http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/world/asia...?hpt=hp_t2

Sad to see something like this occur...

MyBB 1.8 Beta 3 was just released today. That means that the final release for 1.8 is very, very close, so there isn't a whole lot of time to waste at this point as far as prep. Of course it's not imperative that a forum be upgraded immediately, but I don't want to delay too much considering MyBB 1.8 adds some much needed improvements, and I'm beyond excited for it. They didn't exactly overhaul anything, but 1.8 is full of a lot of neat changes that add plenty of minor feature additions and modernize things quite a bit, so it's definitely going to be a great update for the community.

As for what's planned, I'm actually going to try hard not to do a total theme overhaul again. I've done enough of those already, and have probably annoyed you guys a few times in the process. Of course with 1.8 having a number of improvements built in, the forum, once converted, will also carry some of those improvements. I will have to port our current theme to 1.8 from scratch, so not everything will be ported perfectly. At this point, if all goes well, you can expect a slightly polished and improved version of our current design. Some major plugin cleanup will take place as well to bring more stability to the forums also. (If you're annoyed with the status updates bugs or the fact that the number of alerts displays in the forum title with no alerts link, this may be good news for you! )

Anyway, what would you like to see for Makestation? All suggestions regarding our conversion to MyBB 1.8 will be read and considered! Also, this thread will serve as the official questions thread as prep moves on. I obviously don't know the full details yet since they haven't released MyBB 1.8 officially yet, but prep work has begun.

-Darth

I'm your typical energetic restaurant employee. I'm highly extroverted, fast paced, and have the guts to say just about anything without thinking it through ahead of time (whether that's a blessing or a curse, you decide). However, there is certainly a side of me that is quite reserved. There are a lot of personal details I choose not to share with people that I encounter, simply because it isn't their business. Of course everyone is like that to some extent. I suppose ultimately, it is a "if it ain't your business, I don't need your opinions" type of matter for me. I like doing things on my own where I can, and I'm probably a tad bit stubborn like that.

Do you generally find yourself reserved, or do you feel a need to share details of your life with those you can trust? Where you you feel you generally fall on the spectrum?

Certainly, blog platforms have become a lot more advanced in recent years, and wordpress remains to pretty much be the dominant platform for people who don't really know what to use off the top of their heads. Undoubtedly, it's pretty easy to create a blog, but there is, as always, increasing competition, and content needs to be on point in order to gain a following. In addition, search engine optimization has gotten much harder recently as google continues to refine their system. I think it's safe to say that it has increasing challenges.

At the same time, with blogs being easier to create and maintain, the modern age of the internet has brought some advantages to bloggers as well. The internet provides more outlets than ever before to get the content out, despite the competition, and that's a trend I think we can expect to continue. In your opinion, are blogs easier or harder to maintain now than they were five years ago? What does it take to maintain one today?

http://www.accuweather.com/en/weather-ne...o/30433533

Wow...

MyBB 1.8 beta 2 was released early this month, and from what I can tell, they will likely be releasing their final beta soon. I'm a bit hesitant to start migrating anything over yet because I'm still not sure if they will be modifying any of the templates, but once beta 3 is released, I definitely plan on beginning the port of our current theme. My goal is to be converted within about a month or so of MyBB 1.8's release, and I'm quite excited about it.







I actually don't like the new front end theme at all. I think it's a bit ugly and hope that somebody ports the current 1.6.x theme over for those who prefer it. However, the admin CP looks amazing on the new theme. They've made a lot of long awaited fixes and edits as well. Some things I've noticed so far include:

• you can't rate your own threads anymore.
  
• The buddy system is much improved
  
• Profile fields management is significantly improved
  
• They've added a contact us page and a theme switcher. That's two plugins admins no longer need to install. ;D
  
• They've significantly improved their editor pages so that the editor width is actually proper. That's a much needed improvement.
  
• Some statistics and forum team improvements
  
• Numerous PM system improvements
  
• Usergroup invites (this will be a feature to play with)
  
• Soft delete (recover deleted posts)
  
• Tons of new settings
  
• New anti spambot features, including security questions. (Yet another plugin we no longer need to install)
  
• Gravatar support
  

This thread is simple. If you're leaving the community or returning after an absence, let us know here!

Notice: This thread is for welcoming members back to the community and for saying goodbye to members who will be away. With that said, this isn't a place for forum related drama. Needless to say, drama filled posts will be removed from this thread on first sight.

Personally, I don't mind them. I know that's not exactly the norm, but they are easier on my eyes and look more modern to me. A website's design doesn't mean nearly as much to me as its content, however.

What are your general thoughts on websites with dark designs? Would you consider not participating in or visiting a website because of a dark design?

Yes, we know. Makestation isn't exactly the world's greatest blog platform. If, however, you'd like to create a thread that is truly yours, this is the place! Feel free to utilize this board however you'd like.

-Darth

Surprisingly enough, spambots, both the banned and the unbanned, comprised over 130 members of the Makestation community, and more than half of our registrations. I went ahead and deleted all of them... I'm sure there are a few that remain that weren't deleted due to the lack of proof for their spambot-ness, but the new registration stats do seem to reflect our true member count a little better.

Those spambots get annoying after long enough...