Real Hal9000

Steven UK you are one hell of a lucky man mate, especially for someone who has just joined these forums.

Actually, this forum is visible to everyone, log out and see for yourself

No one has contempt for customers at IPS. I did respond unprofessionally to the phrasing of your topic. You are right that I didn't need to block it so quickly. I decided to go ahead and tweak the tag system to appear more desirable to search engines shortly after I read your post.

We all want more search engine traffic and if you take a cursory glance through our recent blogs on 3.3, you'll see most are improvements to SEO - many of which originated as requests or questions from customers.

I apologise if you felt my tone was inappropriate. I'm the co-owner of this company and very passionate about the software we produce. We've been writing forum software for over 10 years and have learned a lot over this time. I tend to be quite relaxed and informal when I speak to customers. Most appreciate the candid nature of our interaction but I realise its not for everyone. I will be more mindful in the future.

Invision Power Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of IP.Board 3.3.0 and IP.Content 2.3.0!

Everyone at IPS is very proud of IP.Board 3.3.0 and IP.Content 2.3.0 updates. We have worked hard to create a quality, modern community platform and the feedback from our clients has been tremendous.

We are releasing the following new software:


IP.Board 3.3.0
Fully featured community platform including forums, members profiles, calendar, status system, integration, and much, much more.


IP.Content 2.3.0
Content management for your community - run a full web site or a simple community portal. The possibilities are endless.

Release Notes

Though IP.Board 3.3.0 and IP.Content 2.3.0 have been tested for months, you never know what you are going to get when thousands of people start using it overnight. Therefore: now that IP.Board 3.3.0 and IP.Content 2.3.0 will be used by a much larger audience we will probably come across as yet undiscovered bugs. You can expect maintenance releases as we work quickly to address any issues reported.

• We are now providing technical support and services for IP.Board 3.3.0 and IP.Content 2.3.0. As you might imagine, many thousands of clients will be asking for help so please note that if you request upgrade or install assistance that there could be a delay up to a few days to process that request.
  
• You may wish to take advantage of the automatic upload service in the client area to help upgrade your version.
  
• We may reply to this topic with hot-fix patches or notes if any critical issues come up so please use the "Follow this Topic" feature to get notified.
  
• If you experience any problems, before submitting a ticket, please disable all third party applications and hooks.
  
• You may wish to check our knowledge base for common upgrade issues.

What's new in IP.Board 3.3

In addition to this list there are countless other minor improvements and changes based on client feedback too numerous to mention. IP.Board 3.3 was all about polish so we hope you enjoy it.

Archive System: New feature to archive off topics to remove post table overhead
Warning System: New more flexible feature replaces old warning system
SEO Update: 'Dead end' links, unfriendly error pages, metadata tags, bounce rates
SEO Update: Banned users
SEO Update: Duplicate title tags, profile tabs, skin and language selectors, direct links to posts
SEO Update: Microformat and Schema Updates
SEO Update: Changes to tags, guests and unread links, title tags, soft 404s and schema additions for ratings
Performance Updates: Improving topic markers, today's top posters, post table access
Auto-share on posting: Tweet and share to Facebook when creating a topic
Reputation Updates: Like/reputation updates on a user's profile
Miscellaneous Updates: Log-in autosave, emoticons in signatures, log in as a member, duplicate forum, system schedular as a CRON and more.
Applications and Hook Updates: Application ordering, hook list update, hook settings
Moderation Tools Updates: Hide/Delete/Soft Delete consolidation and interface updates


What's new in IP.Content 2.3

AdminCP Interface Part 1 & Admin CP Interface Part 2: Significant ACP interface changes to improve consistency, usability, clarity and approachability
SEO Improvements: Duplication, header code, meta tag, page title and on-page HTML improvements, as well as a new URL memory system
Commenting & Other Enhancements: Improvements to commenting, quick navigation panel integration, reporting, reputation support and other article/database enhancements
New Features: Currently viewing plugin block and shared media field for databases
Tagging: Tag support implemented and a new tag cloud plugin block made available
Navigation Bar: Full tab control for the primary navigation bar
Relational Fields: Type-ahead relational fields and automatic cross-linking of related content
Nexus: Nexus package, purchase, support request, shipping, invoices and transaction feeds, and donation plugin block
Block Templates: New block templates functionality allowing developers to more easily share blocks and quality block templates
Odds & Ends: Updated default installation, ModCP integration, improved ACP logging, teaser paragraph article field and interface improvements

Take for exampe the "new topic" and "new reply" buttons for IPB, VB and PHPBB. As you know often people visit a forum to err post a question or reply to a topic that they found. Here's IPB's buttons with NO HYPERLINKS:



Here's vb and phpbb:



both hyperlinking the user to some sort of registration page! eg:


For errors on IPB we have something like this:


This is just one fraction of 1 of the issues. Not even talking about the lack of seo. I wish somehow I could get on the dev team. The software is sooo much better than vb and phpbb in many important ways but with the current disconnect it makes it harder to grow.

