[Ryan]

UPDATE: Server side upgrades are complete. Cosmetic upgrades coming this weekend. (7/9/2010)

Hi folks.

Just wanted to remind everybody that this weekend will begin the first phase of site upgrades to SWTOR Junkies.

This also happens to be the biggest of the upcoming upgrades. The first change you'll notice is a completely new front page. The site will remain an integrated forum experience - yet that same forum back end will also populate the homepage. The new layout is more 'newsy', with a visual flow to it so you get what you want up front without having to click "after the breaks" or be logged in to reply. TLDR - I streamlined the process.

I'll tell you up front that this is going to be an interesting experience. Over the past few weeks, I've debated going a different route, namely integrating a Drupal or Wordpress solution with a vBulletin bridge. This provides an incalculable amount of benefit to both me and you - but there is a great loss initially for a starting community such as us. Simply stated, it would mean an article database reset and I'm not willing to go there yet.

What I did was hand code a PHP solution. This was my first time dabbling, but I like the outcome. It's a standard design with my own little version of flare mixed in. The only real drawback to you is one that won't be apparent for a few years yet. I'll leave out the rest of the technical details but this is really a medium-term solution. We will need an upgrade in the next 3 years probably. Heh.

The upgrade shouldn't take more than 5 minutes. The only thing involved is copying a file or two. When you see the new front page, please click on everything to put it through it's paces. Let me know if anything is broken or funky, no matter how small it may seem.

Thanks.