<< Feature Articles >> Megalithic Portal updates: 25 years, Forum, Gallery improvements and lots more
Submitted by Andy B on Sunday, 21 December 2025 Page Views: 1566
Events
25 YEARS OF THE MEGALITHIC PORTAL
Speaking of 25 years, in 2026 we will be celebrating our 25th anniversary (I know, how did that happen?)
And indeed 30 years since some of us started adding photos of ancient sites on painstakingly created home-made web sites.
I'm preparing a talk looking back on what we've been doing for the past 30 years which will be premiered in Brighton in March. It's at the end of the pier which is always fun and tickets are here http://www.ticketsource.co.uk/dr-bramwell/t-ejaqljg
If you would like to share any memories of the early days (or since) and potentially get a mention in my talk please do get in touch.
If you can't get to Brighton I’m hoping to run an event or two in 2026 to celebrate the anniversary and tour around a bit with the new talk. More on that another time
Also don't forget to enter our current competition to win a Callanish AVR deluxe bundle - Art Book, Film and Soundtrack Album on Vinyl:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146416251
But we are getting sidetracked - back to the Portal improvements.
NEW FEATURES ON THE MEGALITHIC PORTAL
FORUM IMPROVEMENTS
Mobile-Friendly Design - Our forum now works much better on phones and tablets. Posts automatically adjust their layout to fit your screen, making it easy to read and reply to discussions while out and about.
Improved Login Reliability - We've fixed issues that sometimes caused forum posing to fail due to you not being logged in.
The forum main page is here
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Forum&file=index
and all the latest posts are here
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/latest_forum_posts.php
If you haven't logged in for a while go here to reset your password http://www.megalithic.co.uk/user.php and if you can't remember your user ID or get stuck just ask and I'll look it up no problem.
FORUM SEARCH
Finding old discussions is now much easier with our completely rebuilt search.
If you are logged in you can:
- Search for exact phrases by putting them in quotes, e.g. "stone circle" "long barrow"
(both together if you like)
- Filter by specific forum, author name, or date range
- Choose to search topic titles, post content, or both
- Author name suggestions appear as you type (autocompletion)
- Results link directly to the matching post, not just the topic
- Search results show a preview snippet with your search terms highlighted
- Contributory and Admins can also search their respective Fora
- Non logged in visitors get a simpler but still much improved search
Try it out: http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=Forum&file=searchbb
IMPROVED MAP (ADVANCED) SEARCH AND FULL TEXT SEARCH
I have completely rewritten Map Search (Advanced Search)www.megalithic.co.uk/search.php
and added a new full Text Search page which searches the visit logs, gallery text and gallery comments.
www.megalithic.co.uk/searchtext.php
They have all the functions of the old search pages and more. I have added a new guide to all the new search features.
PHOTO GALLERY IMPROVEMENTS
Browsing our collection of almost 300,000 photos and other images is now more flexible.
New filtering options:
- Filter photos by date - select a specific month or year going back to 2001
- Filter by photographer - click on a User Name to see just their photos in a category
- Filter to show only photos with votes (the best ones!)
Better navigation:
- Page navigation is now available throughout the gallery
- Improved sorting by date, rating, and popularity
- To use the filters just navigate to the category you are interested in and they are at the top of the page
Examples:
- Germany by Länder
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showgall&gid=7
- Cornwall gallery filtered to show photos submitted by Bladup (100 per page)
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showgall&gid=23&orderby=dateD&submitter=Bladup&gperpage=100
- Cornwall photos posted by Martyn in July 2025
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/modules.php?op=modload&name=a312&file=index&do=showgall&gid=23&offset=0&orderby=dateD&fildate=2025-07&vote=&submitter=TheCaptain
USER PAGE IMPROVEMENTS
- a long standing request from Bladup - if you have uploaded more than a few hundred photos you can now browse through them all from your user page:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/user.php
(Bladup is getting a lot of mentions but as he has single handedly uploaded almost 24,000 photos to the Portal he deserves it!)