Of course, i've reworded the "You cannot make a reply" buttons and linked them to the registration page but things like this should not be left up to publishers. I think the beauty of software such as wordpress (blog i know), phpbb and vb is that u put them online add unique content and they WILL GROW!

Stop telling users what they cannot do and show them how to get involved! Also, please tone down the error messages that seem so fatal its enough to scare the "average" user off.

Please do this software some justice, its being held back by those two things... new-user-UNfriendlyness lol and the lack of proper seo.

Invision Power Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of IP.Board 3.2.1, IP.Calendar 3.2.1, IP.Content 2.2.1, and IP.Nexus 1.3.1!

These releases are the first maintenance release after our highly anticipated release of IP.Board 3.2.0 and its related applications. These releases fix many reported issues.

We are releasing the following new software:


IP.Board 3.2.1
Fully featured community platform including forums, members profiles, calendar, status system, integration, and much, much more.


IP.Nexus 1.3.1
Fully featured commerce system to sell products, membership access, advertising, digital downloads, and more. Includes tools like a support desk to help manage you clients.


IP.Content 2.2.1
Content management for your community - run a full web site or a simple community portal. The possibilities are endless.


IP.Calendar 3.2.1
Event calendar for your community with multiple calendars, public/private events, and iCal support.




What's new in IP.Board 3.2.1

Between 3.2.0 and 3.2.1 the following changes have been made:

• A setting has been added to restore the ability to have proportionate profile photo sizes in topic view (3.2.0 enforced cropped square thumbnails).
  
• The visual skin editor has been enhanced to support more areas of the board.
  
• Several enhancements have been made to the webDav integration for external skin editing.
  
• More than 170 bug fixes have been implemented to IP.Board 3.2.0.

Please read our 3.2.0 announcement for a full list of what's new in the 3.2 series!

The day IPB becomes like Facebook is the day I switch to different forum software.

3DKiwi

Invision Power Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of IP.Board 3.2.0 and its Applications!

Everyone at IPS is very proud of IP.Board 3.2.0 and the Application updates. We have worked hard to create a quality, modern community platform and the feedback from our clients has been tremendous.

We are releasing the following new software:


IP.Board 3.2.0
Fully featured community platform including forums, members profiles, calendar, status system, integration, and much, much more.


IP.Gallery 4.1.0
Categories and photo albums for your members to share their images and videos on your community.


IP.Nexus 1.3.0
Fully featured commerce system to sell products, membership access, advertising, digital downloads, and more. Includes tools like a support desk to help manage you clients.


IP.Blog 2.4.0
Allow you and your members to post blogs on your community or syndicate externally hosted blogs easily.


IP.Downloads 2.4.0
Complete file management application including file version control, commenting, and forum topic linking.


IP.Content 2.2.0
Content management for your community - run a full web site or a simply community portal. The possibilities are endless.


IP.Chat 1.3.0
Engage your members in real time chat or send them private chats while in the chat room.


IP.Calendar 3.2.0
Event calendar for your community with multiple calendars, public/private events, and iCal support.




What's new in IP.Board 3.2!

In addition to this list there are countless other minor improvements and changes based on client feedback too numerous to mention.


Calendar Improvements

• SEO Improvements: http://community.inv...o-improvements/
  
• Consistency: http://community.inv...ii-consistency/
  
• RSVP: http://community.inv...-part-iii-rsvp/
  
• Simplification and interface changes: http://community.inv...erface-changes/
  
• iCalendar support: http://community.inv...lendar-support/

Moderator Functions

• Report Center improvements: http://community.inv...r-improvements/
  
• Editing Member improvements: http://community.inv...r-improvements/
  
• Moderator Control Panel: http://community.inv...-control-panel/

New Text Editor

• New editor and auto-save: http://community.inv...ew-text-editor/
  
• Cleaner interface, quick reply, quick quoting: http://community.inv...editor-part-ii/
  
• New post alert while typing reply: http://community.inv...ditor-part-iii/

AdminCP

• New style: http://community.inv...-admincp-style/
  
• New "like" reputation mode: http://community.inv...tion-mode-like/
  
• Easy member management: http://community.inv...ber-management/
  
• Improved restrictions: http://community.inv...s-enhancements/
  
• Forum Management: http://community.inv...rum-management/
  
• Remote skin editing: http://community.inv...e-skin-editing/

Core Functionality

• View new content and topic marking improvements: http://community.inv...d-topic-marking and part 2: http://community.inv...t-improvements/
  
• New Photo Editor: http://community.inv...w-photo-editor/
  
• Shared media: http://community.inv...e-shared-media/
  
• Tagging and prefixes: http://community.inv...g-and-prefixes/
  
• Notification enhancements: http://community.inv...n-enhancements/ and http://community.inv...cations-part-2/
  
