New forum at Excoboards

[matthew]

Last week I was checking out other free message board services and among them i found Excoboard.com. At first I thought they were another cheap and sub-standard forums, judging by the default skin, but as i checked it out further I discovered that they were quite sophisticated and much easier for someone without any knowledge of JS to modify, and so I have set up a new graphics forum on Excoboards.

Pixel Fortress

all those observant ones may of noticed the mini-banner in the affiliate box

These boards are just perfect for me and, to be honest, I like them more than Proboards. so far i've been able to modify the new board directly by changing the html, doing stuff which would be impossible to do on Proboards without knowledge of JavaScript.

I have set up this new board for a few reasons:

first off i want to make some Excoboard templates, and managing my own board is the best way of learning how it all fits together. Also i want to help others who use Excoboards out with graphics and stuff for their forums. Also, I want to see if my evaluation of Excoboards is justified. It's quite possible somewhere down the line that these forums have bugs and problems like that, or other unforseen problems. It is also possible that OCgfx will eventually move to Excoboards, but this is totally undecided, and we may just stick with Proboards, because it is a great service, and also because ...well i just love Proboards and without them I probably wouldn't of discovered graphic design. Oh yeah, also i'm a total forum junkie and I can't help myself ;D.

I think that's it. i just felt like I should let you all know. I don't want you to think i was abandoning ocgfx or anything. I love this board and it's members and i would never do that.

[Aaron]

Hey M@hu this is all your choice. Chooose what you think is right. Just tell us the scoop and we'll support you.

[lhw]

The board has potential, but there are many aspects that leave it lacking. Minor things like the "Add Tags" buttons don't seem to exist, and it doesn't appear that you're able to delete a board once you're done with it (unless I missed that). All I can see that you can do is delete all the forums, not the board itself (same as ezBoard). There are other things, which are mainly subjective, so I'll just leave those be.

Some of the customization features are nice, though...especially the Theme Preview. That's probably the best Admin Feature I've ever seen on a board.

But (yeah, there's always a "but," isn't there?), for me, I'd rather sacrifice ease of control for the admin for ease of use for the members...especially with PBv4 coming out in just over three weeks, which will make it a better experience for everyone.

As I said, the board has potential...it's just going to take a lot of dedicated people to help it grow into a serious competitor.

[Michael]

Wow! I like it because of the design you are you but I wouldn't be able to use it because I'm more use to PB.

[matthew]

apart from the point about the post rely tags I can't see any other problem for the user to be honest. They have a 'wish list ' thread at the Exco support board. i might suggest that they include post replay tags.

And it's true that you can't delete the board directly. You need to 'Email your username, password and board link and ask to have it deleted.'

I've visited a lot of their forums looking for some serious communities. there are a few good ones, but there are a lot of abandoned and deleted boards as well. I think they need to advertise themselves a bit more. I mean, they don't even have a link back to excoboards on the forums themselves!? also they should spruce up their home page a bit and have a nicer looking defualt template.

i'm not sure how long the service has been running, but it does have potential and I'm gonna stick around there quite a bit from now on.

[admin]

As you know, Matt. I am there! You have my full support

[Michael]

lol. Aye, I can't join Pixel Fortress because of time and all but if you ever do convert OVgfx to excoboards... you can count on me being there! ;D

O! btw: I'm affiliating Pixel Fortress now!

[admin]

So..... I am following in M@'s footsteps and started my own excoboard as well. hehe It is another graphics forum, of course. What else would I do? I would say that it is basically a sister board to Pixel Fortress and a cousin to Overcomers GFX hehe

Pixel Refuge

~ Shan

[matthew]

And it looks wonderful Shan!

the graphics and the layout are really supurb, and everything blends in really well. the banner with the background, the background with the boards, everything!

Your abilities as a graphic artist are improving all the time.

[admin]

Thanks, M@ Yeah. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. It was fun to do and I hope I can do some templates as well for excoboards..... though, I probably'll rely on you for doing some of the coding and stuff hehe 'Cause I still don't know that stuff and don't have the time to really learn it yet. But, yeah. I like excoboards, 'cause they are more versatile and you can really create neat looking things there!