Have to say for what was our one year anniversary, there was a lot of things that took place during and just before the month of March. A huge influx of activity and members arrived here with the inclusion of Requine. Some of you have seen our metrics in what the site activity had looked like prior to this explosion. All I can say is how stunned I am in that so many of you have decided to join and constantly return. I appreciate every single one of you here.
With the upswell of members and activity we had changes a plenty within the forums. Counting not one but two major upgrades to our role play group system here, the wiki, media gallery and so much more.
Again I just want to say thank you to each and every one of you. I'm overjoyed in seeing the amount of role play that has sprung forth and to the friendly members, you couldn't ask for more.
Role Play Portal 3.0We had upgraded to a new system to make the process of creating and running a role play group back in late January. Of course the system wasn't without it's flaws but the one thing we wanted to add into the mix was just out of reach with the abilities of the system. After deciding in that upgrading to what would become version 3.0, we knew that there would be another round of everyone trying to get use to this latest iteration. Surprisingly there was fewer issues from members. The newest RP portal allowed members to see the active groups easily within a dynamic listing. The controls were expanded to included an events calendar, logo and group banner selections. A full media gallery integration and more options for each group to use. The positive comments from members have been wonderful and even the critiques are very welcomed as we continue to streamline things.
Media GalleryOne of the factors in finally deciding to include a media gallery was to offer a centralised place that members could upload their images and video embeds in so they can easily use them within their threads, posts or pretty much any where within the forums and other sites. Each member has the ability to create their own albums with varying levels of security. Wanted to have an album that only you can see and add things into it, easy to do. We'll probably set about in looking for a way to do contests using member submitted images. It's truly the first few steps in what could be utilized within the Media Gallery. Looking forward in what you guys put in there and to see all of the artistic talent that is out there.
Staff Additions
I've looked high and low for members that could help in the day to day tasks of the forum, that are known to be compassionate, fair and have a great outlook to our members here and to the wider role play community within The Secret World universe. My search took to me places where no person dared tread. To places that humankind has never seen. After traveling the globe I found not one, not two but three members that fit what I was searching for. With Requine Helfdan and Tatterling I knew that with these three brought in as staff, they would help with the forums, our members and be a great beacon to the rest of the role play community. So, when you see them here in the forums, send them a thank you. You'll be able to know who they are. They have the green names with the shield icon next to their names.
In Closing
Like I mentioned previously, I'll be experimenting with layouts and such for these newsletters. We're finishing up the contest and rolling names around in a large drum to pick the winner when this goes out. Going to be putting my head together with the staff in getting ideas together for more contests, puzzles, and more to just have fun here. For now, be sure to take a look around, there's a bunch of pure awesomeness in here. Until next time.
ciao ciao