It has come and gone, but October brought with it a lot of changes. Indydrafter.com has had a lot of site updates, nearly got suspended by its hosting provider (more on that in a bit), and is preparing for some more services to be offered through the site.

The pages and navigation of Indydrafter.com has been modified to create an easier way to find the information you want, and find it faster. Instead of having a single page dedicated to a wide variety of topics for a core subject (ie. About>About the Website and About the Creator) the site now has pages organized into particular topics using subpages (ie. About>About the Website and About>About the Creator). These subpages are accessible from with the main tabbed pages and cross-link between each other. This took quite a bit of time to get working properly and ensure that there weren’t any pages or subpages left out. You will notice that not all main (tabbed) pages have subpages, but that is merely because there isn’t a need.

If you you tried to come to Indydrafter.com on October 30th and saw a strange warning at the top of the page, I’m truly sorry. I apparently had a corrupted index file in the server database file and it was consuming huge quantities of processing power from the host servers. My host provider, JustHost, temporarily suspended my website as a precaution to protect other websites on the same server and to prevent my website from sucking up all of the bandwidth. This file has been discovered, repaired, and the entire database optimized to improve site stability and performance. I’ll take much better care in regular site and database maintenance from here on out to prevent this from happening again.

New features: current and future! At this point, I have added a few new features to the site that will hopefully expand and improve your experience at Indydrafter.com. For starters, the Forum is now incorporated into the website and works much better. It is styled to match the rest of the site and is organized into categories that should suite everyone’s needs. If you have any suggestions, however, please submit them to the forum category for site and forum improvements. Start using the discussion forum to connect with peers today.

I’ve also added an Events page which contains an events calendar for all known user group meetings, conferences, public training sessions, etc. that are applicable either on the local or national levels. If you know of any Autodesk related events in Indiana (Central Indiana especially), please email me the details at admin@indydrafter.com and I will update the calendar.

Another page you will notice is the Contact page. If you need to contact me or anyone regarding Indydrafter.com content, materials, marketing and advertisements, or complaints; this page lists the best way to get a hold of the right person. This contact information is not to be used for any spamming or business proposals for Indydrafter.com to purchase any products or services. Any ill-purposed uses of this contact information will be reported as per the disclaimer on the contacts page. I hope that this information makes it easier for those using Indydrafter.com for the right reasons.

Indydrafter.com is also developing a monthly newsletter: “Indydrafter.com – QuickAccess News”. This email newsletter will contain a summary of all posts and updates to the website as well as contain information pertinent to any local user groups that become associated with Indydrafter.com. The newsletter may also include a list of upcoming events and new AutoCAD related jobs that become available. Sign up for the QuickAccess Newsletter within the sidebar widget on the right side of the website.

The last, but definitely not least, update to Indydrafter.com is that addition of the AUGIndy local user group page. This page will serve as a central resource for anyone interested in joining AUGIndy, those that are already active members, and anyone looking to stop by while they are in town. You’ll find the most up-to-date information about meeting times and locations, a handy map embedded into the website for making finding our meetings a snap, and a page giving a background of AUGIndy and what the group hopes to accomplish. My favorite feature of the AUGIndy page, however, is the development of member profiles. These pages will serve to promote the members of AUGIndy, the skills and abilities they have earned and can offer, act as a quick reference for contacting fellow members when necessary, and improve the visibility of AUGIndy and what it offers. The inclusion of member information on these pages is, of course, elective on their parts and only to the extent and detail they so choose. I couldn’t think of a better way to draw attention and attendance to AUGIndy than to show off our spectacular members.

Soon to come to Indydrafter.com: Downloads – LISPs and Scripts, Software updates and Service Packs, and Tutorials (initially PDFs and eventually video). More user groups – as the site matures, I will be attending and, if given the approval by members, promoting other Indiana user groups as time goes on. It is my goal to make Indydrafter.com the singular resource for all CAD Drafters, Designers, Architects, and Engineers in Indiana and surrounding areas.

Well, that’s it for now. Take a look around the site, get adjusted to the changes, and let me know what you think. I hope that these changes are looked at as improvements to the site and give you even more reasons to keep coming back.