We have certainly been busy over the past month and a half since my last post.  We have rolled out several software products as well as our new web hosting service.  Now it is once again time to turn our attention back to phpBB.

It has been a while since we did our last full refresh of the phpBB backend.  Unlike probably every other free forum host on the internet we use our own customized version of phpBB; we did not just purchase a "multiforum" script and open our doors.  Instead we have chosen to create our own enterprise-class phpBB virtualization solution based around phpBB 3 using Microsoft SQL Server Enterprise Edition as a backend.  That makes us even more unique as a quick web search did not turn up a single free forum host that uses MS SQL Server.

For some time we have been quietly working on a "version 2" if you will of our backend forum hosting engine.  While it’s not quite ready for use, it will be soon.  To prepare for its debut, we’ll be conducting a code audit/refresh on phpBB to ensure that all updates have been applied as well as to roll in some additional functionality too.  For starters, we are looking to add a shoutbox, and SEF (Search Engine Friendly) URLs to our codebase, as well as to update language support as well.

I do not have a timetable as of yet for the launch, but it will be sometime in November, preferably before Thanksgiving.  Your opinions matter; please feel free to share your comments and suggestions on what you would like to see in our new platform.

Things have been very busy lately to say the least.  With the economy being what it is, many including myself have to work more than one job to make ends meet.  In my case, I work at a local TV station in the engineering department.  For the first time in many years we have a strong presence at the Great New York State Fair, and this has required a huge time commitment on my part.

New York State Fair - Day 1

I still have many great things planned for Boardoo in the very near future.  Probably the biggest change will be the total integration of all of our hosted phpBB forums into our social networking backend.  This means one person can join multiple forums while using the same username, password, and even user profile, but maintain seperate signatures and other forum-specific details on each forum.  There will be a unified private messaging system across all forums along with integrated chat.

You will still have total control on your forum, banning users, restricting user signups, even custom profile fields will still be available.  I know that it might sound a bit complicated, but it isn’t.  As we get closer to making this change, I’ll be posting more information on how things will work.   This exciting change will be the last major modification to Boardoo before we launch a large advertising campaign!  This fall is going to be big; stay tuned!

We’re back, a day ahead of schedule due to the awful weather that we’ve been having this summer.  We woke up to wet ground, managed to run out for a quick breakfast, check out, and do a bit of shopping before the sky opened up.  The rain never stopped; it pretty much rained the entire 3 hour drive back to camp, almost never letting up.  Upon returning to camp, we decided to pack it up and head home rather than sit through another rainy camp evening, but not before a stop at the Turning Stone on the way home.

My girlfriend fared much better at the casino this evening, pocketing $50, compared to my loss of $10, lest I still have my 5 souvenier bottles of wine from vacation to look forward to over the coming weeks.  It’s nice to be home though, even if a day early, but it won’t go to waste.  The grass is so long it would be easy for one to lose their car should they venture off the pavement.  If the weather isn’t condusive to yard work, then I suppose I shall start work on the social networking project I have in mind for Boardoo.  More on that later.

Finally, I apologize for not posting as often as I wanted; for some reason moBlog decided to stop working altogether, and for no apparent reason.  I have a couple other neat photos to share, but not before a good night of catch-up sleep.  Cheers!

Today we wound up being more active than originally planned afte a morning shower curtailed plans to rent a boat for the afternoon.  Unfortunately when the rain hit, we found ourselves nearly a block away from the hotel, sans umbrellas.  The irony of it was painfully obvious since not even a half hour had passed since we paid for another night at the Townhouse motel.  At least I could take comfort in knowing that the decision to stay came from a unanimous verdict from our entire party.  So, to our backup plans we went; the first activity being a stop at the Olympic Ski Jumps.

Now, I’m no stranger to visiting the jumps with this being my 3rd time, but this time a chair lift ride was included.  The views were spectacular, although the cloud cover varied throughout the entire time we were there.  Tomorrow marks the end of our short escursion with a few activities in mind before our return back to camp. 

It was tonight while posting these pictures that I decided that the 50MB of storage that we were including with the starter plan was not all that great, so I’m going to change it effective immediately pending another review.  Free blogs will now get double the space; 100MB and that change includes all existing blogs as well!  Just another reason why I hope that you choose to start your blog here.

Welcome to “What’s new, Boardoo?”; News, rumors, and other musings from Boardoo’s founder.

My plan is to use this space to communicate what is going on behind the scenes at Boardoo, including new projects, stuff we’re planning, or just some random ideas we’re considering.  There is a lot going on behind the scenes at Boardoo, and this will be our way of letting you know!

We have a lot of great projects in the works, including a phpBB upgrade, a major social networking expansion, and image hosting, and a few others that are still in the planning stages.  I personally look forward to providing more details as these projects come closer to completion.  In the meantime, I hope you enjoy your stay here at Boardoo.