Null Parameter
07-25-2008, 12:40 AM
XForgery July Update (2 of 2)
Hello Everyone! Welcome to the Second July Update!
This will be a pretty epic update, for many reasons, all of which you will end up finding out if you keep reading. ;)
Site Overview (How have things been going?)
The site, in general, has been making quite a bit of good progress. I'm not talking just about the new features that have been introduced, but also in the community.
I personally enjoy bragging about how great Halo3Forgery is when it comes to community, and our community is great. We have lots of interaction (sometimes good, sometimes bad), which is what makes our site thrive.
One thing that I have been noticing is a general decrease in activity from a fair number of members, but I attribute this to the fact that it is Summer, and many people are doing other things then playing Halo 3 (heresy!).
There are a few things that both we and you can do to help this dip in activity, and I will be going through a bunch during this update.
A general idea is to do exactly what I am saying, i.e. Be Active!
The more activity we have, the more reason people have to come back and interact themselves.
Okay, enough of that stuff. Lets get to what you are actually here for...........
Site Updates (What's changed?)
Here I am going to outline the recent updates that some of you have been noticing (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228).
In no particular order:
Blogs (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/blog.php)
As you probably noticed by now, there is a brand new item in the Navigation Bar at the top of the page.
This is a brand new feature that we have just integrated into Halo3Forgery, which will allow you to follow the lives and musings of your favorite members of the site.
I know many of you will hate me for what I am about to tell you, and feel free to do so because there is really no other way to accomplish this feat.
Not all members will have the ability to create a Blog, but everyone will be able to read and comment on them.
The reason for this is simple, cost. Great features don't always come cheap, so in order to compensate for this, we limit the availability. More on this later.
Smilies
You can see these from any New Post, New Thread or Edit page. There are indeed new smilies, and these aren't the last of what we have planned in this department.
There were quite a few more in the works, but there were issues with how they appeared in Blak-Ice. Basically, they had white borders, which equals an epic fail on Blak-Ice.
So, we re-replaced a majority of them with some other ones, but we are working on getting better ones that work on both styles.
Some of the ones that we initially didn't have will still remain, just realize that if you use them, they will have a random white border.
Ads
Another more noticeable item is the Advertisements that have been added to the site. You will find these near the top of the page.
Again, this takes into account the idea of cost of the site. Having these advertisements allows us more flexibility to give you what you want because they have the potential to generate income.
There will also be more information on this a little bit later in the update.
Supporting Halo3Forgery
This is one of the climaxes of the update. We are now allowing you to support the Halo3Forgery site, and receive benefits.
I know many of you stated that you wouldn't or couldn't donate, for whatever reason; but a lot of people also retracted that statement when they found out that perks could be involved.
So, here's the gritty details:
Why Support Halo3Forgery?
Halo3Forgery is, no matter how much it sucks, not free. We need to fund the forum software, the server, domain name and any other features that give the site purpose.
So, in order to offset this, you, the supporters get extras on the site.
What Do I Get?
There are a few things that you get for supporting the site.
The most obvious one is the icon next to your avatar, signifying to everyone that you supported the site.
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/6326/supporterv2dx1.png
The next thing is that that advertisements are taken off the site. That's right, you don't have to deal with the advertisements, at all.
The final, and best thing is that you get access to your very own Blog. Yes, that means that you need to be a supporter to have a blog.
How Do I Get It?
Well, here's a pretty button to get you there:
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/3200/supporterag5.png (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/payments.php)
Otherwise, you can go to the User CP and then there is an option "Support Halo3Forgery".
From there, you will need a PayPal account, and $20 USD. That gets you a full year of Supporter status.
Advertising Halo3Forgery
Now, if you still can't or don't want to be a Supporter, you can still help the site out.
We can always use more members, and with our new software and server we can support even more members.
So, spread the word! Invite your friends, neighbors or strangers.
To help you out with this, we will provide a nice banner that you can post wherever you want.
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5062/afflargecy7.jpg
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5151/aff1zl8.jpg
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/568/aff2pe9.jpg
And here are some additional ones supplied by Ganye.
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/ganyeh_photos/Banner_HaloForgery_001.gif
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/ganyeh_photos/Banner_HaloForgery_002.gif
Also, we have started a thread in the Bungie.net Classifieds, right here (http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=23928529).
If you want to help keep it alive so we get more exposure, that would be a great help as well.
July Forgery Challenge Update (Is it done yet?)
The July Forgery Challenge is slowly coming to a close. The reviews are wrapping up and the final decisions are being made.
By the end of the month, you should see the winner revealed.
Since this will be the first official Forgery Challenge to be completed, we should tell you what the rewards are for winning.
There are two things:
You get a lovely icon next to your name.
http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/7194/compgn8.png
You get a free month of Supporter status!
Hopefully that gives you enough incentive to post good maps for the challenges.
August Forgery Challenge (OMG?!?!?)
That's right! The August Forgery Challenge is starting right now! And it is EPIC!
Head on over to the August Forgery Challenge Thread (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=231) to check out the details.
Top 5 User Maps (Finally.......)
We will be updating the Top 5 User Maps on the front page to contain some of the great maps on this site.
Look for this updating, coming soon.
Random Ramblings (What your mother never told you about Halo3Forgery)
I think I'll add this section in most every update. It will just tell you something that you probably hadn't noticed about the site.
It could be something cool, or useful or just random.
This time on Random Ramblings....
WYSIWYG Mode & Larger Text Boxes
When you are creating a new thread, new post or editing an existing one you do it in a text edit box.
This text box has a few buttons to make things easier; bold, underline, center, image, url, etc......
But, there are a few buttons in the upper right corner that usually go unnoticed.
Two sets of arrows, which either increase or decrease the size of the text box, which will stop the need to scroll when editing longer posts.
The other button changes the text box into a WYSIWYG editor. For the Layman, that is "What You See Is What You Get".
Basically, it will show you exactly what your post will look like while you are creating it.
For example, if you underline some text, it will show up underlined.
Go test it out and have some fun!
I hope to see you next time on Random Ramblings.
That's it for this update. Go test everything out, tell us what you think.
Hello Everyone! Welcome to the Second July Update!
This will be a pretty epic update, for many reasons, all of which you will end up finding out if you keep reading. ;)
Site Overview (How have things been going?)
The site, in general, has been making quite a bit of good progress. I'm not talking just about the new features that have been introduced, but also in the community.
I personally enjoy bragging about how great Halo3Forgery is when it comes to community, and our community is great. We have lots of interaction (sometimes good, sometimes bad), which is what makes our site thrive.
One thing that I have been noticing is a general decrease in activity from a fair number of members, but I attribute this to the fact that it is Summer, and many people are doing other things then playing Halo 3 (heresy!).
There are a few things that both we and you can do to help this dip in activity, and I will be going through a bunch during this update.
A general idea is to do exactly what I am saying, i.e. Be Active!
The more activity we have, the more reason people have to come back and interact themselves.
Okay, enough of that stuff. Lets get to what you are actually here for...........
Site Updates (What's changed?)
Here I am going to outline the recent updates that some of you have been noticing (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=228).
In no particular order:
Blogs (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/blog.php)
As you probably noticed by now, there is a brand new item in the Navigation Bar at the top of the page.
This is a brand new feature that we have just integrated into Halo3Forgery, which will allow you to follow the lives and musings of your favorite members of the site.
I know many of you will hate me for what I am about to tell you, and feel free to do so because there is really no other way to accomplish this feat.
Not all members will have the ability to create a Blog, but everyone will be able to read and comment on them.
The reason for this is simple, cost. Great features don't always come cheap, so in order to compensate for this, we limit the availability. More on this later.
Smilies
You can see these from any New Post, New Thread or Edit page. There are indeed new smilies, and these aren't the last of what we have planned in this department.
There were quite a few more in the works, but there were issues with how they appeared in Blak-Ice. Basically, they had white borders, which equals an epic fail on Blak-Ice.
So, we re-replaced a majority of them with some other ones, but we are working on getting better ones that work on both styles.
Some of the ones that we initially didn't have will still remain, just realize that if you use them, they will have a random white border.
Ads
Another more noticeable item is the Advertisements that have been added to the site. You will find these near the top of the page.
