Fe Fi Fo FUM, a giant step forward

[devinnight]

Four Ugly Monsters is rolling out our new site and the tons of new features have been implemented.

Our vision of the website is a true virtual tabletop community site. This basically means a site driven by the community and where the content and networking is in the hands of the community. We want to provide the tools for you to get together, game, and create.

Below is how we envision the features being used:

• Forums. We are using fireboard forums for the best integration with Joomla.
• Events. Users can submit events and if they want can make them "registered" events so they get a list of users interested. This is perfect for scheduling demos, one-shots, and kick off campaigns. The events can be made recurring so that as the event gets archived it will create another one.
• Members list. Using the fields you fill out at registration we can create easy searchable lists of members. That means we make it easy to find players, GMs, or people by Virtual Tabletop used. We plan on adding more fields and lists at a later date as well for even better filtering.
• Groups. Users have the ability to create ad-hoc groups in a variety of categories. These groups automatically get their own bulletin board and forum only visible to the group. The Gaming Group category also allows private groups that require the approval of the group manager to join. Again, perfect for your campaign group. Can also be used to form groups around your favorite RPG or other hobby.
• Blogs. Users can submit blogs about anything. They all get put into a giant FUM blog but can also be browsed by user or the tags on the blogs. Use this to let us know what you are doing in the VT world, how your campaign is going, or your trials and tribulations with D&D, whatever!
• Downloads. Users can upload files to the downloads section. So submit your maps, tokens, short stories, Fantasy Grounds modules, etc.
• Articles. Those users who are interested will be made part of an author group. These users will be allowed to submit News, Reviews, Interviews, and Tutorials for others to read.
• Web Links. Authors can also submit web links for approval that show up in the Community -> User Links section.
• Chat. A new real time Flash based chat allows for users to get together and chat live. Users are allowed to create their own rooms (private if they want) and it supports audio and video as well.
• Comments. Users can leave comments on articles, downloads, blogs, etc. so feedback is always available.
• Community Builder. Everything above is tied into your master FUM profile that other users (and yourself) can see your forum posts, blogs, events registered, etc. Private Messages are accessible from anywhere.

[Oberoten]

All in all the new FUM is a giant step forward. Not the least of the improvements being the layout, the new beige/grey tones are a lot less jarring to the eyes. The site is responsive and fast when it comes to the forums which is a great step forward. Threading the posts in a way that the user can choose means that I get the new posts first saving a lot of time really.

The chat function is a very welcome alternative letting you pick up players on the fly if you wish. All that is missing now is a Wiki where we can collect a knowledge database?

- Obe

[Spyke]

It's all great fun, and the community feeling seems to be there already. User groups, articles, blogs, all add welcome functionality. I've set up a group for GURPS, so if you're into that (or any other system), head on over and join us!

[Andugus]

The new FUM site employs many new features. These features are geared towards serving the VT gaming community. The chat tool works well and assisted me in a game yesterday. It is good to see so many developers and gamers in one place sharing thoughts and ideas to better the community. Being able to contribute material in the form of maps, adventures, tokens, etc works great too. Now this community will be as good as we all make it. The framework on which we build is solid.