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Monday, April 16, 2007
Evolution
I spend a lot of time on this blog discussing things that I am working on for this network and usually I'm pretty vague. This is always for good reason - projects have a way of changing as they near completion and either things are added or taken away depending on programming and financial constraints.
I thought I'd take a moment to go into some more specifics though. After so many vague comments I think it's easy to form the impression that nothing is happening at all! So it can also work against you to be too vague at times.
I won't go into specifics about theOtaku.com because I think it's really Adam's thing to reveal/announce and I wouldn't want to jump in ahead of him unless he was happy with that.
Instead, I thought I'd talk a bit about the new OtakuBoards. I should preface this by saying that programming work has not yet begun - there are a couple of things that need to happen before we can start working on a development mule (including the creation of a new database on the server, which only Adam can do at this point).
There will be a couple of major differences with the new site that everyone will notice right away (apart from the new visual style). First, OB will be designed with a 1024x768 resolution in mind (along with theOtaku). Second, the site will be far more content driven than ever before - yes, it will still be mostly about the forums, but it will also become a hub for content in and of itself.
A central new element with OB Evolution (as the new site is code-named) is display panels (I'm using this term instead of "widgets" or "gadgets", haha). These panels/channels will come in a variety of flavours and they will provide instant contact with a variety of content, both inside and outside OtakuBoards.
We'll have an OB Network panel, for instance, which will link to all of OB's sub-sites (and there will be more than Otakupedia by the time we're done, too).
And, significantly, there will also be an official Podcast panel that will broadcast both internal and external podcasts (although initially I expect the vast majority of content will come from outside OtakuBoards and probably outside the network itself). This particular area I'm very excited about, because I would like to see the establishment of an actual OB podcast at some stage in the future. Anyone who has the capability/interest to do this should probably start thinking about it!
We will also have ways to feature important/interesting threads and more.
The forums themselves will also receive a much-needed visual upgrade (and simplification).
OB Evolution will, I think, be the biggest upgrade we've ever done. My hope is that it will allow OB to make the transition from being "just a forum" to a true community location. And of course, it'll have a look that throws it into the 21st century rather than being stuck with the remnants of a two year old design (although I think OB is still quite a bit more modern-looking than many other vBs I've seen out there - with the exception of the Geisha skin, which looks awful and is poorly implemented).
Hal: Well yeah, that's why I never said "visual artists". I just said "artists" (meaning all forms of art from visual to written to anything else).
But yes, it's a worthy investment for artist without doubt!
Mental/creative blocks are very difficult for me. Luckily I've been able to work on new designs for theOtaku.com and OB without being too hindered by this problem lately.
Darren: Ohh, right! Sorry, haha. My mistake. That's still a sweet gift - I'm sure your mother loves it! It's great that she makes a nice dinner too; there's nothing better than a great home-cooked meal.
Mixed bouquet of roses sounds great. ~_^
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