Sciguy and I did a lot of work on the tutorials page tonight, it is finally presentable! The entire wordpress layout was a pain, but we figured out how to manipulate it into our own style. Sciguy and I are going to create a lot of new tutorials and registered users will be able to post comments on them using their forum accounts. We are working on a system to eventually allow users to post their own tutorials, but right now it is not possible. If you have any comments or suggestions for tutorials please post them in the appropriate section. Also, if you see any issues with the tutorials sections please tells us as well.

Hello All, I made a few minor cosmetic changes to the site tonight...

1. I changed the links to illuminate orange when hovered over
2. I made sure the footer on every page matched, and tweaked it a bit
3. I added a PayPal Donation button to the footer (so if you appreciate the help of this website feel free to help support our hosting costs! )
4. I changed the way ads are placed in the pages so that loading times should be faster
5. + a few other minor cosmetic changes that nobody will ever notice (but I'm neurotic so I changed them anyways )

I deleted the PC game servers section because nobody uses it.

I've started making the tutorials and reviews section, but for now, you will still not be able to post to them. I will setup the permissions appropriately soon.

You all probably noticed some major downtime today...

So here's why, In an attempt to upgrade the forum software, and to add a quickreply box, something went terribly wrong somewhere...

Luckily, we always backup first, so we were able to restore everything, but it just took a while to get the backup in working order. Everything is back to normal now (but no quick reply...sorry)

However, there is now a chat! Be sure to go check it out! It works with your existing user name.

forum software upgraded from 3.0.0 to 3.0.1 (successfully this time)

Forum style files upgraded to be 3.0.1 compliant.

In the process of doing this, I also noticed a glitch that I have fixed. At the bottom of each post, it used to always say, "profile", "PM"... But it didn't list other things if you had entered them in your profile! Now it does; so for example, if you've listed your AIM or YIM, etc, it will display there with a link.

Notify an administrator if you encounter problems.

Now when you upload images that are larger than 400px wide, a thumbnail will be generated automagically, and will be linked to the full size image.

Image uploads that were made will remain as links, because thumbnails are generated upon post submission. Al future image uploads will be converted to thumbnails.

If you would like to convert your existing posts to this fun new feature, you'll have to edit them, delete the uploads, re-upload and then re-submit the post. Otherwise, just enjoy it on posts from now on.

This is a test.

I've added a new optional Profile entry Called "Real Name" If you wish, you can enter your User Control panel, go to profile, and add your name.

This is by no means required, but I felt some people (myself included) might like others to know their real names. It will show up in your profile and next to your posts.

-Jeremy

I've added a feature for "bumping your topic". If you make a post and don't have a response within 8 hours of the post, a button should appear beneath the post that says "bump topic" Clicking it so will move it back to the top of the topic listing so that somebody else may notice it and answer your question.

OK, so I'm getting sick of externally linked images that are too big, and are breaking the layout of the website.

For now, I've put a limit on external images. It will not let you submit the post if there are embedded images more than 600px wide.

Later tonight, I plan to implement a more elegant solution that should automatically generate thumbnails and resize the images for you.

Keep in mind, you can always use the attachment function to upload images directly of any width, and they will be made into thumbnails.

OK, from now on when you use the image tag to insert an external image that is wider than 600px, it will automatically be scaled down. You can still link to the full size image by simply enclosing the the tags like this:



Here is a test of an image larger than 600px wide:


Here is a test of an image smaller than 600px wide:


A NOTE: This should apply retroactively as well.

Yay a new feature!

You can now embed youtube videos directly into your posts. Simply use the new youtube button above the post text entry box. Here's how it works!



That's it! Just throw in the URL of any youtube video page and the video from that page will be embedded automatically! Enjoy

A test:

Just a warning:

I'll probably close down the forum for a few hours this coming weekend (14th and 15th), to do some scheduled maintenance including applying patches, making some minor style tweaks, and applying code optimization.

Hey guys, and update on some updates...

I'm in the process of trying to upgrade the database backend of this site. Unfortunately, copying the database over to the new 5.0 version, seems to result in a file that's 3 times the size of the original when imported!

Naturally, that's not acceptable, so I've been in contact with our webhost in an attempt to resolve this. For now, I've put us back on 4.0. You shouldn't notice any changes.

Sorry for the hour of downtime that resulted from this

This should cheer you up:

Forum database upgraded.

Please notify me immediately if you notice any problems at all.

php software upgraded. As always, notify me if you notice any problems.

Updated forum software. Sorry for the downtime.

Please contact me immediately if you experience problems.

I have been notified by KBcobra, that the "mark forums read" button at the bottom of the page is not working.

I have identified why this happening and I am working to correct it now.

The forum is live again, but I still haven't fixed that issue. I will probably have to close down again a little later. Everything else should be working fine.

Ok I fixed the issue. It turns out, that I'm just stupid and forgot to upload some of the updated files The reason I kept closing the forum is because I thought it was a database error, when in reality, it was caused by the fact that I had updated part of the database schema, but not one of the files that relies on the new schema.

Anyways, everything should be working fine now.

As always, notify if I did something stupid again and messed something up.

Links are no longer automatically opening in a new window. I am aware of this and will apply a fix today.

I fixed the linking issue.

Test 1 - Parsed hyperlink
http://www.jeremyblum.com

Test 2 - URL tags
http://www.jeremyblum.com

Test 3 - URL Tags with alternate text
LINK

Test 4 - Linked Image

You can now include your Xbox Gamertag in posts or your signature like this: