Ever since the launch of our website in 2020 we have continuously worked hard on expanding and improving it. Today marks another important step in the growth of Dark Ride Database. Over the last few weeks we have updated many elements and today we are officially launching the DRdb 2023 update, just in time for IAAPA Expo Europe.
Earlier this year we launched our latest expansion in the form of manufacturer pages. They provide us the opportunity to share information on all the amazing companies who make the dark and show rides we all know and love come to life. As part of this expansion we set up a partner program with a select group of manufacturers.
Dark Ride Database partner program
DRdb partners are companies that work with us to provide the best and most accurate information on the rides they worked on. We work also together with these partners to improve the overall useability of our site. In turn, we offer our partners several advantages.
Our partners are:
- Allowed to have more information on their company pages such as media (pictures and video), a visible company logo and contact information.
- Able to have product pages linked to their company page. More information on product pages below.
- In control of their own company and product pages. They can freely add information or media from any place at any time. Of course, DRdb does do checks on this information and our partners are not able to make any changes to ride listings.
Partners can easily be identified through their blue check mark. We are happy to announce that the following companies are DRdb partners for 2023:
Brogent Technologies 
Triotech
Vekoma
Jora Vision
ART Engineering
Simtec Systems
Sansei Technologies
Simworx
Attraktion!
BoldMove Nation
Gosetto
Sally Dark Rides
Alterface
Product pages
Another result of this development is the creation of product pages, which display the incredible products that a company offers to its clients. A product can either be a physical product, like a ride system, or a provided service. These pages allow for more accurate categorisation of both manufacturers and rides and links them in new ways. On product pages partners have the ability to post any content belonging to the product and link it to any rides they used it on.
Product pages can be found on partner’s manufacturer pages under a special tab. Rides produced by these companies that make use of one or multiple products also have these products linked on their listing. The addition of the product pages is part of the DRdb strategy for searching, setup about a year ago. We are working on expending this search principle, making it the foundation of the way we collect and present the information.
For now there are about 55 products available on the database, shown below are 10 random examples of amazing products our partners offer.
Other updates
Not only have we been working hard on the inclusion of partners on our website, we have updated many other aspects to make it more appealing and user-friendly. This is reflected in out new graphical style for the news pages, the news archive and the info page. On top of those visual steps forward we have made very important improvements on the useability of the most important features.
Quick search
For example, we improved on the way information can be searched for. Our quick search, always found on the top left, can now show more types of information. In addition to finding rides, it can now find manufacturers, products, and even news and specials in which the words you searched for appear. As a bonus, the search process has increased in speed, too!
Explore the world
To improve the loading speed of the map through which you can explore the world, we have decreased the maximum amount of rides visible at one time. To accommodate this change, a “Search as I move the map” toggle has been implemented. By enabling this function, the map will continuously update the rides it shows based on the area in view.
Advanced search
Finally, we improved advanced search. The full screen is now dedicated to the search results and the available filters have been optimised. For example, besides just searching for rides found within a certain country, it is now also possible to search for all rides located within a certain continent. Did you know you can also search for companies and their products (when they are a DRdb partner) through advanced search by selecting the desired tab at the top of the screen?
Business offers
As part of our ever increasing offerings we have also launched a business offers page. For now it only talks about the partner programme which we launched in the beginning of 2023, but over the next few months we will launch additional services through Dark Ride Database. You can read everything about those soon through this link
Info page
The info page on our site has always been the place to read all about the definitions we use for much of the terms you can find on our site, the history and our services. Over the last few years the page has been updated a few times, but never really got a total make-over. So the last bit of our 2023 update was spent on upgrading the info page, not only visually, but also to better and more correctly inform you about the amazing information you can find on our site.
Did we peak your interest with one of the offered services? Reach out to us and embark on the journey to elevate dark rides to even greater heights. Together, we can enhance their discovery, visibility, and the dissemination of information about the extraordinary world of dark rides.
