~New Features/Changes~ (March/April)

[Jessica]

Hey everyone

I decided to add some new features so if you notice any errors please report them so i can get them fixed

March 1st:

~~Added new tools for administrators (nothing exciting lol)
~~Removed the tables around images (it looks so much better now dont you think?)
~~Added security--guests (those not logged in) cannot view profiles, see the memberlist, or search
~~Removed the post buttons in areas regular users cannot post--this means if you dont have permission to post, you wont see the buttons (clicking the buttons before would have just told you you dont have permission to post there)...basically, if you dont see the button to make a new thread,i have it set so only mods/admins can create threads there
~~Added post numbers to posts so you can link people directly to posts instead of to threads[/list:u]

I might add new things later but so far this is what i've gotten done.

Remember you still have the options of using other themes besides the red one (the blue one has font color issues at the moment but other than that the features are available on all themes).

Hope you guys like the new features [/b]

[Jessica]

More new features have been added for you guys....hopefully you like them...if something is broken for longer than a few minutes please PM me with the error so i can fix it.

1. Added "topics __ has started"....this is available on each of post, in profiles, and in the memberlist
 2. Added ability to see entire category when posting (for instance, at the top this one says "wicked sims forum index >> welcome to wicked sims >> news/updates)
 3. Added news box to the front page of the forum
 4. Added ability to change fonts (I will try to add more fonts later)
 5. Added ability to align your text (right/left/center)
 6. Removed ability to pm yourself (unfortunately some people have been doing this lol)
 7. Added font color bar when posting (its part of the posting options)
 8. Removed ability to see "attach files" in private messages since that isnt allowed it was pointless to let you guys see it and be tempted by it lol
 9. Added "Home" to the menu so you no longer have to click the banner or whatever to get back to the homepage and removed "usergroups" since there are no usergroups
10. Added ability to make longer titles for posts (hopefully you guys dont abuse that lol)
11. Added new banner to the

homepage made by SDSims aka ShadowDragon
12. Added new affiliates to the Links section and to the homepage's affiliates section (they will be putting our banner on their sites)
13. Submitted the website (both homepage and the forum) to about 3 dozen search engines
14. Added an avatar gallery...in case you dont want to upload your own (or just want to see what i picked out) you can look through the various categories of avatars (they are mostly girly sorry boys but there are some nice funny ones in there too lol)....if you dont like them, upload your own [/list:u]

I think thats it lol...Yeah it sounds like a lot, but if you had been coming to the site the last few days and were like hmm why is this not working.....it was because i was doing all that....i also attempted to add a handful of other hacks that didnt end up working right and then i had to remove them and make sure everything was working....

I used the new font features on this post merely to show you guys how they look, not because i felt like making it all fancy lol

Anyways, I am always looking for ways to improve the site so i will add new features if/when I can.

Next thing on my to-do list: find new creators to join me and Henrik [/color][/b][/font][/size]

[Jessica]

ok some little changes have been made

For those of you who have been using the blue theme, you should be happy with the changes made thanks to SDSims aka ShadowDragon...
There were some issues with text colors not showing up in the forums/profile/search/posting pages but those have now all been fixed...
Also, I fixed the issue with the Site title and description not showing up at the top of the blue theme's main page.

I also fixed the issue with the wicked sims banner not showing up on the subsilver theme...

I also hopefully fixed the cookie issue some people were having

And I added new ranks!!
You may notice that certain people have special ranks and special rank images above their avatars (like mine)...
There is also a ranking system set up for you guys (the members)...each time you reach a certain posting level, your Title and your rank image will change to the next level....there are several levels set up so hopefully you guys decide you hate being labelled as newbies and start posting more

[Jessica]

Alright i fixed the issue with the blue theme not having the "private messages" link in the menu so any of you using the blue one probably wondered why lol...it's fixed now

I made the site banner smaller so although it doesnt look as nice to those of us using Internet Explorer, those on FireFox will no longer have the issue of the banner covering up the site title/description area (i know, no one complained about it but i noticed it and it annoyed me lol)

Just a little tip...the whole left side of  that rainbow color bar above the "post a reply" text box, ya know where the neon yellows/greens are? Those do not look good on any theme so try not to use them

I fixed some admin-type things that arent exciting at all and were only bugging me lol

and i only have two more things I want to add to the site....but when i try adding them, they dont do what theyre supposed to do so once those are finally installed properly, this thread shouldnt need to be updated so often anymore (that means i wont be fiddling with the coding anymore at that point and making you guys see that disabled board message lol)

Although I submitted the site to 3 dozen search engines (some of those were manual submissions meaning I did them by hand ), it could take up to a month for the site to start showing up in the searches...so make sure to get the word out on the site on your own! Tell your friends, post in other sims sites, advertise in your signatures elsewhere...
I can only do so much on my own lol so if you're enjoying the site, make sure to tell others about it

[Jessica]

well i found some mistakes i hadnt caught previously although everyones lack of noticing them makes me wonder if you guys actually read this thing lol
The mistakes have been fixed...i hope i caught all the problems but I doubt I did.

I still havent gotten the 2 features I wanted to add working but i'm not giving up on them....I'll figure out how to fix them eventually lol

[Jessica]

Hello again my dearies I have some news for you...I know you're like geez stop changing the site already lol
I have changed the homepage altogether.......so if you have the homepage bookmarked, please change your bookmarks to http://www.wickedsims2.com instead of www.wickedsims.com

If you have the forum bookmarked, dont worry I didnt change the forum at all

Yeah i know the way the homepage looks is horrible but what do you expect from someone who never opened MS Frontpage before last night? lol
My design skills suck but hopefully i'll be able to improve it...I kept the banner SD made for me and I kept the same basic layout, but I had to change it so it would be easier for me to update it everytime someone makes new exclusive downloads.

I know most of you couldn't care less but I'm informing you anyways.

[Jessica]

ok i was in the hospital late monday night til late tues. night (dont ask) and when i finally got home i had to reformat my computer...

I did manage to finally update the site...what this entailed:

++  deactivating www.wickedsims.com and pointing everyone to www.wickedsims2.com
++  resubmitting the site (with the new url) to all the search engines
++  fixed the banner issue so now all the banners on the homepage/subpages should take you straight to the forum if you click on them
++  updated the newest exclusive downloads
++  added a new affiliate--Sims Beauty
++  redid meta-tags for the homepage/subpages
++  fixed navigation menu appearance so the font is like the rest of the homepage

Make sure you guys check to see if your bookmarks/favorites are correct

I still have to work on the homepage design but if you guys can think of more things that need fixing, post in the Site Suggestions thread

[Jessica]

Ok i spent all day today and last night trying to get these mods all working but this is what I got successfully done:

2 mods to help me out (neither of which concern any of you just boring admin stuff lol)[/list:u]
what i got almost working correctly:

Thanks mod[/list:u]
unfortunately although it looks perfect, it causes an error so although its still technically on the site, none of you can see it yet...once it's working correctly I'll inform you guys...but ive redone it 3 times and cant figure out what the problem is....so im giving up for the moment.

I'm kinda proud of myself that i finally got one of the mods that i needed finally working (one of the boring ones i mentioned above)...it will help me out alot and I'm surprised I actually got it to work lol

Alright I'm done boring you guys for now[/b][/size][/font]

[Jessica]

We have a new affiliate--Stylist Sims please go visit!

Also, there was an announcement made about the google ads that are on the top/bottom of the pages, please read that announcement.

I am in the process of coming up with a new homepage look...complete with a new banner, this will take some time since i suck at designing....plus i have to make sure that whatever i choose will look ok with text on it and wont hurt anyones eyes.

The site has been updated successfully to the new version of phpbb so if you come across any errors or bugs anywhere on the site (especially those of you using the nondefault themes--blue and silver), make sure to email me or message me on the site with a copy of the error/bug or a screenshot of it.

I also have added new avatars and will be adding more....theyre mostly girly (sorry) but there are some that can be used by anyone.