that I have submitted
plus I have like 30 more NC theatres that I don’t have
listed. I also need to ammend one of the names of the theatres that I
submitted. I found out what her real name is.
Hello, May I suggest that you adopt the
spelling “theaTRE” in consideration that
that is industry standard spelling as
compared to “live” theaTER. Several of
the “founding fathers” of exhibition
adopted that spelling in the 1920’s to
differentiate themselves from other forms
of theater entertainment.
Thanks,
Allen Tomlinson
Washington, D.C.
I think the new site looks great. I do, however, hope that the comments will be returned to every theater profile as information contained in comments is often most current and accurate.
Congratulations and thanks a million for all the work you have put into the new website. I spent hours on the old website discovering some great theatres around the world. Now I look forward to learning even more.
Martin Chapman
Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
The new site is much more easy to follow although it is a change to get used to when you are used to navigating the old site. I like Roger Katz wish that the Add A Photo feature was up and running. I have a back log of photos to add. For every theatre that I have submitted to the New Theatre section I have a photo for it. When you look at the number of theatres listed (over 3000) and the number with pictures (A little over 1500) it shows you that something is lacking.
Chuck Van Bibber
St. Louis, Mo.
I too will add my request for the quick return of the Add-A-Photo. As I have traveled around the country for the past 12 months I have collected a large number of photos of non-catalogued theaters.
The site is wonderful, state-of-the-art. Well worth the wait.I would like to encourage new theater submitters to include the address. It makes it much easier to find the theater when I am out on a road trip.
The new site is extraordinary. I know it has been a lot of hard work and has taken a lot of time. It will take me some time to get used to it and take full advantage of its new features. Thank you very much. Like some of the other site users, I have much to add but will wait until I get more familiar with all these new features. Congratulations.
Wher is the daily news updates?
Kevin — we’ll primarily be focusing on the new site for the remainder of the week. Regular news updates will resume on Monday.
Dave, Chuck, and Roger — Ross and I are also very eager to get Add-A-Photo back online.
What this site needs is a photo gallery system that’s capable of supporting multiple photos for thousands of theaters. So, if you do the math, we need something that can scale to support tens of thousands of images (which the old version of Add-A-Photo clearly could not).
The good news is that, with the new site, we’re much, much, MUCH closer to this happening. While it’s too soon to announce a release date, you can probably guess restoring this feature will be one of our top projects once the book is finished.
Excellent job ! I’ve always enjoyed your site very much. I have plenty of Maryland and Delaware Material when you are ready.
CONGRATULATIONS
Ross and Patrick and everyone else for your hard work on this new site and the old one.
Great Work
Thanks William
For my first visit to the site, I find it very well laid out. However, I am aggravated that I cannot access archives from May 2002 for a story I am doing on The Movies Theater in Hellertown. How the heck can I get these archives?
EXCELLANT EFFORT!!!!! Great site, I was thrilled when I first found “Cinema Treasures” way back when, and am so thrilled to see the new improvements.This site is so motovational to those of use who live with these “old palaces” everyday of our lives and attempt to keep them going. Great work Ross and Patrick, I look forward to meeting you personally some day.
The new site looks great!
Well, I must echo the others in their praise of evident effort in creating this new format for your site. The new and expanded tools will help us all find that favorite theatre, and to learn so much more about those we are new to.
If there is a photo gallery feature in the works for each theatre, I am certainly looking forward to it! It is difficult to appreciate a theatre from just one (usually exterior) view, and a succession of views will help greatly. This will also allow some detail shots of unusual features that some houses had/have which takes them beyond the mundane. And it would be SO NICE if you could make each image ‘clickable’ to allow enlargement to virtually full screen size!!
One thing I do miss is the banner logo (name of Cinema Treasures). I realize that you want to adopt an entirely new look, but you do NEED some sort of name sign, at least on the front page, so people will know where they have landed without searching about. I would think it would be at the top, or directly to the right of that date window. You really could use the old graphic, since it really is the same site, and that graphic logo helped lend identity to your image.
I also look forward to the elimination of those “&hellip” or “&bull” notations now so common to the new site. No doubt they are very meaningful to those in web site construction, but for the rest of us they are just confusing. I imagine that you are looking for a program bug so you can eliminate them.
And like the others, I also look forward to the return of ALL the original COMMENTS. Will they all be returned?
Best Wishes fellows, on your noble effort.
Jim Rankin, Milwaukee
Member: www.HistoricTheatres.org
thank you Keep up the great work I am a huge fan of classic movie theatres. I hope there will be some information on more South Philadelphia And center city movie theatres of the past soon.
