Project Gforum Version 3 (codename “Project Orange”) has resumed development after a slight hiatus and this has allowed me to pinpoint a release day for you all:

May 1st, 2010

I already have all the private beta testers I need, so this entry is nothing more than announcing the release. However, before Version 3 debuts there will still be some enhancements made to the current version, which include:

• Registrations being re-opened (with added CAPTCHA)
• Gamer98’s user-reviews and user-articles idea (will expand on this later)
• Podcast resuming (obviously)

However, to be sure Version 3 will be a relaunch of this site in every way possible. Stay tuned for more details on this exciting launch.
-Andrex

First off, I have implemented the feedback from several Project Gforum members’ valuable opinions about the Halloween 2009 Theme, and brightened it some more, (some might even say it looks like a pumpkin!) This is now site-wide and should be easier on the eyes, especially to read. Static images using the old colors, the banner and “New Thread” images for instance, will not be updated, but I think they give the theme a dynamic look. For those of you sickened by orange in general, you will just have to wait until November 1, I suppose. Any future Gforum themes will allow the option to switch between the special theme and the regular one, at least on the forum, (getting it to work site-wide will be a bit of a stretch.)

The second alteration I made tonight involved the “top bar,” that is, the Google-esque links at the top of every Project Gforum page. This has been updated to provide quick access to key forum functions. Firstly, I had noticed that not only do new PMs appear on the standard User CP page, but so do new profile messages and thread subscription updates. Therefore, this is the new link for “Alerts,” as regardless of which type of alert, they’re all aggregated here. Because of this, I had to remove the “My Account” link which previously pointed to the User CP. However, now you can access all the key forum functions to very quickly update how your posts appear on the forum; avatar, signature, and custom title (among other details) editing is now directly at your fingertips.

Something small, but I also updated the Opera icon on the front page for Opera 10. Keep in mind Opera is still the preferred browser of Project Gforum.

I hope these somewhat-small changes still increase your enjoyability when using Project Gforum, as I am still committed to bringing updates to Version 2. Polls will eventually be completely fixed, the Expand link beneath the shoutbox will keep track of what you pressed, and Project Gforum Mobile should all be going live before the next version hits, in addition to the regular Podcast, Editorial, and special theme updates. Please continue to enjoy your stay at Project Gforum.

This is just a quick update to reiterate what all of you visiting the front page have known for about four days: polls are finally active! Well, “poll” I suppose, only one will be displayed at a time. It’s not 100% yet, something is blocking the Javascript, which means it can’t use its pretty “fade out, fade in” results animation, so just click on the address in your title bar and hit enter to see the results after you’ve voted. I hope to eliminate this glitch eventually. I will also be focusing on getting the polls archive to display properly, and will commit to updating the poll every Sunday (or thereabout.)

As you can plainly see, Project Gforum has once again swapped its color scheme in celebration of the year’s spookiest holiday! If you don’t like it… tough!

Just kidding. This change will only last until October is over, then it’s back to good old dependable blue. Until then, I will still be listening to feedback and making tweaks to the festive design when I can.

Now, I have a question for you Gforum users: Trick, or treat?

Will the next feature I roll out this month be a trick, as this design was, or a long-awaited treat? As always, you’ll have to wait to find out.

Unfortunately, over the past two days Project Gforum was offline due to insufficient funds. While I would normally point to the fact that I host this site out of my own pocket (you lazy good-for-nothings!), there truly is no excuse for this massive lapse in my better judgment. Therefore, I promise Project Gforum will stay online as long as people use it, barring a hacker attack (which I am trying to prepare for, as well.) I welcome back the Gforum fans who were unable to access this website and hope they can forgive me.
-Andrex

Well, here we are. Thirteen months after I first launched Project Gforum on March 1st, 2008, and almost eight months after conceiving the feature set and design of what would become Version 2, through countless delays and headaches, here we are; Project Gforum Version 2 is officially live.

I would like to apologize for the numerous delays leading up to this release, they’re entirely my fault and I am very sorry they happened.

Of course, I’d also like to rundown some of the bigger changes in Version 2 in order to help you get adjusted.