- As in the gallery you can now choose how many photos to display per page (30, 100, or 500 if you are logged in) -
- For example: marvel at Bladup's collection of places he's visited and fascinating Lidar images:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/user.php?op=userinfo&uname=Bladup&gperpage=100#userpictures
UPDATE: I have also tidied up the formatting on the user pages to hide some of the lists of latest posts but include more such as dates and names of the posters when you expand the various sections.
SITE PAGES LINK TO SUNCALC AND MOONCALC
Jan H suggested an interesting pair of web sites to link to: Suncalc and Mooncalc show the path of the Sun and Moon at any given location. Look for the new yellow sun and moon icons in the row of 'External Links' from any of our site pages to get this information. Suncalc has more applications than astronomy, it's also useful for planning when to take beautiful photos. Jan has also added a link to Apple Maps for our Mac and iPhone users. Thanks for adding these Jan!
BROWSE BY COUNTRY PAGE - NEW LOOK
I have updated the Browse by Country page to make it easier to find sites in your area:
- New dropdown menus at the top of each section let you jump straight to any Country or Site Type. Just select from the list and you'll go directly to the search results
- The page now works much better on phones and tablets and countries are displayed in fold-out sections
- Alphabetical sorting option
- KML, GPX, RSS and CSV download links are still available (click "display download links" to show them) - join up as a Contributory member to unlock the full downloads
Try it out: http://www.megalithic.co.uk/topics.php?countries=1
We are still testing all these new features but they work well so far - If you have any questions or spot any issues with anything please reply to this message.
These improvements are thanks to a new AI programming assistant (Claude Code) working with me, which is far better at coding than I am. I know many are sceptical about AI assistants (as am I for many other things). But for the sort of programming we need to do on the Portal it is a game changer when given clear instructions and specs, including getting it to check for security implications and edge cases as we go.
I should point out that this does NOT mean that any AI companies are getting their hands on our site or forum data to train their models. The Portal actively blocks AI bots from access. Our AI assistant only has access to the program code that generates the structure of pages - I only share actual data in very limited circumstances to assist with creating features.
Sorry the Portal has been a bit slow on and off recently - I have upgraded our hosting account so it now copes better with bot attacks. This along with paying for the AI computing time all costs money so I hope you will consider joining our Society as a Contributory member:
http://www.megalithic.co.uk/article.php?sid=2146412614
With the help of our new AI helper we should be seeing lots more improvements to the Portal in 2026 under my guidance, and hopefully also ideas and suggestions from you.
Just a note that I was upgrading my email last week and inevitably there was a glitch so if you sent me an email and didn't get a reply please could you resend it.
As always, thank you for being part of The Megalithic Portal community. Have a lovely Winter Solstice, Christmas, Yule etc and don't forget to keep sending in your photos, site information and did I mention browsing or joining in the forum - I think I did!
Best Wishes
Andy B and team
==================================================
Our Book: THE OLD STONES awarded
*** Current Archaeology Book of the Year! ***
===================================================
The Megalithic Portal Independent, non-profit making web site and society
===================================================
<< Blogging with the Megalithic Portal Site Visit Logs
The Origin of the Prehistoric Dog - a Story Full of Scientific Controversy >>
We would like to know more about this location. Please feel free to add a brief description and any relevant information in your own language.
Wir möchten mehr über diese Stätte erfahren. Bitte zögern Sie nicht, eine kurze Beschreibung und relevante Informationen in Deutsch hinzuzufügen.
Nous aimerions en savoir encore un peu sur les lieux. S'il vous plaît n'hesitez pas à ajouter une courte description et tous les renseignements pertinents dans votre propre langue.
Quisieramos informarnos un poco más de las lugares. No dude en añadir una breve descripción y otros datos relevantes en su propio idioma.