Hello loyal member/guest! Below is a recap of 2009 as well as a preview of 2010!
What an absolutely awesome year we have had and it is ALL thanks to you, our members! We started the year off with a bang, with one of the most active months we have ever had and continued to grow and prosper as well as to reach out further on the net and make our presence more well known to the world. As I predicted some time ago, both the economy and the continuing advancement of social media sites like twitter and facebook have had a negative effect on discussion boards of this type, but despite those speedbumps, we have continued to grow and prosper.
This year has been one of many changes including the updating of the wiki and the gallery as well as a move to a new and much cheaper server solution. In addition, we incorporated (thanks, Sean) and have brought in limited advertising via Google Adsense which has almost completely offset our costs and dependency on member donations (although we still appreciate your contributions).
We also got an amazing new logo and look thanks to Gino and Rich!
As we draw to the close of the year, we are trying to clean up a lot of loose ends, including the wiki and gallery which still need work and now we are sure to have a lot of work, correcting small bugs in vBulletin 4.0. This new software platform offers us some exciting new features which we have yet to implement, but can't wait to share with you.
If you find issues with the new software, please PM me and let me know so we can work out the bugs!
As TDH draws close to its 8th Anniversary (at www.thedentedhelmet.com... we have existed for over a decade in one form or another) we are looking forward to moving even more of our knowledge about Boba Fett, Jango Fett, and Zam Wesell into our wiki so that it is preserved in a concise and easy-to-find format for future fans. As so much has been discovered and so relatively little remains, and as Star Wars fans grow older, some of the excitement and enthusiam has dwindled, but there are still so many opportunities ahead of us and so much still yet to learn! We are really looking forward to what 2010 has in store for us!
As I close there are three final things I would like to mention:
First, I would like to thank 4 individuals who have really helped out in the background this year, two I have already mentioned: Gino and Rich who have helped with the look and feel of the site. Additionally, Brian (stormtrooperguy) and Dan (tyler_durden) have really helped out with a lot of server-side issues and coding. Brian has moved us from server to server a couple of times now and has also helped with some pretty complex issues in the background and Dan has helped implement some of our more confusing CSS ideas.
Second, some of you may be surprised to see me posting this and not "the Dent." As many of you old timers know, the Dent was a position and not necessarily a person and that concept served its purpose for a lot of years (although it sure seemed to generate a lot of cloak and dagger drama). As we step into a new decade and reevaluate the needs of the site, the position of the Dent is no longer needed. As I am and have always been the owner of the site, I have absorbed the Dent account and will be handling the duties of the position for the foreseeable future.
Finally, as some of you may have already heard, effective Jan 1, 2010 I have accepted a position as lead administrator at the Replica Prop Forum, the largest, oldest (to my knowledge) and most successful prop based communities on the internet. I am bringing a lot of what I have learned here over the last decade and hope to be able to contribute to that site in a positive way as well as continue serve you here at the Dented Helmet. There will be a lot of cross-over and my time will be somewhat divided but hopefully I will be able to serve both sites effectively.
Thank you to all of our members for making this a great year and making TDH a great site and a greater community. I look forward to sharing more with you and learning more from you in the years to come!
What an absolutely awesome year we have had and it is ALL thanks to you, our members! We started the year off with a bang, with one of the most active months we have ever had and continued to grow and prosper as well as to reach out further on the net and make our presence more well known to the world. As I predicted some time ago, both the economy and the continuing advancement of social media sites like twitter and facebook have had a negative effect on discussion boards of this type, but despite those speedbumps, we have continued to grow and prosper.
This year has been one of many changes including the updating of the wiki and the gallery as well as a move to a new and much cheaper server solution. In addition, we incorporated (thanks, Sean) and have brought in limited advertising via Google Adsense which has almost completely offset our costs and dependency on member donations (although we still appreciate your contributions).
We also got an amazing new logo and look thanks to Gino and Rich!
As we draw to the close of the year, we are trying to clean up a lot of loose ends, including the wiki and gallery which still need work and now we are sure to have a lot of work, correcting small bugs in vBulletin 4.0. This new software platform offers us some exciting new features which we have yet to implement, but can't wait to share with you.
If you find issues with the new software, please PM me and let me know so we can work out the bugs!
As TDH draws close to its 8th Anniversary (at www.thedentedhelmet.com... we have existed for over a decade in one form or another) we are looking forward to moving even more of our knowledge about Boba Fett, Jango Fett, and Zam Wesell into our wiki so that it is preserved in a concise and easy-to-find format for future fans. As so much has been discovered and so relatively little remains, and as Star Wars fans grow older, some of the excitement and enthusiam has dwindled, but there are still so many opportunities ahead of us and so much still yet to learn! We are really looking forward to what 2010 has in store for us!
As I close there are three final things I would like to mention:
First, I would like to thank 4 individuals who have really helped out in the background this year, two I have already mentioned: Gino and Rich who have helped with the look and feel of the site. Additionally, Brian (stormtrooperguy) and Dan (tyler_durden) have really helped out with a lot of server-side issues and coding. Brian has moved us from server to server a couple of times now and has also helped with some pretty complex issues in the background and Dan has helped implement some of our more confusing CSS ideas.
Second, some of you may be surprised to see me posting this and not "the Dent." As many of you old timers know, the Dent was a position and not necessarily a person and that concept served its purpose for a lot of years (although it sure seemed to generate a lot of cloak and dagger drama). As we step into a new decade and reevaluate the needs of the site, the position of the Dent is no longer needed. As I am and have always been the owner of the site, I have absorbed the Dent account and will be handling the duties of the position for the foreseeable future.
Finally, as some of you may have already heard, effective Jan 1, 2010 I have accepted a position as lead administrator at the Replica Prop Forum, the largest, oldest (to my knowledge) and most successful prop based communities on the internet. I am bringing a lot of what I have learned here over the last decade and hope to be able to contribute to that site in a positive way as well as continue serve you here at the Dented Helmet. There will be a lot of cross-over and my time will be somewhat divided but hopefully I will be able to serve both sites effectively.
Thank you to all of our members for making this a great year and making TDH a great site and a greater community. I look forward to sharing more with you and learning more from you in the years to come!