As part of the ongoing Site Makeover Project (SMP) to improve the FCCdata.org experience, we have taken this three-day holiday weekend to make some substantial changes to the site.
FCCdata is built on "modules". We are in the process of changing one module at a time. The modules we are working with this weekend include those associated with FCC broadcast facility data for FM, AM, TV and HF. During the transition of modules, some portions of the system will appear in their pre-SMP version while transitioned modules will appear with the new post-SMP style.
Increased type sizes
In order to improve the user experience, especially for those who are using mobile browsers, we have made changes to increase the type size. To accommodate these changes, we have had to make some adjustments to the user interface. The overall format of the page is still the same however some changes have been made to the display of directional patterns (tool now shows the radial tabluations in three column sets instead of four.
Control buttons replace the sidebox
Pre-SMP, when viewing facility records in FCCdata, there was a sidebox that had various functions such as a link to the application and authorization. There were also links at the bottom of the engineering record to see more application details and in the case of FM, links to an advanced contour map.
With SMP, we have eliminated the sidebox and replaced them with buttons that will appear at the bottom of each engineering record. Use those buttons to access features originally provided through the sidebox and the bottom messages.
This establishment of control buttons allows users with a mobile browser to be able to easily get to other resources that were never made available in the past since the sidebox structure was not mobile phone friendly. All buttons that are available for desktop users will be available for mobile users.
Mobile facility entry UI changes postponed
At this time, we will postpone our proposed changes to the mobile browser facility entry popout box. We will pick that up in a future SMP phase.