CONGRATULATIONS !!! Ross and Patrick
and everyone eles that has been working on your site and adding new and old theaters to your site.
I was gone from your site for over 7 months and when I came back I was shocked to see that your web site has changed alot. But thats ok with me. It looks better then ever. Keep up the great work. P.S. When will we be able to post pictures of movie theatres again EH?
Chad Irish – Burlington Ontario Canada.
Jim — the new website does have a new logo, but you may need to upgrade your web browser in order to see it. As for the ellipses and bullets, they are used to denote truncated text, such as shortened theater titles or descriptions.
Thanks for your comments on the new site and your ideas on theater photogalleries. ;)
Hey guys! There’s an article about The Oakland Fox in yesterday’s San Francisco Chronicle.
Kevin Silva
I find that because of the list on the left of the page, when I attempt to print off information about an inch and a half of the right-hand side is missing … anything you can do about this? Wonderful site! Derek.
Derek — if you want to print a theater news page, you can click on the printer icon at the bottom of the article to get a printer-friendly layout. Here’s a sample.
What a great site! I remember the Rivoli, the Strand and the Criterion from the 70’s very well.Unfortunately at that time they were showing exploition flics for the most part and only very occasionally would there be something you wanted to see there. When the Ziegfeld opened in ‘69 it was considered a mid-size house and it is still a pale shadow of those other theaters.
Are there others in the NY metro area who would be interested in seeing the ressurection of the type of wide screen theater like those above for classic films which could show wide screen classics for everything from Cinemascope to Super Panavision 70 to 3 screen
Cinerama. For NYC not to have the facilties for something like this is criminal to anyone who loves film. We have plenty of theaters suitable for art house classics(which I love) but nothing for the widescreen musicals, comedies and epics which were and could still be one of the great joys of moviegoing.
This centuries #1 art form, like it or not, is the feature film. How nice to see people that truly love not only movies but the theatres that give them life. You guys and this site are Five Stars.***** In a very few places left on earth we can buy a ticket and sneak into a beautifully dark and mysterious place. Your favorite movie Theatre. The best one on earth is Captain Bloods 1140 N.Tustin Ave. Orange Calif. 92866
Like the good job you guys are doing with this site. It would'nt do the theatre justice to tell you why and how it is differ'nt than all the rest of the theatres around, you would just have to experience it for yourself. Thats why I built it. Enjoy the show and thanks. Captain Blood
don’t think much of it… we are in Canada… I think you are on the way out… just not reliable
Great site full of information and some good photo’s.
I visit the site on a regular basis,and it keeps me well informed what is going on in other towns and citys.
Keep up the good work.
Derek Atkins. (Public Relations Officer Mercia Cinema Society).
New member. Love the site. Very easy to navigate. Spend far too much time looking through it instead of working, eating, going to bed etc. Am I sad?
Brand new member, can’t believe I found this site, I’m always amazed at the sheer abundance of accessible information there is about films and film screenings and so much less about the cinemas and the culture of film-going – congratulations!
For your records: The ‘unknown’ theatre chain for ‘National’ theatre was the Warner theatre chain,The ‘Uptown’ theatre it was the Fox theatre chain and you missed the Granada theatre. It was just across
the street from the Modjeska theatre,as that house belonged to the Warner chain as well.
ps,I have some shots of the ‘Uptown theatre but how do I submit them
This a sensational site, and the easiest website to operate and make comments with that I’ve seen on the internet. The website itself is a treasure. Thanks so much for putting it together.
Cheers,
Camden
i enjoyed the movie it was funny and romantic
i need information concerning what goes on backstage of a theater production like lighting costumes make up all of that so if someone could send me something concerning this email me at
wow! i really like this wed site. Good job!
Your site is really brill!Great job. wish you had more British cinemas.
Cinema TYreasures with- or without a website upgrade is far, far more entertaining than almost any movie I saw in many years( Except for the classics, of course)The correspondence with on line theater nuts- and movie geeks are priceless!
Very nice site…easy to navigate.
The author of the original screenplay for Thief,
has tried his hand at sci-fi.
Unlike the 1981 movie production staring James Caan and
Tuesday Weld, his lastest work, Time Ocular takes a serious
and very beleivable crack at going back in Time…or more
accurately, LOOKING back in time via a machine that has the
ability to view anything that ever happened, from minutes ago
to millions of years in the past.
Fast paced and hard to put down. I give it five stars.
Best site ever if you like movie theatres.like GodsFilms says its like a time machine.
II have said it before,I honestly thought myself and one or two others were the only ones exploring old Drive-ins and old closed theatres. Boy,was i wrong!
Do not forget the Fly-ins Mike.