• New mobile skin: http://community.inv...te-mobile-skin/
  
• Facebook, Twitter, and mobile updates: http://community.inv...mobile-updates/
  
• Visual Skin Editor: http://community.inv...al-skin-editor/

Miscellaneous Changes

• "Delete All" button has been added to the SQL error logs page
  
• Linear+ and Outline modes removed for topic viewing (they're a hold-over from an older time on the web and it's time to retire them)
  
• Support for IPv6
  
• You can now use the member management tools to search for incomplete members
  
• Pagination added to the incomplete members page of the ACP
  
• If only one skin or language is choosable, the dropdown selector at the bottom of the page will be hidden
  
• Member photos and member avatars are being merged into one function: member photo. There was too much overlap between the two features.
  
• IP.Calendar and IP.Chat will no longer be bundled in the IP.Board download zip to reduce the size of the download. This also allows clients who have no interest in IP.Chat or IP.Calendar to choose not to download or install those applications. Of course those who do wish to use those applications can easily download from the client area and install them.
  
• Rebuild FURL cache button has been moved to the cache management page.
  
• It is now possible to rename the "hooks" folder to something else editing the constant IPS_HOOKS_PATH in initdata.php.
  
• You can now edit each group's report center permissions directly from the group management area
  
• Report center now supports item marking to remember and indicate which reports you've viewed
  
• Customers who have purchased Copyright Removal no longer need to enter a separate Copyright Removal key. The copyright will automatically be removed when activating your license.
  
• New settings for attachments to limit size of files stored on disk
  
• Separate ACP restriction options have been added for managing spam users and incomplete users (access to these areas were previously controlled by the option "can manage banned users").
  
• "Show X Last visitors in profile" now shows always the last 5 visitors if the setting is enabled rather than having a 3, 5, 10 dropdown choice.
  
• New ACP tool to create the cronjobs to rebuild sphinx indexes
  
• When adding a ban filter in the ACP you will now have an option to enter a reason visible to all admins (the reason won't show in the public side).
  
• Pinned, polls, and moved topic prefixes have been moved to language files (they were previously in the settings area)
  
• Many redundant or pointless settings removed. Other settings moved to more logical locations. Some settings groups merged to create fewer groups to go through when setting up your community. System Settings menu item moved to a top-level menu item under System tab so it's available with one-click anywhere in AdminCP.
  
• The note box in your My Settings (UserCP) area has been removed. It is a hold-over from years past and doesn't seem to make sense in community software. If you are one of the very few people who use this: make a copy of your notes before upgrade.
  
• The unread topic marking system will now remember what page of a topic you left off reading rather than assume you read the entire topic on the first click.

IP.Nexus 1.3.0

• Global Changes http://community.inv...global-changes/
  
  • Updated to match the new styling in IP.Board 3.2 both on front end and AdminCP
    
  • Search functions integrated with AdminCP live search
    
  • Attention icons to display items needing your attention
    
  • 2Checkout.com gateway added
    
  • Support for PayPal subscriptions
    
  • Subscription option for packages so a member can only purchase an item once
    
  • Better support to remember a member's original member group when you are using IP.Nexus group promotion feature
    
  • More admin-level notification options of new activity
• Hosting improvements: http://community.inv...us-130-hosting/
  
• Customers and purchases: http://community.inv...-and-purchases/
  
• Support: http://community.inv...us-130-support/

IP.Gallery 4.1.0
http://community.inv...-41-dev-update/




Other Applications

Other applications have been updated to work with IP.Board 3.2.0, have received cosmetic improvements, and other minor updates to improve functionality. All applications will get larger updates now that IP.Board 3.2.0 has been released. Keep an eye on our news feed for information.

Code-Level Changes

These are changes made at the code-level of our software during this release phase that may interest our power-user clients.


Performance Improvements

• Reduced several cache-load queries on the ACP index page
  
• Combined two permissions queries loaded on every ACP page into one
  
• Added some additional cache-loading calls to other ACP pages (manage applications, manage hooks, manage members)
  
• Added some caching for fetching the max version ID in the upgrade_history table, which reduces the number of queries on the ACP manage applications page by the number of applications installed
  
• Changed how modules are grabbed when IN_DEV is enabled for menu building (runs one query instead of one query per application)
  
• class_forums was getting loaded and initialized twice in the Manage Forums page - fixed so it's not reloaded a second time. Also removed a shortcut for the class in the manage forums file to reduce small amount of overhead/memory.
  
• Removed a query for group data on Manage Forums page (group_cache is already loaded, so used that instead)
  
• Removed several deprecated functions, reducing the size of some classes and reducing their resulting overhead
  
• Edited language export routine (for IN_DEV mode) so that it only exports the data we absolutely need. This reduces the size of our language XML files significantly, and also reduces memory overhead needed to process the language XML files.
  