• Aggregated Main Page: The index or home page of the new Project Gforum is setup like a blog, as the last one was. However, the difference is that this time, each subsection of the site gets its own updates published to their main pages, and all that content is subsequently posted here. This allows me to tweak and add content to individual sections, so if you only come for one in particular, all the updates there will be easily available to you. In addition, by the power of Wordpress (more on that below), you can go back to older updates. I have migrated all of the Version 1 updates, and it is quite humorous to read some of the things I promised were coming.
• Articles: This section hosts mostly exclusive Gforum content, including reviews, editorials, and the recently launched podcast, which is discussed in detail below. I believe each of these is a vital component in creating a unique identity and sustaining a community for Project Gforum.
• Podcast: After many months of simply failing to get put together, The GCast launches with Version 2. The first episode is a little rough, but it provides an excellent proof-of-concept in my opinion. As we all get used to eachother and completely understand the software side of things, the podcast will greatly improve.
• Reviews: Reviews launch with Version 2 somewhat anemically as an aggregate of Kumiko’s previous reviews posted on the G4 forums, however as time goes on this section will become a major part of Project Gforum. Reviews are divided based on the type of platform, not necessarily the platform itself (although you can search for posts based on that as well), and authors have the freedom to choose whether or not to assign a score at the end of their review. If they do, the score will be an integer between 1 and 10 inclusive.
• Editorials: Once again, this section starts out as re-posts from Kumiko, however it is still off to a much better beginning than Reviews. As the name implies, this is used for articles examining various facets of the gaming industry, although in the future I also plan to place special pieces like interviews and such here.
• Forum (Non-Beta): This was very important and makes up a crucial part of Version 2. When I added the forum, it was the first time I had ever added such a large third-party component to my website. After modifying endlessly, I believe I finally have a piece of solid forum software that blends seamlessly into the rest of the site. Which is actually the next point…
• Integrated Accounts: I said way back in October that although you would be forced to create a second Project Gforum account in order to post in the forum, it would be worth it because this account would be the one carried over to Version 2. At the time, I didn’t even come close to comprehending how I would do this, but I stuck to my guns for it, and I believe it’s paid off. This bullet point was the single most massive mountain for me to climb during Version 2’s development, but now that I’ve done it, I can focus on keeping things seamless, instead of having you manage multiple accounts for everything.
• Dedicated Chat Page: This is small and not quite fully-featured yet, but I believe that having the link there to a large-size chat page makes it more accessible (and bookmark-able).
• All-New Backend: Version 2 has been made possible by the combining of Wordpress, vBulletin, and my custom code stitching them together with my new design. Dozens of headaches and teeth-gnashings made this a reality, and thanks to them, I can use vBulletin accounts in my own services in the future, and also make rapid updates to the individual sections and code. All you need to know is that these two softwares breath life into what was a mostly static and community-hostile website.

Also, unfortunately, some features had to be left out of this release, as always.

• Cliques 2.0: While vBulletin provides its own social group, I originally conceived Cliques 2.0 a while before even learning about them.
• Fictions 2.0: This section should come online within the next two weeks, and doesn’t really feature too many enhancements over the previous Fictions section.
• Start Page and Gmods: These two were to be the tentpole of Version 2; the “killer app” or features of it. Essentially, the shoutbox on the right would be swappable for several other widgets, or “GMods”, and you could have several “Installed” on your Start page, similar to iGoogle.

In addition, the Alerts link will only take you to your forum PM box, but will still show that you have a new message if someone leaves a message on your public profile. I will be enhancing this soon so that it uses vBulletin’s native drop-down boxes.

I hope you will continue to use Project Gforum if you’re already a fan, and I also hope this release attracts many new users. It was a very prolonged development time to be sure, but I have made sure that the design is rock solid (renders very well, even in Internet Explorer 6 at 800×600) and that the services are rock solid too (which is mostly due to the new Wordpress/vBulletin backend.) Please enjoy!

Wow, more than two months eh? Well, all of you who voted in the poll… You’re all wrong! The date is April 1st- that’s right, April Fool’s day and the two-year anniversary of the first Epic trailer.

So then, what’s going to be included in this release? Obviously I have to deliver something special after delaying it a bit. I don’t want to dig myself deeper than I already have, but I think you’ll all be pleasantly surprised if you keep yourselves in check. So then, see you April 1st!

PS- The main site will be shutting down mid-March to make the transition as easily as possible. The shoutbox will still be accessible from the index, though.

Even though I have been focusing on Version 2 more lately, I have also been trying to update this version a little before that gets rolled out. This is the reason the poll was updated yesterday, and the reason I have a new feature to share today. You can now embed your hug button on anywhere on the web. There are a few restrictions; it will not work with old version of Internet Explorer and you still won’t be able to give yourself hugs when you’re logged in. However, I feel that, barring GIFs, Hugs is the least used feature and I still want to give it its chance.

My ulterior motive for this update was to learn some more AJAX and test my skills, but unfortunately I’m not far enough yet that you can embed the button directly- you must use the workaround “object” tag. Still, I hope this revitalizes the section a bit and hope to see the button on the forums here and there.

Tonight, after more than three months, the Forum debuts on Project Gforum. However, this is merely an open beta (as it says in the navigation) as I have not customized the forum enough to fit in with the rest of Project Gforum. The finalized version of the forum will debut with Version 2.0, but for now all the functionality of the forum is there for you. Just remember to read the rules, and everything should be fine. Have fun!

Coming Soon