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Todd

50

Chief Bottle Washer

New Jersey
United States
Member #1
May 31, 2000
27,937 Posts
Online

Apr 27, 2010, 1:04 pm

Wow, scary update today -- just because it's been so long!

The biggest change is the brand new lottery results pages. Holy mackerel, they were a lot of work!!

I had been planning to update the results pages for years now, and it has actively been in the works for over a year. It's much harder to make an effective and universal page like that than most people think. They went through SO MANY iterations and tweaks to arrive at what you see now.

I figured with Lottery Post's 10-year anniversary coming up next month, that I HAD to finish it. I hope you like the final creation.

There are several other changes here and there throughout the site, and I'll try to document them in the Change Log. Maybe by later today (I'll try).

One big area of new support is for iPads. I'm making a big push to make everything iPad-friendly, and this is the first iteration of that. For example, any news story that includes a video should work perfectly on an iPad now. Not a small or easy change!

Anyway, more to come later...

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Play-girl

Atlanta, Georgia
United States
Member #84,481
December 29, 2009
162 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 1:23 pm

I Like The Changes U Made!! NICE......

**Almost Doesn't Count**
yyzena

Cheektowaga, NY
United States
Member #88,903
March 25, 2010
44 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 1:30 pm

Todd ... you did a fantasitc job!! Thanks for all your hard work :)
Rick G

FEMA Region V Camp #21
United States
Member #520
July 27, 2002
5,699 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 1:32 pm

Very cool. Looks sharp. Thanks!

Posted 4/6: IL Pick 3 midday and evening until they hit: 555, 347 (str8).
catsrule

United States
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September 10, 2007
347 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 1:37 pm

I just noticed while checking a few results. Very nice!!!!
JonnyBgood07

100

Connecticut
United States
Member #61,621
May 29, 2008
20,581 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 1:43 pm

That's pretty sweet seeing the result board with official state logos of the games...Nice Job

"No matter how bad things may get, I'd like to thank my middle finger

for always sticking up for me.."
MzDuffleBaglady

25

F-I-L-T-E-R-S
United States
Member #81,312
October 16, 2009
44,456 Posts
Online

Apr 27, 2010, 1:47 pm

"It looks great, I really like the, Icons for Midday and Evening.

You did a really good job, and I appreciate all the information I get here at Lottery Post.

Thank You!

Missouri pick 3, giving out humble pies!
catsrule

United States
Member #55,082
September 10, 2007
347 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 1:51 pm

Just also noticed the timers for the next drawings. I can't say it enough, keep up the great work Todd!!!!
emilyg

50

United States
Member #14
November 9, 2001
31,614 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 1:53 pm

Thank you sweet man.

love to nibble those micey feet.
CLOVER$BAY

MO
United States
Member #76,617
July 2, 2009
691 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 1:53 pm

Todd you are the man, Keep up the good work, A wonderful site, with wonderful people. God Bless!

jag

Clover$Bay ATM ... Open 24/7
Todd

50

Chief Bottle Washer

New Jersey
United States
Member #1
May 31, 2000
27,937 Posts
Online

Apr 27, 2010, 1:53 pm
Thanks for all the nice comments!

I didn't wait until later to write up the changes. Here they are:

Brand new lottery results pages!

The biggest change in the lastest site update is the complete refresh of all the state/provincial lottery results pages. Overall, the theme of the new results pages is to make the page as clear as possible to read, while respecting the unique aspects of each individual state or jurisdiction. This makes the page recognizable and familiar to each viewer. The changes include:
- New graphical format that includes an official, high quality game logo for every game. This will make it much easier to find the game you're looking for, and will avoid potential mistakes caused by looking at the wrong results.
- All game graphics are the actual graphics used within the state, province, or country -- including the multi-state graphics. For example, nearly every state in the USA has its own unique Powerball logo. Lottery Post displays the actual logo used within each individual state -- not a generic Powerball logo -- in order to be as clear as possible that the game being displayed is the exact game within that state.
- For most states with midday and evening draws of a particular game, there is only one logo for the game. In that case, Lottery Post displays that single logo, and also displays a "sun" (midday) or "moon" (evening) icon next to the midday or evening draws. This arrangement clearly shows that the draws are for the same game, yet distinguishes the drawings from each other to avoid any confusion.
- For states that use a separate logo for midday and evening games (such as Connecticut), the games are separated (instead of joined together) and placed with their correct logo images.
- All lottery results are presented with graphical "lottery ball" symbology, to lend maximum readability and clarity to the winning numbers. Special numbers, such as bonus numbers, sums, and multipliers, have unique colors and shapes to set the apart. The colors of the bonus balls are purposely set to match the colors used within the actual game. For example, Powerball uses a red Powerball number, while Mega Millions uses a gold Mega Ball number -- the actual colors used in those games.
- The jackpot amounts are listed together with the game results, so viewers do not have to search a different part of the page to get the new jackpot amounts.
- A countdown timer is shown for each game to indicate the number of days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the next drawing is set to take place. Each timer is updated in real-time. The actual date and time (and time zone) of the next drawing is also shown.
- Separate links for Previous Results and Jackpot History -- two common pages for players to navigate to -- are shown prominently on each game's results. Other options for each game (in the form of a popup menu) are available from the "More" link. Using "More" should be clearer and more descriptive than the old method of clicking on the game name.
- Clicking a game logo takes the viewer directly to the Game Information page for that game.
- All the elements of the page neatly align vertically on the page, to make visually scanning the page much easier. The results take a right-aligned stance, which makes it very quick to find a game based on the the type of game (and hence quantity of numbers drawn). Quickly scanning the page has become much easier.
- The page easily adapts to a wide range of browser window widths. If your browser is narrow -- for example, if your screen has a low resolution -- the results will re-arrange themselves in a narrow pattern, rather than forcing you to scroll to the right. If you have a wide browser window, the elements on the page will spread out and use the extra width available. Overall, this arrangement is much more friendly than the previous table layout.
- Much of the "boxiness" of the previous results pages has been eliminated. Only the number of windows/boxes that are necessary are used. (No more "box within a box" look.)
- Alternating row colors ("zebra stripes") are used to make the individual games stand out better for visual inspection.
- Fonts and colors were chosen specifically to make scanning the page quicker.
Other changes around Lottery Post:
- The private messaging system has new highlighting for messages that are "checked" for deleting or moving them. This makes it much easier and quicker to see what messages you have selected. Also, the area that you can click within to select a message has been enlarged, so you should find that messages are easier and quicker to select.
- In prepartion for the release of new web browsers that enable HTML 5, which contains new browser features, much of the code on each page has been tweaked to remain compatible with older browsers, while enabling them to work better with new browsers.
- Changes have been made to several pages to make the site more iPad-friendly. For example, all news stories that include a video will now allow the video to be displayed on an iPad.
- Fixed e-mail notification for private messages, which has not been working for a while. (Reminder: This can be turned off using the E-mail Settings in ther Options menu.)
- Fixed some issues with browser compatibilty detection. SSL detection should be more reliable.
- The usual performance tweaks and minor improvements in several places. This happens every time I update the site. When I find small things that need fixing or improving, I make the changes, and then the changes get installed the next time I update the site.
Check the State Lottery Report Card
What grade did your lottery earn?

Sign the Petition for True Lottery Drawings
Help eliminate computerized drawings!
Todd

50

Chief Bottle Washer

New Jersey
United States
Member #1
May 31, 2000
27,937 Posts
Online

Apr 27, 2010, 2:05 pm

I gotta tell you, the hardest thing of all about creating the new results pages was amassing a collection of high-quality logos for each game.

Some state lotteries really helped me out by providing some great graphics, but for the most part I had to create or modify them myself. It took forever!!

Not only did I have to obtain/create/modify hundreds of graphic images, but the sizes all had to work perfectly together. On each lottery results page, I resized the images so that when they are all put together on the same page, the sizes of all the games work well together. So I couldn't just make them all "100 pixels wide" -- I had to eyeball them all myself, and I judged how tall & wide each one should be in order for them to look good together.

Also, I took the extra step of creating graphical images of each multi-state game -- as it appears in every state. So for Powerball (for example), that meant creating 44 different Powerball logos.

The reason is that I wanted the graphics to be easily recognizable by players within each state, because many states change the multi-state graphics to match their state's "theme". For example, check out the Powerball logo in Connecticut or Colorado. It looks nothing like the official Powerball logo on the Multi-State page.

That kind of stuff took such a long time that I just want the memory of it to fade at this point.

But, I'm really happy with the end result of the effort. It came out very close to my vision for the page, which is always satisfying!

Check the State Lottery Report Card
What grade did your lottery earn?

Sign the Petition for True Lottery Drawings
Help eliminate computerized drawings!
JKTAYLOR1

25

United States
Member #64,236
August 22, 2008
39,494 Posts
Offline

Apr 27, 2010, 2:35 pm

WOW Todd, you did a fantastic job as usual. It looks great.
NBey6

100

The Carolinas
United States
Member #4,290
April 9, 2004
21,283 Posts
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Apr 27, 2010, 3:17 pm

Todd - You should be extremely proud of the outstanding job with the new updates. The results page is amazing and gives it the 'drawing' feel to me, especially with the countdown telling you how long before the next draw. I've always liked websites that show the results in ball/sphere form it's a great visual. Congratulations and thanks for an amazing website!!

** WWG1WGA **

121, 126, 221, 306, 312, 427, 430, 519, 615, 616, 730, 807

918, 923, 0918, 1007, 1011, 1031, 1125, 1206, 1216, 1228
MzDuffleBaglady

25

F-I-L-T-E-R-S
United States
Member #81,312
October 16, 2009
44,456 Posts
Online

Apr 27, 2010, 3:25 pm

To Show my appreciaton , I will remain a Platinum Member.

Missouri pick 3, giving out humble pies!

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