• Index added on ibf_posts.post_parent to speed up certain update queries that previously required a full table scan
  
• A lot of unused code in the friend management files has been removed
  
• Avatar or profile photo cleanup tools in ACP were unnecessarily loading and instantiating upload class
  
• Removed outdated/non-functional coloring in admin logs
  
• Calendar has been rewritten, and much unused code has been removed.
  
• Caches used by calendar were not being properly loaded at runtime
  
• Changed most of the file_exists call in the code with is_file for a faster code execution
  
• The bbcode cache now uses the ‘bbcode_tag’ field as array key instead of an incremental integer, that allows a faster data access for single bbcode tags as there is no need to scan the whole array with a foreach.
  
• An unnecessary query has been removed from the forum index view (the query used to verify the name used for the friendly URL is correct)
  
• Removed unnecessary query from report center report view
  
• A cache used by report center was being queried separately instead of at page initiation
  
• Report center plugins are now cached for quicker runtime lookup without having to query the database
  
• Useless queries removed from report center
  
• Some queries that selected all rows and counted them (instead of running COUNT style queries) were changed to be better optimized
  
• ACP skin files previously extended the output class unnecessarily. This was removed, resulting in approximately 20KB or more memory savings in each ACP page.
  
• Report center plugins are now cached for quicker runtime lookup without having to query the database
  
• RSS import now is much faster on boards with lots of feeds setup in the ACP.
  
• overWrite header query / method_exists moved from every page load and value is cached in app_cache

Developer-Oriented Changes
Changes that may impact resource authors and skinners (including removed functions, database changes, new hooks, etc.)

• $this->DB->force_data_type has been removed. Mod authors should now call $this->DB->setDataType( $column, $type ) instead.
  
• $this->DB->no_escape_fields has been hidden. You should use the available $this->DB->preventAddSlashes( array( 'col' => 1 ) ); syntax instead.
  
• Login management custom configurations have moved to database handling. conf.php (or conf.dist.php) files are no longer needed (though acp.php still is).
  
• search_results, sessions.location, and cache_store.cs_extra are all removed
  
• If you have a findIpAddress extension you can now add an array of additional columns to pull from your table as the fourth array member. i.e. "'posts' => array( 'author_id', 'ip_address', 'post_date', array( 'pid' ) ),"
  
• IPB will now do a better job of cleaning up centralized application data during uninstall, so applications don't have to do it manually. (http://community.inv...support-ticket/)
  
• The way hook data to-be-exported is stored has changed. This should have minimal impact on developers as the upgrade routine will update it for developers. This should make working with hooks between multiple developers easier, and make hooks import, export, install and uninstall in a much more consistent manner whether IN_DEV is on or not.
  
• Many skin system bugs have been resolved, and improvements implemented, making the skin system more flexible to developers using it outside of normal contexts, while allowing it to be more forgiving of various formatting possibilities (i.e. typehinting for function parameters and spacing around function parameter definitions).
  
• Central permission management now correctly can handle more than one permission type within a single application
  
• IPv6 is now supported. You should ensure any database columns holding IP addresses are varchar(46) or larger.
  
• You should use the new ipsRegistry::getAppClass( $app ); call to load your app_class_(application).php class. This ensures any library hooks execute as appropriate and consolidates duplicative code.
  
• You should use the new constants IPS_FILE_PERMISSION / IPS_FOLDER_PERMISSION for file and folder permission values. i.e. instead of chmod( $file, 0777 ); use chmod( $file, IPS_FILE_PERMISSION ); instead.
  
• Calendar has been completely rewritten - the DB schema has changed, dates are stored as datetime parts in MySQL, etc.
  
• The ACP has a new interface implemented, some of the JS has changed, jQuery is now supported in the ACP
  
• Removed 4 data hooks in public_forums_forums_topics: topicViewTopicData, topicViewDisplayData, topicViewForumData, topicViewPostData. All 4 of them can be replaced with a simple skin overloader for the template "skin_topic > topicViewTemplate".
  
• Photos and avatars have been merged.
  
• Photos thumbs are now cropped at 100px and you can select which area to crop
  
• Twitter / Facebook photos are actually imported and re-sized where possible (needs fopen URL wrappers otherwise the thumb URL for the services is used)
  
• Some functionality for importing/exporting/rebuilding from and to XML files has been hidden unless IN_DEV mode is enabled
  
• Added a second parameter for the function “$this→cache→getCache( $CACHE_KEY, FALSE );” which allows to skip the loading from the database if the cache isn’t loaded already.
  
• A new option to define an application when creating an hook, if the application is filled the code checks if it is enabled and if not skips loading the hook file completely.
  
