[Darth-Apple]

Welcome back! Makestation is today at its one year birthday as a community, and to celebrate, we've been working on some pretty in-depth changes for a while now. And today, behold, they are here. We've added some great new features, an all new design, and of course some new sections and reorganization for the community as well. We hope you love the new changes that celebrate our first year in existence as a community!

What's New

1) We've released our completely revamped design, which, as you may notice, is based on the original Submatrix theme. Submatrix was the most popular design that was ever used here, so we've decided to go back to it, of course with some improvements. Let us know what you think and what you would like to see for the next stage of revisions in our design! (And yes, a tweaked sidebar is among the list of things to do. )

2) We've integrated a new shop into the Station Cash Panel, offering a large selection of over 30 badges for station cash. As a result, no longer are badges such as the Stamp of Blessings handed out. You can now purchase them yourself! Be careful, however... some items have very limited stock, and prices can change at any moment. Be sure to check them out!

3) We've coded our own custom status updates plugin that functions similarly to the profile comments plugin for our software. The new plugin allows status updates to show up on the sidebar, and also has a "view all updates" page. So, you may just have a little more of an audience next time you need to make a quick rant.

4) The shoutbox, alerts, and a few other features have officially returned!

5) Roleplay has now been implemented here at Makestation. The basic premise divides members into two political parties, each holding different values and morals. Be sure to select your team and check out the roleplay section today!

6) We've also done some board reoganization to bring some life back into the sections of the forum that need the activity. In short, the entertainment section was moved and merged with the "general media" board, the software & coding section was split outside of the general "technology" board, and the "lifestyle" board was moved outside of the coffeehouse. Feel free to check our new about us page as well, which reflects the updated layout. We hope you like the changes!

A year in review

It's been quite a first year as a community. And yes, quite a few theme overhauls have been made over that year, along with a forum software conversion, and almost two. (Perhaps that should be an embarassment? ) Anyway, this time around, we have decided to revert to an older design that had gained some success, but just for the nostalgia...

From our original SMF days:


Right after the MyBB conversion:


Needless to say, we've come a long way.

Anyway, we've spent about a month working on these new changes, and I'm excited about some of the new ideas that are also planned. We hope that you like the new changes to the community! As always, if you have any suggestions, feel free to let us know.

[Gmdykfuiygh66476]

We've come a pretty long way, great job

[simlink]

The site has come a long way, I can't believe it has been a year already!
Here's to many more, Darth. And great work on the relaunch and new features.

[Warwick]

Good job! Let's see this place improve and grow in the upcoming year!

[Darth-Apple]

Thanks for the positive feedback! I'm glad you guys like the changes.

[Acko]

I can't believe I went from one of the members with the least posts to the second most

[RuthB]

I have only just discovered and joined this forum, so I cannot comment on how it has changed, but I can say that the design looks good and the forum is easy to use. I shall explore all the other features too.

May I also add my congratulations to Makestation on reaching its first anniversary.

[Darth-Apple]

Thanks for the positive feedback!

I've made a few additional changes as well regarding station cash. Some of the income settings for how station cash is earned has been changed, and the badge pricing in the station badge marketplace has been updated to make some of them a bit more affordable. I've also added about 15 new badges, bringing the total up to 39. Anyone have any additional suggestions for badges that could be added? (It takes five minutes to add a badge, so all suggestions will be considered! )

Also, several users have recently suggested the installation of a chat room at the community. I recently was able to integrate a subscription based chat system with the forums, so that has been set up. You can subscribe through this link, and a link will automatically appear in the header menu, granting you access to the new chat. (The initial subscription costs were around $100 station cash, but I've decided to "discount" them significantly for the first subscribers to help get the chat kicked off. It also helps me to ensure that the subscription system works correctly. )

Let us know what you think!
-Apple