It took us a while, but we're finally past beta and have updated the website! We received lots of helpful suggestions during the beta phase, some of which have been incorporated into the website. Others will be addressed in future posts here.
On your next visit to The Card Reading, you'll see many changes in appearance, as well as many new features. You can now rate and write reviews for your favorite card spreads and oracles. You'll be able to see which oracles and spreads are the most popular. A new messaging feature allows you to send private messages to other members. You'll be able to create your own custom card spreads and card oracles, and add them to the website! And the Card Reading Blog provides another forum for changes to the website, and for discussion of card spreads, cartomancy, divination, and card readings. Posting on the blog has been intermittent, and will probably be for a while, but we'll try to set a regular posting schedule as soon as we can.
A new navigation menu gives you easy access to new features and functionality. The home page provides an introduction to Cartomancy, Divination, The Card Reading, and website features. There's a list of links to additional card reading, cartomancy, and divination resources on the web. There's also a link where you can suggest additional websites to add to this list.
When you navigate away from the home page to get a card reading, you'll see card oracles and spreads are now displayed in a scrolling list, with the name, author, description, and a view link in the list. Click the author link to send a message about the card spread or oracle to the author. Mouse-over the view link and you'll see popularity and rating information. And for card spreads, a more detailed description of the spread. Click the view link to view the oracle or card spread in detail. When viewing a card oracle, it's now possible to display a printable page of card meanings. And when you view a card oracle or spread, you can also rate it, write a review, and view the reviews other members have written.
When you get a card reading, you'll see several changes. The first thing you'll notice is that the card size in readings has been reduced. So readings take up less screen space - it's easier to see the whole card spread. We did this to be more small-screen friendly, for less scrolling on notebook computers. You can change the card size setting on the 'settings' page.
The next thing you'll notice will be in the pop-up window that displays card information. The card house and meaning information are displayed as before, but you can add comments or notes from the reading page. And you can display alternate oracle interpretations for the card, and add comments for that oracle as well. Two buttons in the card information pop-up allow you to select an alternate oracle. The 'Next Oracle' button just steps through the different oracles, one by one. The 'Choose Oracle' button pops up a list of oracles, so you can select a specific oracle. To continue with your reading and move on to the next card, click the 'Close Window' button to return to the reading.
The new message system allows you to send private messages to other card reading members, and receive messages from them. New messages are displayed in a pop-up window when you sign in. You can send and manage you messages on the member services page - click the 'services' link on the navigation menu at the top of each page. Note that when you send someone a message, they will not receive it until they sign in - it's not an instant message service, it's a private message service for members of The Card Reading.
Perhaps the most exciting new features are custom card oracles and card spreads. You can now create your own card oracles and card spreads, and publish them on the site. You can keep them private, for your use only, or make them public, for all users. You can claim author credit, or publish them anonymously. So no if you've always wanted to 'fix' something about a card spread or oracle, or create something new - you can! Just click the 'Custom Card Spreads' or 'Custom Card Oracles' links on the navigation menu to go to the pages where you can create, edit, and manage your custom creations!
Nonmembers have not been forgotten in this update, either. For nonmembers, the 'View Saved Readings' feature has been simplified. Nonmembers can now enter their information into a pop-up menu, and a page showing all saved readings will be displayed - just as it is for members. Since they previously had to search their email for the right link to a saved reading, this is a considerable improvement.
We hope you enjoy these new features. If you have any comments or suggestions, don't hesitate to let us know! Just click the 'contact' link on the bottom of the page (at the card reading website, not the blog).
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