  
  
  class_forums::fetchTopicFolderIcon() has been changed to return an array of meta-data about the topic that can be used to generate the topic icon, although Rikki is changing how topic icons work in general anyways.
  pp_*thumb*_x is now pp_*small*_x
  
• The sessions API (admin/sources/classes/session/api.php) now supports a different cutoff time rather than the default one, additional joins, ‘where’ query bits, complete ‘where’ query part override.
  
• The function “IPSLib::unpackGroup()” now is “IPSMember::unpackGroup()”.
  
• ACP group_form.php plugins now support an optional third method: postSave(). This method accepts one parameter (the group ID), is only called if present, is called after the rest of the group data is saved, and should not return anything.
  
• Added a getCount() method to the like class to return just the number of followers
  
• The setting disable_reportpost has been removed. Our applications now check the report center permissions directly, instead.
  
• Hooks Improvements: http://community.inv...s-improvements/
  
• Applications Improvements: http://community.inv...s-improvements/
  
• A new extensions file per-app is supported: permissionsSync.php. Class name should be “(app)PermissionsSync” and supports a constructor (ipsRegistry reference passed) and one method with no arguments: updatePermissions(). This method can be used to rebuild application caches when the app permissions have been updated from the central permission manager.
  
• Deprecated function getBlogID() in the blog API has been removed, developers will need to use the more updated function fetchBlogIds()
  
• makeProfileLink, memberViewImages, makePassword, makeNameFormatted, canReceiveMobileNotifications have been moved to IPSMember
  
• unconvertSmilies has been moved to IPSText. The redirect method in the bbcode class has been removed.
  
• The “doneScreen” method in the admin output class has been entirely removed. Authors are encouraged to use the global_message/silentRedirectWithMessage() methodology instead.
  
• The “redirect” method in the admin output class now simply routes to silentRedirectWithMessage(), and is marked deprecated.
  
• The template “global_main_wrapper_no_furniture” has been removed from the admin skin.
  
• Function “rebuildSphinxConfig” has been moved from “IPSLib” to “admin_core_applications_applications”
  
• classCommunication.php was removed, and classFileManagement.php was extended to handle POST requests (encompassing the only functionality missing compared to classCommunication.php)
  
• Almost all private methods have been switched to protected to allow more robust hook capabilities
  
• New pagination potions to use a next/previous style pagination. Next/previous style pagination supports AJAX pagination.
  
• The column “ban_nocache” has been removed from the “banfilters” table.
  
• New adminOutput method setMessage() has been added. Allows to set the global_message, and allows to specify a “sticky” flag or not.
  
• ACP Settings are now in their own “settings” module and the templates have been moved as well in “cp_skin_settings”.
  
• menu.xml files for ACP modules now support specifying a language key, which can then be placed into “(app)_admin_menulang.php” as “menu__(language_key)” to support menu language abstraction in the ACP. This is optional for apps.

Quote

I'm glad I readed something about the upcoming changes to IPB 3.2. But leaving this behind is a bad idea I think due to the fact that your forcing the the user base to buy IPC. If a user has no need for IPC and just a portal that should stay available in IPB to the none IPC user base. As I think the application is pretty light and don't take much time to keep up it not a full waste of time. Killing things so that the major base of user will turn out the product is a good idea but keeping people who don't need it is not a good idea. Just some feedback.

I have already removed the topic description from my copy of 3.1.4 a week ago and not had a single moan yet!

We were recently inspired to write up our own year end review of 2010 to go over the highlights of all the accomplishments our staff made during the year. It's also a great overview of the advancements IPS constantly makes for our customers. Here are the highlights:


December 2009

We began blogging about IP.Board 3.1 and IP.Content 1.2. Everyone was very excited to start revealing the upcoming changes to IP.Board and to further the maturing of the new IP.Content product.

January:

• IP.Chat 1.0.0 released as final. IP.Chat 5 user room provided for free to all customers with an active support contract.
  
• Blogged about expected updates to our addon applications
  
• Released public phpdoc documentation for developers
  
• IP.Downloads 2.1.0 released final. IP.Downloads 2.1.0 provides friendly URLs, upload progress bar, multiple files per record, interface updates, and more.
  
• IP.Content 1.2.0 released final. 1.2.0 provides WYSIWYG editors, better control over fields, and better support for attachments.
  
• Gallery 3.1.0 released final. 3.1.0 introduces album cover images, friendly URLs, sub albums, profile picture albums, friendly only albums, and fancy slideshow.
  
• IP.Blog 2.1.0 released final. 2.1.0 includes support for group blogs, Blog This!, RSS imports, resource improvements and more.
  
• Continued blogging about IP.Board 3.1 improvements

February:

• Improvements to spam monitoring service.
  
• Continued blogging about IP.Board 3.1.0 and addon application updates to be expected
  
• Extended our demo system to 48 hours (extended to 5 days later in the year).

