Hi all,

As some of you may have noticed, we now have a Twitter feed, this feed is being used to post news, updates and information regarding the AcornRack site. If you have Twitter be sure to follow us!

Onto AR2, as people following us on Twitter already know, we have had several meetings to decide feature sets and rough prices for the relaunch of the system. There WILL always be a free version and the free version won’t be that restrictive and will be able to be used in the same way the current free version is being used.

Current features on the list include:

• SQL Access (Thats right, create your own databases using SQL syntax!)
• Full file and folder upload and integration
• Ability to edit everything
• Pre made themes and layouts
• Full control over your users and users accounts.
• New branding to include our new mascot (again can be seen briefly on our Twitter page)

This isn’t an exhaustive list, as we are still working on new features.

As I mentioned the prices are extremely rough at the moment however they will be similar to the current AR1 prices so no huge price hike!

Things I can guarantee that the new system will be:

1. More intuitive
2. More powerful
3. More user friendly
4. Quicker
5. More stable
6. Quicker for site admins to develop sites
7. Re jigged permission wise to ensure each site is treated as a completely separate entity.

Over the past two weeks development for AR2 has stalled. I can now assure you that development is now back on track and in full flow!

• Bugs are still being picked up and fixed with the next system however we are getting closer and closer to launch. In the coming few weeks we will be sorting out the feature lists for paid and free sites.
• The new design has been finalised and is being created and installed on the testers system for further feedback.
• The new AR logo is currently in development and is looking good so far! Testers will see this new logo as soon as it is completed.
• New features for paid sites are being finalised, including deep integration between the upload files section and the rest of your site.
• We will be opening up the testers system to more testers to speed up development as we get closer to the launch.

AR Infrastructure

I am currently building a scalable, secure infrastructure for the next version of AcornRack. This may not seem interesting to most users however this infrastructure will ensure that AR can grow with its expected growth once the next version is launched. This new system includes:

• A CDN to distribute content to users quickly
• Redundant DNS servers to prevent DNS downtime
• Multiple backup servers both on site and off site to ensure if the worst does happen all your data is safe.
• Multiple database servers to spread the load of AcornRack. (The new version is heavily database focused so this will be key) 

More to follow soon!

This morning we launched new features on the AR2 testing system. These included:

Permissions system

This allows you to restrict access to content by both userlevels and usernames. This whole system has been built from the ground up and will allow greater control over the users of your site. For example, in Harry Potter RP sites you have multiple ‘Houses’. Each ‘House’ can be given different permissions. So each ‘House’ can see different forums, pages, posts or even different layouts. Within each ‘House’ you can assign permissions to individual users. This extra permissions will be used on top of the ‘House’ permissions. This means you can give extra permissions to ‘Head of House’ or anyone else.

Applications

Ability to apply to each site (for people that know this is ’standalone’ users by default). You are probably thinking that this is a fundamental part of the system and doesn’t justify announcing it, however, thks system will do away with the complicated application forms you need to have now to allow non-AR members to join. We are still debating on methods to link members who want to have the added benefits which are provided by the AR user accounts.

Language translation

This is one I’m excited about! We have noticed that many users come from non-english speaking countries. Now you can already translate the pages for your site into your language however you can’t edit the admin CP. This will change. We currently have 6 languages which will plan to include on launch. These are English, German, Dutch, Swedish, French, Spanish. With just a preference change within the AdminCP the AdminCP will be translated into the chosen language. Obviously this system allows for future languages to be added whenever is needed.

Ability to edit EVERYTHING

This ties in slightly to the point above. Everything on your site can be edited by you as an admin. This includes error messages, page content, navigation, system messages and anything else you can find! This will ensure that, if you did want to translate your site, all content will be in your chosen language. Or if you want to theme the error and system messages to the theme of your site, you are free to do so!

Phew! Thats a lot of updates. There are still more to be tested so keep your eyes peeled for future updates as we get closer to the AR version 2 launch.

