Null Parameter
08-24-2008, 07:38 PM
XForgery August Update (2 of 2)
Here we go again; another update from me to you. In one of my blog posts (http://xforgery.com/forum/blog.php?b=5) I stated that we had some good things for this update, and don't worry, I wasn't lying.
Before I get into all of the goodies, lets take this through the normal course of things that I've been doing within these updates.
Site Overview (Filling in the void)
As you probably noticed lately, we practically tripled our user base lately. Looking at the statistics, we had over 50 new members register in the span from August 17th - 19th, which is an insane number for us. This is mainly due to our dedicated members getting out there with word of mouth and telling the Halo 3 Community about our website.
Most of the thanks here goes to PsychoBucket (http://xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=42), who did an amazing job recruiting 50 people. He gives great testament to what can be done if you just try. Now, go out there and get more people.
Within this whole process of getting new members, we got a few to come over from ForgeHub (not that it's a competition ;)). Some from word of mouth, others because of this thread (http://www.forgehub.com/forum/off-topic/30008-wont-forgehub-while.html) started by DarkDragon (http://xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=107). So, I would formally like to welcome Nemihara (http://xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=108), Dom (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=115), Pegasi Delta (http://xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=117), Sampson (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=120) and any and all other FH members that want to join our ranks to the group. (I know I left some out, but you just keep coming....)
To all you other new members, who have yet to make a name for yourself, do so. Join the community, interact and Forge, Forge, Forge. Welcome!
Site Updates (Here we go again.......)
Well, this update started out with a few exciting things to tell all you people, but it turned out to be a gigantic list of stuff. So, without further ado, here it is. (Now it is so large that I had to start a new post because it exceeded the post character limit)
Server Downtime (Oh Noes!)
Some of you may have noticed that the other night (8/27), the server was down. This was because of an error on our web hosts part that made quite a few of there servers crash. Everything is back up and running now, we apologize for whatever you had to do to entertain yourself for those few lonely hours.
vBulletin Update (Keeping you safe, one update at a time)
We did an update to vBulletin, our forum software, the other day. You probably didn't notice because it really doesn't change anything for you, except it keeps the security of the site intact, so you don't have to worry about getting all of your information stolen. Most of you probably don't care, just keeping you in the loop.
Introduction Forum (Do I know you?)
There have been several requests for this, especially now that we are getting so many new members. Now there is a place for everyone to introduce themselves. I welcome everyone, new and old, to do so, so everyone can get to know each other.
Blu-Smoke (A Change of View)
There's now another Style available for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of Woozy (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=3). You can now select it from the Style Selection at the bottom of the page. We worked hard to get this all working and out to you, and don't worry, we have more on the way.
If you happen to find any problems with this Style, please tell either I or Woozy immediately so we may remedy it.
BB Codes (Cause we need more pieces of Flare)
I added in a few new options to the BBCode, as I hinted at in my last blog entry. You can check them, and others, out here (http://xforgery.com/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode). They include Strikethrough, Superscript & Subscript.
AME (OMG Another Acronym?)
As most of you probably already know, we added in this new fancy mod to the site that allows you to put your videos and other content right into posts. For example, you want to share your favorite YouTube video? There is no need to put just a link to it or to put [youtube] tags. Now all you need to do is simply paste the url into the post and it will be embedded right there.
And the support doesn't stop at YouTube either, it also supports GameVee and many other video sites plus a bunch of sites for slideshows and flash games. Take a look here (http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300) for more information.
Blog Entries (The New come to You)
If you have trying to stay up on the blog entries, or at least want to, then you know it is a little difficult to do so because you need to go to the Blogs page and look for what is new. Now, if you take a look at the forum home page, you probably already know about the statistics box at the bottom that tells you about the new members, Top Referrers and what not. What you possibly didn't know about is the new section that shows you the latest Blog Posts. That way you don't need to go to the Blogs page to look for them.
Forgery Challenges (One dies, while another rises anew)
As most of you know, the August Forgery Challenge (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=231) has been going on for over a month now; and as you might assume, since it is nearing the end of August, this challenge is coming to a close. I will close this challenge up after the long holiday weekend. To the new members, I suggest that you at least still consider entering the challenge. I know you have some random maps lying around. Put them to good use! Who knows, they might get you the coveted title of "Forgery Challenge Winner".
As far as the September Forgery Challenge goes, it is in the works, and you will be hearing about that very soon.
Map Submission Rules (I will have order!)
Along with a large influx of members comes a large influx of new maps. We have been noticing a lowering in the standards of some of the map posts, so we have decided to enforce some general rules on map posts, beyond what the map submission form already enforces. These rules can be found in the Maps Forum (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428), but I will reiterate them here as well.
You must describe maps with at least 100 characters, preferably in well formed English, not 1337 Speak.
You must embed at least one image in the post. Meaning that you have to use the [img] tags to put an image into the post.
See this thread (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346) for instructions on how to do this.
The thread title should only contain the map name.
I figured I would save these last, disappointing ones until the end, so here we go.....
Supporter Upgrades (Or lack thereof)
Many of you, especially those with Supporter status, have been asking about additional perks (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400) for the Supporters. One request was for additional PM capacity. I regret to inform you that this is not really possible. We'll be looking more into this and other possibilities.
Attachments (Sorry, but they're gone)
Some of you have been using the nice Attachments feature that is available on the forum. We have decided to remove said feature, for several reasons.
It takes up space on our server.
They aren't as easily visible as embedding images.
Personally, the attachment box is ugly at the bottom of posts.
So, from this point forward, the attachments option is gone. You will need to upload your images to one of the image hosting sites and embed from there. For more instructions, see here (http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346).
Continued on next post.....