March:

• IP.Board 3.1.0 revealed to the community via updated company forums. New features include profile customization, link sharing, status updates, twitter integration, reputation viewing, ad codes, notification system, soft deletions, and more.
  
• Continued blogging about expected application updates and IP.Board 3.1.0 changes.
  
• Skin Generator service launched for free to all active license holders.

April:

• Community Hosting improvements were made allowing for free 20 user chat rooms, IP.Content available for only $5/month, and a switch from generic metrics to user-based limits.
  
• Continued blogging about application updates, and released betas of the new versions for the community to begin testing.
  
• IPS Staff is excited to hear the news that Nakisha Thomas, our Director of Customer Service, welcomes the birth of her son.

May:

• iPhone app developed and released for free to the community.
  
• Skin generator service updated.
  
• Introduced IP.Nexus as our new business platform.

June:

• IP.Board 3.1.0, IP.Gallery 3.2.0, IP.Blog 2.2.0, IP.Downloads 2.2.0, IP.Content 2.0.0, and IP.Chat 1.1.0 released. Many great improvements for all products available to customers - check out the release topic for a full list. It's impressive!
  
• IP.Board 3.1.1, IP.Gallery 3.2.1, IP.Blog 2.2.1, IP.Downloads 2.2.1, IP.Content 2.0.1, IP.Chat 1.1.1 released. Quick bug fixes for the most notable issues in the newest version.
  
• iPhone app updated to support push notifications, amongst other features.
  
• Community directory launched to allow customers free exposure to anyone using the iPhone app or browsing our company forums for any site.
  
• New IPS web site launched.

July:

• IPS conducts a donation drive for Autism research, in part to test our newest upcoming product IP.Nexus, and in addition to raising $1000 via donations from our community, IPS donated a matching $1000 to AutismSpeaks.org.
  
• IP.Board 3.1.2, IP.Gallery 3.2.2, IP.Blog 2.2.2, IP.Downloads 2.2.2, IP.Content 2.0.2, and IP.Chat 1.1.2 released. In addition to important bug fixes, this release includes enhanced SQL error display, ACP live search improvements, SQL toolbox enhancements, improvements to partial member registrations, and more.
  
• Forum support launched allowing official support via our company forums.

August:

• Website improvements to make documentation searching easier and better documentation organization.
  
• Community hosting improvements implemented.

September:

Continued blogging about upcoming updates to our software. IPS does not release roadmaps as they are too easy to stray from and you end up making promises you cannot keep which we never want to do. Instead, we post blog entries when we complete a new feature so everyone knows it's not just a mockup or an unfulfilled hope.

October:

• IP.Board 3.1.3 released.
  
• Skin generator updated and improved.
  
• Release schedule for our products announced. The first and last time IPS has done this!

November:

• IP.Nexus 1.0.0 released.IP.Nexus is our powerful ecommerce solution that allows you to monetize your IP.Board easily.
  
• IP.Content 2.1.0 released. Features include external widgets, redesigned default interface, block variable help, admin interface improvements, better forum integration, template import/export, and more.
  
• IP.Nexus 1.0.1 released. As part of our commitment to maintain and update Nexus regularly, we release our first update for Nexus only 10 days after initial release of 1.0.0.
  
• IP.Content 2.1.1 released. Resolves bugs reported since the release of 2.1.0.
  
• IP.Board 3.1.4 released. This release includes new like and comment functionality which our other application updates will be making use of.
  
• IPS Marketplace goes live. The Marketplace allows developers to sell their IPS product addons directly through our site, reaching more customers with less hassle.
  
• IP.Nexus 1.0.2 released. This release is part of our continuing effort to ensure any issues affecting your ability to monetize your site using IP.Nexus are promptly addressed.
  
• New release and quality assurance testing two-stage procedure implemented to help enhance quality assurance of releases, and to give customers a chance to test and use the software prior to actual release.
  
• IPS Staff is excited to hear the news that Lindy Throgmartin, our CEO, welcomes the birth of his son.

December

• In just a couple weeks of activity already paid out over two thousand dollars to Marketplace contributors.
  
• IP.Blog 2.3.0 released. 2.3.0 includes new like and commenting systems, Facebook like buttons on entries, tweet entry button on entries, a redesigned portal interface, improved notifications, new interfaces, and more.
  
• IP.Downloads 2.3.0 released. 2.3.0 includes IP.Nexus integration for selling downloads, an overhauled user interface, improved notifications, new like and comment system integration, and much more.
  
• IP.Nexus 1.0.3 released.

Still to come: Maintenance releases, new IP.Chat version, and IP.Gallery 4.0 reveal!



We are all looking forward to a productive 2011 and will continue to bring you the best community software around!

Invision Power Services, Inc. is pleased to announce the release of IP.Nexus 1.0.0!

