General Updates

[MetalMilitia]

1-10-09

As some of you know I've been "humpin' the bunk" lately - or to put it in less funny terms, I've been stranded at home and fairly bored out of my mind :) I am however, likely going back to work this coming week so I'm trying to finish up getting everything in a workable order around here. There's quite a bit to go over, so I apologize for the long read.

Main Site Updates

Web Links - If you know someone who runs a site - or if you run one - I'm opening up the links page ( http://www.armageddononline.org/Links/ ) for all to use. Simply send me your site name and a brief description and I'll get it listed in the links section ASAP. It doesn't have to be relevant to AO in any sort of way. If you would like to link YOUR SITE to Armageddon Online, I have made it easier than Ever. ( http://www.armageddononline.org/link2ao.html ) Simply copy and paste the HTML code from any of the boxes and the banner/link will load right from AO. Nifty eh?


The Armageddon Online Amazon store is back in order. ( http://www.armageddononline.org/store.html ) On the front page are some AO-related movies/books/DVD's. If you shop through amazon.com - anything SEARCHED FOR and FOUND by using the AO store page will benefit AO. It takes FOREVER to get a check from them (believe me I've been using them nearly 2 years) but every sale is roughly 1-5%. If you want to contribute to the site - and purchase something you would normally order from Amazon anyways - you may as well do it through our site. The following link will let you surf amazon normally, but AO will get credit for any purchase/sale made - Please use it : http://www.amazon.com/?_encoding=UTF8&tag=armageddono09-20&linkCode=sb1&camp=212353&creative=380557


Contributions and Donations will now be done through the FORUMS. In the past there were 2 ways to donate, a main site portal and a forums portal. To over-simplify things, and for ease of communication with the donating / contributing party, all future donations will be conducted through the forums. As always, forums donations are SECURE and VERIFIED with paypal. If you'd like to check out the details, the donation page can be found here : http://forums.armageddononline.org/billspaypal.php? - . There are still extra 'perks' for being a contributor to the site. If you send me $1,000,000 I will, however, love you forever :)


Live Chat has been integrated with the main site as well as the forums. The chat runs on JAVA - if you don't think you have the current version please update it here ( http://www.java.com/en/download/windows_xpi.jsp?locale=en&host=www.java.com:80 ) Having the latest versions of Firefox ( http://www.mozilla.com/en-US/firefox/ ) and Internet Explorer ( http://www.microsoft.com/windows/downloads/ie/getitnow.mspx ) will ensure literally 0 problems for getting in the chat. If you need help or have a technical issue with the chat, please visit the official support thread found here ( http://forums.armageddononline.org/official_chat_thread-t17836.html )


Spread the Word! On the main site, for every news item and every article there is an option to e-mail to a friend. If you really want to see the site grow, and bring in new people - start referencing AO when you post elsewhere, comment on a blog, or link it in your signature. There are tons of ways to get the word out! Hell, go nominate AO for pick of the month on yahoo ( http://picks.yahoo.com/ ) or submit news/articles off the site to other news sites. Use digg ( http://www.digg.com ) and sites like it. If you see a news article or site article you like, take 2 seconds to click the DIGG button!


A new E-mail system was installed. There aren't many people using it currently, but with the new interface and ease of use I'd be willing to open you an account by request. Membership on the boards is required to make a request. ( http://email.armageddononline.org/ ) If you would like an account, please IM/PM me on the boards, or get a hold of me in chat. Storage is set to 500 megabytes for the trial period :)


Message Board Updates

Forums User groups have been restructured. Based off server performance the last week or so... and watching thousands of people nail the main site - I noticed the new host really didn't "flinch". Restrictions on forums user groups have been SEVERELY reduced. For instance avatar and profile pics are readily available upon sign up. There are benefits added to users @ 30 posts and 150 posts. After 30 posts your avatar can be made larger, as well as profile picture.... number of private messages you are allowed to keep/store goes up.... albums and attachment picture sizes have been increased.


The User rules and FAQ has been combined into 1 easy announcement / post. ( http://forums.armageddononline.org/showthread.php?t=17978 ) It frees up the top navigation bar - as well as combining several loosely related FAQ elements. RESPECT MY AUTHORITAH!


Forums Styles updated! ( http://forums.armageddononline.org/showthread.php?t=17935 ) There are 10 different selectable styles to choose from - each one with it's own unique look and feel. Different banners, different color schemes, different fonts. Find one you like and get comfortable. None of them are missing options anymore, and all 10 will be supported (god willing) in the future.


**stay tuned for future updates**

-MM- :crs:

[MetalMilitia]

Gonna be doing some overhauls @ 1:30am central. The forums may close/ not respond for 10 or so minutes.

-MM- :crs:

[MetalMilitia]

1-14-08

Ok just a few updates to some things around the message boards.
Page / Thread Views - In light of the extreme busy nature of the site and forums, many of the advanced (nerdy) inner workings of vbulletin have been optimized. You likely won't see many but this one is major. It used to be, that when you viewed a thread, the # of views would update in real time. Turns out when you have more than a few hundred people on the forums, it severely increases strain on the server. Therefore, from now on - the number of VIEWS will update automatically once every 15 minutes. Posts are still 100% live and update automatically.


Forums Stats - On the forums homepage, there is a list of the top 5 stats in numerous different categories. You can also expand it to "advanced view" ( http://forums.armageddononline.org/misc.php?do=cybstats ) and see up to the top 200 in each category. You must be registered to view the advanced stats, and more than 5 entries.


Refresh pages - They are gone for most things! You probably didn't even really notice them before. After a post or new thread, you would get a "thank you for posting" and a quick redirect back to your post/thread. The redirect pages have been removed - also due to server load problems known to be associated with them on larger forums. If you see any technical issues (threads not posting, long wait times, time outs... etc etc...) please post the issue in the report forum.


The rest of the server optimization you will likely not notice as a regular user... or is far too 'nerdy' to mention :)

Hopefully the next time (there's always a next time) we get an insane influx of traffic the boards and site will be better prepared. I know on shared hosting it's nearly impossible to keep up with Yahoo... that was completely unexpected, but I thought overall for literally a quarter million page views in a few days the server did fairly well. Ill put it like this... if we were on the old server, and I hadn't switched.... the server would have been a smoldering pile of dog poo. Not that it was a bad host, the guy that ran it was very cool and helpful, there's just no chance in hell it would have been able to keep up with the insane amount of people.

So, as we drift back down in traffic (which is still well over normal levels) I look forward to the next raping by a mainstream media source.

Bring it on!
-MM- :massmurder:

[MetalMilitia]

SMILES!

http://www.armageddononline.org/shittysmiles.jpg

Hey... your smiles are now UNDERNEATH the reply box. Stretchy reply boxes should be a thing of the past... if you see an error or something that looks funky please post in the report section.

Thanks,
-MM-:massmurder:

[MetalMilitia]

1-19-09

Message boards were successfully upgraded from 3.7.2 to 3.8.0 and there are a few new features and functions available.

Please report any problems you may have in the Report & Support section (http://forums.armageddononline.org/forumdisplay.php?f=36) - if you have comments or suggestions about the updates, please post in the Suggestions & Feedback forum (http://forums.armageddononline.org/forumdisplay.php?f=34).

Thanks!
-MM- :massmurder:

[MetalMilitia]

Around 12:30 central US time I will be doing some minor updates. I may need to open / close the boards. If you are planning on making a post from 12:30 to 1:00 pm central, and start it.... copy it before trying to post. The server may bog down a bit or the database may not be available.