Starting today you’ll be hearing directly from our staff and a few members that have been helping out to ensure that the next iteration of ATRL is the giant leap forward that you hoped for. Last week we worked on a variety of major display issues, changed how certain features worked, added new features and tweaked the overall layout in a way that works best for ATRL.
This week we’ll be finishing that work with our current testers and about 5–10 new primary participants that I’ll be inviting. The goal is to have the primary beta period concluded by the 29th.
ATRL+ Preview
Starting November 30th we’ll be inviting all past and present ATRL+ members to check out the new forum. Just to make this clear, you will receive a beta invite if you:
– Are currently an ATRL+ member
– Used to be an ATRL+ member
– Bought ATRL+ for someone else recently or in the past
– Received ATRL+ as a gift recently or in the past
– Subscribe at any time during the ATRL+ preview period (There is no cutoff)
We’ll also have about 25 invitations lined up for members who have been here in the early days of ATRL. How early? Back when the only person set to break NSYNC’s record was Britney, with an umbrella. Finally, we’ll start testing the user invitation system once we’re within a week of the official launch. This allows participants to invite their friends, whether they’re already part of ATRL or not.
Launch Transition
Closer to launch we will have a detailed guide on how best to prepare for the transition. In IPB, some functionality has changed and others simply don’t exist. For example, BB Code no longer exists for posting content. Instead, IPB uses a text editor called CK Editor. It offers a far superior experience for styling your content and copy/pasting rich text content directly from websites and other editors like MS Word, Google Docs, etc. You can learn more about the CK Editor here (video) or here (demo).
That’s just one example, but it’s probably the biggest in terms of the transition. Heavily customized post layouts will not transition well and custom post backgrounds will not work. We are looking at CK Editor add-ons that offer some limited BB Code translation, but it will never work as well as native BB Code support.
That’s all for now. Beta testers are standing by to take any questions you have and offer any feedback that they wish to share about their experience. I will try to be here off and on to answer questions but keep in mind I’m also working on the beta as you’re viewing this, so my responses may not be immediate.
We’ll also have about 25 invitations lined up for members who have been here in the early days of ATRL. How early? Back when the only person set to break NSYNC’s record was Britney, with an umbrella.
– Are currently an ATRL+ member
– Used to be an ATRL+ member
– Bought ATRL+ for someone else recently or in the past
– Received ATRL+ as a gift recently or in the past
– Subscribe at any time during the ATRL+ preview period
Can't wait to hear more about what the upgrade will be like.