The new IP.Nexus application is designed to help you earn money from your community both directly and indirectly. Direct options include features such as payment processing and shopping carts whereas indirect methods may be banner tracking and donations. Everyone here at IPS is very excited to introduce this new application and hope our customers will be able to take advantage of the variety of features in the product such as:

Introduction
Our first blog entry introducing IP.Nexus and a quick overview.

Developer Extensibility
Third party developers can easily extend the functionality of IP.Nexus into their own applications.

IP.Downloads Integration
Through integration with IP.Downloads you can charge your visitors for access to file downloads.

Package Types
Many package types including virtual items, physical items, recurring payments, and more.

Storefront
Easy to use storefront so your visitors can quickly order new products and services.

Processing Orders
Administration tools to make it easy for you to fulfill and review your orders.

Managing Invoices
Generate new invoices and keep track of pending invoices on existing sales.

Client Area
A single client area for your customers to manage purchases, submit support tickets, and purchase additional packages.

Donations
Set donation goals and allow your members to contribute to that goal right on your community.

Referrals
Your members can refer new members to your community via a referral link and receive commissions.

Credits
Assigning credits to an account either manually or through commissions allows a member to use their credit balance to purchase new packages or pay for renewals.

Support Desk Management, Support Desk Client Area, and Support Desk for Staff
IP.Nexus includes a robust support desk to manage interactions with your clients via a support-ticket system.

Alternate Contacts
Your clients can specify additional contacts who have the option to submit tickets and manage other account aspects on their behalf.

Incoming Email
Create support, sales, billing, and other contact email address that will route emails into IP.Nexus Support Desk

Customer History
Nearly every action performed on an account, from both your staff and your clients, is logged to provide a clear account history.

Advertisements
Expand the capabilities of IP.Board's built-in advertisements feature by uploading banners, tracking, and more.

Customer Page
A detailed overview of a customer all on one page to allow you and your staff to easily service their account.



Server Requirements

As IP.Nexus deals with financial transactions we wish to do everything we can to ensure the security of your community and business. To further this goal, IP.Nexus source will be encoded using Zend Guard. This means that your server will need the appropriate PHP capabilities installed to run IP.Nexus. You can download our system requirements script which will check your server for Zend Guard encoding support.


Purchasing

You can purchase IP.Nexus right in your client area by clicking the green New Purchase button in the upper right corner. New clients can purchase IP.Nexus right along with IP.Board. If you an IPS Community Hosting client, the IP.Nexus features are coming soon to select packages (more information will be posted regarding IP.Nexus on hosting).

Don't forget to try our free demo to see IP.Nexus in action for yourself.

If you have already purchased IP.Nexus, you can download it in your client area.






Version 1.0.1 Coming Soon

IPS is dedicated to promptly fixing any reported issues and will do so with the release of IP.Nexus version 1.0.1 very soon.

As mentioned in the release notes: because this is the first widely-distributed release there will be as yet undiscovered issues. You can expect several maintenance releases over the next several weeks. We appreciate your understanding and hope you can assist us in identifying any problems in this first supported release so we can quickly remedy them in our next updates.

Invision Power Services is collecting donations for Autism Speaks using the Donations feature in our upcoming IP.Nexus product. This is a great way to test the development progress of IP.Nexus and collect funds for a good cause. IPS will donate the total amount raised, in addition to our own contribution, to support autism research and support for families. We are sure that our great community of customers will be able to raise funds for this cause and we hope you participate.

About Autism Speaks

Quote

How to Donate

You can donate via the side-bar box on the IPS community index or go to the Donation section in client area.

If anyone wishes to donate directly to Autism Speaks without going through our Donation system we encourage you to do so. If you choose this route and want to be counted in the total donation amount here, please contact Charles with your donation receipt from Autism Speaks.

Thank you for your generosity and support.

The mobile market for communities has exploded and we have responded by offering a great, new mobile skin for IP.Board and its applications. There are inherent limitations in a mobile skin that are difficult to work around such as image uploading, logging in, and more that are either impossible or just tedious on a mobile device.


IPS is happy to introduce a new iPhone app to solve these issues and add new options!


Easy Login to all your IP.Board Communities



You can add a list of all the IP.Board-powered communities you visit and save your username/password to those communities in the app. You now have one-tap access to all the communities you visit. No need to tap out your login each time you wish to visit the community of your choice and easily switch between all the communities you visit!

Uses Standard Mobile Skin



When you visit the community, you will see that it uses the standard IP.Board mobile skin available standard in the platform. We considered creating a native interface within the iPhone app but there are several advantages to using the built-in mobile skin:

• Common user experience - regardless of a user visiting through the iPhone app, normal browser, or any other mobile device they will have a similar browsing experience on your community
  
  
• Design control - As the owner of your community, you want complete control of the look, feel, and branding of your community. If we were to create a native, standardized interface then IPS would be in control of that look: not you. We obviously never wish to get between you and your visitors so using the mobile skin allows for you to have complete control of the look of your community.
  
