Site changes and future plans

Greetings to all, this thread is to announce some changes, ideas, and
future plans for the site.

I've been getting a lot of E-mails from people wanting to contribute.
In order to do that, there needs to be some changes to the site.
Demands for a portal, affiliate network, and other good ideas will be
addressed.



I'll start with the easy stuff, immediate changes:
----------------------------------------------
Changes--------------------------------------

The "site news" thread is now "User submitted articles and news".
This change is to shift the primary source of news from me to the users
(you).

This will hopefully get people more involved in posting articles,
mods, interesting pictures, and news.

I remind and invite you all to post news and pictures. Fresh content, even
if minor is a nice thing to see.

Some notable example would be the PSTOOL assembly/disassembly
article done by users here. I am very proud to see that quality of work.

Ideas and announcements:---------------------
-----------------------------------------------

Q.The site is needs rework. This I am aware of. Why has work been slow?
A. The primary controlling factor in my life is chronic pain from some surgery
and injuries. Some times I can't leave bed for days. So I have decided to change
the site to compensate for that.

Future Changes:

Adapt the site for user content and structured user control so that the site
can grow even when I am incapacitated.

What we are interested in doing so far:

A Portal. (I have no experience with this and need ideas)
User content system. (same)
Stronger wiki element.
Regular projects that anyone can contribute to.
Chat room.
Fresh design.
2chan style image board.

What we need to do immediately:

1.) Address the current VBB install and it's limitations:

We need a full upgrade to the newest VBB, or port to another bbs.

Our support ended a year ago, we have to fork over another
$1xx that VBB wants for upgrades.

*A fresh install and import of data.
1. We're still using a pirated copy, but we own a license.
2. It's completely hacked to shit and unusuable beyond what it does now.
a. cannot install any upgrades.
b. Failed attempt to add portal and other mod have it changed beyond recognition.
c. I cannot even ban people, the user class is corrupted.

This ties in to immediate problem #2.

2.) Find a new host: Operating costs and server fees.

It costs $131 a month for the site on a dedicated machine.
The current machine is so old and out of date, it's a joke.
The original idea was to have user sites, game server, etc.
The reality is I am physically limited to what I can do day to day.

* Shift to a sub $50 a month shared machine. I hate shared
machines, but I need to reduce running costs asap.
* Be able to host other sites.
* Will not immediately kill the site if they get a DMCA order.
(I think we're up to 7 this year alone)
* Must meet traffic and bandwidth demands.
[SIZE=-1]47,558,509[/SIZE] hits (year)
305 gigs of data (year)

I have four years of school to retrain for a new career post injury.
This means I have to limit my costs as much as possible.

3.)Determine yearly operating costs and raise funds.
It's that or ads.

4.) T-shirts. It's been forever on our minds.

Far future changes (1 year or more)------------------
----------------------------------------------------

Change to a non-profit organization.

Deduct server fees and ability to set up a trust so the site
perpetuates forever.


Idea submission------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------

If you have ideas please structure them and use punctuation,
or at least text breaks.

Title the article: Idea X
Structure it:
1.
2.
a.
b.

Be patient while we review.

Goals----------------------------------------------
---------------------------------------------------

I hope to have the new VBB license next week, after
the american holiday of thanksgiving.

I hope to have the new host with fresh install within one month.

Begin installation of portal and plug-ins within
two weeks of the install.

Test and finalize. Port data and domain shift in two months from
today.

------------------------------------

Thanks for reading, your feedback is welcome and please don't forget to submit new ideas properly.
And yes,traffic is down since Halo 3 release,it did the same thing on halo 2 release.

-ASSEMbler

 

The T-shirts seem popular enough.

 

Have a solution? Because when we move, it's going to happen..