Some of you may have noticed that between 1.13am GMT+1 and 5.50am GMT+1 AcornRack was down with the following error:

Can’t connect to local MySQL server through socket ‘/var/lib/mysql/mysql.sock’ (111)

The cause of this error was that the server was rebooted, the cause of which is still being investigated, and the mySQL server (of which the whole of AR is based on) didnt start back up automatically. This has now been fixed by adding the mySQL startup files to the system so they run on reboot. Apologies for any problems caused!

P.S There is an ongoing issue which some people may come across regarding the way your forum posts appear on your sites. This is due to a new filter which has been implemented to secure forum posts. If you are having issues with this please post refer to http://www.acornrack.com/forum/forum-thread-846125-11339-1219382137.html

UPDATE: The reason for the unexpected reboot is due to a power failure in the datacenter(datacentre).

Hey all,

Before I give you a run down on the progress of the testing, let me just say that EVERY single line of code in the next version has been rewritten. There is not one line of code used in AR1 which is used in AR2. Testing has to include every single section of the new version, including site creation, forum posting, admin panels e.t.c

Firstly, thanks to all the testers so far! Keep those bugs coming! Today we launched a new AdminCP which should be easier to use and navigate as well as provide extra information on your site if you need it. The AdminCP is using the same theme as the new layout so we are obtaining feedback on structure and colours (colors) used.

The variable system itself is turning out to be very flexible, for example with the new system you will be able to remove quite a bit of javascript from your code and make advanced customisations (customizations) easier to perform. The variables themselves are in fact objects, so you can perform functions on them such as length, number formatting and string manipulation.

I could divulge more however I’ll leave that to another time

Hello!

We have just contacted all the AR2 testers with details on the new system. This marks the start of AR2 testing. Obviously we can’t give any exact dates as to when testing will finish and AR2 will be launched. This depends completely on testing.

Over time I will spill the beans over a few features as they are signed off and completed, just to tease you a little bit!

TTFN.

Last week both myself and Chris looked through AR members who had contributed positively to the AR community. These chosen people were to be invited to help test the next version of AR. We have learnt quite a few lessons from the launch of AR version 1 and other sites similar to AR and have decided to obtain user feedback as early in the development process as possible.

Out of the 10 people who were contacted, 8 of them responded saying that they would be more than happy helping with the testing. We are putting the finishing touches to the test environment and should have something to test for them within the next few days.

Just a reminder on the testing schedule, the next version of AR will be mostly privately tested using these 8 core members plus extra members as we expand the testing. At the moment we are unsure whether or not to have an open testing session open to all members.

As testing progresses we will keep the AR community informed in how it is going as well as little snippits of information regarding the new version.

I’m excited, are you?

Ever since the server move, the payment system has been causing problems for people who are trying to buy credits. The payment would be taken but the system didnt automatically add the credits to the users account.

I was notified of this and manually added the credits to the user (and a bit more as a way of apology). I then took the payment system down to debug the error and I can happily say that I have now fixed the bug and the payment system is back online!

Between 9pm and 10.30pm CST, AcornRack was unavailable, this was due to a DNS failure. AcornRack was restored by rerouting the DNS traffic to another location.

DNS outages are always a pain as they have a knock on effect (http://www.acornrack.com/forum/forum-thread-846125-11076-1217246051.html). The cause for the knock on effect is because your ISP can cache the site when it is down and so the downtime can seem longer than it actually is.

I have been monitoring the servers for 12 hours (need sleep….*yawn*) and everything is back working as it should be.

A couple of people have noticed a few bugs which have cropped up recently, since the server move, and I will be seeing to them as soon as possible. In the meantime if you find any bugs, please submit them to the bugs forum.

Hello,

To coincide with the server move, the blog has been recreated. This is mainly because AR2 is powering through development and we will need feedback from the AcornRack users about features and designs.

I know that the last blog wasn’t used as often and was only updated every couple of months (at best!), but this blog will be one of the main methods of passing relevant information about AR1, AR2 and Centation as a whole.

Just as a tease, we expect to have something to begin testing with as early as next week, so stay tuned.