  
• Advertising Control - Much as above with the look and feel: IPS does not want to get between you and your advertising revenue. By using the standard mobile skin, you are free to place your own advertising and sponsorships. Tap into the mobile market without worry about a third-party getting in the way!
  
  
• Native Interface Option - If you did want a native iPhone interface, there are great skins available from third-party skinners in our community that will make your community look like it's running right on the iPhone while still maintaining the three advantages above.

Member Status Updates



Your members can update their IP.Board profile status right within the app without having to navigate to any other page. Even better, if you use IP.Board's built-in Twitter and Facebook integrations, your members can even update the status on your community, their Facebook, and their Twitter all in one click! This allows your community to become the center of their online social experience.

IP.Gallery Integration



If your community has our IP.Gallery image gallery software installed: your members will be able to upload images, videos, and camera shots directly from their iPhone to your community! Members can select their source, write a caption, description, and even choose from the albums they have created on your community to upload their media.

Sharing



Two simple but easy sharing functions are available: open in Safari and email. Found a great topic on a community you visit and want to share it? Just click email and send it to a friend. You can also open the community in Safari to bookmark a page or perform other functions available in the OS browser.



Pricing and Availability

It's already done! Please note that the app will require IP.Board 3.1 is installed to communicate with your community. Also please note that this is not an application which is supported via the Ticket System. For all assistance with it, feel free to use the Peer to Peer Support section that was created for it, here:  http://community.inv...ne-app-support/

We are happy to say that the IP.Board iPhone app will be available totally free to all! There are no ads from IPS in the app or anything intrusive that will distract from your community.

Future Ideas

This is the very first version of the iPhone app and we have tons of great ideas to improve it and will continue to do so over time.

Yes: we will be creating an Android platform app as well. (highlighting since many have been asking and didn't notice this line)

We will also be creating an option, for a small fee, to create a private-label version of the app for anyone who wants one that can only be used on your community. Information on the private-label service will come after the app has gone through a few maintenance updates.

Other fun features like mobile access to the Community Directory and Push Notifications for new activity on your community are already in progress! Stay tuned!




Important Notes

Because of Apple's approval process, the version of the app available in the App Store is now a couple weeks out of date. It therefore has a few known issues that have already been addressed. We have submitted an update to the app for approval to Apple that will fix these issues and are waiting for its approval. The update will show in iTunes like any other app.

As of this moment, you can use the app here on the IPS Community. We will be releasing an update to IP.Board 3.1 Beta 3 (and included in final version, of course) to support the app.

If you find issues, please post in our bug tracker and if you have suggestions we would love to hear them in our feedback forum.

Welcome to IP.Board 3.1.0 Beta 1!
Welcome to the latest development version of IP.Board 3.1.0. We're excited to reveal the product we've been working on for the past few months. This build contains all the features we've blogged about recently including the search improvements, Twitter integration, Profile Customization and more.

As always, this is a very early beta build so please expect to find the odd bug here and there. Please report any bugs found into the tracker as usual.

As always, we'd love to hear your feedback. Happy clicking!

Note: Please perform a hard refresh / delete temporary items in your browser to ensure you get the correct CSS and JS

Preview Only: IP.Board 3.1 is in preview only. It is not yet available for download. Keep an eye out for a future announcement.

What's New
Link Sharing
Easily share links from your community to Facebook, Twitter, and more. Great way to drive traffic to your community!

Status Updates
Enhancements to the existing member status system in IP.Board to include the ability to reply and more.

Topic Preview
Preview the first few lines of a topic without loading the entire topic.

View Reputation
Optionally allow your members to see who gave reputation points on their posts.

Twitter Integration
Your members can now link their account with their Twitter account!

Improved Facebook Integration
Further enhance the link between your community and Facebook to drive traffic.

Advertising Code Integration: Part 1 and Part 2
Easily place advertising code throughout your community with simple settings in the admin area.

Profile Customizations: Part 1 and Part 2
Allow your members to customize the look and feel of their profile page.

Skin Upgrader
Upgrading your skin between versions of IP.Board just became a lot easier.

Soft Delete Posts and Topics
Rather than actually deleting a post or topic you can now hide it from view to easily restore it later.

Notification System
An easier way to be notified of all the various events that happen in your community.

Modification Development Enhancements
Great tools for those that create modifications for IP.Board

Hook System Improvements
Improvements to the IP.Board hook system to make it easier for modification developers to expand the functions in the software.

Search Engine Optimization: Part 1 and Part 2
Allow search engines to better index and rank your community in results.

Search Engine Overhaul
Search engine rebuilt from the ground up introducing more flexibility and power.

I've already taken it on board. Some stuff has happened in the past couple of weeks which has slowed down development somewhat but its ~65% done and I'm hoping to get it out in the next couple of weeks.