Again, this takes into account the idea of cost of the site. Having these advertisements allows us more flexibility to give you what you want because they have the potential to generate income.
There will also be more information on this a little bit later in the update.
Supporting Halo3Forgery
This is one of the climaxes of the update. We are now allowing you to support the Halo3Forgery site, and receive benefits.
I know many of you stated that you wouldn't or couldn't donate, for whatever reason; but a lot of people also retracted that statement when they found out that perks could be involved.
So, here's the gritty details:
Why Support Halo3Forgery?
Halo3Forgery is, no matter how much it sucks, not free. We need to fund the forum software, the server, domain name and any other features that give the site purpose.
So, in order to offset this, you, the supporters get extras on the site.
What Do I Get?
There are a few things that you get for supporting the site.
The most obvious one is the icon next to your avatar, signifying to everyone that you supported the site.
http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/6326/supporterv2dx1.png
The next thing is that that advertisements are taken off the site. That's right, you don't have to deal with the advertisements, at all.
The final, and best thing is that you get access to your very own Blog. Yes, that means that you need to be a supporter to have a blog.
How Do I Get It?
Well, here's a pretty button to get you there:
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/3200/supporterag5.png (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/payments.php)
Otherwise, you can go to the User CP and then there is an option "Support Halo3Forgery".
From there, you will need a PayPal account, and $20 USD. That gets you a full year of Supporter status.
Advertising Halo3Forgery
Now, if you still can't or don't want to be a Supporter, you can still help the site out.
We can always use more members, and with our new software and server we can support even more members.
So, spread the word! Invite your friends, neighbors or strangers.
To help you out with this, we will provide a nice banner that you can post wherever you want.
http://img504.imageshack.us/img504/5062/afflargecy7.jpg
http://img255.imageshack.us/img255/5151/aff1zl8.jpg
http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/568/aff2pe9.jpg
And here are some additional ones supplied by Ganye.
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/ganyeh_photos/Banner_HaloForgery_001.gif
http://i244.photobucket.com/albums/gg40/ganyeh_photos/Banner_HaloForgery_002.gif
Also, we have started a thread in the Bungie.net Classifieds, right here (http://www.bungie.net/Forums/posts.aspx?postID=23928529).
If you want to help keep it alive so we get more exposure, that would be a great help as well.
July Forgery Challenge Update (Is it done yet?)
The July Forgery Challenge is slowly coming to a close. The reviews are wrapping up and the final decisions are being made.
By the end of the month, you should see the winner revealed.
Since this will be the first official Forgery Challenge to be completed, we should tell you what the rewards are for winning.
There are two things:
You get a lovely icon next to your name.
http://img71.imageshack.us/img71/7194/compgn8.png
You get a free month of Supporter status!
Hopefully that gives you enough incentive to post good maps for the challenges.
August Forgery Challenge (OMG?!?!?)
That's right! The August Forgery Challenge is starting right now! And it is EPIC!
Head on over to the August Forgery Challenge Thread (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=231) to check out the details.
Top 5 User Maps (Finally.......)
We will be updating the Top 5 User Maps on the front page to contain some of the great maps on this site.
Look for this updating, coming soon.
Random Ramblings (What your mother never told you about Halo3Forgery)
I think I'll add this section in most every update. It will just tell you something that you probably hadn't noticed about the site.
It could be something cool, or useful or just random.
This time on Random Ramblings....
WYSIWYG Mode & Larger Text Boxes
When you are creating a new thread, new post or editing an existing one you do it in a text edit box.
This text box has a few buttons to make things easier; bold, underline, center, image, url, etc......
But, there are a few buttons in the upper right corner that usually go unnoticed.
Two sets of arrows, which either increase or decrease the size of the text box, which will stop the need to scroll when editing longer posts.
The other button changes the text box into a WYSIWYG editor. For the Layman, that is "What You See Is What You Get".
Basically, it will show you exactly what your post will look like while you are creating it.
For example, if you underline some text, it will show up underlined.
Go test it out and have some fun!
I hope to see you next time on Random Ramblings.
That's it for this update. Go test everything out, tell us what you think.