Turns out I was wrong yesterday when I said that was most likely the last major Version Vbrant information to be announced. This is by far the biggest announcement relating to Version Vibrant in my opinion, and if I understand correctly, the last piece of the puzzle us regular Joes and Janes are going to get regarding it. Unofficially it's Feature Announcment #17, but it's titled "Final Details/Launch Date" in reality. To make this easy, here's a quick run-down of what the announcement covers:
- The Bad:
- Cosplay will not be relaunched with Version Vibrant.
- Avatars will have to be re-uploaded and MUST BE 100x100px.
- 24 hour submission cap per site, looks like it's limited to three submissions total.
- This is to monitor content more closely.
- Find bugs in the system easier.
- Give artists more exposure per work.
- Encourage submissions of multiple types.
- The Good:
- New design/Integrated backroom.
- Over 50+ features and improvements.
- New Site: Fan Words.
- Fan Fiction (Personal Note: I like this addition)
- Features
- Essays
- Guides
- Ability to submit works to "Meta" Categories:
- Anime/Manga
- Video Games
- TV
- Movies
- Books/Comics
- Personal
- A New Beginning (additional features expected in the months following launch).
The launch is set for the Weekend of March 1-2, so down time is to be expected on those days while things are moved to new servers and stuff is put into place to make it work. That's one week from Saturday. Mark it on your calendars, expect to have problems getting on site those days, and expect wonderful new things when Monday comes around.
Anyway, the breakdowns On and Off site are updated to cover the new information.
Long overdue and many times promised, here's what I've got so far in terms of pyrography. This is the list of articles I'll be offering to burn on, I might add stuff to it as I see cool pieces in the art supply store, I might drop less popular pieces as well.
- Pencil box
- 11.5"x8.5" (outside dimensions) box
- 11"x14" oval
- 12"16" rectangle
- 8" circle
I don't have pricing info yet because I still haven't solved the payment method probl, but those are the pieces I'll be offering to start off with. Any suggestions on other pieces would be welcome. I can't promise I can offer them cause I'm limited to what my art supply house has available. Hopefully, I'll be able to work out the money thing soon so I can get this thing under way ASAP.
Comments
Karumi:
It's good to know that we're finally going to see the next phase of theotaku.com. After all the attention it's been getting, hopefully the wait is worth it.
InuYashaFan4-ever:
It'll be nice to have that kind of thing around, I think I'll probably take advantage of it myself, to help keep me on track and working on my art. Right now, my dA scraps are just pictures of tunnels that I can't figure out where to rightly put. They need a category specifically for tunnels over there.
Yeah, it's kind of like Christmas in February, we've waited so long already not knowing when it was coming, now we have an idea and we'll be anticipating all the more. I really want to see it myself.
AngelBest Dream:
Within 10 days is very vague, but now we have something more concrete in terms of launch dates.
Unfortunately, it's not that easy for me. If the government wanted to do something about all the health problems in this country, they'd make healthy choices easier to obtain (in terms of cost and availalbility) than all that chemical crap people injest these days. Since I'm unemployed, I have to rely on the things others bring into the house, and they just don't care about themselves enough to make healthy choices.
There is a scenic railroad in the state here somewhere. I may one day take a ride on it since we don't have passenger train service out here anymore.
Any time a site goes through a major overhaul, there's going to be some bugs in the system for a while. That's why I'll wait a week before trying to do anything on Version Vibrant. That'll give the bugs a chance to settle and make things easier to evaluate properly. I'll do my best to remain unbiased and honest about my evaluation. I'm not liking some of the stuff I'm hearing about it already, but I'll weigh those along with everything else, and try not to let myself be swayed ahead of time.
Adam:
Thank you, I'm doing my best with what information I get. Aside from keeping my promise to keep the readers of my blog informed, I hope that I've empowered other members here to be informed about what's going on, and given them the confidence to discuss Version Vibrant with their other friends who may not be informed about it yet.
Won't be able to do this kind of thing with images and text? That will certainly make things challenging off the bat. Especially considering smaller images like thumbnails are usually what I post when I post images at all. Looks like I will be faced with some creative challenges to make things work. I'm very particular about how my posts look, I hate to see gaps of empty space around pictures in my posts, I like my posts to have a professional presentation to them.
Generally, anything up to half the pixel width of the posting area will need a word wrap due to it's size alone. In most cases for me, I tend to post stuff around 100-200px in width. Basically thumbnail sized pictures for reference, and sometimes even linked to a full size picture (when I post wallpaper sized pictures of my hikes on the Rail Trail for example) when it's appropriate. I dislike side-scrolling post areas that have oversized images in them almost as much as I don't like empty space around images. 
Doesn't quite have the same visual impact when it's sitting in a gap of empty space does it? Hopefully after I work with the new system I'll be able to work up a temporary solution for that. I'll have to make a note of it in my new posting template, which I'll put together when I can.
Anyway, I do appreciate you letting me know in advance that I'll be dealing with text wrapping issues with images in posts. Since I'm expecting it now, it won't be as frustrating to me when it happens. I'll still be annoyed, but not as much as I'd have been if I went in blind and found out on my own.
Yensid:
I kept putting that stuff off for too long. Still don't have the financials taken care of yet (that's why pricing is absent from the info), but at least I finally got the specific pieces I'll be doing posted.
Yes, I saw that. It's a good thing though, the staff needs to get members' perspectives once in a while.
I know it's getting to be old hat, but I promised to deliver as much information about Version Vibrant as I can. I'll keep on reporting on it till the launch itself, and after the launch I'll have my evaluation of it and that'll probably be it. Oh no, after Version Vibrant launches, I won't have a long-term project to report on regularly. Hm, I'll have to think of something to cover after Version Vibrant is out.
My username came about in 2003 when I was doing variations on my Tech TV username which was cosmictraveller. Unfortunately, I get called "she" a lot here, which must mean my username leans toward being feminine, though I don't really understand why, it's kind of neutral from my perspective (that and use masculine avatars). All the same though, I've had it for four years now, I'm not giving it up for anything. It doesn't make sense to go through the trouble of setting up a whole new account when I've got a perfectly fine one as it is. if I did go out of my way to get a new one, it would probably be under my Tech TV username, or one of my other non-cosmic usernames that I've adopted recently.
I'll certainly try, though I don't know how to get rid of this cough, it does seem to be going away little by little.
