PROBOARDS V.5

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SOMETIMES I HAVE TO BE BORING AND TALK ABOUT TECHNICAL MATTERS WITH YOU GUYS, SO BARE WITH ME. PROBOARDS HAS JUST RECENTLY RELEASED VERSION 5 (THEY UPGRADE USUALLY ABOUT ONCE A YEAR) THAT I'M GUESSING WILL PROVIDE SOME PRETTY EXTENSIVE, NEW, COOL FANDANGLED FEATURES. I'M NOT UP-TO-DATE WITH ALL OF THE UPGRADES/CHANGES JUST YET, BUT I AM IN THE PROCESS OF WORKING WITH A BETA VERSION OF ETS SO I CAN GET ACCUSTOMED TO THE NEW LAYOUT AND HOW IT WORKS.

I HONESTLY DON'T GET THE IMPRESSION IT'S A DRAMATIC CHANGE FROM HOW PROBOARDS IS NOW, BUT APPARENTLY IT'S A BIG DEAL B/C THE PB TEAM HAS BEEN ADVERTISING IT LIKE CRAZY. NOW THAT IT'S OFFICIALLY RELEASED FOR TESTING AND PLAYING TO THE COMMUNITY, ADMINISTRATORS HAVE THE ABILITY TO MESS AROUND WITH IT BEFORE OPTING TO UPGRADE.

I HAVE A FEELING IT WILL BE A REQUIRED UPDATE SOMETIME IN THE NEAR FUTURE (AS ALL OF THEIR UPGRADES ARE), BUT SINCE THEY'VE OFFERED THE OPPORTUNITY TO TRY IT OUT FIRST, I'M JUMPING ON THE BANDWAGON. OF COURSE, LIKE ALWAYS, I'LL KEEP YOU ALL IN-THE-KNOW.

AS OF NOW, THE PROBOARDS BETAZONE IS COPYING THE FORUM INTO THE BETA SERVERS AND I'LL HAVE ACCESS TO BE ABLE TO SCREW AROUND WITH WHATEVER CODES I WANT. I'M PERSONALLY EXCITED ABOUT THE CHANGE BECAUSE IT LOOKS LIKE WE'LL BE ABLE TO START USING ROLLOVERS AND FADES IN OUR ENHANCED UBBC CODE (LIKE JCINK SITES ALREADY CAN), AND I'M TOTALLY PSYCHED ABOUT THAT. IF YOU DON'T KNOW EXACTLY WHAT IT IS, TRUST ME, YOU'LL LOVE IT. ;)

ANYWAY, I JUST WANTED TO KEEP YOU ALL IN THE LOOP. THERE MAY BE SOME DOWNTIME FOR THE FORUM WHEN AND IF WE DO SWITCH OVER TO THE NEW VERSION, I'M NOT ENTIRELY SURE ABOUT THAT JUST YET SINCE THERE AREN'T MANY DETAILS OUT THERE FOR ME. WHEN I GET THROUGH THE QUEUE FOR THE BETA, I'LL BE ABLE TO TELL YOU MORE.

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UPDATE!

I'VE BEEN PLAYING AROUND IN THE BETAZONE TODAY, AND SO FAR, IT'S VERY OVERWHELMING. THERE ARE A TON OF NEW FEATURES, BUT IT'S ALMOST TOO MANY, AND IT'S HARD TO GET USED TO WHERE TO FIND THEM ALL. ESSENTIALLY, IT'S AN ENTIRELY NEW FORUM-BUILDING SOFTWARE. IT WILL NO LONGER BE THE OLD PROBOARDS, SUCH AS I WAS AFRAID OF AND SUSPECTED. I WAS HOPING IT WOULDN'T BE SO DRASTIC, BUT IT SEEMS TO BE.

HONESTLY, PROBOARDS IS MY BABY. I STARTED RPING ON PROBOARDS, LEARNED HOW TO CODE ON HERE, AND HAVE NEVER LEFT. I'VE USED INVISIONFREE A FEW TIMES, BUT ONLY AS A MEMBER AND NOT AN ADMIN B/C IT'S DRASTICALLY DIFFERENT FROM PB. NOW, IT LOOKS LIKE PB IS GETTING CLOSER AND CLOSER TO HER SISTER FORUM SITES, OR AT LEAST ATTEMPTING TO COMPETE WITH THEM DUE TO THE LOSS OF USERS THEY'VE EXPERIENCED. MANY RPS THAT I KNOW OF HAVE BEEN GRADUALLY MIGRATING OVER TO IF AND JCINK AS OF LATE - PROBABLY WITHIN THE LAST YEAR ESPECIALLY - SO PROBOARDS IS TRYING TO STEP IT UP.

TO BE HONEST WITH YOU ALL, I DISLIKE WHAT I'VE SEEN OF VERSION 5 SO FAR. IT OFFERS MORE CUSTOMIZATION OPTIONS FROM THE MENUS, BUT ULTIMATELY, IT LEADS TO REINING ADMINISTRATORS IN AND RESTRICTING US FROM BEING AS CREATIVE AS WE HAVE BEEN IN THE PAST. MY BRAIN REFUSES THIS. XD A SIMPLE EXAMPLE IS THE FACT THAT THE SIDEBAR WE'VE GOT NOW (A CODE I'M COMPLETELY IN LOVE WITH) DOESN'T WORK IN VERSION 5. IT SHOWS UP, BUT IT OVERLAPS THE FORUM AND BLOCKS OFF THE SIDE OF IT. I ALSO HAVEN'T FOUND A WAY TO CUSTOMIZE THE FONT FAMILIES FOR LINKS AND MEMBER GROUPS, SO EVERYTHING LOOKS THE SAME. ROYAL DOESN'T LIKE MONOTONY.

ANOTHER STYLISTIC POINT IS THAT THE POSTING BOX IS COMPLETELY DIFFERENT. THERE IS A DROP-DOWN MENU INSTEAD OF THE DELIGHTFUL LITTLE CHECK-BOXES BENEATH THE POSTING AREA. THE MAIN MENU IS SIMILAR, WITH A NAVIGATION BAR THAT DROPS DOWN AND OFFERS YOU THE OPTION OF EVERY CATEGORY, A NAV TREE THAT POPS OUT WHEN YOU HOVER OVER ONE OF THOSE CATEGORIES IN ADDITION TO THIS. IT'S COMPLETELY DIFFERENT FROM THE VERSION OF PROBOARDS NOW, AND I PERSONALLY THINK IT'S OVERKILL.

WHILE I'M SURE IT'S A WONDERFUL THING, WHY SCREW UP WHAT WAS ALREADY GOOD?

ALSO, ANOTHER DIMINISHING FACTOR FOR ME IS THE FACT THAT I CAN'T SEEM TO GET THE ENHANCED UBBC CODES TO WORK. I DID FIND AN UPDATED VERSION OF IT THAT WAS DESIGNED FOR VERSION 5... IT DOESN'T WORK EITHER. AND I LOVE ME SOME ENHANCED UBBC.

ALL OF THIS RANTING ASIDE, I WILL CONTINUE TO WORK WITH IT AND SEE HOW IT GOES, KEEPING YOU ALL UPDATED AS I GO ALONG. WE'LL FIGURE OUT THE PLAN SOON ENOUGH, DON'T WORRY. 8D