Here we go again; another update from me to you. In one of my blog posts (http://xforgery.com/forum/blog.php?b=5) I stated that we had some good things for this update, and don't worry, I wasn't lying.
Before I get into all of the goodies, lets take this through the normal course of things that I've been doing within these updates.
Site Overview (Filling in the void)
As you probably noticed lately, we practically tripled our user base lately. Looking at the statistics, we had over 50 new members register in the span from August 17th - 19th, which is an insane number for us. This is mainly due to our dedicated members getting out there with word of mouth and telling the Halo 3 Community about our website.
Most of the thanks here goes to PsychoBucket (http://xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=42), who did an amazing job recruiting 50 people. He gives great testament to what can be done if you just try. Now, go out there and get more people.
Within this whole process of getting new members, we got a few to come over from ForgeHub (not that it's a competition ;)). Some from word of mouth, others because of this thread (http://www.forgehub.com/forum/off-topic/30008-wont-forgehub-while.html) started by DarkDragon (http://xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=107). So, I would formally like to welcome Nemihara (http://xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=108), Dom (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=115), Pegasi Delta (http://xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=117), Sampson (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=120) and any and all other FH members that want to join our ranks to the group. (I know I left some out, but you just keep coming....)
To all you other new members, who have yet to make a name for yourself, do so. Join the community, interact and Forge, Forge, Forge. Welcome!
Site Updates (Here we go again.......)
Well, this update started out with a few exciting things to tell all you people, but it turned out to be a gigantic list of stuff. So, without further ado, here it is. (Now it is so large that I had to start a new post because it exceeded the post character limit)
Server Downtime (Oh Noes!)
Some of you may have noticed that the other night (8/27), the server was down. This was because of an error on our web hosts part that made quite a few of there servers crash. Everything is back up and running now, we apologize for whatever you had to do to entertain yourself for those few lonely hours.
vBulletin Update (Keeping you safe, one update at a time)
We did an update to vBulletin, our forum software, the other day. You probably didn't notice because it really doesn't change anything for you, except it keeps the security of the site intact, so you don't have to worry about getting all of your information stolen. Most of you probably don't care, just keeping you in the loop.
Introduction Forum (Do I know you?)
There have been several requests for this, especially now that we are getting so many new members. Now there is a place for everyone to introduce themselves. I welcome everyone, new and old, to do so, so everyone can get to know each other.
Blu-Smoke (A Change of View)
There's now another Style available for your viewing pleasure, courtesy of Woozy (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/member.php?u=3). You can now select it from the Style Selection at the bottom of the page. We worked hard to get this all working and out to you, and don't worry, we have more on the way.
If you happen to find any problems with this Style, please tell either I or Woozy immediately so we may remedy it.
BB Codes (Cause we need more pieces of Flare)
I added in a few new options to the BBCode, as I hinted at in my last blog entry. You can check them, and others, out here (http://xforgery.com/forum/misc.php?do=bbcode). They include Strikethrough, Superscript & Subscript.
AME (OMG Another Acronym?)
As most of you probably already know, we added in this new fancy mod to the site that allows you to put your videos and other content right into posts. For example, you want to share your favorite YouTube video? There is no need to put just a link to it or to put [youtube] tags. Now all you need to do is simply paste the url into the post and it will be embedded right there.
And the support doesn't stop at YouTube either, it also supports GameVee and many other video sites plus a bunch of sites for slideshows and flash games. Take a look here (http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=300) for more information.
Blog Entries (The New come to You)
If you have trying to stay up on the blog entries, or at least want to, then you know it is a little difficult to do so because you need to go to the Blogs page and look for what is new. Now, if you take a look at the forum home page, you probably already know about the statistics box at the bottom that tells you about the new members, Top Referrers and what not. What you possibly didn't know about is the new section that shows you the latest Blog Posts. That way you don't need to go to the Blogs page to look for them.
Forgery Challenges (One dies, while another rises anew)
As most of you know, the August Forgery Challenge (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=231) has been going on for over a month now; and as you might assume, since it is nearing the end of August, this challenge is coming to a close. I will close this challenge up after the long holiday weekend. To the new members, I suggest that you at least still consider entering the challenge. I know you have some random maps lying around. Put them to good use! Who knows, they might get you the coveted title of "Forgery Challenge Winner".
As far as the September Forgery Challenge goes, it is in the works, and you will be hearing about that very soon.
Map Submission Rules (I will have order!)
Along with a large influx of members comes a large influx of new maps. We have been noticing a lowering in the standards of some of the map posts, so we have decided to enforce some general rules on map posts, beyond what the map submission form already enforces. These rules can be found in the Maps Forum (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=428), but I will reiterate them here as well.
You must describe maps with at least 100 characters, preferably in well formed English, not 1337 Speak.
You must embed at least one image in the post. Meaning that you have to use the [img] tags to put an image into the post.
See this thread (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346) for instructions on how to do this.
The thread title should only contain the map name.
I figured I would save these last, disappointing ones until the end, so here we go.....
Supporter Upgrades (Or lack thereof)
Many of you, especially those with Supporter status, have been asking about additional perks (http://www.xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=400) for the Supporters. One request was for additional PM capacity. I regret to inform you that this is not really possible. We'll be looking more into this and other possibilities.
Attachments (Sorry, but they're gone)
Some of you have been using the nice Attachments feature that is available on the forum. We have decided to remove said feature, for several reasons.
It takes up space on our server.
They aren't as easily visible as embedding images.
Personally, the attachment box is ugly at the bottom of posts.
So, from this point forward, the attachments option is gone. You will need to upload your images to one of the image hosting sites and embed from there. For more instructions, see here (http://xforgery.com/forum/showthread.php?t=346).
Continued on next post.....